... according to my paper today.
And about time too. Must be about the commonest fraud there is, costing us all higher insurance premiums.
I am especially irritated by it because my middle daughter was the victim of one of these shameless swindlers, a middle-aged Scottish woman, in London a few years ago.
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Agree A.C. It is about time it is sorted out no more advertisements on the Telly either.
Did all this came from America claim crazy.
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A woman claimed to have suffered whiplash injuries after a collision with me. She dropped the claim when I informed my insurance company that she was dropping her child off at school at the time, he was unhurt.
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All very well except for the genuine ones.
My son was a passenger in a vehicle involved in a high speed, four vehicle collision on the A12 back in July 2010, his driver was blameless. He suffered a great deal of discomfort for many weeks and was unable to work for 5 weeks and could not play his sport for three months, he is a medium pace bowler.
He has, finally, this week, been offered just over £1000 in full settlement for loss of earnings, discomfort, pain and loss of enjoyment, a sum which doesn't even cover his loss of his basic pay for the five weeks he was, genuinely, unable to work; this is apart from his possible overtime and sales bonuses, he estimates he lost nearer £2500. He is now faced with having to undergo further medical examinations, though quite what they will show after 20 odd months I'm not sure, and further protracted legal action.
Apparently the average whiplash claim is paid out at around £3700, my son would probably be happy with two thirds of that.....
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I really can't understand the insurance industry at all, they must have pretty good noses for whats genuine and whats likely to be a fraudulent claim, especially if the same names keep coming up with similar cover stories.
Why do they bend over and allow the payoffs.
When a possible comes along for goodness sake defend a few, and when they win pursue the false claimants for costs and compensation....see how they like that one.
When a few get rich quick bods have lost their homes instead of having a having a holiday on the proceeds of the scam then others will start thinking twice about fraud.
I really want the insurance companies to grow a set over this, i'd be keen to be insured by an company who had its genuine customers at heart and refused to be part of the whole sorry swindle.
Its the same story in nearly all parts of our lives, the decent person who does the right thing, works and pays their dues etc gets bent over every single flamin time.
In this particular case by paying for all the low lifes.
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Great idea.
Except proving someone doesn't have whiplash is impossible.
The insurance companies have made this rod for their own backs with selling info to personal injury chasers and it is us who are paying for it.
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>> Except proving someone doesn't have whiplash is impossible.
There shouldn't be any need to. It should simply be assumed that claims of whiplash by a gently tail-ended motorist should be regarded as irrelevant unless the claimant can prove that they suffered loss of earnings and/or other inconvenience. The way things are at the moment, people just make fraudulent claims which are accepted by their insurance companies and compensation paid.
There should be a six-month or one-year delay and proper investigation before these claims are paid. If these snivelling carphounds had to jump through hoops and stop going into work, not so many of them would try it on. It isn't goddam rocket science.
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>> >> Except proving someone doesn't have whiplash is impossible.
>>
>> There shouldn't be any need to. It should simply be assumed that claims of whiplash
>> by a gently tail-ended motorist should be regarded as irrelevant unless the claimant can prove
>> that they suffered loss of earnings and/or other inconvenience.
As someone who was involved is a rearend accident, and have suffered whiplash (still suffering as it happens) I take that comment in bad taste.
Whilst I have no doubt there are claimants who dont really suffer, knowing 1st hand the pain, worry, lack of movement, and long term inconvenience then the paltry amount most people receive doesn't cover it.
Once the offer is accepted, then a form is signed stating that no further claims on the injury will be entertained.
Normally that point is reached before the claimant has fully (if they ever do) recovered from the injury.
My 'payout' was around a grand.
I had to take over 2 weeks off work, I was unable to lift for around 6 months, and I still cannot rotate my head to the pre-accident amount - over 3 years later!
Also, as of the last week or so, I have been suffering pain in the area of the whiplash injury, that may, or may not be a result of the said injury.
Going back to the day of the accident, being strapped to a board is no fun, and the things going though your head, many people couldn't bare.... (along the lines of 'will I walk again?' )
I can categorically state that a whiplash injury can in no way be called ''irrelevant''
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Oh... and the claim ISN'T settled in days/weeks.
From memory it was well over 6 months before I got seen by the independent specialist working on the behalf of the insurance company.
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>> Oh... and the claim ISN'T settled in days/weeks.
>> From memory it was well over 6 months before I got seen by the independent
>> specialist working on the behalf of the insurance company.
Nor should it be, you have up to three years to lodge the claim in court. The other party should be notified, ASAP that you intend to claim, and then leave it for a year to establish the full extend of your injury. Then talk money.
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According to the item on R4 yesterday morning, the German system (I think) has a set speed limit; if the speed at impact was below this then you can't claim for whiplash.
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How is the speed of impact determined?
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>> As someone who was involved is a rearend accident, and have suffered whiplash (still suffering as it happens) I take that comment in bad taste.
Ah, it was you Swiss... I remembered there was someone here who was a genuine whiplash sufferer.
But honestly, by taking the line you do you are covering for all the snivelling carphounds who make these claims fraudulently. Or don't you think they do? I just know they do. Over the years I've had several traffic bashes, not all of them my fault, with bent steering wheels, heavy repair bills and all the rest of it. No one has ever suffered whiplash injury as a result.
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>> Ah, it was you Swiss... I remembered there was someone here who was a genuine
>> whiplash sufferer.
>>
>> But honestly, by taking the line you do you are covering for all the snivelling
>> carphounds who make these claims fraudulently. Or don't you think they do? I just know
>> they do.
My first line.... ''Whilst I have no doubt there are claimants who dont really suffer,''
It is a hard one... I'd agree that for every one in real pain, there are a few swinging it...
Funny thing is, and I think I related this before, when I got checked out for the insurance company, he looked, then pressed on the exact site of the pain - I left in more pain than I walked in with!
So maybe some Doctors are better at diagnosing than others?
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>> I really can't understand the insurance industry at all, they must have pretty good noses
>> for whats genuine and whats likely to be a fraudulent claim, especially if the same
>> names keep coming up with similar cover stories.
>>
>> Why do they bend over and allow the payoffs.
>>
Because it's cheaper and easier to pay up and pass the costs on to us :-/
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Whiplash needs to be proved, say MPs - Dutchie
