Whiplash backlash

The recent Number 10 insurance summit put the spotlight on RTA PI, and some of the government’s ideas for reducing the number and cost of whiplash claims highlight the risk of making policy without all of the facts. The government is right to be concerned about the significant level of fraud in the whiplash claims system and we agree that the system would benefit from an increased role for medical examinations, as well as a drive to bring down the number of accidents on our roads. But we are concerned that the government has bought into the myth that whiplash is not a real injury.

Whiplash is real and it damages lives. We all need to work together and look at the problem holistically before we decide what the solution is. Serious injuries can occur in low-speed collisions, so imposing an arbitrary accident speed would be futile. Radically reducing legal fees,as the government is considering, will just mean that lawyers will not take on legitimate whiplash cases and claimants will have to fight for compensation without legal representation.

New regulations on whiplash must be based on a solid understanding of what soft tissue injuries can be caused by motor accidents, and how these injuries can be prevented. We can’t work in isolation anymore.

The pace of change in the personal injury market is overwhelming. Over the past 15 years it has changed so much that it is almost unrecognisable in term of its scale, complexity, marketing and the relationship between accident victims, insurers and their solicitors. And there is more to come.

The road traffic accident (RTA) industry has been subject to some of the most radical reforms, with the introduction of the RTA portal for managing claims and two fixed-cost regimes. Members of the Motor Accident Solicitors Society (MASS), which I chair, have been instrumental in the development and roll-out of these initiatives and worked hard to ensure that there was no decline in the quality of service we provide for accident victims.

More change on the way

But there are elements of the RTA PI sector that view claimants as a commodity rather than victims with the right to seek redress. They continuously harass consumers with spam marketing, offering poor advice about their rights.

This bad practice has generated a mistrust of the wider legal community, as well as understandably widespread media condemnation, and tarnished the hard-won reputation of those of us who do operate ethically.

The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill will radically reform how all civil litigation cases are funded. The portal is going to be extended and the government has committed to bringing down motor insurance premiums and rooting out the bad elements in the sector that do us all a disservice.

This drive to improve the industry is welcome, but we must make sure that the right rules are put in place for victims and that the good is not thrown out with the bad. The world of RTA PI is changing and it is our responsibility to make sure the change is for the better.

The whole industry, from insurers to PI lawyers, must put aside their parochial interests and make sure that new policies get to the root of the problem. We will get nowhere by being whinging critics, fractious and defensive, with nothing to add to the debate. It is our job to make sure the government takes into account all of the evidence and gives every side a fair hearing. If we don’t, decisions will be made that could reduce access to justice for accident victims – something that is unacceptable in a country whose legal system is held in high esteem around the world.