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Are advance payments changing the face of whiplash claims?
Are advance payments changing the face of whiplash claims?
A new trend in compensation payouts is seeing companies offering clients £1,000 before their case has even been to court. On the face of it, this seems like a positive and proactive stance on behalf of genuine claimants – but could this approach leave the personal injury claims system vulnerable to even greater forms of abuse than it already is?
What’s the problem?
Part of the problem for genuine whiplash sufferers is that claims can take a long time to process. This is because of the increase in the number of faked or exaggerated whiplash cases each year. Whiplash is so named because during a rear-impact collision, the neck and spine mimic the lashing action of a whip. In the first phase of the impact, the head is thrown forward at speed and the muscles and other soft tissues surrounding the neck and spine are hyper-extended. In the second phase, the head is thrown back and the process repeated. The result is that the soft tissues can be torn, stretched and strained, giving rise to a number of symptoms, ranging from a sore neck to loss of mobility in the arms.
Because there are no external symptoms with which to diagnose whiplash, doctors have to rely heavily on the testimonials of victims. Symptoms are easily found on the Internet and can be faked without too much difficulty. Unfortunately, the plethora of fraudulent cases is slowing down the processing of genuine claims. As a result, insurers are giving whiplash claims extra scrutiny in order to validate them and slowing up the time in which payments are made.
Cash in advance
Nicolas Jervis, managing director of personal injury specialists 1stClaims, can see two sides to this particular coin. “The genuine victims of whiplash need compensation as soon as possible,” he explains. “The period of time immediately after an accident is usually the most expensive. Giving these claimants a sum to ‘tide them over’ before the claim reaches court can alleviate a lot of the frustration associated with waiting for compensation.”
But Nicolas also sounds a warning note. “These payouts may also serve to attract fraudsters who are guaranteed a lump sum and may be hard to track down if their claim is found to be fraudulent. What seems like a perfectly reasonable short-term solution may actually give rise to a long-term problem.”
Nicolas’ concerns seem borne out by figures released by the Association of British Insurers showing that whiplash fraud is on the increase. In addition to unscrupulous individuals, ‘cash for crash’ gangs are on the rise, staging accidents to cash in on whiplash compensation payouts.
Nicolas believes that a more in-depth solution is required: “Any system involving money is open to abuse, yet, in this case, prevention may be better than cure,” he explains. “Insurers are working closely with medical professionals to establish better methods of diagnosing genuine cases of whiplash. While this may remain frustrating in the short-term, in the long-term genuine sufferers will be easier to identify and their claims processed more quickly.”
Until that time, advanced payments will no doubt have their attractions, but the real long-term effects are yet to be seen.
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