How I nearly got caught by the £1bn a year ‘whiplash’ scam

Painful: Claire Coleman, whose insurance premium jumped by 25 per cent after a driver claimed for a whiplash injury following a very low-speed bump in traffic

Yet again, the Government is promising to “crack down” on one of the most shameless rackets in Britain – the largely bogus claims for “whiplash injury”, happily connived in by compensation lawyers and the insurance industry, which add an estimated £1 billion a year, or an average £82 each, to all our vehicle insurance premiums. Last year, whiplash claims soared again to 770,971, accounting for 75 per cent of all personal injury claims for accidents involving vehicles – as against only 3 per cent in France.

Twice before, in 2012 and 2013, ministers have promised to halt what our justice ministry calls an “epidemic” of fraudulent or inflated claims – to the rage of the compensation claims industry, one of the leading players in which last week was again harrumphing that these “claims of a whiplash epidemic are unsubstantiated”.

But my only personal encounter with all this came a few years back when I was caught in a rush-hour tailback slowly inching up a hill in Bristol. The car in front of me began to turn left, but suddenly stopped, causing me just to touch its rear bumper. The female driver and I jumped out to exchange details, but amicably agreed that there wasn’t a mark on her vehicle, and I assumed I would hear no more.

The following week, however, I received a solicitor’s letter stating that, following the accident, “our client” had suffered from whiplash and would be seeking compensation. Very surprised, I rang the solicitor to express my concern. This so disarmed the good lady that she shamefacedly admitted that she herself had been the driver, and that she had suffered no injury at all. At least today, when the Government yet again announces its intention to end this scandal, we must hope it is third time lucky.