SCOTTISH DRIVERS STUNG BY WHIPLASH PENALTY
SCOTS are facing the UK’s highest rises in car insurance bills after SNP ministers refused to tackle the burgeoning compensation culture.
The UK Government has unveiled legislation designed to clamp down on whiplash claims.
This is set to save drivers in England and Wales an average of £35 per year on their insurance premiums.
But the Scottish Government last night confirmed that it has ‘no plans’ to introduce similar measures north of the Border.
Critics say Scots motorists will be ‘punished’ with higher bills as a result.
It is another blow for hardpressed families in Scotland, with everyone earning more than £26,000 a year also facing
higher tax bills than those in the rest of the UK because of SNP Government hikes.
Tory finance spokesman Murdo Fraser said: ‘A balance has to be struck between cracking down on nonsense and opportunistic claims, and ensuring those genuinely affected can be compensated properly.
‘The UK Government is trying to achieve just that. It’s regrettable the SNP isn’t following suit and it all means drivers north of the Border will be punished by higher car insurance payments.’
The UK Government has published its Civil Liability Bill, which includes measures to tackle compensation culture.
It aims to change the way in which damages are worked out – potentially cutting costs for insurers and the NHS, while providing knock-on savings for motorists and
‘Drivers north of the Border will be punished’
taxpayers. UK ministers estimate the measures, which include changes to the ‘discount rate’ used to calculate payouts, will cut car insurance premiums by £35 a year.
The Scottish Government last night confirmed that it has ‘no plans to legislate in this area’ and will not include similar measures in its upcoming Damages Bill, due to be published later this year.
Insurers confirmed they will only pass on savings from the UK Government legislation to customers in England and Wales.
Latest industry figures show Scots motorists have already endured the steepest car insurance rises in the UK.
In the past year, Scots have seen premiums soar by up to a fifth, compared with a UK average rise of 8 per cent. While premiums north of the Border have usually been comparatively cheaper than in England, they are rising faster than anywhere else in Britain.
Drivers in Dumfries paying an average of £500 last year now face a £610 charge – a 22 per cent rise. Shetlanders’ bills are climbing by £10 a month which, on current trends, means they could typically be paying £1,000 by 2020.
Kirkcaldy, Fife, enjoys the lowest typical premium in Scotland, at £601, but this has risen 16 per cent from £519. Glasgow’s figure is up 9 per cent, from £696 to £759; Aberdeen’s 13 per cent from £588 to £663; Dundee’s 8 per cent from £576 to £622; and Edinburgh’s by 11 per cent, from £558 to £617.
Alastair Ross, of the Association of British Insurers, said: ‘We welcome the Civil Liability Bill for England and Wales, which would set a sensible new Personal Injury Discount Rate and deliver a system that is fair for customers, claimants and taxpayers.
‘It’s important that the Scottish Government brings in its Damages Bill to change the discount rate here as soon as possible so that consumers in Scotland are not disadvantaged and can also get the benefit of this reform.’
In the past decade, the total number of personal injury claims related to road traffic accidents in the UK rocketed by 50 per cent, despite a fall in the number of reported accidents in the same period.
The UK Government claims that the increase has been fuelled by ‘predatory parts of the claims industry that encourage minor, exaggerated and fraudulent claims, driving up the costs of insurance premiums for ordinary motorists’.
When he introduced the Civil Liability Bill at Westminster last month, Justice Secretary David Gauke said: ‘The number of whiplash claims has been too high for too long and is symptomatic of a wider compensation culture.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘While we keep the law under review, we currently have no plans to legislate in this area. The focus of the Damages Bill will be to amend the law on the Personal Injury Discount Rate – making it fairer, clearer and more credible – and also enabling courts to impose periodical payments orders as an alternative to single one-off payments for personal injury awards where this is considered more appropriate.’
THE Scottish Government claims the whiplash compensation culture is not the issue here that it is in the rest of the UK.
Be that as it may, Scottish drivers still pay extra on their premiums to cover the astonishing costs of personal injury claims.
And now Scottish drivers face the biggest increases in vehicle insurance premiums in the land. While motorists elsewhere look forward to rule changes that will reduce their premiums by an average £35, drivers here will miss out thanks to SNP complacency.
With income tax up for more than a million of us, with council tax rising, with the threat of an interest-rate increase hiking mortgage repayments – the SNP’s Scotland is an expensive place to live.