According to one motoring expert the 40 per cent rise in car insurance premiums can be attributed in part to an increase in the number of injury solicitors at work in the UK.
According to AA Insurance director Simon Douglas, out of every £1 paid in personal injury compensation awards, an additional 87p goes towards paying legal fees to personal injury lawyers. This has led to the average driver paying around £890 on average for motor car cover, which compares unfavourably to last year’s £630 average price.
Mr Douglas stated that in addition to the increase in premiums due to a hike in the number of accident claims, motorists have been feeling the pinch at the petrol pump with the increases to fuel prices.
Insurers have laid the blame at the feet of personal injury compensation settlement awards made on car accident. Many have begun to turn to injury solicitors for legal representation for their motoring-related accident claims. Many have been encouraged by the natural state of affairs in a large proportion of lawyers’ offices known as conditional fee agreements, or ‘no win no fee‘ arrangements.
The civil legal system was put in place to provide individual citizens the opportunity to seek redress against someone who wronged them in some way. However other people have been abusing the system, which has resulted in fraud figures to increase exponentially and begin to plague the insurance sector.
Authorities have advised insurers to adopt a more vigilant approach towards incidences of fraud. Meanwhile many injury solicitors have also cautioned against tolerance towards those who engage in defrauding insurance firms.
However industry experts have been quick to come to the defense, stating that claimants should not be discouraged from the pursuit of redress if their compensation claims are valid and just.