Whiplash claims: Row between lawyers and insurers over who's to blame pushes up cost of insurance by £90 per driver Insurers claim drivers exploit whiplash as 'fraud of choice' Lawyers says insurers' plans would simply boost their own profits Association of British Insurers suggested ways to curb 'whiplash epidemic' Solicitors and insurers were at loggerheads today over who is to blame for the growing £2billion a year "whiplash epidemic" that is driving up the cost of cover for millions of motorists and adding £90 to the average policy. The insurers pinned the blame on drivers exploiting whiplash as "the fraud of choice" or using lawyers to pursue dubious claims to win massive pay-outs. But lawyers hit back saying it was the insurers themselves who had a vested interest and that their plans would simply boost their own profits while limiting the rights of innocent motorists suffering genuine whiplash injuries. The Association of British Insurers has said 'whiplash claims cost £2 billion a year, adding an extra £90 a year to the average motor insurance premium' (file picture) The "spotlight" should now be turned on insurers to ensure that insurers pass on savings to customers, said the solicitors. The row broke out as the Association of British Insurers (ABI) published its own ideas to ministers to "curb the UK's whiplash epidemic" in response to a Government consultation on the issue. The ABI said anyone claiming whiplash injury should be required to undergo examination by an independently accredited medical expert with no links to the claimant's solicitors: "Any claimant whose whiplash claim is in part exaggerated or made up should automatically have their entire claim dismissed." It noted: "Whiplash claims cost £2 billion a year, adding an extra £90 a year to the average motor insurance premium." But the Motor Accident Solicitors Society (MASS) retorted by saying the ABI's proposals "would restrict access to justice." The solicitors fear there is a "severe risk" that impending reforms aimed at bringing down costs in the motor accident claims system "will distort the balance of rights between claimants and defendants." The ABI said anyone claiming whiplash injury should be required to undergo examination by an independently accredited medical expert (file picture) It adds: 'The ABI's proposals would further restrict access to the independent legal advice that accident victims need while at the same time generating greater profit for insurers. The lawyers also took offence at any suggestion that lawyers were in anyway colluding with "exaggerated claims." MASS Chairman Craig Budsworth said: 'The ABI's sweeping statements about dismissing claims where there is any suspected exaggeration is disingenuous and frankly unhelpful. It demonstrates that insurers know very little about how lawyers work with their clients to put forward an honest case or the nature of living with a whiplash injury. He said:"The whole industry wants to see insurance premiums come down. The spotlight must now turn to the insurance industry, to ensure that they fulfil their promise to pass on the savings they are going to make to their customers. But James Dalton, the ABI's Assistant Director of Motor and Liability insisted: 'We believe our proposals offer the best cure for the UK's whiplash epidemic. Insurers want to make it simpler and quicker for genuine whiplash claimants to get fair compensation. But whiplash is notoriously difficult to diagnose, which means that for too many people it has become the fraud of choice. He added: 'Our proposals will ensure better medical assessment of whiplash claims, offer a quick, simple way of paying genuine claims; provide certainty for claimants and compensators, and deter fraud that ends up being paid for through higher motor insurance premiums.'