Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Whiplash Injury Claim Amount

Whiplash claims average pay out in Ireland

This has been an interesting time for the road traffic accident side of Personal Injury claims in Ireland. Everyone seems to have had their say as to why the cost of car insurance is so high in Ireland. The Insurance industry points the finger at Whiplash claims as the major reason. The medical profession say that it is seemingly impossible to judge impartially the state of one’s neck or back for a whiplash claim after a car accident or indeed before the car accident. As a large percentage of people have back problems before a car accident how much more did the Whiplash make it worse? Every December the insurance companies go flat out to cram as many claim settlements through the books before the end of the year as possible so that they cannot be accused of making too much profit! Even doubtful claims are settled. The motorist points the figure at the insurance companies and says that they do not do enough to weed out fake and incorrect claims.

Escalating insurance costs

The Irish Government some time ago set up a commission to examine personal injury compensations awards for victims of road traffic accidents amid concerns about escalating insurance costs. Between 70 and 80 per cent of all car insurance claims are for whiplash-related injuries, with the Insurance Ireland estimating the average pay-out to be about €15,000.

Recently it has been claimed that by curbing the cost of whiplash claims could save the Irish motorist up to €150 on their car insurance policies every year, the head of one of Ireland’s largest car rental companies has said.

Europcar Ireland’s chief executive Colm Menton has said that two of the Ireland’s largest motor insurers have communicated to him in writing that they would be prepared to reduce significantly the cost of car insurance premiums if the compensation awarded for whiplash claims in Ireland was capped.

His recent comments came in a submission to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance as consumer’s battle all the time with the rapidly rising cost of car insurance, a development, surprise surprise that the Insurance companies have blamed the cause to a sharp rise in awards relating to whiplash injuries.

If whiplash claims awards were capped at a maximum of €5,000 the Insurance companies have said that the average premiums would drop from €700 to between €550 and €590 for most insured people, he pointed out in his submission.

One thing is for certain if the Insurance companies have indicated a reduction in car premiums of between €150 and €110 then they will certainly be able to do better than that!

Who is right and who is wrong here? For certain it is not just one thing that is causing all the financial grief here for the average motorist. It is a combination of all the various factors mentioned above but I will leave you with one practical idea that everyone that suffers from back pain should be regularly assessed by a medical professional for an accurate assessment to be made after suffering whiplash.

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