WIREDGOV

We are turning the tide on the compensation culture and helping hard working people by tackling high insurance premiums and other motoring costs.

We have already helped families by cutting income tax for 25 million people by raising their personal allowance, by freezing council tax and by helping with tax-free childcare for example. But we want to do more.

It’s not right that people who cheat the insurance system get away with it while forcing up the price for everyone else - so we are now going after whiplash fraudsters and will keep on driving premiums down.

• Whiplash cheats, whose bogus compensation claims have helped to force up average motor insurance premiums, will be targeted by new independent medical panels which will ensure only evidence from accredited professionals can be considered. This will mean people can no longer profit from exaggerated or fraudulent compensation claims but victims with genuine cases can still get the help they deserve. These will be introduced from next year.
• The statutory maximum price of the MOT test for a car will be frozen at £54.85 until 2015 – potentially saving up to £50m for drivers every year.
• Action will be taken on high motorway fuel prices. New comparison road signs will be trialled which will show prices at different service stations along a route, making it easier for drivers to get the cheapest deal and encouraging competition on prices.
• The fees charged for the driving test will be reviewed, including the current £31 for the theory test, £62 for the practical test and £50 fee for the provisional licence, to identify any opportunity to save money for the 1.5m car drivers who take their test every year.

The costs of owning and running a car are felt by millions of households and businesses across the nation. The Government is determined to help keep those costs down. That is why we are freezing the price for an MOT test and looking again at the costs associated with getting a driving licence.

We also want to make it easier for people to get a better deal on fuel at motorway service stations, for instance through a trial of motorway signs that will show motorists the different fuel prices on offer on their route.

• Transformed no win, no fee deals so lawyers can no longer double their fees if they win, at the expense of defendants and their insurers.
• Banned “referral fees” paid between lawyers, insurers, claims firms, garages and others for profitable claims – which have driven the growth of compensation culture.
• Reduced by more than half the fees lawyers can charge insurers for processing basic, uncontested claims for compensation for minor injuries suffered in road accidents – from £1,200 to £500.
• Banned claims firms from offering cash incentives or gifts to people who bring them claims. Recommend a friend deals also banned, along with contracts agreed only over the phone.

• The number of compensation claims are published by the Department of Work and Pensions Compensation Recovery Unit. Of the 820,000 motoring personal injuries in 2012/13, 480,000 were recorded as whiplash claims.
• The £90 figure above was published by the Association of British Insurers. The ABI also report that in 2011 there were 45,000 bogus dishonest motor insurance claims detected. Savings of £441 million were made by the industry from the claims uncovered.
• The number of reported road accidents are published by the Department for Transport at www.dft.gov.uk/statistics/tables/ras40007/ and http://www.dft.gov.uk/statistics/tables/ras40007/ and (http://www.dft.gov.uk/statistics/tables/ras45009/). These reduced from 189,000 in 2006 to 151,000 in 2011.