Action has been taken after figures showed there had been a 60% rise in personal injury claims related to road accidents since 2006, despite vehicles becoming safer and a 20% reduction in the number of reported accidents over the same period.  

There were more than half a million whiplash claims last year – and insurers estimate they add £90 a year to the average motor insurance policy.

The consultation proposes:

• Creating new independent medical panels to improve diagnosis of whiplash injuries. This will ensure that genuine claims can still go ahead, but exaggerated, misrepresented or fraudulent claims are robustly challenged.
• Options to allow more whiplash cases to be challenged in the small claims court - to change the current position where it can be cheaper for insurance companies to accept questionable claims than to contest them.