Whitehall Summit On Cutting Whiplash Claims

Reforms to stop false whiplash claims pushing up insurance premiums are to be discussed by ministers today.

The Transport Secretary, Justine Greening will chair a Whitehall summit looking at ways to reverse the "compensation culture".

In the last five years, road traffic accidents have decreased by 23% but claims have increased by 70%, according to the Department for Transport.

Justice Minister Jonathan Djanogly said: "We're hearing reports of people slamming on the brakes in the middle of a roundabout to ensure that people go into the back of them.

"We're seeing people piling into cars and then orchestrating accidents but we're working with the insurance industry to ensure that more aggressive action is taken against fraudulent claims."

The action is likely to include independent panels of doctors to tackle "questionable" medical evidence.

The medical experts, who would have no direct links to either claimants or defendants, would replace the current assessment of whiplash injuries by either GPs or doctors employed by medical reporting organisations.

Doctors can currently receive a fee of up to £195 to process these claims and some have a regular client base of solicitors.

However, the root of the problem is that whiplash is tough to disprove.

Spinal surgeon John O'Dowd said: "It's very difficult for the doctor in isolation to say if the whiplash is fraudulent or not.

"Generally down the line we only pick it up when we see (covert) video footage of our patients who are claiming they are very disabled, but are clearly functioning normally on the video."

Britain is now the whiplash capital of Europe, with 1,500 claims made every day.

False compensation claims cost insurance firms around £2bn a year which adds £90 a year to the average premium.

Other measures to be considered at the summit include:

:: claims from cars travelling under 10mph to be stopped;

:: no-win, no-fee rules to be changed;

:: referral fees paid by lawyers to take on personal injury cases banned;

:: ensuring it is not cheaper for insurers to settle a spurious claim out of court rather than to take on personal injury firms.

©Sky News