24 January 2012

How comparing motor insurance costs gets the best deals

With the increasing cost of motor insurance, the House of Commons transport select committee is calling the insurance industry to stop raising their premium pri

With the increasing cost of motor insurance, the House of Commons transport select committee is calling the insurance industry to stop raising their premium prices and has asked the Government to look in depth into the issue.

A recent report published by the House of Commons transport select committee stated that the rise in claims for whiplash is also the main cause of the recent increase in motor insurance premiums. It also argued that whiplash claims are costly for insurers to challenge because they involve a type of injury "where diagnosis is often subjective”.

In the UK, youngsters and motorists in the North of England are the motorists who have suffered the car insurance premium hikes the most.

Compare motor insurance quotes from the country's leading providers to make sure that we get you the best deal.

Figures from the report showed that, while road injury claims have increased from an average of 395,735 a year between 2000 and 2005 to 790,999 last year, whiplash payouts account for 70% of all motor insurance personal injury cases.

Interestingly, there has been a 33% fall in road accident casualties during the decade starting in 2000 from 301,529 to 208,648; which led the UK insurance premiums to increase up to 16.4% in 2011.

"We recommend that the bar to receiving compensation in whiplash cases should be raised,” read the report. "If the number of whiplash claims does not fall significantly as a result there would, in our view, be a strong case to consider primary legislation to require objective evidence of a whiplash injury, or of the injury having a significant effect on the claimant's life, before compensation was paid.”