It seems like only last week Bankstone News was reporting that there was going to be some kind of a consultation type thingy about whether personal injury claims should be banned or whatever.
With insurers complaining of a distinct superfluity of talk and a notable lack of trousers on the War on Claims initiative promised by government, talk of further talk was clearly not what anyone wanted to hear.
Under pressure to come up with something slightly butcher-sounding, Chancellor Geo. Osb. (Con) took the occasion of his Autumn Spending Review Statement, or whatever it was, to reassure restive insurance folk.
Talk of talk should not unduly alarm anyone, he implied, clarifying that – consultation notwithstanding – the government is determined to smite down mightily upon motor insurance PI claims.
For one thing, PI claims under £5k will all be kicked into the small claims process. For another, compensation for ‘minor’ soft tissue injuries will take the form of questions, nodding, note-taking and massage – rather than cash.
Such moves, Osb. averred, will well and truly “reform” the motor PI compensation culture.
The government’s newly affirmed commitment to the War on Claims, the Canceller predicted, will save insurers £1 billion a year, which he felt sure they would want to pass on to decent honest policyholders in the form of £1 a week off their motor insurance premiums.
This windfall will more than make up for the extra costs Geo. Osb. recently added to the amount decent honest policyholders pay for their motor insurance by increasing IPT from 6% to 9.5%.
How is this relevant to Government spending plans?, cynical readers may wonder, and hence to the Chancellor’s Autumnal Statement?
Aha! It’s relevant because, the more people you have chucking compensation claims into the legal system, the more the government has to spend on running said legal system.
Cut out the claims and you cut out the need for courts and all that other legal stuff, which all costs money to run, you know.
This way decent honest non-claiming citizens will not only have lower motor insurance costs but also less tax to pay.
A golden age lies just around the corner.
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