The average quote for comprehensive annual cover has hit a record £971 – more than double the £446 it was in 2005 – an AA survey of 2,550 motorists will show next week.
Already facing sky-high petrol and diesel prices and the soaring cost of living, drivers must wonder how insurance firms can justify the hike.
A Mirror investigation has revealed drivers are paying the price for greed, fraud and dodgy practices in Britain’s £9.4billion motor insurance market – and a whole variety of reasons why premiums are rocketing:
THE biggest reason for the leap in motor insurance bills is a wave of legal claims for “whiplash” – neck pain from being hit from behind.
A report published last week by the House of Commons transport select committee found whiplash claims had jumped by a third since 2008 to 570,000 a year – despite the number accidents falling. Insurers claim this has added £90 to the average policy.
An estimated £2billion a year is paid out in compensation for such claims, but a survey of GPs recently warned that about a quarter of them are “fake or over-diagnosed”.
Insurers often settle out of court because they are hard to disprove.
Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance, said: “A culture has developed that if another vehicle hits your car, you should make an injury claim. That’s regardless of how serious the injury is, or even if no injury has actually been suffered.”
Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2012/01/14/horrified-by-the-rise-in-your-latest-car-insurance-premium-you-won-t-be-the-only-one-115875-23698357/#ixzz1jzkwJLPM
