Campbell Fitzpatrick hosts seminar on Defending Low Speed Impact Claims
Jean Lockett of D-PAP and Bernard Fitzpatrick BL |
UK statistics show a 22% increase in low speed impact claims in 2010. Against this backdrop, Campbell Fitzpatrick’s Fraud Department hosted a seminar on ‘Defending Low Speed Impact Claims’ on 12th April 2011. Some LSI claims are defended on the basis that the force of the impact between vehicles involved in a road traffic accident are so minor that the person has not been injured or has exaggerated their injuries. A number of experts delivered an examination of evidence to challenge low speed impact claims.
Bernard Fitzpatrick BL addressed the delegates on the importance of the policy holder’s evidence in relation to the nature of the impact involved, photographs of the vehicle damage and, where appropriate, expert engineering and medical evidence. In light of a recent High Court decision, Bernard discussed the admissibility of information legally obtained from social networking sites. Campbell Fitzpatrick’s Fraud Department has successfully introduced such information during contests to highlight discrepancies in the Plaintiff’s account of the accident circumstances and their injuries.
In appropriate cases, Campbell Fitzpatrick Solicitors will retain the services of an engineer to present evidence in relation to the forces involved in the impact. At the LSI seminar Brian Henderson, Managing Director of GBB Forensic Collision Investigators, spoke of his scientific research and reconstructions of such low speed impacts. Brian compared the very minimal forces on the occupants of the vehicle in such collisions to flopping into an armchair or sneezing. Campbell Fitzpatrick Solicitors have presented this forensic evidence successfully, giving the courts the opportunity to make a more informed decision.
The final speaker at the seminar was Jean Lockett of D-PAP who discussed the legal sharing of claimants’ information under the Data Protection Act 1998. Each claim submitted against an insurer is logged on claims registers although the specifics of each claim are retained by the insurer in question under the Data Protection Act. Greater knowledge of the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 will empower organisations to feel confident about obtaining and sharing information held about claimants who are suspected of involvement in potentially fraudulent claims.
According to research by the Association of British Insurers, 20% of every motor premium (£66.00 on average) is paid out against whiplash claims, totalling £1.9 billion each year. Notwithstanding that the number of reported accidents on UK roads is falling and cars are becoming safer, whiplash claims from LSI accidents are increasing. This surge is expected to continue in the current economic climate. The seminar will therefore assist insurers in their defence of a spurious whiplash claim. It is hoped that this will ultimately benefit policyholders across Northern Ireland by driving down the cost of insurance.