All 1 Debates between Margot James and Shailesh Vara

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Margot James and Shailesh Vara
Tuesday 12th November 2013

(10 years, 12 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Margot James Portrait Margot James (Stourbridge) (Con)
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8. What steps he has taken to reduce motor insurance fraud to help motorists with the costs of driving.

Shailesh Vara Portrait The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Mr Shailesh Vara)
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On 23 October the Government announced a package of reforms to ensure the availability of good-quality medical evidence in whiplash cases. Our reforms will create a robust system that deters speculative and fraudulent claims. They will lead to reduced costs for insurers and lower premiums for honest motorists.

Shailesh Vara Portrait Mr Vara
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I can assure my hon. Friend that our reforms will see experts commissioned jointly by both the claimant and the defendant and paid regardless of the outcome of the claim. The measures will help ensure independence, and the new examination and reporting scheme will result in fewer speculative and fraudulent claims.

Margot James Portrait Margot James
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A constituent of mine was involved in an accident in which the car in front of her made an emergency stop. She swerved to avoid it and the two vehicles made contact without significant impact, yet her insurers agreed to pay out a £4,000 claim for whiplash, which could not possibly have resulted from the accident, without informing her, let alone consulting her. Will my hon. Friend look into the case to see whether there are wider lessons to be learnt?

Shailesh Vara Portrait Mr Vara
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My hon. Friend will appreciate that I am unable to comment on individual cases and am not aware of any plans by the insurance industry to make information of that sort available. However, I can say that I very much hope that the reforms we are putting in place will ensure that fraudulent and speculative claims of the sort she refers to are weeded out in the first instance.