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Insurers under fire

Shock report reveals some insurers are selling your details to personal injury lawyers

Insurers are selling details to personal injury companies following accidents

By Julie Sinclair

28th June 2011

Insurers are under investigation for selling motorists’ details to ambulance-chasing personal injury lawyers without permission.

The no-win-no-fee firms bombard motorists with emails or phone calls, persuading them to make injury claims, and inflate premiums as a result.

The practice, which has been slammed by former Justice Secretary Jack Straw as the industry’s “dirty secret”, can earn cover providers up to £1,000 for each referral, and could breach data protection rules.

The Labour MP for Blackburn, who spoke out this week after investigating complaints from his constituents, claims this insurance “racket” also involves the police and recovery firms, who receive “commission fees” for calling local breakdown firms or garages. This information is then passed on.

Straw says the cost of personal injury claims has doubled to £14bn in 10 years as a result, and is calling for an industry reform, banning referral fees altogether.

The Association of British Insurers has welcomed the move. Its Director General Insurance and Health, Nick Starling, said: "We are pleased that Jack Straw has joined our call for referral fees to be banned. It is not right that people take cash for tipping off lawyers about accidents which fuel personal injury claims, driving up costs for all motorists.”
The practice is now being investigated by Government watchdog the Information Commissioner’s Office.

If you suspect your data has been sold-on following a car accident, write to us at mail@autoexpress.co.uk or tell us about your experience below.

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4 Comments

Yep, been there, done that.

I had a no fault accident 3 years ago. No injuries to me whatsoever, only minor damage to my car and that was fixed up without any problems. However, my details must have been sold on, as I've had phone calls and text messages imploring me to "claim the £3500 you're entitled to" regularly for about 18 months now. This is almost implying that I commit perjury by claiming for an injury I never had!! They don't take no for an answer either, the phone calls and SMSs just don't stop.

By Oilburner on 29 June, 2011, 11:06am

Oilburner reply

It's just business to them oilburner, pure and simple, they do not care wether you commit perjury or not, after all it's not them is it.
I had a claim on a very minor "touch" (no damage) some years ago, the guy claimed £7500.00 for "Loss of Work ect".
I reported this fraud, what was done NOTHING.

By johnbmwx6 on 30 June, 2011, 8:53am

Why would they do it?

This issue always puzzles me a bit. Why would the insurance industry want to facilitate claims that the same industry is going to have to pay?

By russell146 on 30 June, 2011, 9:19am

You couldn't make this up!

When my insurance was due for renewal in March, the increase my previous insurer expected me to pay meant that I moved. They had the usual excuses [excessive personal injury claims etc etc] which always sound plausible except that we now know that, by passing on details, they actively encourage these claims. I had a text not long ago, presumably a fishing expedition by one of these ambulance chasers, saying that I might be entitled to a few thousand in compensation if I'd recently had an accident. Binned immediately, of course, because I haven't. Still, it makes you wonder where they get the phone numbers from and how many people use this prompt to try and claim loads of cash to which they have no right.

By n50pap on 30 June, 2011, 10:57am

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