ABI close to launching lobbying campaign to limit deafness claim costs, report says
Aviva received 2,700 industrial deafness claims in the second quarter of 2014, up four-fold on the 750 it received in the first quarter of 2010, the insurer told the Mail on Sunday.
Insurers have blamed the spike on claims management companies shifting their attention away from whiplash claims following the cap on legal fees now in place.
The paper quoted ABI civil justice policy adviser Jonathan Pryke as saying: “The main reason for the surge is that with the crackdown on whiplash claims the claimant lawyers are moving to deafness claims.”
The paper also said the ABI is close to launching a lobbying campaign in a bid to curb the cost of deafness claims.
Aviva is not alone in facing rising deafness claims. RSA had to bolster its reserves by £10m in the first half of 2014 to counter them.
At the Airmic conference this June, fellow insurer QBE called for a reform of the employers’ liability claims portal to help combat the rise in deafness claims.
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