North west identified as chief bodily injury hotspot

The rate of personal injury claims is highest in the north west, the same region that contains the biggest concentration of claims management companies, new research shows.

The study by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries shows that 43% of third party claims lodged in the north west of England involved bodily injury.

The equivalent figure for the north east of Scotland was 13% - the lowest proportion across the UK. For Scotland as a whole, which has stricter controls on referral fees than elsewhere in the UK, 20% of cases had a personal injury element.

The figure for the north west of England compares to that of Nevada which, with 40% of third party claims involving bodily injury, is the highest ratio in the US.

The research showed that these claims hotspot areas match areas with the highest concentration and activity of claims management companies. In general, more claims management companies means more personal injury claims.

Conversely, Scotland has the lowest proportion of private motor insurance claims involving injury to third parties, with 20% of claims in the Central Belt involving a claim for injury against a UK average of 29%. Scotland has stricter controls on referral fees, with the amounts paid being less than the rest of mainland UK, and so has far lower numbers of claims management companies operating

The faculty’s third party working group chair David Brown said: “You can’t establish a formal link between the presence of claims management companies and bodily injury claims but it’s an interesting coincidence.”  

“The areas of the strongest growth for claims management companies;  North West England, North East England and West London are all areas where the number of car insurance claims involving bodily injury claims are above the UK average.”