Three in four people targeted by CMCs

Three in four people have been targeted by claims management companies (CMC) asking if they have been involved in an accident or mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI).

That is according to the latest report from the Association of British Insurers (ABI), which revealed that 78% of those surveyed had received an unsolicited text or phone call from a CMC offering them the chance to claim compensation, despite the overwhelming majority having no grounds to make such claims. That figure was 82% in London.

The study of more than 2,600 adults also found that nine in ten people (92%) who received such a message from a CMC said it was not relevant to them.

Meanwhile three in four people backed a ban on unsolicited messages as a way of reducing the epidemic of fraudulent whiplash claims.

The ABI’s head of motor and liability James Dalton said: “Unsolicited contact from claims management firms is a symptom of our dysfunctional compensation system, which encourages frivolous, exaggerated and even invented claims, especially for personal injury. The real losers are honest policyholders who end up paying the price through higher insurance premiums.

“Our survey results show widespread public support for our calls to tackle this nuisance, as part of wide ranging reforms to the compensation system, so that genuine claimants are the only ones who receive pay outs.”