The AA has revealed that, last year, car insurers paid out over £2 billion for whiplash injury claims resulting in about £90 being added to the cost of a policy for car insurance.

They feel that the injury claim system needs to be reformed and ”cannot come soon enough”.

These comments were made as a motor insurance summit was being hosted by ministers in London. Kenneth Clarke, Justice Secretary, mentioned that the plans of the Government will look to deal with dubious medical evidence and ensure it is ”quicker, cheaper and easier for valid injury claims to be dealt with through the small claims court”.

This summer a consultation document is expected to propose to look at the possibility of having independent medical panels. The experts on these panels would have no direct connection with either defendants or claimants. Currently the assessment of injuries for whiplash is carried out by either doctors or GPs on behalf of medical reporting organisations. A doctor can be paid up to £195 for processing such claims.

The Automobile Association commented that during the last two years, whiplash injury claims played a part in the largest increase in premiums for car insurance ever recorded with a 50% increase in comprehensive car insurance.

Director of AA Insurance, Simon Douglas, stated: ”I hope that today’s Government announcement will see a tight timescale applied to reform of the civil litigation system which at present, encourages people to make a claim regardless of how serious their injury is or even if they have not suffered injury at all.

”Importantly, we need reforms that clamp down on cold-call claims management and personal injury firms who have contributed to the growth of claims.”

He further commented: ”The present dysfunctional system has also spawned a fraudulent multi-million-pound ‘cash for crash’ industry.”

Mr Douglas expressed his disappointment with the slow progress made within the report published in April by the House of Commons Transport Committee.

He said: ”But I acknowledge that a lot of momentum has built up. Reform can’t come soon enough. It is wrong that injury claims are rising while the number of accidents on Britain’s roads is falling.”

Mr Clarke said the Government will also ”strongly encourage insurers to pass on the savings back to their customers”,

”It is scandalous that we have a system where it is cheaper for insurers to settle a spurious whiplash claim out of court than defend it, creating rocketing insurance premiums for honest drivers.

”Our reforms will put a stop to this.”

Let us hope car drivers do see a benefit financially.

Following six days of talks between Unite and senior officials of six distribution firms at Acas, the reconciliation service, about 60 Unite union members are to meet this week to discuss the proposed deal that was presented to Unite’s negotiating team on Friday.

Nick Dennis of Unite stated that the talks had proved “positive and constructive”. He expected Unite members to come to a decision about the proposed deal by the end of the week.

Apparently the government are still pressing ahead with contingency plans in case a strike goes ahead which has disappointed Unite.

But Nick Dennis commented, “The government is not being helpful in the way they’ve handled this situation.”

Richard Westcott who is the BBC transport correspondent said it was a “big step forward” but felt that pay may be a sticking point.

90% of forecourt supplies are covered by the 2,062 tanker drivers who are members of Unite who have sought minimum standards of holiday, hours, pay, working conditions, safety and redundancy.

Harriet Harman, Labours Deputy Leader, said, “Nobody wants to see a dispute. But I think if, as we hope, the dispute will be settled, everybody will say all the inconvenience and worry that people were put through and the prices going up at the pumps during the fuel panic – that was all caused by the government.

“I think really they’ve got to recognise that people are finding things difficult at the moment and actually it’s not the job of the government to make things worse.”

Motoring experts feel that with the Iran situation and the increased cost of crude oil we could see record petrol prices of 160p per litre in a few weeks that would prove another blow to the motorist.

We will continue to keep you updated here at Economy Leasing.

Nissan has announced a new mid range hatchback is to be built from 2014 at its UK factory that will create in excess of 1,000 jobs at that site and also at companies that supply Nissan. There will be 225 jobs created at Nissan’s site in Sunderland and 900 jobs at component companies.

David Cameron and Nissan’s CEO Toshiyuki Shiga announced this whilst the Prime Minister was visiting Nissan’s headquarters in Yokohama, Japan.

Mr Cameron stated: “It is fantastic news that Nissan will be building their new hatchback model in the UK and that they expect to create more than 1,000 jobs at the Sunderland plant and in the supply chain across the country. It’s proof of the strength and vitality of the British manufacturing industry that leading companies like Nissan are expanding their production in the UK.”

Only last month Nissan announced that the Sunderland plant would build a compact car next year based on the concept model known as Invitation. Both models will mean the creation of more than 3,000 new jobs in the UK with 625 of those at the Nissan factory.

By 2014 the Sunderland workforce numbers will have reached a record 6,225 supporting an annual production in excess of half a million. The latest announcement sees Nissan’s return to the medium range market in Europe.

The plant will produce 80,000 of this hatchback model each year resulting in the Sunderland site introducing another shift meaning both plant’s production lines will operate 24 hours a day for the first time.

n Sunderland, Nissan were already the biggest car manufacturer in the UK having built over 6.5 million cars their since 1986. They export 80% of the cars to 97 countries around the world.

An extra £127 million is being invested by Nissan at Sunderland plus the Government’s Regional Growth Fund is offering an extra £8.2 million.

Here at Economy Leasing we supply Nissan’s extensive range of cars so why not give us a call on 0844 3572415 to discuss your requirements.

March is a significant month in the car sales business as up to one fifth of annual sales of cars takes place as a result of customers driving their new vehicle off the forecourt with new number plates attached. This March saw a rise in car sales resulting in the economy, in the first quarter, receiving a most welcome boost.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders announced that there was an increase in car sales of 1.8% to 372,835 that was, in the main, due to a big rise of 7.4% in the sale of cars privately.

The best-selling car in not only March but also throughout the first quarter of 2012 was the Ford Fiesta.

It is felt that consumers in Britain are starting to see a restoration of confidence.

SMMT Chief Executive, Paul Everitt, stated: “The important March new car market performed above expectations rising 1.8% to 372,835 units, boosted by the third consecutive month of retail growth. Domestic demand for new cars is showing signs of recovery with private buyers increasingly returning to take advantage of a wide range of excellent products and, this month, the new 12-plate.”

A rise in sales to 563,556 cars during the first quarter, which was a 0.9% increase, was due to March being better than anticipated. This beat SMMT’s forecast for March by around 20,000 cars that equates to almost 6%.

Registrations in 2011 were not as much as expected so the motor industry and no doubt the public will be pleased to hear of this turnaround in performance although the figures for this March are still around 17% below those of March 2007.

Economy Leasing are pleased to note the first quarter’s national figures for 2012 that are much in line with the increase we have seen in cars being leased through ourselves during the first quarter of 2012. So why not take the opportunity to contact us on 0844 3572415 when we will be pleased to discuss your requirements.