The insurance industry is seeking to pursue solicitors whom it believes are involved in fraudulent whiplash claims, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has said.

James Dalton, ABI assistant director of motor and liability, told delegates at the Motor Accident Solicitors Society annual conference last week that the ABI is ‘convinced’ that solicitors are helping fraudsters make illegal whiplash claims.

Dalton warned that the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB), an insurance fraud detection and prevention organisation funded by the insurance industry, is looking for solicitors involved wittingly and unwittingly in whiplash fraud. He asked lawyers to work with insurers to stamp out the fraud.

‘For some reason, whiplash is a major societal problem [in the UK],’ Dalton said. ‘There is one whiplash claim per year for every 140 people in the country. Whiplash now leads to £2bn in compensation payments per year. Do Britons really have the weakest necks in Europe? Do you as solicitors really think that every whiplash claim is genuine?

‘We are convinced that some solicitors are acting as enablers of insurance fraud by acting for fraudulent clients. As a word of caution, the IFB is working on ways of making it more difficult for solicitors to abuse the system or become embroiled unwittingly. My offer to you is to work with us to help stamp out this sort of fraud.’

Dalton also cast doubt on solicitors’ claims that third-party capture – where an insurance company settles a claim directly with a personal injury victim of a policyholder – was damaging to the client. He said he has seen no evidence that an offer from an insurer in such a situation has been bettered by an offer obtained after the client has received independent legal advice.

Dalton added that, by accepting referral fees, insurers are ‘merely trying to recoup some of the vast expenses’ they incur when dealing with road traffic accident claims. He said the ABI would like to see referral fees banned, as part of a full implementation of Lord Justice Jackson’s report on civil litigation costs.

Law Society president Linda Lee said that the ABI’s point was ‘deceptive’ as solicitors are ‘not medical experts’, and their role is to put the client’s position and provide evidence to support it.