Jack Straw's vehicle insurance bill falters

Posted on January 24^th 2012

Jack Straw's attempt to change the vehicle insurance world looks like it may never become law.

Insurance Age magazine, the journal of the insurance broker community, reported that, using the mechanism of a Private Member's Bill, Mr Straw is trying to force regulation on insurance companies. Chief among the proposals is to curb the sale to injury lawyers of contact details of those who have suffered an accident.

Mr Straw believes that this is fuelling the rise of compensation claims, some of them spurious, that are partly responsible for the rising insurance premiums that UK drivers have suffered over the past few years.

A former Justice Secretary, Mr Straw is also the MP for Blackburn and is concerned about rising vehicle insurance premiums for his constituents as well as the high-pressure sales tactics employed by some of the legal firms who get hold of accident victim's details.

Mr Straw had seen this through a friend who, as he put it, was 'bombarded' with texts and phone calls after being in an accident. This was even though the victim had not given their permission for details to be passed on, and hadn't even been injured.

But the rules surrounding Private Members' Bills mean that the bill Mr Straw introduced in September last year is likely to lapse before it is voted on. It would have targeted the payment of referral fees from lawyers to organisations like insurance companies, garages, hospitals and even the police, who are all thought to gain financially from passing on contact details of victims.

You can rest assured, Insure My Vehicle has never indulged in this practice and simply sells vehicle insurance.

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Insurance Age story

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