If you've suffered a whiplash injury during a motoring accident, you may be thinking about making a personal injury compensation claim. And you're not alone - thanks to the rise of the no-win no-fee legal culture in the UK, MPs recently stated that there has been a 70 per cent rise in the number of motor insurance injury claims in the past 6 years, and whiplash accounts for 70 per cent of this rise. Resultantly, the government is moving to put in place restrictions on such compensation claims. But how does this effect individual claimants, as well as the insurance industry in general?

According to the UK's Department of Transport, there has been a 23 per cent fall in the number of casualties caused by motoring accidents - despite the increase in whiplash claims. In fact, overall, the number of accidents has fallen by 10 per cent, but the number of personal injury claims after a car accident has risen by 43 per cent.

This trend led to Prime Minister David Cameron setting up a meeting with insurance, consumer and business groups. The outcome of this meeting saw the government raise the suggestion that a minimum speed should be set before a whiplash claim can be accepted, in order to stop the rise of "trivial claims". If implemented, this measure would be similar to one that already exists in Germany, where there is a 10km per hour (6.25 miles per hour) limit for whiplash claims, as well as a requirement for two separate medical diagnoses.

In the UK, reactions from insurance professionals have been mixed. Some insurers have claimed that whiplash is difficult to diagnose and is a self-reported condition. This means that whiplash claimants may in the future need to offer primary evidence that an injury was sustained or that the injury made a significant impact on their quality of life before compensation can be paid.

But by and large, the suggestion of a claim threshold has been welcomed by insurers. Some have reported that the rise in people making whiplash claims with personal injury solicitors is costing the industry £2 billion a year and adding £90 to the average premium. However, overall, it is believed that very few whiplash claims are bogus - as little as one in 5000 - and most claimants ask only for small amounts of compensation. Moreover, doctors are able to detect fraudulent whiplash suffers through a rigorous test so if a medical examination is made a compulsory part of the claim process in future, fakers will be spotted early.

The author of this article is a part of a digital marketing agency that works with brands like Shoosmiths. The content contained in this article is for information purposes only and should not be used to make any financial decisions.