Does this look like a ‘small claim’ to you? These images are from a genuine accident in which Thompsons acted for the victim. The claim had a value of less than £5,000.

What the changes will mean The Tory government has announced plans to raise the small claims limit in road accidents from £1,000 to £5,000. This will mean a road accident victim who wants independent legal advice and does not have access to union support will have to pay for it out of money meant for their losses and injuries. Or they will have to take on insurers – who will still use lawyers and wily negotiators - on their own in their own time. The government has indicated that its consultation on the proposed changes will look at all personal injury cases not just road accidents. That would result in the removal of free legal advice from millions of injured people to line the pockets of the multinational insurance companies.

Car insurance: the facts It’s 1 of only 2 compulsory insurance purchases It’s a £15billion per year market in the UK Five insurers control nearly 60% of the market Premiums are at an average of £485 per year Premiums have gone up 17.2% in n the 12 months to June 30, 2016

Car accidents and fraud: the facts Accident compensation is at a record low There are no independent car insurer fraud figures The only fraud figures are from the ABI At a recent fraud seminar, even insurers couldn’t agree what ‘fraud’ meant Prosecutions for fraud are rare - insurers could cite only 84 convictions in a two and half year period Insurers have not reported any fraud concerns to the stock market in their 2015 and 2016 half year financial reports

Insurance company profits are soaring Insurers have saved £6.68bn on claims costs in the last 4 years Direct Line and Admiral have paid out £2.856bn in shareholder dividends in the last three years - that’s £350 for every policyholder Direct Line has said in the financial year ending March 2016 that its motor division “continued to experience stable claims trends on large and small bodily injury” In March 2016, AVIVA announced a 20% rise in operating profits to £2.7billion with UK motor and property insurance contributing £368million

The Tory story The chancellor said that motorists would save £40-£50 per policy, but there is no evidence to back this up. The government has admitted that they won’t force the insurance industry to pass on any savings to motorists. The insurers say 95% of claims are genuine but these reforms will punish all injured people. Forcing up the small claims limit will line the pockets of Tory friends in the insurance industry. 

Join the fight Write to your local MP, urging them to oppose the changes Join our Facebook group & share our posts: http://bit.ly/SmallClaimsBigImpact Search for the #ProtectSmallClaims hashtag on Twitter Take part in our survey: surveymonkey.com/r/smallclaimsbigimpact Find out more at www.thompsons.law.co.uk/cutpremiumsnow