Consumers were bombarded with more than 600 million personal injury-related nuisance calls last year, and a further 117 million injury-related nuisance texts, according to research using Ofcom data commissioned by Aviva.* This translates to 1.96m calls and texts made every day, or 1,366 calls and texts made every minute which solicit an injury-related compensation claim.
- 55% of people think ALL unsolicited marketing calls should be banned
- Calls are used to mine older claims as Aviva reports 150% increase in claims made more than 300 days after the accident
- Aviva calls for end to current three-year limit for making an injury claim
The level of nuisance calls comes amid multiple reports that motor insurance premiums are rising again. Rob Townend, Claims Director, Aviva UK General Insurance, said, “We have all received the nuisance calls and texts phishing for an injury claim. We will continue to face this threat until the financial incentives at the heart of injury claims are removed.
“Aviva has long called for changes to how we compensate minor injuries such as whiplash. The sooner the reforms proposed in the Autumn Statement are implemented – namely the removal of cash compensation for minor injuries and a cut in solicitors’ fees – then nuisance calls phishing for injury claims will disappear. With these extra claims and costs removed, premiums would fall by an estimated £40 - £50 per year – and Aviva has pledged to pass on 100% of savings to our customers when the reforms are implemented. It’s time to hang up on nuisance calls by removing the easy access to cash from injury claims.”
Nuisance calls are driving an increase in older claims
Increasingly, claims management companies (CMCs), marketing and so-called data companies are trawling through older claims in an aggressive and sustained campaign of nuisance calls. Aviva has witnessed a 150% increase between 2011 – 2015 in the number of claims submitted more than 300 days after the accident, so that now one in every 10 claims is more than 300 days old.
These older claims raise the question as to the level of injury suffered. Consumer research by Aviva found that 66% of people who suffered a minor injury in an accident said they would make a claim in less than two months, and only 2% of respondents said they would wait more than one year to make a claim.**
The current time limit to bring a claim for injury after a car accident is three years. Aviva believes that this should be reduced – at least for minor injuries – which is overwhelmingly supported by consumers: 87% think the current three-year limitation period for making an injury claim is too long.
Consumers spent 10.3m hours dealing with accident-related nuisance calls and texts last year*** and they are increasingly frustrated by the constant barrage of calls and texts from CMCs and others asking about an accident they may – or may not – have had.
Many CMCs have been found to apply unbearable levels of pressure on people through constant calls, to the extent that thousands of people feel they have no other choice but to make a claim in order to stop the nuisance calls. Aviva’s research found that nearly 70% of people say they find nuisance calls disruptive and frustrating. Worse still, Aviva’s research found 13% of people say nuisance calls make them feel “intimidated” and “anxious”.****
Consumer Research
The majority (64%) of nuisance calls are made to those who have signed up to the Telephone Preference Service and 16% of people said they had received calls on an ex-directory land line. More than 9-in-10 (93%) people think these companies are trying to take advantage of the consumer. It is no surprise then that 63% of people support tighter government regulation and 55% think all unsolicited marketing calls should be banned.
The reason CMCs make so many nuisance calls and apply such pressure to prospective claimants is the amount of money that is available to them for comparatively very little work. Claims management companies can claim 40% of the compensation awarded to the claimant. For a typical compensation award of £2,500, this equates to £1,000 for simply submitting a claim.
Townend concluded, “Nuisance calls are yet another outcome of a broken compensation system saturated with too much money that is too easy to access. The current system not only incentivises the 718 million nuisance calls and texts made last year, but also the organised fraudsters behind crimes such as crash for cash and those who want to ‘have a go’ by submitting an exaggerated claim. Many injury lawyers deny this problem even exists – which isn’t surprising given their dependence on the existing claims culture – but our research reinforces the true extent of this issue.”
Ends
Enquiries:
If you are a journalist and would like further information, please contact:
Erik Nelson | Aviva Press Office | 01603 682264 | 07989 427086 | erik.nelson@aviva.com
Notes to editors:
* Source: Oxera, based on data from Ofcom and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
** Source: all data from Censuswide survey of 2,000 adults in March 2016
***Source: Oxera, based on values reported by Ofcom for time spent on abandoned calls, silent calls and ring length. An estimated average of 60 seconds of consumer time is applied per nuisance call and an average of 10 seconds of consumer time per nuisance text message is assumed, indicating a total of approximately 10.3m hours is spent on accident-compensation-related nuisance calls and texts each year.
****Source: research was conducted online by Opinion Matters with 2,633 UK consumers
Case Studies – please note these are genuine customers/third parties but they have allowed us to use their story only on a non-attributable basis.
Case Study 1 – The words of an elderly customer
My husband passed away on the 1st August 2014 after along battle with cancer. In 2013 his car was hit by someone whilst parked. I do not drive and by then my husband was seriously ill in hospital with surgery for a spinal tumour which had followed on from kidney cancer. Nobody was in the car so no injuries were sustained. The car was repaired and then sold in September after he died. I have received so many calls about the incident involving his car. Those responsible for making these calls should hang their heads in shame. My husband would be appalled at this. Can you begin to imagine the distress I have encountered from at least 40 -50 phone calls when I answer the phone to somebody asking to speak to my late husband about pursuing a claim for injuries?
Case Study 2 – The Customer who was pressured into submitting a fraudulent claim
I have been contacted almost everyday by someone telling me the cheque is waiting for me. I signed the forms and sent them off on Friday - simply to get them off my back. As you are aware I was never interested in the money. If this is wrong of me, I apologise. But I do not want to hear about (nuisance calls) anymore.
Case Study 3 – The mother of two – trapped in the process – once she had said “Yes”
“Rose” is a mother of two. The family were involved in a road traffic accident – Rose’s husband was driving. She was told that a claim could be made on behalf of her children for discomfort – no mention of a personal injury claim. It was not explained to Rose that her children would be claiming against her husband. Her husband was told it would not affect his premiums. When Rose realised what she had become involved in she attempted to withdraw, but was lied to about exit fees and quoted almost £10K to do so. Now trapped, she had to choose between paying or risk Aviva challenging the claim in court. She withdrew and we have worked with her to reduce the solicitor fees to £2,940 for which she has had to take out a loan to pay. We continue to pressure the solicitor to help her finally recover this.
About Aviva:
- Aviva provides life insurance, general insurance, health insurance and asset management to 33 million customers, across 16 markets worldwide
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