Government surprises market with whiplash reform

The government has finally announced its plans to crackdown on the “epidemic” of whiplash claims, surprising many in the market who had assumed the proposals had been shelved or delayed, partly because of Brexit and a new Lord Chancellor. Indeed, no sooner had November 2016’s Liability Risk and Insurance published (with the headline “Whiplash reforms delayed by government”) than the government, which had been understood to have indefinitely postponed the reforms, announced its consultation. Still, from the insurance industry’s point of view, better late than never.