A little goes a long way

Recent surveys have shown personal-injury claims costs have been increasing at a rate of 12% a year within the insurance industry; and according to independent market analyst, Datamonitor, they are expected to spiral. By 2005, if the UK experiences a rate of growth similar to that in the US, personal-injury claims will have increased to 1m per year, costing insurers and their policyholders around £6.5bn - an increase in volume of around 33%.

With 10.4m accidents a year, Datamonitor estimates