Commenting on HM Treasury's report on the effect of the 2018 Civil Liability Act on motor insurance premium holders, Matthew Maxwell Scott, Executive Director of the Association of Consumer Support Organisations (ACSO), said:
“Consumers surely deserved better than this wafer-thin report from HM Treasury, which feels like the financial services industry is marking its own homework and somehow still failing the test.
"What's more, consumers were promised much more. Savings per premium were meant to be £35 per year, and yet have been only £31over three years, that's £74 per motorist that has failed to materialise.
"Since the Civil Liability Act was passed, motor injury claims have fallen by half and average premiums have increased by nearly three quarters. You don't need to be a cynic to ask whether this whole exercise was simply a stretched-out stitch-up between HM Treasury and the insurers, most of whom made huge profits last year.
"Insurer demands for further personal injury reforms must now be seen for what they are, which is an attempt to bolster shareholder returns at the expense of injured people. Per-premium savings were almost the entire point of the reforms, and yet the insurance industry, having lobbied the government to cave in to its demands, has failed to keep up its side of the bargain.
"Given the failure of the reforms, it is a shocking mistake from the government to let its Motor Insurance Taskforce die on the vine. It needs to be reconvened immediately and serious questions asked as to why insurers are letting people down with impunity. The case for a full Competition and Markets Authority investigation has never been stronger."