The Third Party Working Party, chaired by David Brown, has produced an annual research report on third party injury (TPI) and damage (TPD) motor insurance claims since 2009. On 1 July, the IFoA released the headlines of the latest round of research to the media.
The research looked at private car comprehensive (PCC), commercial fleet vehicles and commercial non-fleet vehicles. Key findings included the following:
? 90% of claims were small (under £20,000);
? the average claim size for PCC was £9,512;
? there was a 5% increase in the proportion of accidents involving TPI claims;
? there was evidence of unprecedented historical claims farming;
? case estimates may be weakening for private car comprehensive TPD business, which could lead to future reserving issues.
Within two days of the release of the research, there were more than 250 media reports. As a result of this, there were requests for the report from members, employers and a number of external stakeholders - including an MP and the Ministry of Justice.
The media coverage also prompted a question in parliament quoting the research and a request was made for the IFoA to talk to the Cabinet Office on this subject.
This is the second year that IFoA PR specialists have worked in partnership with the Third Party Working Party to roll out their research to an external audience. The aim is to raise the IFoA's profile with key audiences, including members, the media, employers, the government and other interested bodies, and to publicise the excellent work of the authors.
The results highlight how the work of members on behalf of the IFoA can be used to demonstrate the relevance of actuarial activities and the expertise of IFoA members.
An update on the report will be presented at GIRO's 40th anniversary event in October.
View the full report at bit.ly/13LRbxI