Legal changes imposed last year have led to a 10% reduction in average third-party motor insurance claims, according to the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA).
Publishing its annual report on third-party motor damage and injury claims today, the IFoA highlighted that the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment Offenders Act (LASPO) had a significant impact on motor insurance injury claims.
It also found a reduction in the cost of injury claims per claimant from £5,000 to £4,750 - a 5% reduction.
Author of the IFoA report David Brown said the motor insurance industry had already passed on the reduction in costs to consumers.
He noted that in the year to the end of March 2014 there was a 19% reduction in quoted motor insurance premiums.
But, he said: 'We remain uncertain as to what the final impact of these changes will be, as well as that of other legal changes, such as the upcoming whiplash reforms.'
Previous IFoA reports have highlighted discrepancies between reductions in numbers of property-damage claims and increases in numbers of personal injury claims, the high volume of small claims under £20,000 and the strong correlation between hot-spots for claim frequencies and claims management company (CMCs) locations.
The institute and faculty said these observations suggested that a culture of false 'whiplash' claims had developed in the UK.
Today's report highlighted that the number of CMCs reduced by 35% over the last year. Data from the Ministry of Justice's annual claims management regulation report also shows a reduction in Motor Personal Injury claims of 33%, from £354m to £238m.
However, the correlation between CMC locations and claim hot-spots continued, with the highest frequencies seen in London, Liverpool and Manchester.