Ministers are set to investigate how whiplash claims are inflating the cost of car insurance in an effort to discover if premiums could be reduced.
The Commons Transport Committee is concerned by increasingly common descriptions of the UK as the “whiplash capital of the world” and wants to find out how much claims are being raised by as a result of fake or exaggerated injuries.
MPs are attempting to see if a crackdown on those without just cause to claim would detrimentally affect people who have genuinely been injured.
Earlier this week, several insurance firms suggested those who say they are suffering from whiplash should be made to undergo independent medical examinations.
According to ministers, something needs to be done to deal with the 60 per cent rise in personal injuries reported as a result of road traffic incidents in the last seven years.
The number of car insurance claims has also risen in recent years despite improvements in vehicle safety and a significant reduction in the number of accidents recorded.
Louise Ellman, chair of the committee, said: “It is vitally important for policymakers to understand the reasons for the very high cost of motor insurance.”