Whiplash under spotlight as MPs launch second inquiry

Whiplash claims have spiralled to 550,000 a year in Britain, even though road accidents have dropped. Up to £2,500 of every claim goes to lawyers and claims management companies, insurers say. Photograph: Alamy

MPs are launching a new investigation into how to cut the number of whiplash claims, to make car insurance cheaper. The Transport Committee is calling for evidence on how whiplash costs – which add around £90 to every motor premium – can be reduced.

But the committee was criticised for launching its investigation at the same time as a previous government inquiry into whiplash is about to be published.

The Transport Committee called Britain "the whiplash capital of the world" and said it wants to establish what proportion of costs are caused by people faking their injuries – whiplash is notoriously difficult for GPs to diagnose. MPs will also look at the likely impact that clamping down on exaggerated claims would have on people who are genuinely injured.

The number of whiplash claims has spiralled to around 550,000 a year, or 1,500 a day, landing insurers with a compensation bill of £2bn. Insurers argue that much of the money – up to £2,500 for every whiplash claim – is wasted on legal fees and payments to claims management companies.

Britain's whiplash industry is now pushing up the cost of the average motor insurance policy by a staggering 20%, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI). From 2005 to 2010, whiplash claims soared by 70%, even though road traffic accidents fell by 23%.

Louise Ellman, chair of the Transport Committee, said: "It is vitally important for policymakers to understand the reasons for the very high cost of motor insurance, especially for young drivers, and to take steps to bring that cost down. Whiplash claims undoubtedly play a part in driving up the cost of motor insurance, but access to justice for injured people must be preserved."

But Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance, questioned the timing of the Transport Committee's investigation, coming just as a previous government inquiry into whiplash has ended. He said: "It seems odd that it has taken a year to announce this inquiry, at a time when a separate Justice Ministry inquiry appears to have covered similar ground.

"While there is clearly a need to bring the escalating number of often-spurious claims under control, there are steps that could usefully help – for example, fixed rates of compensation and a proportion of claims payment withheld and paid direct for treatment, such as physiotherapy. Similarly, historic claims should reflect the cost of treatment that sufferers have, or should have, undertaken."

The AA favours the system used in Germany and Austria, where collisions below a certain speed (assessed by expert analysis of vehicle damage) are deemed to be too low to result in whiplash injury – around 70% of road accident personal injury claims are for whiplash in the UK, compared with 47% in Germany.

Earlier this week, insurers called for people making a whiplash claim to be forced to undergo medical examinations by independently-appointed experts to cure the UK's "epidemic" of cases. The ABI wants to see all whiplash cases dealt with by medical professionals who have been accredited by a special board in order to curb the flow of claims.

The organisation added that anyone whose whiplash claim turns out to be even partly exaggerated should automatically have their whole case thrown out.

James Dalton, assistant director of motor and liability for the ABI said: "Whiplash has come to mean 'whipcash' for too many people, with all motorists paying the price through higher motor premiums. Our 'have a go' compensation culture makes whiplash the fraud of choice for too many.

"Our proposals to curb the UK's whiplash epidemic will ensure that claimants are independently assessed, compensation paid to genuine claimants more quickly, and deter anyone who thinks that claiming whiplash is free money waiting to be collected."

The Transport Committee will look at whether the government could be taking further action to reduce the cost of car insurance and wants written submissions by 15 April.

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Inquiry slams BBC bosses over Savile

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NEW: BBC Trust: There were serious failings in editorial oversight and management controlReview finds no evidence of cover-up in decision to shelve Jimmy Savile investigationThe BBC's deputy director of news Stephen Mitchell resigns over the matterHundreds of claims of sexual abuse by the late TV star have emerged since October

London (CNN) -- A BBC program's decision to drop an investigation into sex abuse claims against one of its former program hosts doesn't appear to have been a cover-up, a report on the matter said Wednesday, but there were major flaws in the move.

The head of the inquiry, Nick Pollard, said the decision by the show's editor to shelve the story late last year -- taken shortly before the BBC broadcast tribute shows devoted to the late Jimmy Savile -- was seriously flawed.

Read more: Who was Jimmy Savile?

But he had even sterner words for senior BBC News managers, saying leadership "seemed to be in short supply" when revelations about Savile subsequently emerged in October of this year.

"The decision to drop the original investigation was flawed and the way it was taken was wrong, but I believe it was done in good faith. It was not done to protect the Savile tribute programmes or for any improper reason," said Pollard, a former head of Sky News.

Read more: Police probe hospital abuse claims against TV host Jimmy Savile

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The management system was "completely incapable" of dealing with the crisis, he said, and his report "shows that the level of chaos and confusion was even greater than was apparent at the time."

The evidence gathered by the Newsnight journalists last year should have been passed to police, Pollard said.

The then-Newsnight editor who shelved the story, Peter Rippon, "made a bad mistake in not examining the evidence properly," he added.

Pollard said e-mails he studied had also revealed there was "knowledge, not just rumour," within other parts of the BBC "about the unsavoury side of Savile's character" at the time the tribute shows were planned.

Allegations of sexual assault and rape against Savile, who was a household name in Britain for decades, were first aired by rival broadcaster ITV in October. A slew of other claims followed.

Read more: How celebrity child sex scandal has rocked the BBC

Police believe Savile, who died in October of last year at age 84, sexually abused hundreds of young women and girls in past decades, with some offenses committed on BBC premises.

Lord Patten, the chairman of the BBC Trust, which oversees the BBC, said it accepted all the findings and recommendations of the report and would act on them.

The crisis claimed the scalp of BBC Director General George Entwistle, who resigned at the height of the furor over the BBC's handling of the Savile affair. It broke only weeks after he took the top role at the broadcaster.

Acting Director-General Tim Davie said that Stephen Mitchell, deputy director of news, had resigned Wednesday in light of the report. He will not be given a severance package.

Read more: Ex-Scout tells of abuse at hands of TV presenter Jimmy Savile

While critical of BBC management, Pollard told a news conference there was no "fundamental undermining of the BBC's journalism."

He added that he believed an apparent drop in public trust in the broadcaster, revealed in a survey released Monday, would be short-lived.

The BBC Trust said it welcomed the report's finding that no "inappropriate managerial pressure" had been involved in the decision to shelve the Newsnight investigation.

"Nonetheless, it is clear that there were serious failings in editorial oversight and management control that now need to be met with concerted action by the BBC."

As an immediate response, Newsnight will be given a new editorial leadership team.

Changes will also be made in the way stories considered to be "high risk" are managed.

The total cost for the Pollard Review will be close to 2 million pounds ($3.2 million).

It's the first of two major independent inquiries set up by the British public broadcaster after the scandal.

Savile hosted popular BBC children's TV programs, including "Jim'll Fix It" and "Top of the Pops." He was also well-known for his philanthropy, which raised millions of pounds for charity, and he was awarded a knighthood.

Alastair Campbell: Despite its failings and our past clashes, I back BBC

His targets were apparently mostly girls in their midteens in what authorities have described as alleged abuse on an unprecedented scale.

As of last week, police said 450 people had come forward with information relating to Savile, mainly alleging sexual abuse.

Savile is a suspect in 199 crimes, including 31 allegations of rape, London's Metropolitan Police said.

An eighth suspect was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of sexual offenses in connection with a police inquiry into claims against Savile and others, dubbed Operation Yewtree.

The man, who is in his 70s and from London, has not been named.

Photos: The life of Jimmy Savile

The furor over the BBC's handling of the original Newsnight investigation was compounded by its decision to broadcast a Newsnight probe last month into claims of abuse at children's homes in Wales.

That program led to a former senior Conservative politician, Lord McAlpine, being falsely named on Twitter as a child abuser. The BBC apologized and has paid compensation. Other individuals who repeated the libel via Twitter still face legal action.

An internal review of that Newsnight investigation, led by Ken MacQuarrie, reported back last month. It concluded that the program's production was marked by a series of "unacceptable" failures.

The BBC Trust responded separately to the MacQuarrie review Wednesday with a series of damning conclusions.

It said the "broadcast allegations were not based on sound evidence and had not been thoroughly tested," leading the audience to be misled in a "serious failure of BBC journalism."

The resulting false identification of Lord McAlpine was "a grave breach which had been costly to all concerned," the Trust said.

"This was a high-risk report which required rigorous supervision and did not receive it."

A second major inquiry set up to look into the culture and practices of the BBC during the decades Savile worked there is ongoing.

The BBC has also set up a review of its policies and procedures relating to sexual harassment, in light of allegations about past misconduct. It is headed by senior human rights lawyer Dinah Rose.

November 12, 2012 -- Updated 2018 GMT (0418 HKT) Despite regular run-ins with the BBC, Tony Blair's former press secretary says he remains a supporter of the corporation despite its recent troubles. November 13, 2012 -- Updated 1233 GMT (2033 HKT) Journalism is not a perfect science: it is usually done under pressure and in a confusing environment. It is not possible to avoid mistakes.November 11, 2012 -- Updated 1055 GMT (1855 HKT) It was a media label George Entwistle did not like: "Incurious George." He spent 23 years at the BBC, but just 54 days as director general.November 11, 2012 -- Updated 1407 GMT (2207 HKT) George Entwistle, the director general of the BBC stepped down Saturday amid controversy. CNN's Dan Rivers reports.October 23, 2012 -- Updated 1144 GMT (1944 HKT) BBC Director-General George Entwistle is questioned by British lawmakers over sexual abuse allegations against Jimmy Savile and others.October 26, 2012 -- Updated 2013 GMT (0413 HKT) Kevin Cook was nine years old when, he says, he was abused by TV presenter Jimmy Savile after appearing on the star's show, "Jim'll Fix It."October 24, 2012 -- Updated 0537 GMT (1337 HKT) The late BBC TV children's presenter was a national treasure in life, but in death has been accused of being a prolific sex abuser.October 23, 2012 -- Updated 1504 GMT (2304 HKT) CNN's Dan Rivers reports on a child sex abuse scandal that has devastated the legacy of a now-deceased British TV icon.October 28, 2012 -- Updated 1614 GMT (0014 HKT) Howard Kurtz on a damaging sex scandal across the pond and the ripple effects being felt at The New York Times. October 23, 2012 -- Updated 1506 GMT (2306 HKT) The late BBC TV star, now accused of being a prolific sex abuser, was a flamboyant figure -- even in death.October 22, 2012 -- Updated 2055 GMT (0455 HKT) Simon Hooper explains how the BBC is now facing claims of a wider culture of routine sexual harrassment that was allowed to thrive for decades.October 11, 2012 -- Updated 1902 GMT (0302 HKT) UK police have begun an investigation into alleged child abuse by the late TV star Jimmy Savile at two British hospitals.Today's five most popular stories

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BBC Inquiry Blames Rigid Management for Mishandling Sex Abuse Scandal

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The 200-page report by Nick Pollard, a former head of the Sky News channel who began his broadcast career as a BBC reporter, traced in detail what it described as “a chain of events that was to prove disastrous for the BBC.” Among other things, Mr. Pollard blamed a “rigid management system” that had “proved completely incapable of dealing with” the crisis that followed the program’s cancellation.

While much of the report centered on the interplay between journalists and their superiors as the allegations against Mr. Savile were investigated, its central conclusion appeared to be that confusion and mismanagement, not a cover-up, lay at the heart of the decision to drop the Savile program. Mr. Savile died at 84 in October 2011, weeks before the “Newsnight” program was scheduled to be broadcast.

“The efforts to get to the truth behind the Savile story proved beyond the combined efforts of the senior management, legal department, corporate communications team and anyone else for well over a month” after the crisis broke, precipitated by a program earlier this year on ITV, Britain’s leading commercial broadcaster, the report said. “Leadership and organization seemed to be in short supply.”

Mr. Pollard dismissed one theory that was widely circulated in recent months, that BBC News executives or their superiors, reluctant to have the BBC reveal a dark passage in its past, pressured the “Newsnight” team to cancel the Savile segment. Critics who took this views have played down the reason Peter Rippon, the program’s editor, cited to his staff. Mr. Rippon said he considered the team’s conclusions about Mr. Savile had not been adequately substantiated.

“While there clearly were discussions about the Savile story between Mr. Rippon and his managers,” Mr. Pollard said, he did not believe that they had exerted “undue pressure on him.”

The report was strongly critical of several news executives who were directly involved in the decision to cancel the Savile exposé, including Mr. Rippon and the two top executives in the BBC’s news division to whom he reported, Helen Boaden and Stephen Mitchell, all three of whom were suspended from their posts during the nine-week Pollard inquiry.

But it adopted a largely sparing tone in its review of the role played by the broadcaster’s former director general, Mark Thompson, who stepped down after eight years in the job in September and became president and chief executive of The New York Times Company last month.

The report’s criticism appeared to be aimed mainly at the broadcaster’s complex management systems, not on the actions — or absence of them — by Mr. Thompson and other top executives who presided over the BBC, its $6 billion annual budget and its 23,000 employees.

Mr. Thompson has said that he was not briefed about the “Newsnight” investigation before its cancellation, was not involved in canceling it, and did not know about the allegations of sexual abuse against Mr. Savile until the report about the cancellation appeared on ITV, a commercial competitor of the BBC.

The report does not dispute Mr. Thompson’s public statements that he did not know about the Savile investigation until it had been killed.

It cited, without criticism, Mr. Thompson’s account of an episode when he was asked about the “Newsnight” cancellation by a BBC reporter at a social gathering. The report quoted Mr. Thompson as having testified that he subsequently asked BBC News executives about the matter and “received reassurances” that the program had been killed for “editorial or journalistic reasons.” After that, Mr. Thompson said, according to the report, he “crossed it off my list and went off to worry about something else.”

While the scuttled program became the subject of media stories in London beginning in January — some of which, BBC officials have said, were included in press summaries prepared for Mr. Thompson — Mr. Pollard concluded: “Mr. Thompson told me that the various press stories which followed passed him by. I have no reason to doubt what he told me.”

Matthew Purdy contributed reporting from New York.

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Inquiry Into Libya Attack Is Sharply Critical of State Department

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The investigation into the attack on the diplomatic mission and the C.I.A. annex in Benghazi that resulted in the deaths of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans also faulted State Department officials in Washington for ignoring requests from the American Embassy in Tripoli for more guards for the mission and for failing to make sufficient safety upgrades.

The panel also said American intelligence officials had relied too much on specific warnings of imminent attacks, which they did not have in the case of Benghazi, rather than basing assessments more broadly on a deteriorating security environment. By this spring, Benghazi, a hotbed of militant activity in eastern Libya, had experienced a string of assassinations, an attack on a British envoy’s motorcade and the explosion of a bomb outside the American Mission.

Finally, the report blamed two major State Department bureaus — Diplomatic Security and Near Eastern Affairs — for failing to coordinate and plan adequate security. The panel also determined that a number of officials had shown poor leadership, but they were not identified in the unclassified version of the report that was released.

“Systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels within two bureaus,” the report said, resulted in security “that was inadequate for Benghazi and grossly inadequate to deal with the attack that took place.”

The attack in Benghazi and the Obama administration’s explanation of what happened and who was responsible became politically charged issues in the waning weeks of the presidential campaign, and Republicans have continued to demand explanations since then. Susan E. Rice, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, took herself out of consideration for secretary of state after Republican criticism of comments she made in the aftermath of the lethal attack threatened to become a divisive political battle.

The report affirmed there were no protests of an anti-Islamic video before the attack, contrary to what Ms. Rice had said on several Sunday talk shows days after the attack.

While the report focused on the specific attack in Benghazi, the episode cast into broader relief the larger question of how American diplomats and intelligence officers operate in increasingly unstable environments, like those in the Arab Spring countries across North Africa and the Middle East, without increased security.

In response to the panel’s findings, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in a letter to Congress that she was accepting all 29 of the panel’s recommendations, five of which are classified. “To fully honor those we lost, we must better protect those still serving to advance our nation’s vital interests and values overseas,” Mrs. Clinton said in the letter. She is already taking specific steps to correct the problems, according to officials.

They say the State Department is asking permission from Congress to transfer more than $1.3 billion from contingency funds that had been allocated for spending in Iraq. This includes $553 million for hundreds of additional Marine security guards worldwide; $130 million for diplomatic security personnel; and $691 million for improving security at installations abroad.

Noting that the Libyan militias in Benghazi proved unreliable, the report recommended that in the future the United States must be “self-reliant and enterprising.”

In recent weeks, teams of State Department and Pentagon security specialists have been sent to 19 “high threat” diplomatic posts around the world to conduct assessments.

The State Department last month for the first time also appointed a senior official — a deputy assistant secretary of state — to ensure that embassies and consulates in dangerous places get sufficient attention. To that end, the department is revamping deployment procedures to increase the number of experienced and well- trained personnel serving in those posts, and to reduce the high turnover rate that the panel identified as a problem.

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