The Motor Accident Insurance Commission (MAIC) has recently published stats on the impact of the claim farming reforms which commenced in December 2019.
A copy of the nine-month results can be found here.
The data indicates that the reforms have had a positive impact on the practice, with a decrease in reports on car crash scamming activities with 1319 reports in 2019 and 263 reports in 2020 as at 31 August.
MAIC General Manager David Vincent said that prior to the introduction of the car crash scammer legislation, it was reported that more than 1.5 million Queenslanders had been targeted by claim farmers, including vulnerable Queenslanders who were susceptible to the aggressive tactics employed by scammers.
“Preserving the integrity of Queensland’s CTP insurance scheme and protecting Queenslanders from aggressive phone calls and privacy breaches is at the heart of our legislation,” Mr Vincent said. “Through our ongoing collaboration and support from key partners including legal firms, we are now seeing fewer complaints of car crash scams.”
Members would be aware that the legislation also strengthened the functions and powers of MAIC to investigate and prosecute those who engage in claim farming activity.
Investigation numbers as at 19 August 2020 were at 35 since commencement of the reforms, with 24 of these active.
QLS President Luke Murphy has said that law firms were a good source of information for the commission in stamping out the practice.
“By letting MAIC know who claims farmers are, we bring them out of the shadows and protect our clients and the community,” Mr Murphy said.
Car crash scammers can be reported via the MAIC website maic.qld.gov.au/hangup/ .
For more information about the recent data, visit the MAIC website here.
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