Thursday 10 May 2012 by John Hyde

Insurers have suggested they may be willing to accede to solicitors' demands to share information on known fraudsters.

Personal injury lawyers have urged insurers to give them access to records of people who have made false claims. The Association of British Insurers is preparing a new register, to be launched this summer, which will collate all members' fraud records in one place for the first time. The possibility then arises that the register could be more widely distributed, subject to data protection rules.

'We want to work with as many bodies as possible, including lawyers who have an interest in tackling fraud,' said a spokesman for the ABI.

'A project group has been working for 18 months on this register, which will keep details of all known fraudsters. We're looking at the moment how it'll work in terms of sharing.'

Last month the ABI highlighted an increase in numbers of people claiming whiplash injuries as proof whiplash was the 'fraud of choice, often aided and abetted by ambulance-chasing lawyers'.

At its conference last month, the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers called for the industry to share records. APIL president Karl Tonks said: 'It's really frustrating when insurers are so reluctant to share information with us. If they have information that makes them think that a claim is fraudulent then they should tell us.'