Claimant solicitors have hit out at claims by insurers that consumers get more compensation when they avoid dealing with solicitors.

The Association of British Insurers suggested yesterday that the number of personal injury claims received by insurers leapt by 72% between 2002 and 2010.

In a report repeating its calls for reform of civil litigation costs, the ABI said its research showed that people can get more compensation, typically an extra £289, more quickly if they deal with an insurer rather than a lawyer.

The Law Society slammed the report as ‘self-serving and offensive to victims’, while the Access to Justice Action Group, which objects to costs reforms currently being pushed through by the government, said insurers ‘only have themselves to blame’ for rising legal fees.

The insurance authority has attracted support for its latest call for costs reform from some of the UK’s leading retailers and manufacturers, including Argos, Asda, Ford and Whitbread.

The companies, which collectively employ more than 260,000 people, have formed a ‘consortium for compensation reform’ with other interested parties.

Otto Thoresen, the ABI’s director general, said: ‘Other countries have taken action and we must do the same. Excessive legal costs must be reduced.

'The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill provides a much-needed opportunity to mend our broken compensation system to ensure a better deal for genuine claimants, taxpayers, local authorities, the NHS and businesses alike.’

But AJAG co-ordinator Andrew Dismore said: ‘The ABI says that a claimant doesn’t need a lawyer as their offers are fair and should be accepted, cutting costs.’

Quoting figures from the Personal Injury Bar Association based on 1,349 cases, he added: ‘But 33% of claims need court proceedings to get a satisfactory offer. In 47% of cases, the insurers’ offer was inadequate; and 2% needed a full court judgment to get a fair sum.’

Dismore said the ABI was going into ‘overdrive in its well-financed campaign to blame the public, lawyers and the government for rises in insurance premiums’.

Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson added: ‘The claim that there are 'ambulance-chasing lawyers' manipulating the system is utterly unpersuasive. If this is happening why are the insurers not acting and challenging these cases in the courts? It is nonsense and the ABI should know better.’

The ABI has also re-iterated its call for a ban on referral fees, despite many leading insurers admitting to profiting from the practice.