The prime minister David Cameron has pledged to work with the car insurance industry in order to tackle the compensation culture that is growing among certain members of society.

Speaking at a meeting in Downing Street attended by insurance, consumer and business groups, Mr Cameron stated that he is looking to put an end to “trivial claims”, such as whiplash compensation.

Whiplash claims alone cost the industry £2 billion a year, he explained, which adds around £90 to the average car insurance bill for drivers. To tackle this, he proposed introducing a minimum speed below which whiplash claims would be rejected in a bid to reduce the 1,500 claims a day made for even minor incidents.

Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance, conceded that such claims were contributing to rising premium costs: “I believe that the insurance industry is committed to keeping premiums as competitive as possible: but as the gap between premium income and claims payments has widened because of soaring fraud and personal injury claim costs, premiums have had to rise for everyone.”

Mr Douglas added that a “claims culture” has developed in the UK to the extent that it is now accepted to make an injury claim whenever another vehicle impacts the driver's car, regardless of how serious the injury is. He concluded that the government is right to tackle this issue.