Posted: Monday, 28 December 2015
Although the headlines surrounding this year's Autumn Statement were dominated by the decision to scrap tax credit cuts, there were plenty of other announcements that could have a dramatic impact on the cost of motoring too. So, in case you missed it, here are the most important bits.
Arguably the biggest announcement by George Osborne was that the Government plans to end the right for cash compensation, which will make it harder for people to be rewarded for fraudulent whiplash claims.
Along with saving the insurance industry more than £1 billion, the Chancellor also "expects" insurers to pass on savings of up to £50 per policy to consumers once the changes come into force from April 2017.
Although recent research by the AA found that 11 per cent of motorists "saw nothing wrong in claiming for an injury following a collision caused by someone else, even if no injury was suffered," the industry warmly welcomed this decision.
"This is a significant breakthrough in tackling the compensation culture and is good news for motorists," said Huw Evans, the director general of the Association of British Insurers.
According to research by The Telegraph, at least 40,000 drivers claimed compensation from councils for damaged caused by potholes in 2013. Also, more than 3,400 cyclists have been seriously injured or killed in the past 12 months on UK roads, with potholes often blamed for accidents.
As a result, Mr Osborne has unveiled an additional £250 million of funding over the next five years to fill in problematic potholes. Even so, RAC chief engineer David Bizley warned that this money is "no more than a drop in the ocean."
He said: "The Government's own estimated backlog for repairing local roads is up to £8.6 billion, which shows the scale of the funding shortage."
In addition to saving money, the Chancellor said "slower than expected" progress for European Union emissions tests was also a contributing factor. Tax experts warned that this would increase the burden of providing cleaner company cars on employers too.