The UK accident industry is reputedly worth more than £3bn a year and is plagued by unscrupulous operators and even organised crime gangs. Concerned about the growing "compensation culture" and the knock-on effect of rising insurance premiums for everybody, the Government has recently announced that personal injury referral fees will be banned. To help genuine motor accident and injury victims, a smartphone app called iAccident® has launched today which enables claimants at the scene of an accident to immediately capture the key information they need both to validate their own legitimate claims and guard against fraudsters.

Built by the award-winning mobile marketing specialist, 2ergo, and free for consumers to download and use, the iAccident app has been built to be as user-friendly as possible. The app incorporates GPS functionality so that accident data is recorded accurately. Crucially, all images are time and geo-location stamped. Reports are submitted directly to the iAccident database in an encrypted format.

Designed to be useful to any motorist, iAccident® is compatible with systems used by all insurance companies. Consumers simply submit their reports online directly from their smartphone. They can then choose between having their report forwarded to their own insurer or solicitor (who may be asked for an administrative charge of £25 plus VAT) or have iAccident deal with it on their behalf. iAccident® users can contact experienced UK-based call centre staff for immediate assistance at any time.

Roland Maguire, director of iAccident®, comments: "The UK's 'compensation culture' has been characterised by insurance companies selling on personal injury claims to lawyers, consumers being encouraged to claim for non existent injuries*, as a result, insurance premiums are increasing exponentially, UK-wide. While the Government's proposed ban on referral fees for personal injury claims is a step in the right direction, it only addresses part of the overall problem."

He adds: "iAccident is designed to put consumers in direct control of their claims and to undermine unscrupulous operators and put them out of business. We believe that, if enough consumers use iAccident, we can start controlling insurance costs. In time, we would like to see insurance companies respond by decreasing the cost of premiums."

John Stevens, group managing director of 2ergo, comments: "Accidents are obviously stressful for motorists. People are expected to remember and share important details about the incident, while they are in a vulnerable state. Insurance companies often find that key details are taken down incorrectly or omitted altogether. Consumers can now use a free app that make a real difference. If they keep iAccident on their smartphones** in case they're involved in an unfortunate event, it could make all the difference to how their genuine claim proceeds."