Road users are fighting more and more after they have had a collision. On Sunday a woman was beaten in her face in Eindhoven because she was fighting about a claim form. And according to insurance companies that is increasingly happening.
“We see more and more discussion,” says Rembrandt Groenewegen of Das Verzekeringen. He is Jurist Traffic & Injury there. “In the past” people took their loss after a collision. You drew the papers together, disappointed, but did it. Those times have changed.
Insurers see that in their figures. “In 2024, people did not agree with the question of guilt 7500 times. They then start the discussion. That is 500 more than the year before,” says Groenewegen. Then it is about relatively simple head-to-tail collisions, where people still decide to challenge their debt. Either from the beginning, or they come back to their story. “Then the other car suddenly drove backwards.”
“People put less guilt in themselves.”
According to Groenewegen, it all has to do with how society has changed over the years. “People put less guilt in themselves. They buy younger and younger expensive cars, which they do not fully insure. And there is more aggression,” the insurance man explains.
In addition, it is also getting busier on the road and people have less to spend. Life is already incredibly expensive, but according to Groenewegen, other priorities are also set financially. “Young people want a lot these days. And they opt for an expensive car at a young age, but want to pay as little money as possible to good insurance. In the past that was less.”
Instead of saving on the car, they save on how the vehicle is covered. “That doesn’t happen to me, they think. Well, so yes.”
“It gets more and more heated.”
Relatively innocent traffic buns also escalate faster. “It is getting busier on the road and people respond to their frustrations in traffic. It is becoming more and more heated,” says the traffic lawyer. “After a collision, an argument arises and then the stress comes out. So much so that some people kick other people’s mirrors off.”
