AIG - the world's biggest insurer is urging Ireland to consider banning whiplash claims which are out of kilter with the rest of Europe.

In an interview with the Irish Times, AIG general manager Declan O'Rourke, says banning whiplash awards here could flush out fraudulent claims and in tern help curb our increasing motor insurance costs.

The average award in France and Germany is between 2-to-3-thousand euro but the average here is around 15-thousand-euro.

Premiums have jumped by more than 30 per cent in the first 2 months of this year.

I've been speaking to Kevin Thompson - CEO of the Irish Insurance Federation - who began by telling me how expensive a whiplash claim is here: