A Downing Street summit tackling the soaring cost of car insurance has been welcomed by Bradford MP David Ward, who has been campaigning for more affordable premiums.

It comes as insurance claims for whiplash in the UK are reaching £2 billion a year, with 1,500 claims being made every day.

The claims add £90 a year to the average car insurance premium, leading to Downing Street branding Britain the “whiplash capital of Europe”.

Ministers were examining calls by the Commons Transport Committee for a higher threshold for claims, using factors such as speed or more extensive medical evidence.

Other issues included the wider use of in-car monitoring of young drivers, reform of the “no win, no fee” system and reducing lawyers’ fees for small personal accident cases.

Mr Cameron said: “I am determined to tackle this damaging compensation culture which has been pushing up premiums.

“I want to stop trivial claims, free up businesses from the stranglehold of health and safety red tape and look at ways we can bring costs down.”

Motorists in Bradford suffered a hike of 17.1 per cent in comprehensive car insurance premiums last year – the biggest percentage increase in the country.

Mr Ward, Liberal Democrat MP for Bradford East, organised a summit into car insurance prices, held in Bradford last year, and investigated why costs were soaring.

It was sparked by complaints from his constituents, one of whom was quoted £26,000 to insure his son’s first car.

He called for a ban on referral fees – a step the Government announced in September it would take – meaning personal injury solicitors will no longer be able to pay for the details of people who have been involved in car accidents Mr Ward said the summit was “great news” for motorists in Bradford.

“We desperately need to get the cost of personal injury claims under control,” he said. “The number of whiplash claims has been going up and up while the number of accidents has been falling for decades. That is clearly the result of fraud – we have allowed Britain to become the whiplash capital of Europe.”

Otto Thoresen, director general of the Association of British Insurers, said: “This is a unique opportunity to highlight to the Prime Minister the unacceptable cost pressures that insurers are facing, and what needs to be done to ensure that the UK’s honest motorists get a better deal.”