According to research by the online comparison website Go Compare, some 6% of UK motorists – more than 1.7 million drivers – would consider making a claim for personal injury damages after a road traffic accident, even if they knew they had not been injured.

In these tough economic times, it appears that a large number of UK drivers would consider breaking the law in order to take advantage of the situation and be potentially receive a cash sum in compensation.

However, lawmakers can be reassured that two-thirds of those questioned also stated the belief that drivers making claims for minor injuries were unnecessarily pushing up the cost of car insurance for all drivers.

According to the research, some two-thirds of respondents believe it is acceptable for people to try for compensation, particularly if they have been seriously injured which has had a detrimental effect on their lives or ability to work.

The most worrying statistic to come from the research was the 4% of individuals who believed that people should do whatever it took to get money out of insurers as part of a compensation claim.

Fraudulent insurance claims in the UK in 2012 were in excess of £1billion.