A study by GoCompare Car Insurance (UK) has found GPs are the most likely to make a claim due to an accident that was their fault, as more than one in every eight GPs has made at least one ‘at-fault’ claim in the past year – more than double the national average across all occupations. Interestingly, 11.6 per cent of these claims involved no injuries, with GPs not actually making the top 20 for claims involving persons injured.

The research shows that overall, health and medical professionals are the most likely to cause a collision on the road. Along with GPs, hospital doctors, surgeons, optometrists and speech therapists feature in the top 10 drivers by occupation, who are most likely to be in a no injuries collision that was their fault.

At the other end of the scale, those least likely to make at-fault claims were barmen/barmaids, pickers, packers, carpet cleaners, despatch drivers and car dealers at just three per cent.

“It may seem ironic that those working in the medical profession are those potentially causing the most accidents, but these are all roles which carry a significant degree of stress and usually long hours, potentially leading to a lack of concentration on the road,” said Matt Oliver, spokesperson for GoCompare Car Insurance.

“Further to this, another reason we could be seeing these occupations in the top 10 is because of where these health professionals are driving. Typically, they will be driving for short periods at peak times in highly built-up areas, increasing the risk of an accident.