Lord Young Finally Admits 'compensation Culture' Is A Perception
Lord Young's report 'Common Sense, Common Safety' has been published indented to
be a review of the operation of health and safety laws and the growth of the alleged personal injury 'compensation culture'. The reforms, in a report by Lord Young, also include a crackdown on personal injury ads and cuts to red tape.
The report has sparked controversy as figures actually indicate that personal injury claims are in fact not on the rise and has been an incorrect assumption by both Government and Lord Young.
The Prime Minister, David Cameron comments in the foreword, "A damaging compensation culture has arisen, if people can absolve themselves from any personal responsibility of their own actions, with the spectre of lawyers only too willing to pounce with a claim for damages on the slightest pretext. We simply cannot go on like this. That's why I asked Lord Young to do this review and put some common sense back into health and safety. And that's exactly what has been done."
However, Lord Young has accepted in his report that it is a "perception" of compensation culture.
His proposals include;
A simpler claims procedure for personal injury claims similar to that for road traffic accidents under 10,000 on a fixed cost basis,
Examining the option of extending the upper limit for road traffic accidents for personal injury claims to 25,000,
Introducing the recommendations in Lord Justice Jackson's review of civil litigation costs,
Restricting the operation of referral agencies and personal injury lawyers and controlling the volume and type of advertising.
The Better Regulation Task Force (BRTF) concluded that the compensation culture was a myth. At the time of the BRTF report, accident claims had been static for four years and had fallen by 9.5% in 2004. Government statistics from the Compensation Recovery Unit (CRU) of the DWP show that employer liability claims have fallen 69% from 2000/01 to 2009/10 - from 219,183 in 2000/1 to 78,744 in 2009/10.
The National Accidents Helpline has also published statistics, surveying 1,600 people about their perception of personal injury claims. Only 6% of those polled felt confident of their legal rights.
Many personal injury solicitors in practice oppose the review by Lord Young commenting that he has missed an opportunity to rebut assumptions that there is a growing compensation culture. Continuing to comment about an alleged growth in compensation claims, simply makes matters worse.
Personal Injury lawyers fight on a daily basis on behalf of seriously injured people, who have the fundamental right in law to pursue a claim. Government and Lord Young fail to consider those that are seriously injured, having their quality of life and financial stability ripped from them immediately after the incident, requiring lifelong care and assistance. Should people find themselves in this unfortunate predicament, as many do, they and their families need to have immediate access to legal assistance so that lawyers can aim to put in place the complex support framework needed, in order to restore a degree of quality of life over time.
Personal Injury lawyers strive on a daily basis to help restore the lives of injured people and gratitude should be given to them. Everyone should be aware that help is out there if you or a relative have been affected by an injury.
If you have been injured as a result of an incident that was not your fault, please contact Hilary Meredith Solicitors on 01625 539922.
by: Olwyn Kinsey
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