Tory Leader?s pledge may hurt people most in need of making compensation claims
Conservative leader David Cameron has made the headlines by declaring he will crack down on a ‘compensation culture’ that he believes is gripping the nation.
The man who is the hot favourite to become the UK’s next Prime Minister warned the public in a speech that everyday life involves an element of risk. He also said that ‘common sense’ needs to be brought back to the rules of claiming compensation.
One cannot be blamed for agreeing with aspects of his argument. It’s regularly suggested that the UK is quickly joining its allies in the US in becoming a blame culture – suing everyone and anything when things don’t go our way. Plus, it’s probably more likely now that you’ll see a soap-star persuading you to claim for compensation during Saturday night’s commercials than it is to be told about the latest frozen-fish deal from Iceland.
However, Mr Cameron’s ideas will undoubtedly be opposed by the hundreds of thousands of people of injured people and their families, whose lives have been torn apart after accidents that weren’t their fault.
‘Compensation Culture’ headlines are frequently tossed around by the sensationalist broadcast and print media, who will generally say or write anything to stir up public opinion and anger without first considering all of the facts.
Because, maybe surprisingly, despite a rise in the number of high-profile television adverts telling you to claim for your injuries, statistics show that the numbers of people actually claiming has reduced in recent years.
In 1998, county court claims for compensation in the UK stood at 2,245,324. Ten years later, this figure had dropped to 2,157,000. When you consider that a no win no fee agreement was a relatively innovative concept back in the late 90’s, and did not really take off until the turn of the decade, this figure would surprise even the greatest of sceptics.
In fact, further statistics show that the actual numbers of claims for compensation has remained relatively stable since the introduction of such agreements, which gave people the opportunity to claim for their injuries without suffering any financial burden.
David Cameron’s argument that the compensation claims industry has caused a generation of ‘ambulance chasing’ personal injury lawyers and claims management companies is one that is slightly outdated. In 2007 all such methods for finding potential clients were put to a stop when claims management businesses were forced to undergo a tough Ministry of Justice Regulation process. Now, all respectable organisations that deal with personal injury cases are required to be listed on the Ministry of Justice website, with their own unique regulatory number to identify them.
When the Tory leader said that accidents do happen, he’s right. Many accidents happen in the UK everyday. Sometimes the fault lies with the person who is injured. But many times accidents are unavoidable events. Consider this; if a person driving safely, within the speed limit is hit head-on by a speeding, drunk motorist and is subsequently disabled for life; are they not entitled to claim? If faulty scaffolding collapses beneath the feet of a builder, making him paralysed meaning he can no longer work when he has a family to feed; are they not entitled to claim? Only the most heartless of people would not agree.
The practices of respected claims companies and personal injury lawyers are fair and follow stringent guidelines. People who hurt themselves through their own reckless acts cannot be compensated. Compensation is designed for those who need care and treatment because of the injuries they suffered through the fault of another person.
Those who believe there is a ‘compensation culture’ in the UK only do because of the increase of assistance that is available to those injured in accidents. Along with the increase of companies that deal in this industry, the media also like to report on accident cases; particularly and most recently if it involves the NHS and medical negligence. The increased debate among the sceptics leads to a belief that those injured in some way do not deserve the money they are receiving. Finally, the financial amounts awarded to victims now are higher than they ever have been. However, with inflation and the price of living increasing year on year, the amounts must take into account all potential future financial difficulties the victims and/or their families will encounter as a result of the accident they have gone through.
No one can deny that Health and Safety rules are tight, and they have been tightening continuously over the last few years. But rules are there for a reason, and if they were followed, like most other laws of the land are then there would be no argument against people making compensation claims.
Claiming for compensation if you are injured is a right, and therefore should remain that way.
Injuries Direct has been helping innocent victims make compensation claims for their injuries since 1998. While many companies have been and gone over the last decade, Injuries Direct has continued to go from strength to strength by delivering a quality personal injury compensation service to its customers.
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