In this issue Steven Hinchliffe of the professional drivers’ “go to” Personal Injury specialists Hinchliffes Solicitors considers “THE GOVERNMENT’S PLAN TO MAKE Personal Injury Claims A THING OF THE PAST”

In issue 382 of Truckstop News I read with dismay the attack by Labour MP Rob Flello on ordinary people who make road accident related Personal Injury claims.  Rightly, he does not dispute legitimate claims but he, like so many MPs of all political leanings, has been misled by the insurance industry giving the impression that the majority of such claims are false.

Let us be clear, insurance companies wish to reduce the number of Personal Injury claims of all types, thereby increasing their profits.  It is all about the bottom line and shareholder satisfaction.  I am certainly not against making a profit, but insurers have not passed on the estimated £1 Billion legal costs savings they have made following the implementation of Government reforms over recent years, so why should anyone believe they will reduce car insurance premiums by £40 to £50 if the new proposed changes go ahead?  They are very unlikely to do so and everyone will have been duped again.  Insurers are already indicating that the effect of the claims for last winter’s flood damage and increases in Insurance Premium Tax may put on hold any proposed premium reductions.

What are the Government’s current plans?  They intend to increase the Small Claims Limit for injury compensation from £1,000 to £5,000 and drastically reduce the awards for soft tissue injuries suffered in road accidents (commonly known as whiplash) to almost nominal levels.  At the moment you can instruct a solicitor to act for you in any accident claim and as long as the value of your injury is £1,000 or more, if the case is successful the solicitor can recover part of your legal costs (including fees for medical reports, etc) from your opponent’s insurers.  In future, the value of your injuries will have to be worth £5,000 or more for this to happen.

Statistics suggest about 80% of injuries resulting from road accidents are worth less than £5,000, therefore the majority of injured people will not be compensated.

You might have needed time off work because of your road accident and lost wages and incurred other expenses (eg for physiotherapy) with your total losses being say £3,000.  If your injury is valued at £4,000, making the total claim worth £7,000, you might think this puts you above the Government’s limit and you could recover part of your legal costs from your opponent’s insurers as now.  However, the mere fact that the compensation for your injury is valued at less than £5,000 rules this out.

That is not all.  The Government is actively considering stopping claimants from being able to recover the expenses associated with the claim (eg fees for medical reports) that can run into hundreds of pounds.  The intention seems to be to put an end to people making Personal Injury compensation claims except in the most severe cases.  Insurance industry chiefs and Government spokespeople suggest that because these claims are simple injured people can make them themselves.  However, Personal Injury claims at any level require complicated procedures to be followed and it is likely that injured people will simply not be able to pursue their claim.

The Government (and politicians generally) have been lapping up the insurance industry mantra that the country is gripped by a compensation culture, despite many independent reports going back 10 years or more showing this not to be the case.  Insurance industry reports estimate the annual cost of fraud runs into billions of pounds, but will not confirm how they calculate or justify their figures.  The fact of the matter is that the number of whiplash claims is falling and there is very little real evidence of fraudulent claims.

Be in no doubt that fraud in Personal Injury claims will not be tolerated, but the proposed reforms appear disproportionate to the perceived problem.  The current levels of compensation for injuries, from the very minor to the most severe, have been established by Judges over decades and an arbitrary reduction is not warranted.

Strangely, in these days of tight budgetary controls the Government appears willing to lose payments to the Treasury estimated at over £1 Billion a year, as neither NHS treatment costs following accidents or certain State Benefits paid to injured people will be recovered from opponents’ insurers.  There will also be a drop in Insurance Premium Tax recovered as accident related legal expenses insurance policies will not be taken out.  It is also estimated that around 80,000 people will lose their jobs, including solicitors and support staff, insurance company employees and medical agency staff.  While these people try and find new employment many will become reliant upon State Benefits.

The Court system is already reaching breaking point and the proposed changes will just add to the situation as those people who do try to pursue their own accident claim will undoubtedly need to look to the Court staff and Judges for help.

Some reform of the current processes are needed, and solicitors acting for the injured victims of accidents have always shown willing to discuss reasonable proposals.  Therefore let us have a sensible discussion based on real facts and the needs and rights of the public.

Steven Hinchliffe, solicitor and Principal of Hinchliffes Solicitors

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PERSONAL INJURY CLAIM SOLICITORS:-

If you have suffered any form of accident or contracted an industrial disease contact personal injury claims specialists Hinchliffes Solicitors for immediate legal advice, to find out if you are entitled to make a claim for personal injury compensation.  All cases are conducted on a No Win No Fee and No Risk basis.

Call now on 01684 580900 to speak direct to one of our specialist claims lawyers or go to our Start Your Claim  page to submit details of your accident compensation claim online.

If you would like to know what your injury claim may be worth, please go to our Value Your Injury page.

Confused by the claims process?  Please look at our extensive Information Library.

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