In November, the Government announced planned reforms to personal injury law which would see claims with an injury value of up to £5,000.00 being handled in the Small Claims Court. The thinking behind this is that it will reduce insurance premiums for consumers. This is something that is heavily supported by the insurance lobby, who will no longer have to pay Solicitors’ fees on top of damages paid to injured people who successfully claim in the small claims court.
The reality, of course, is that people are unlikely to bring claims themselves, as they will be fearful of the process and lack the knowledge to bring a claim in the County Court. Injured people, who have suffered through no fault of their own will be denied redress and powerful insurers will make greater profits still.
People need representation. Justice is about a level playing field between parties and Solicitors play a vital role in levelling that playing field. Insurers are huge organisations with huge resources. I regularly deal with claims where liability is denied by insurers and, once Court proceedings are issued, the insurer backs down and pays compensation. Without a Solicitor advising them to start Court proceedings, and often, bearing the cost of paying for medical notes, expert reports and Court fees, how many ordinary people would go to Court? My guess is hardly any.
This week I have dealt with a claim where the insurer’s bad behaviour has been highlighted. A gentleman was injured at work when a large basket fell on him, knocking him unconscious and causing him bad headaches and concussion. He had been told by his supervisor to unstack a very high pile of baskets without any assistance. He had to take three weeks off work, for which he was unpaid.
I submitted a claim to the insurer who denied liability, saying that the accident was the fault of my client. I wrote back asking the insurer to nominate Solicitors so that we could start Court proceedings and within a week, the insurer had made an offer of settlement. This offer was made on what is known as a pre-medical basis, that is, without any medical evidence or an expert report.
If insurers were so keen on reducing fraud, then stopping the practice of making pre-medical offers, would be a good start.
I could give numerous more examples of this type of behaviour from insurers, whose sole aim is to pay as little as possible and, thereby increase profits. My colleague, Jonathan has also blogged about similar examples.
The point here is that, if we don’t stick up for the Davids, the Goliaths will almost always win, to the detriment of society and to the concept of justice for all.
We are proud to support the Access to Justice Campaign which is fighting against the proposed PI reforms. To find out more about this, visit: www.accesstojusticeactiongroup.co.uk.
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