THE STIGMA OF THE SUPPOSED ACCIDENT COMPENSATION CULTURE

A recent study indicates that unless their long term health is affected, people are reluctant to pursue legitimate claims for personal injury compensation for fear of being labelled “money grabbers”.

Of the people taking part in the survey, 81% felt that the country is in the grip of a US style claims culture, with 53% suggesting that claimants are purely financially motivated.  However, those same people said they would claim injury compensation following an accident if their future health and earning capacity was likely to be affected.  It seems that the more serious the consequences of an accident, the less reluctance there is to make a personal injury claim.

It also appears that those who have not been injured in an accident are more critical of people who pursue claims.  They may overlook that to a claimant earning the minimum wage even modest compensation of say £2,000 can dramatically improve their financial situation, whereas to someone with an annual salary of say £30,000 such a claim may not be worth the bother.

COMMENT:-

All commentators, including the Government, accept that there is no claims culture in the UK.  It is a myth promoted by insurance companies, with the likely aim of increasing their profits by dissuading genuine claimants from making injury compensation claims.  Their strategy may be working; as statistics show that fewer claims are made now than was the position 10 years ago.

It should be remembered that access to justice is a basic human right.  If someone has been injured because of another party’s negligence, they have a legal right to claim accident compensation for their injuries and resulting financial losses, eg lost income from incapacity to work.  No one should be made to feel uncomfortable in asserting their legal rights.

PERSONAL INJURY CLAIM SOLICITORS:-

If you have been injured in any type of accident, whether on the road, at work or elsewhere, contact personal injury specialists Hinchliffes Solicitors for immediate legal advice, to find out if you are entitled to make claims for injury compensation.  All cases are dealt with on a No Win - No Fee basis and successful Clients keep 100% of the compensation recovered.

Call now on 0800 138 1348 to speak direct to a personal injury lawyer or go to our Start Your Claim Now page to submit details of your personal injury claim online.

Tags: accident, claim, claims, compensation, injury, personal, solicitors

This entry was posted on Friday, April 25th, 2008 at 9:54 am and is filed under ALL NEWS ITEMS, Claims regulation.