There is an ongoing debate about whether we live in a 'compensation culture'. The multitude of adverts on TV and radio reminding people they might be able to make a claim, along with the unsolicited phone calls and text messages many people receive, would suggest that there is some truth to the notion that the legal profession is being taken over by so-called 'ambulance chasers'. But, as anyone who has been seriously hurt in an accident that wasn't their fault will tell you, compensation can make a real difference, and it also provides an important means of holding those at fault to account.
Even though our roads are getting safer, injury claims relating to traffic accidents went up by 18% last year. And even though medicine is getting more advanced, and our hospitals getting cleaner, the amount of compensation paid out by the NHS rose to a massive 1.325 billion last year.
Last year, the NHS Litigation Authority estimates it paid out 1.325 billion in compensation to victims of negligence, many of whom pursued their claims on a no win, no fee basis. As a result, lawyers raked in over 230 million in fees.
Against this background, the government has declared something of a war on the personal injury claims industry, epitomised by its promise to get rid of the no win, no fee (or conditional fee agreement) system next year. The objective, we are told, is to stop people making claims unnecessarily, and reduce the cost to the taxpayer by reducing the bill for public sector organisations like the NHS.
Unfortunately, however, the byproduct of this will be that people who don't have the financial means to fund a claim (that they have no guarantee will succeed) will not be able to go to court at all. That means that the most vulnerable members of society won't have the same access to justice in personal injury cases as those with a higher income, undermining the democratic principles on which our judicial system is supposed to be founded. It remains to be seen exactly how this change to the law will play out, but anyone interested in standing up for their rights would be well-advised to keep following this story.
Even though our roads are getting safer, injury claims relating to traffic accidents went up by 18% last year. And even though medicine is getting more advanced, and our hospitals getting cleaner, the amount of compensation paid out by the NHS rose to a massive 1.325 billion last year.
Last year, the NHS Litigation Authority estimates it paid out 1.325 billion in compensation to victims of negligence, many of whom pursued their claims on a no win, no fee basis. As a result, lawyers raked in over 230 million in fees.
Against this background, the government has declared something of a war on the personal injury claims industry, epitomised by its promise to get rid of the no win, no fee (or conditional fee agreement) system next year. The objective, we are told, is to stop people making claims unnecessarily, and reduce the cost to the taxpayer by reducing the bill for public sector organisations like the NHS.
Unfortunately, however, the byproduct of this will be that people who don't have the financial means to fund a claim (that they have no guarantee will succeed) will not be able to go to court at all. That means that the most vulnerable members of society won't have the same access to justice in personal injury cases as those with a higher income, undermining the democratic principles on which our judicial system is supposed to be founded. It remains to be seen exactly how this change to the law will play out, but anyone interested in standing up for their rights would be well-advised to keep following this story.
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