Recently, many journalists egged on by the Irish Insurance Federation, have been suggesting that the Government here needs to place a limit on the amounts of awards for whiplash. They claim the number of whiplash claims per 1,000 in Ireland is 5 times higher than elsewhere and that level of compensation for whiplash here are 3 to 10 times higher.
Our colleagues in the UK report that plans are afoot to limit whiplash claims there too. The english Law socxiety reports =
“Plans to up the small claims limit for personal injury to £5000 today came under fire from the Law Society of England and Wales.
‘These proposals will completely undermine the right of ordinary people to receive full and proper compensation from those that have injured them – often seriously – through negligence,’ Law Society president Robert Bourns said.
‘This five-fold increase will stop people getting the legal advice they need in order to bring claims for the compensation they are entitled to in law.
‘People may be tempted to try to bring claims themselves without expert advice. This will clog up the court system, creating a David and Goliath situation where people recovering from their injuries act as litigants in person without legal advice – those defending claims can often afford to pay for legal advice. This undermines ordinary people’s ability to access justice – especially if defendants refuse to accept liability, forcing people to fight through the courts without legal help.
‘Spinning this proposal as an attack on the ‘compensation culture’ and claiming it will reduce premiums is misleading. If you are injured through no fault of your own you should be allowed to claim for that.’
Robert Bourns added: ‘We do, however, support the proposal to prevent claims being settled without medical evidence. This should curtail the practice of some insurers trying to persuade people to settle for less than their claims are worth without evidence of the actual value.'”
