News & events

Press Releases

Sort by:

Press Office

For all media enquiries contact Edwards Harvey PR on 01622 604600 or email enquiries@edwardsharvey.com

You are here: Home > News & events > Press Releases > Raising Of Injury Claims Limit Will Be Disastrous, Says Kent Lawyer

Raising Of Injury Claims Limit Will Be Disastrous, Says Kent Lawyer

22 March 2006

A Kent lawyer is urging people to write to their MPs to stop Government proposals to increase the Small Claims Court financial limit for injury and disease claims which, he believes will have disastrous consequences.

Neille Ryan, a personal injury specialist at Furley Page Solicitors, acts for thousands of Kent miners, many of whom suffer from chronic bronchitis. He says that if the proposed limit of £5,000 had been set before the Compensation Scheme was introduced for the miners, then many would fail to receive any recompense.

The current limit is £1,000 and legal costs are not recoverable in the Small Claims Court. Claimants can employ a solicitor, which they have to fund, or represent themselves. Mr Ryan says that raising the limit would result in claimants being up against a major insurer who would have legal representation. “This would create an uneven playing field, with the injured person on the losing side,” he said.

For this reason, Mr Ryan believes that personal injury claims should not be heard in a Small Claims Court and that raising the limit will force more cases to be dealt with at this level. He said: “The legal knowledge required to successfully bring a personal injury claim is much greater than for other types of action such as unpaid debt or allegations of faulty goods. This makes it much more difficult for members of the public, who are not legally trained, to pursue action in a Small Claims Court.

Research carried out for the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers by MORI shows that 64% of adults would not pursue a personal injury claim if they did not have a solicitor, 73% would not be able to work out the value of their claim and 80% would not be confident that they would be offered the correct level of compensation by insurers.

In the case of Kent miners, the successful action against British Coal several years ago allows claims to be processed under a Compensation Scheme. The levels of compensation awarded at Court for chronic bronchitis would almost always be less that £5,000 in a miner’s claim.

Mr Ryan said: “If the small claims limit increased then those chronic bronchitis claims would almost certainly be dealt with in the Small Claims Court where the miners would not be able to recover their costs.

“The original Court cases were incredibly expensive to pursue as the miners were taking on the mite of the Government-backed British Coal Corporation, who admit to spending in excess of £10 million in legal costs trying to defend the claims.

“Therefore, what prospect is there of test cases for many other industry related injuries and diseases being pursued in the future, so as to open the door for future compensation schemes? Large numbers of claimants would be deprived of the opportunity to be properly compensated for their injuries.”

He concluded: “Those sufficiently concerned by this issue should write to their MPs to show the strength of public feeling against this proposal. After all, would you trust an insurance company, against whom you are bringing an injury claim, to help you through the claim process and ensure that they pay you the proper compensation for your injury?”
 

 Send email for more information

‹ Back

Quick contact

Furley Page Solicitors in Kent, London, Canterbury, Chatham & Whitstable
Get in touch on 0845 603 10 57