Damages And Compensation Culture

The focus of the essays in this book is on the relationship between compensation culture, social values and tort damages for personal injuries. A central concern of the public and political perception of personal injuries claims is the high cost of tort claims to society, reflected in insurance premiums, often accompanied by an assumption that tort law and practice is flawed and improperly raising such costs. The aims of this collection are to first clarify the relationship between tort damages for personal injuries and the social values that the law seeks to reflect and to balance, then to critically assess tort reforms, including both proposals for reform and actual implemented reforms, in light of how they advance or hinder those values. Reforms of substantive and procedural law in respect of personal injury damages are analysed, with perspectives from England and Wales, Canada, Australia, Ireland and continental Europe. The essays offer valuable insights to anyone interested in the reform of tort law or the tort process in respect of personal injuries.

This article considers some of the problems, real or imagined, that have given rise to the usually pejorative term 'compensation culture.' In focusing upon personal injury litigation, it looks first at the rate at which claims have increased. What might be the reasons for a greater propensity to sue following certain types of injury? Attention then turns to a topic which has been less often examined: the rising cost of each claim. Why are insurers and Health Authorities, among others, having to pay out more for each successful claim? Overall, the focus is upon the allegation that society has had to bear an increased burden as a result of the rising cost of personal injury litigation.In looking at the propensity to claim, recent developments with regard to the procedures adopted by insurers, claims management companies and claimant law firms are examined to illustrate how these institutions have influenced whether an action is brought. In looking at costs, the article describes the changes in tort damages that have taken place in recent years. Reforms have been made not only of the method by which damages are computed, but also of the form in which damages are paid: periodical payments are now common in cases involving serious injury. Damages for pain and suffering have been raised substantially without appreciating the full policy implications whilst damages for financial loss have had to be revised to match the realities of financial world. These various changes are placed in a wider context which sees the increasing cost of claims as an inevitable result of closer adherence to the principle of restoring the claimant to the financial position that was enjoyed before the injury took place. Following proposals to reinforce that principle still further, it is concluded that there will be concern about compensation culture for some time to come.

The propensity of accident victims in England and Wales to claim compensation through the tort system has generally increased since the 1970s. Contrary to popular belief, however, it has remained relatively stable since 2000, if not since 1997/1998. The upward trend in claims abated, therefore, when no-win no-fee advertising achieved prominence. Whether this long-term increase in our propensity to claim supports the notion that a compensation culture has developed is largely a matter of interpretation. Our understanding of recent trends in our propensity to claim has clearly, however, been distorted through the media. This distorted legal consciousness may not only have affected our views of the tort system but may also have influenced our readiness to use it and thereby contributed to the stabilisation of accident claims in recent years.

The definitive text on personal injury law, now updated to take into account recent significant changes in the law.

Since its first publication, Accidents, Compensation and the Law has been recognised as the leading treatment of the law of personal injuries compensation and the social, political and economic issues surrounding it. The seventh edition of this classic work explores recent momentous changes in personal injury law and practice and puts them into broad perspective. Most significantly, it examines developments affecting the financing and conduct of personal injury claiming: the abolition of legal aid for most personal injury claims; the increasing use of conditional fee agreements and after-the-event insurance; the meteoric rise and impending regulation of the claims management industry. Complaints that Britain is a 'compensation culture' suffering an 'insurance crisis' are investigated. New statistics on tort claims are discussed, providing fresh insights into the evolution of the tort system which, despite recent reforms, remains deeply flawed and ripe for radical reform.

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This chapter examines Britain's “compensation culture,” and the allegation that society has had to bear an increasing burden as a result of the rising number and cost of claims for damages for personal injury. The analysis is divided into two parts: the total number of claims brought each year is discussed first, and this is followed by an assessment of the overall cost of disposing of individual actions. The chapter gathers together information from a variety of academic and practitioner sources to produce a novel and up to date perspective upon the compensation culture debate.Although it is indeed true that claims have increased, they have done so only with regard to specific types of injury. Among the key factors highlighted are the working practices of three institutions which form the bedrock of our claims system: liability insurance companies, claims management organisations and claimant law firms. Criticisms are made here of a “dysfunctional” insurance industry; this is followed by a description of the rise and fall of an even more criticised claims gathering industry; and finally, attention is focused upon the rapidly changing structure of the legal profession involved in personal injury.In considering the rising cost of individual claims the major changes to tort damages awards are summarised. Reforms have been made not only of the method by which compensation is calculated, but also of the form in which the money is to be paid: periodical payments are now common in cases involving serious injury. Damages for pain and suffering have been raised substantially without appreciating the full policy implications, whilst compensation for financial loss has had to be revised to match the realities of the wider financial world. These reforms are placed in a broader context which sees the increasing cost of claims as an inevitable result of closer adherence to the principle of restoring the claimant to the financial position that was enjoyed before the injury took place. One of the conclusions drawn is that the structural factors identified here will continue generate concern about “compensation culture” for some time to come.

While the United States is often called the Land of the Law Suit, in reality Americans hardly sue at all. In fact, when it comes to physical injuries, over 90% of the time, we--as David M. Engel points out in his engaging and provocative book--simply lump it, making no claims against either the injurers or their insurance companies. Bringing to bear an impressive array of research and data, Engel firmly and persuasively demolishes the pervasive myth of the litigious American. But why don t most people sue whey they have been wrongfully physically injured? We have in fact a mystery, what Engel calls The Case of the Missing Plaintiff. The solution his investigation leads us to is as fascinating as it is unexpected. Engel reconstructs how people who suffer injuries actually react to them. When real people experience physical injuries, their lives, thoughts, and emotions are profoundly disrupted and compromised. They often have difficulty thinking clearly and acting decisively. Human nature, our immediate friends and families, and broader social and cultural factors all tend again injury victims making claims. And as often as one might have heard of victim-blaming, self-blame is one of the most common reactions of victims to their injuries. Ultimately Engel shows that the proliferation of law and regulations in our society is not the problem. The real problem is the law s failure to protect those who suffer wrongful injuries. Tort law is usually said to serve three purposes that even those who want to curtail law suits would agree on: to compensate losses suffered by injury victims, to deter unnecessarily risky and harmful behavior, and to correct the moral injustice that results when one person or group injures another. Engel s book clearly and powerfully shows that none of these purposes is being met and concludes his investigation with recommendations for how they might be."