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TOO MANY VICTIMS PUT OFF PURSUING PERSONAL INJURY CLAIMS
05 March 2008
• Time And Expense Still Perceived As Barriers To Justice
• Almost Half The People In The South East Believe Claimants Are Money-Grabbers
New research, released today, has highlighted perceived barriers to justice which are almost certainly preventing personal injury victims proceeding with valid compensation claims.
Leading law firm, Russell Jones and Walker, commissioned independent research to gain insight on the UK’s attitudes to personal injury compensation claims. The results show that huge swathes of the country (63 per cent) believe progressing a claim is too time consuming and expensive.
Difficulty in sourcing good legal advice (56 per cent) and the emotional cost of pursuing a claim (35 per cent) are cited as further reasons not to proceed, with a majority also viewing claimants as money-grabbers – an attitude which legal experts believe puts people off making a claim for fear of being labelled or ridiculed.
Russell Jones and Walker is now calling for law firms and claims management companies to become clearer in communicating the procedures involved in pursuing a claim as part of a wider campaign to educate the public on the wider benefits of taking legal action.
The research, conducted by The Leadership Factor, asked respondents under what circumstances they would embark on legal action and what factors would prevent them from doing so.
A staggering 81 per cent of those surveyed believe the UK is heading into the grip of a USA-style claim culture and the majority of respondents agreed that they would consider taking legal action if their health was seriously damaged or affected long term. In those circumstances 86 per cent would sue their employer; 90 per cent would sue a doctor, hospital or local council; and 86 per cent would sue a school, college or university if their child’s health was seriously affected.
Despite those figures, attitudes towards claimants are unsympathetic, with 53 per cent of respondents believing claimants are financially motivated rather than unfortunate victims – a figure that drops to 48 per cent in the South East. And nationally 63 per cent feel that time and expense are a significant barrier to bringing a case which, according to Paul Kitson, partner and Head of Personal Injury at Russell Jones and Walker in London, is where the problem lies.
“Access to justice is a basic human right, but unfortunately in recent years compensation claims for personal injury have come to be regarded as something of a cash cow. This negativity towards claimants has created a significant barrier to justice and is no doubt resulting in many people not seeking recompense when it is fully deserved” says Paul Kitson.
“A huge amount of money has been spent over the last decade on trying to communicate the process of making a claim when you have been involved in an incident. There is clearly some way to go, not only in educating the public on the process – which shouldn’t be time consuming or expensive – but also in changing third party opinion of those who do claim. What many people fail to understand is exactly why these cases are so important to the individuals involved. The compensation awarded is rarely just a financial bonus – it has to take into account the associated costs of rehabilitation, of physical changes to property for instance, the loss of future earnings and sometimes psychological trauma that can blight victims’ lives for many years, if not permanently.
“These elements of personal injury law are often only highlighted in the most prominent cases – such as the recent Lesley Ash case which took into account her potentially permanent and life changing injuries, as well as significant loss of earnings.”
Paul Kitson continues: “As a profession it is up to us to enable victims to have access to responsible representation in order that their rights and way of life are suitably protected.
“These cases can take time but by taking advice from a reputable law firm in the first instance – and establishing the strengths of the case – the impact can be minimised.”
The research surveyed over 1,000 UK adults by The Leadership Factor and took place in December 2007. YourSayPays is a research panel operated by The Leadership Factor, the UK’s leading source of customer satisfaction data.