Keeping you up to date with the latest developments in this fast moving world
APIL President calls for insurance industry focus on safety In his inaugural speech as president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), Sir Allan Gore QC called for the government and the insurance industry to focus on moving towards a true safety culture in our society. "Insurers are well placed to help achieve this by educating those they insure" he said. He suggested that the insurers "punish those who don't get the message by hitting them where it hurts most - in the pocket through higher premiums." Removal of 'Access to Justice' for Personal Injury Claims Mellor Small have been involved in discussions with Government Ministers and MP's over the Government's recommendation to increase the higher level of small claims. The office of the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, Lord Falconer, and the Under Secretary of State, David Lammy MP, recently responded over Mellor Small's concerns about removing 'Access to Justice' for millions of people across the UK who, if the recommendations are accepted, would no longer be able to afford a Solicitor to represent them in Personal Injury claims. One of the most important legal reviews in recent history was published in December 2004. Sir David Clementi's report of 'The Review of the Regulatory Framework for Legal Services in England and Wales', made a number of recommendations to the Government regarding the framework of the legal profession. Perhaps the most far-reaching recommendation made in the report is that the limit at which a claim is classified as a 'small claim' should be raised from £1000 to £5000. This would mean that any personal injury claim expected to be worth under £5000 in damages, would have to be dealt with in the 'Small Claims Court' and not a 'County Court', where all civil claims are currently dealt with. The principle problem with this, is that a solicitor cannot recover legal costs from the defendant of a 'small claim', even when the solicitor wins the case. As a consequence, any Claimants wanting a solicitor to represent him on these 'small claims' would have no choice but to agree to pay the Solicitor out of his own pocket, in effect, out of his damages, which could cost him perhaps up to 50% of the value of the compensation he was awarded. The only other option would be for the Claimant to stand up in Court and represent himself, which would be enough to put off the vast majority of potential Claimants. Whilst it would not affect the higher value claims being dealt with by a solicitor, it should be noted that the vast majority of all slips and trips claims and road traffic accidents claims, are currently awarded damages of below £5000 and would fall into the new category. This is effectively flying in the face of the Government's principle of 'Access to Justice' and specifically targets those on the lowest incomes, many of whom have already had to stop working as a result of their accident. Some people will suffer serious hardship due to this reform, which is being heavily lobbied for by the insurance industry. It should be noted that Sir David Clementi is the retired Chairman of the Prudential Insurance Group plc. Mellor Small would urge you to write to your MP about this recommendation and make them aware of its implications. You can find out the name and address of your MP by searching the House of Commons MP's directory at: http://www.parliament.uk/directories/hciolists/alcm.cfm Insurance firms raising the stakes (and premiums)? In light of the insurance industry's push for the small claims limit to be raised to £5000, a move which will deter ordinary, small claims from being made, to the benefit of the insurance industry, another reform of the Clementi report is being fought over by 2 parts of the same insurance group. For some time, Aviva, owners of Norwich Union, have supported and lobbied for the raising of the limit to £5000, yet are now being criticised by the RAC, the latest acquisition of the Aviva group. Jonathan Gulliford, the RAC's head of legal services, told the Law Society that Norwich Union's main legal spokesman, "is going to have to change his mind" over increasing the limit, as raising it would be incompatible with access to justice, as underlined by the European Court of Human Rights. Link between safety at work and productivity The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work has published a paper which reports on the link between occupational health and safety and a company's productivity. The report, 'Quality of the Working Environmental and Productivity', concludes that there is a strong link between the two and that the higher the health and safety standards, the higher the productivity. In some cases, the Agency says, a good safety record can even be used to predict future profitability. Unbelted passengers are a danger A report released this month shows that an unbelted passenger in a vehicle which is involved in a collision will increase the risk of injury or death to other, belted occupants by 90%. These results confirm the suggestion that unbelted occupants become projectiles within a vehicle on collision, and in doing so injure their belted co-passengers. Latest Rail statistics The Health & safety Executive (HSE), the body that investigates and reports on Accidents at Work, has published its latest figures on the number of 'signals passed at red' (SPAD's) by trains. Happily, the number has declined in comparison with same period from the previous year. The statistics show a history of all SPAD's on the Network Rail controlled rail system, the severity of SPAD's since 1997 and the breakdown of SPAD's by severity categories. The report can be seen at www.hse.gov.uk/railways/spad/dec04.pdf
Workers families now at risk from pleural plaques In a landmark ruling in the High Court in March 2004, , Mr Justice Morland found against the ship builders, 'Harland & Wolff', and awarded £82,000 damages to Mrs Teresa Maguire, who later died in May 2004 of mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs, caused by exposure to asbestos dust. On 26th January 2005, the Court of Appeal overturned that decision, as 2 of the 3 appeal judges found that Harland & Wolff did not appreciate that they were putting Mrs Maguire's health at risk. What is so different about this case is that Mrs Maguire did not work at the shipyard and instead was exposed to the asbestos dust through shaking out the overalls of her husband, James, who worked there for 4 years in the 1960's, after he came home every evening. The initial findings of Mr Justice Morland were that it should have been "obvious" to Harland & Wolff that by letting Mr Maguire return home in dust-laden overalls; they were putting Mrs Maguire's life at risk. The overturning of this decision raises problems for the family members of exposed workers, and who have themselves gone on to develop mesothelioma as a result of secondary exposure to asbestos dust. Soon there will be 3000 new cases of mesothelioma every year, a substantial number of which involve secondary exposure.
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