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date: 21 March 2006

embargo: 00.01hrs Thursday 23 March 2006

TUC proposals to reform personal injury claims

The TUC has today (Thursday) published its proposals for the future of damages for personal injury claims following a series of criticisms of the current compensation process.

The TUC report, 'Personal Injury Claims: Proposals for Change', says that the current system is working well by and large and that most of the criticisms have been from those who are attempting to reduce the ability of injured or ill workers to claim against negligent employers.

The report also shows that trade unions provide the most effective support for workers, winning over £300 million every year at no cost to members or their families. Unfortunately, because insurers often drag their heels and fail to admit liability until just before a case goes to court, claims often take years to settle. This then drives up costs and delays workers getting compensation.

'Personal Injury Claims: Proposals for Change' says that every year over 850,000 people are made ill or injured as a result of their jobs, forcing 25,000 of them to give up work permanently. Despite claims that the UK is in the grips of a frenzied compensation culture, only around 10 per cent of injured or ill workers ever get any payout from their employers or from the state.

The TUC is keen to see the costs of personal injury claims kept to a minimum for employers, insurers and the state, whilst making it easier and quicker for injured or ill workers to access the compensation to which they are entitled. To try to achieve this, the report makes the following suggestions:

• Guidelines for speeding up the handling of personal injury claims were introduced in 1998, but these protocols are often ignored. The TUC would like to see the Department for Constitutional Affairs investigate why insurers usually fail to take these into account, and introduce sanctions to encourage increased compliance.
• The earlier that defendants, or insurers, admit liability, the lower the end costs will be, and it should become possible to reach a settlement in a much shorter period of time. Early admission is in everyone's interests.
• The UK has a very poor record on helping ill and injured employees back to work. Getting people back into the labour market quickly can greatly reduce the damages paid out, and the TUC is keen to work with insurers and the Department for Work and Pensions to develop effective new rehabilitation proposals.
• The easiest way to reduce the cost of handling personal injury claims is to prevent work-related accidents or illnesses from happening in the first place. One of the ways to focus the minds of negligent employers would be increase the rates of employers' liability insurance they pay. At the moment, there is little difference in the premiums paid by firms with good and those with bad safety records.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "Trade unions provide a legal service that is second to none. However just and early settlements are often frustrated by a failure to enforce agreed procedures and protocols. We want to work with the Government and insurers to ensure that justice can be made speedier and cheaper for all, but that cannot be done unless all workers have access to good legal advice and support."

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- A copy of 'Personal Injury Claims: Proposals for Change' can be found at www.tuc.org.uk/extras/pi-process.pdf

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk

- Register for the TUC's press extranet : a service exclusive to journalists wanting to access pre-embargo releases and reports from the TUC. Visit www.tuc.org.uk/pressextranet

Contacts:

Media enquiries: Liz Chinchen T: 020 7467 1248; M: 07778 158175; E: media@tuc.org.uk

Press release (700 words) issued 23 Mar 2006