The issue of personal injury claims is one which is in the current debate in the House of Commons, and the UK's Prime Minister, David Cameron, has gone as far as to say that the UK is involved in a 'compensation culture' and the figures certainly back up his comments. If, for example, we look at the number of whiplash claims figures from The Transport Committee reveal that over the past 6 years there has been a 70% rise in insurance claims following a road traffic accident. Interestingly the number of collisions on the road has dropped by 23% and the final startling figure is that a massive 70% of these claims were for whiplash - food for thought.
The current legal system used by solicitors practicing personal injury law is 'no win no fee' which was introduced to protect the claimant and also to make sure that everyone was able to claim compensation if they were entitled to it - this wasn't just a luxury left to the rich, or those with substantial insurance policies. However, there is an increasing belief that people are abusing the system, and claiming for much more minor claims than before.
The 'no win no fee' system does exactly what it says on the tin, it means that claimants will not be charged for an unsuccessful case, and the bonus is that in the majority of cases, the legal costs when a case is successful are claimed from the other side, ensuring that the individual affected takes home all of their compensation. The phrase 'no win no fee' however has quite a bad reputation - largely thanks to the very direct television commercials we see - generally during daytime TV, this is one area the blame is laid.
The other area where the government feels there is room for improvement are in the third party companies, who sell on details of potential clients to some personal injury solicitors, which has certainly raised the number of claims being made.
