Personal injury claims in 2009
As a town hall official has recently been awarded with a £21,000 personal injury compensation claim for falling off a stall, experts look at some of this year’s strangest claims.
Another member from the Havering Council in Romford, won an award settlement of £6,000 for slipping on gravy.
Other wacky claims include one man filling compensation for a car accident, after he decided to take a taxi to avoid a crash, only to find that the taxi smashed straight into his parked car due to the icy roads in the UK.
Lastly, a personal injury claim was filed after it was found that a popular food chain had been using slaughterhouse trimmings and mash like products derived from scraps to make burgers.
However, such award claims have been criticised by a Conservative member, who said that whilst compensation is a means to justice, society must not get carried away with over-the-top amounts.
Mr Brokenshire, MP for Hornchurch, Essex said: “We have ended up with a compensation culture where some people think: Where there's blame, there's a claim. We certainly need a mechanism whereby people injured at work are given suitable recompense.
“But I am concerned that, because of the cost of litigation, many claims are just being settled because that's the cheapest option. That needs to change.”
Havering Council's opposition leader Cllr Clarence Barrett agreed and said whilst employers had a duty of care towards staff there needs to be limitations. She added: “Over the past decade, a culture of litigation has been encouraged by the proliferation of no-win, no-fee lawyers.”
Havering Council admitted paying out more than ££127,000 in compensation to 16 council staff in recent years.
Another staff member won £5,350 from back problems caused by sitting at a desk.
A third member was awarded £6,000 after slipping on a kitchen floor where gravy had been split and complaining of a soft tissue knee injury. A fourth person was paid £5,000 after hurting a foot while stepping forward awkwardly.
A Havering Council spokesman responded: “There are national guidelines on personal injury claims set by the Judicial Studies Board.”
Workers to be protected
In similar news, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has urged the government to do more to protect the rights of agency workers under employment law.
Earlier this month the group released a guide book for workers, on how to avoid being mistreated and encouraged them to focus on their legal rights.
Brendan Barber, general secretary of the TUC, has raised fears that the recently drafted Agency Worker Regulations contain too many loopholes to be fully effective in preventing blunders and mistreatment.
He suggested that agency staff are particularly in need of safeguarding during the financial downturn, as they are more susceptible than others to being underpaid, denied proper training, face work accidents and be short-changed on redundancy payouts.
Mr Barber therefore called on the government to strengthen its employment law proposals in order to provide “real protection” to these workers.
He added: “Any loopholes which would allow unscrupulous employers to avoid the law and to undercut reputable firms must be closed.”
Updated on 28/12/2009