Personal injury damages must be higher
The Association for
Personal Injury Lawyers has said that the governement are not doing enough to ensure that
personal injury claimants receive appropriate
compensation.
They feel that many claimants are not receiving damages in accordance with the pain and stress they have experienced. The governement are aware of this as they have discussed the need for new legislation almost a decade ago, but have not acted.
The APIL want to put pressure on the government to pay real attention to a pressing issue which is all too often overlooked. Law commission proposals were issued which aimed to raise the compensation awarded to personal injury victims.
Pain, suffering and loss of amenity were all to be addressed and the levels of compensation increased. It is a complex area where experts have to agree on a monetary value that the suffering translates to.
What does seem clear is that experts in the Association for Personal Injury Lawyers are agreed that compensation needs to be higher.
Martin Bare, president of the Association for Personal Injury Lawyers Association launched this attack on the governments failure to deliver:
“The law commision said in 1999 thatif its recommendations were not implemented by the judiciary within three years, they should be implemented through legislation. The following year, the Court of Appeal said Parliament was the forum for such change, yet the government has said this is an issue for the courts. It is surely time this issue was settled and I appeal to the Government to provide real leadership in this issue which is of such profound importance to injured people.”
The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers has come under critiscism as their membership is almost exclusively made up of personal injury lawyers. In defence Mr Bare points out the close interaction with thousands of personal injury victims that the members have between them.
Most are lawyers who have been working with victims of personal injury for many years and this close relationship with victims gives them the right to be the voice of these victims.
He says that “victims of personal injury need a voice” and goes on to impress that the lawyers in the Association for Personal Injury Lawyers will be that voice.
As well as calling for government recognition for the need for higher damages, The APIL feel that more discussion is needed on a number of personal injury matters. Mr Bare encourages more debate on health, safety, negligence and compensation, believing that this will bring about a safer environment for the public and workers.
Employers and others resposible for areas of public use will not get away with sloppy health and safety attitudes. He says that risk assessment is the cornerstone of modern health and safety law.
Updated on 5/15/2008