Whiplash consultation update - or not?
Steve Cornforth
Legal Consultant (Former Solicitor), Housing Law Expert, Entrepreneur and Access to Justice Campaigner at Steve Cornforth Consultancy - promoting Liverpool (the City)
There have been mixed messages this week from the government concerning the proposed PI reforms. This was during a debate in parliament reported in todays’ Legal Futures . Justice minister Oliver Heald was clearly only interested in talking about whiplash claims. He questioned the level of such claims and repeated the much maligned promise that we would all save ￡40 a year on insurance. He also relied on bizarre suggestion that the increase in small claims limit for all PI claims was justified as there had been no increase since 1991. It is accepted by all sensible observers that an inflation based increase from ￡1000 would raise the limit to ￡1900 not ￡5000.
One conservative MP went to great lengths to confine the proposed ‘reforms’ to soft tissue injuries caused in motor accidents which he claimed were difficult to prove. When pressed to comment on the consultation paper which attacks all personal injury claims he observed –
“The consultation document refers on its front page to soft-tissue injuries. I am sure that the minister will consider how that might apply to broken bones, but the title of the consultation refers to soft-tissue injuries only.”
So has this MP not read the paper?
Or does he know something we don’t ?
The Government and their friends in the ABI constantly refer to the issue of fraud. When asked by Yvonne Fovargue MP what any of this had to do with accidents in the work place, he did not respond.
Does any of this suggest that there is a possibility of the changes being limited to whiplash claims? That would still be wrong but less damaging.
I don’t think that there is much hope of that happening. It sounds more like comments from some MPs who don’t know what they are talking about and others who have closed their minds to the thought of questioning the ABI.
It is possible that we are seeing a popular politicians trick – to make us all fear the end of life as we know it – and then announce something which is bad but quite as bad! But I for one am not holding my breath…
Claimant Clinical Negligence Solicitor
8 年Steve, another good article, although I am sure there is a missing 'not' in the final paragraph. Whatever the outcome it is unlikely to be evidence based, given the standard of the discussion.