Sir, There have always been compensation claims (letters, August 24) of a dubious nature, and no doubt always will be, but as partner in my practice it is neither in my financial interest nor in that of my clients to pursue such claims. For a claim to succeed it must be proved that the law has been broken.
I recently represented a young man who worked as a labourer on a building site, fell some 30ft or so and sustained very serious injuries, including a fractured skull resulting in deafness. The cause of his fall was improperly erected scaffolding. Neither the sub-contractor who employed my client nor the contractor responsible for the site carried adequate insurance cover for accidents at work.
It is often, contrary to the picture that you paint (leading article, August 20), difficult for accident victims to obtain compensation. In the field of clinical negligence it is equally, if not more, problematic. I have yet to see a case where the NHS has readily admitted negligence, requiring the clients or their solicitors to finance very expensive investigations. A financial decision has to be made. It is a very real disincentive, and probably reduces the number of valid claims that ought to be made.
If there is a culture it is that of passing the buck: the avoidance of responsibility, whether in the NHS or in the private sector. Your support for action strikes me as misplaced. You should be asking both the private and public sectors to reconsider their attitudes, because there is much that they can do to avoid litigation.
Yours sincerely,
ALAN COLLINS,
Dyer Burdett & Co,
64 West Street,
Havant, Hampshire PO9 1PA.
alc@dyerburdett.com
August 25.
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From Mr J. J. Beere
Sir, A claim for personal injury does not have to be successful for it to cost money. Once a solicitor’s letter of formal claim has been received by the defendant’s insurance company, irrespective of how frivolous the claim may be, the company has to appoint loss adjusters to investigate it. This can cost from £150 upwards, depending on the complexity of the claim. If the claim is then successfully rebutted there is no way that the insurance company can recoup its costs.
The simplest way of reining in the claims culture is to make the personal injury solicitors liable for the costs of claims that fail to proceed.
Yours sincerely,
J. J. BEERE,
(Insurance broker),
2b Olive Grove, SE25 6EW.
August 24.