Andrew Dismore from the Access to Justice Action Group has responded to the ABI and UK business groups that seek to change the laws surrounding personal injury compensation in Britain.
He described the ABI as being keen to blame everyone but themselves for the high rises in insurance premiums. He went on to accuse the insurance industry of being its own judge and jury and said the current system protects people who lodge a personal injury claim and makes sure they have access to a personal injury solicitor to help them receive what they are entitled to.
The ABI is promoting the government’s amendments and they will prevent as many as 600,000 people every year obtaining justice, he continued. Insurance companies will come out as winners and claimants will be the losers. He also said the number of genuine claims would decrease by 25% once the amendments come into law.
Dismore explained that the no win no fee system that the government and the ABI want to abolish is often the only way for people who have suffered medical negligence and personal injuries at work to obtain compensation.
Furthermore, he said that 23% of people involved in RTAs, and 48% of those who suffer an accident at work, do not claim. For a lot of these people, the real fear is the amount it would cost them in lawyers fees to make a claim. He also claimed that widespread fraud did not occur, pointing out that only 12 in every 10,000 claims could be considered fraudulent.