Are Injury Compensation Claimants Being Stigmagtised By "Claims Culture" Reports In The Media?
The UK has been accused of rigorously adopting an American style ‘claims culture’ attitude, with the media focusing in on a handful of cases that grab headlines and make people shake their head, believing that anyone making a claim is probably going to be making a frivolous one. But however lurid the headlines, a couple of points are often omitted from the text when reports of yet another huge payout hit the presses. They often fail to mention how genuine accidents do have a debilitating effect on the victims and their families, and that not all claims are frivolous or opportunist attempts at making a quick profit.
"It does seem that the press sometimes focus a little too much on the most ridiculous claims. The fact is that every day hundreds of people are hurt through no fault of their own and deserve to be compensated for their injuries," says Nicholas Jervis, Managing Director of specialist firm 1stClaims.
"Clients worry that they will be stigmatized with the same label, and our job is to explain to them that they are perfectly entitled to draw attention to dangerous and completely avoidable situations by making a justified claim against the responsible parties," he adds.
There are plenty of reports in the press concerning people who have made a claim against companies for 'not warning that the contents of a coffee cup were hot' or instances where burglars have received compensation for falling through roofs and injuring themselves. But Jervis feels that accident victims shouldn't be compared with these cases.
"In 2007, 430,000 people claimed for whiplash injuries in the UK. Every claim has a story behind it, involving pain not only to the victim but to their families as well, loss of earnings due to time taken off work and continuing treatment of the injury. These are real people suffering real consequences, not just sandbaggers out to make a few pounds at the expense of everyone else," he comments. "For every one frivolous claim, there are thousands of genuine claims where people need help, and these people shouldn't be ostracized because they claim for what they are legally entitled to," he concludes.
The courts are also becoming more aware of the damage to genuine cases that frivolous claims can do. But they are much rarer than commonly thought and the courts are becoming stricter on frivolous cases being brought before them. This frees the courts up to deal with the genuine cases, giving them the consideration and the compensation that they deserve.
Companies such as 1stClaims have noticed that recent press reports have been more positive towards genuine claimants and Jervis hopes that the sensationalist reporting of previous cases is now starting to be offset by more balanced and sympathetic coverage.
"There have been some very high profile claims cases recently, particularly for medical negligence. The press reporting on these cases has been more balanced, and I think that the public are now starting to get a better understanding of how important claims can be," says Jervis.
Nicholas and his specialist team at 1stClaims see serious medical claims as playing an important role in highlighting problems within the medical system.
"A claim doesn't just mean compensation for the victim. It could lead to implementations that could prevent someone else from suffering the same kind of trauma in the future," he concludes.
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