Access to Justice Being Denied to up to 800,000 People in 2017
The Government are currently holding a consultation, the terms of which would effectively make it impossible for up to 800,000 people (according to National Accident Helpline research) to claim compensation for their injuries or being able to access legal support for free.
You currently cannot claim the cost of instructing a lawyer to assist in pursuing a personal injury claim if the value is worth less than £1000 - this is called the Small Claims Limit.
The Government is proposing to increase the Small Claims Limit to £5,000. By far, the majority of claims made in the UK are valued at less than £5,000 but the injuries can still have terrible consequences such as a broken rib or the loss of a finger tip.
The Government are not making any provision in the consultation to protect young people, the elderly or anyone disabled who would not be able to deal with a claim themselves.
The Consultation also proposes that people should no longer be able to claim for any soft tissue injuries worth less than £5,000 following a car accident. This means if you have suffered a whiplash, back or neck injury in a car your right to claim anything at all could be removed even when the accident was not your fault.
If the Consultation is allowed to go through, your rights to justice and to claim compensation for your injuries are being taken away and you will never get them back.
It will go back to the case where only well off people can pursue a claim worth less than £5000.
The Government say this will save you just £40 per annum on your car or house insurance and that the proposed changes are to eradicate fraudulent claims, however these claims are actually less than 1% of all claims made.
APIL (the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers) say “Injured people should not be subjected to the blunt instrument of radical reform on the basis of inaccurate evidence or because it is too difficult to address real problems in the system.”
The only winners in the scenario proposed by the Government’s consultation are insurance companies. The loser is the person on the street who finds himself with whiplash his back or neck following a car accident through no fault of his own and cannot work due to his injuries. He will not be able to claim anything at all if the ruling goes through.
If you want to join the fight please, please write to your MP, the deadline is 6/1/17 – there’s not much time. Please click on the link which will take you to a pre-prepared letter that you can email or send by post to your own MP: http://lawsociety.e-activist.com/page/4246/action/1
If this is of concern to you please contact Vickki Ridgway or Dawn Slow in the Lawson-West Personal Injury Department on 0116 212 1000.
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