As discussed in earlier dispatches the government is taking the subject of compensation claims seriously at the moment. The firm belief is that we are a nation of "claimers" and complainers for which we have been branded Europes most litigious nation. Rather odd given that our nearest neighbours the French tend to sue at the drop of a hat and negligence is rarely debated in detail meaning insurers pay out willy nilly.
Here in the UK things are different. To make a claim there has to be significant blame.
One area though has come under fire and that is the whiplash claims niche.
To fight against the tide of "spurious" claims the government has now decided to create a panel of trusted medical experts to examine claimants rather than rely upon the solicitors choice of expert. The latter potentially being biased in favour of a dodgy claimant. This initiative is sensible but unlikely to hold water. The numbers of claimants will approach 500,000 this year and no panel or even small army of experts can cope with this volume.
Nevertheless we are in interesting times and one thing seems certain, the powers that be genuinely believe there is a compensation culture in Britain and they seem determined to do something to stop the rot.
