In the last few years, the TV advertising landscape has changed dramatically, particularly in the field of daytime viewing. Where once advertising tended to focus on household products and consumer goods, nowadays there is a huge presence of companies promoting themselves as personal injury experts and specialists in dealing with the legal matters arising from such claims.
Compensation Claims
This form of advertising has led a far more aggressive compensation market, which has been actively encouraging the public to make injury claims at work, even if the incidents are several years old. They advise people to hire lawyers to seek compensation from the companies, employers or individuals involved.
Many of these offers are advertised on a ‘no-win, no-fee basis’, with large figures relating to previous client successes flashing across the screen. And they certainly have been effective, with record numbers of applicants contacting these lawyers and pursuing out-of-court settlements or taking claims to court.
The Consequences
The effects have been serious. For every person who claims for a personal injury, a large number of non-claiming customers bear the costs through rises in insurance prices. Witness, for example, the rising cost of car insurance resulting from these claims and the increasing number of drivers who drive without insurance, saying they can’t afford it.
The litigation culture has also led to a heavily regulated health-and-safety culture and the cancellation of activities deemed to be ‘too dangerous’, such as school trips, where the public-liability insurance premiums are too expensive for schools and youth groups to pay.
Scammers
The fact remains that for every personal-injury claim that is genuine and deserves compensation, there are other claims which need careful assessment to assess how genuine they really are. Weeding out ’scammers’ is a time-consuming, expensive job that unfortunately continues to have an impact on the everyday insurance costs that the public must pay to cover such activities. It continues to curtail some enjoyable activities, as the burden of regulation and other ‘protective’ measures becomes too much for the public to bear.