Have Compensation Claims Gone Too Far?
http://www.lawsays.net/articles/3518/1/Have-Compensation-Claims-Gone-Too-Far/Page1.html
Thomas Pretty
Travel expert Thomas Pretty understands German motoring laws and advocates the use of Budget's car hire Germany services. To find out more please visit http://www.budget.co.uk/car-hire/car-hire-germany.htm By Thomas Pretty
Published on 09/5/2009
A look at compensation claims and how blame culture disguises the fact that many claims are relevant and just.
The TV adverts are annoying, and 'blame culture' is fast becoming prevalent to the further annoyance of the majority of the UK population, yet compensation claims are often vital and just for the claimant, particularly if they have suffered a life altering injury.
But many people in the UK are fed up when they read stories of ridiculous claims, and are even more fed up with rising insurance premiums and taxes to compensate (excuse the pun) for these claims. Blame culture is frowned upon and no wonder given the amount of fraudulent claims and even those that manage to be successful, such as the many ridiculous compensation claims that you see in the tabloid newspapers.
Stories of people suing local councils due to potholes in the road may well be genuine claims, yet because councils are spending more money each year on legal fees and compensation claim payouts, they are quickly running out of resources to cover costs for, say, fixing potholes in roads. And the people that suffer in the long run are the tax payers.
Gone are the days when people took responsibility for their own lives - through the good and the bad - as people have become increasingly less able to accept that, quite simply, accidents do happen. Although this may well be hyperbole, it has been estimated that compensation claims amount to 1 per cent of the UK's gross domestic product and amounts to costing each UK family 500 pounds per year in taxes.
Many believe that this blame culture entered UK society due to influences from America where there have been countless substantial claims. One of the many ridiculous compensation claims from the US occurred when an 83 year old lady spilled a cup of McDonald's coffee onto her legs causing burns. She then sued the fast food giants for 'not telling her the coffee would be hot' and received a whopping 1.7 million dollars in compensation.
Then we have the American man who resembled NBA basketball star Michael Jordan and thus attempted to sue Jordan and Nike, Jordan's sponsor, for 832 million dollars simply because he was being constantly harassed because people were mistaking him for the star. That particular compensation claim was dropped, and rightly so, imagine if a precedent had been set for something as ridiculous as that? There would be similar claims occurring every week, costing the state, and thus the tax payer, even more.
But many people in the UK are fed up when they read stories of ridiculous claims, and are even more fed up with rising insurance premiums and taxes to compensate (excuse the pun) for these claims. Blame culture is frowned upon and no wonder given the amount of fraudulent claims and even those that manage to be successful, such as the many ridiculous compensation claims that you see in the tabloid newspapers.
Stories of people suing local councils due to potholes in the road may well be genuine claims, yet because councils are spending more money each year on legal fees and compensation claim payouts, they are quickly running out of resources to cover costs for, say, fixing potholes in roads. And the people that suffer in the long run are the tax payers.
Gone are the days when people took responsibility for their own lives - through the good and the bad - as people have become increasingly less able to accept that, quite simply, accidents do happen. Although this may well be hyperbole, it has been estimated that compensation claims amount to 1 per cent of the UK's gross domestic product and amounts to costing each UK family 500 pounds per year in taxes.
Many believe that this blame culture entered UK society due to influences from America where there have been countless substantial claims. One of the many ridiculous compensation claims from the US occurred when an 83 year old lady spilled a cup of McDonald's coffee onto her legs causing burns. She then sued the fast food giants for 'not telling her the coffee would be hot' and received a whopping 1.7 million dollars in compensation.
Then we have the American man who resembled NBA basketball star Michael Jordan and thus attempted to sue Jordan and Nike, Jordan's sponsor, for 832 million dollars simply because he was being constantly harassed because people were mistaking him for the star. That particular compensation claim was dropped, and rightly so, imagine if a precedent had been set for something as ridiculous as that? There would be similar claims occurring every week, costing the state, and thus the tax payer, even more.