Delayed train or personal injury –compensation claims
If reforms to personal injury claims go ahead, people with soft tissue injuries could be entitled to less compensation than that paid for a delayed journey.
The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) has condemned the unfair double standard between the criticism of people claiming injury compensation while compensation claims for late trains and flights are encouraged.
The personal injury industry receives negative press around a perceived compensation culture while claims against travel providers are often encouraged.
Gordon Dalyell, APIL president explained: “On trains we see multiple posters plastered up and down the carriages reading ‘Delayed train? Your compensation isn’t far away’. A news story last week claimed that not enough people know they are entitled to compensation for delayed flights. We are actively encouraged to claim redress for being late.
“Yet people who are injured by someone else’s careless driving, who must take time out of work, go through physical pain, and endure the impact on family and social life, are often derided for having the nerve to claim compensation. A three-hour flight delay is apparently worth £505. Personal injury reforms mean that three months of pain from a soft tissue injury will be ‘worth’ just £235. It is completely unfair and unacceptable that being late is taken more seriously than being injured needlessly. Bear in mind this is not about mistakes or mishaps, these are injuries which should never happen.”
Figures released by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) showed the total number of compensation claims received by rail networks had risen to 1.4 million last year, a 13.2% rise on the previous year.
The vast majority, 1,196,945, of these claims were successful and compare to 1,031,413 compensation pay-outs in the previous same period.
The main reason for the increase according to the ORR was that the timeframe for claiming compensation was lowered from a train being delayed by 30 minutes to 15 minutes.
For information on claiming compensation for personal injury, clinical negligence or professional negligence contact NV Legal on 03330 112732.
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