Put yourself in that position. (Compensation culture)

Member Name: shadsybear

Product:	Compensation culture
Date:	22/10/08 (145 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Provides money to people that need it.

Disadvantages: Some people claim too easily and give compensation claims a bad name.

Working at a solicitors that specialies in Personal Injury claims and having had a car accident myself I can see this argument from all persepctives.

I do think the compensation culture is a bit crazy and there are some people that are all too quick to make a claim, however, I do feel that most cf the claims made are justified.

In my case, I was hit from behind by an uninsured driver and although I was not seriously injured I was out of pocket as I had to claim on my insurance and, having not had my car much more than a year, felt I lost out on quite a lot of money. I therefore decided to make a claim basically just to cover my losses and to compensate me for the stress I had been through. I really used to enjoy driving and I am now really nervous in a car even though my accident was nearly 3 years ago. I didn't see why I should be out of pocket as an innocent driver when this idiot had crashed into me when he shouldn't have even been on the road!

As to the claims I have seen during the course of my job, there are some people that have accidents at work or rta's that cause them such serious injuries that they can never work again. Why shouldn't they be able to claim for their injuries and loss of earnings? Also, when children are severely injured I think it's only right that their parents should be allowed to claim compensation to pay for specialist equipment they might need or to provide them with money so they can give up work and look after their child.

I do agree that some things have gone too far however it does seem that things are becoming a lot stricter with what you can claim for and things such as small RTA's do seem to be becoming harder to claim for.

I know insurance premiums go up as a result of claims made, however, if you were out of pocket for something that wasn't your fault, wouldn't you rather pay that little bit extra each year to know that you are able to claim should you need to?

I think that compensation claims are necessary in most cases, however, do agree that some people claim to easily for things that they should not do and I think solicitors should not always be so quick to take on these claims.

Summary: Most claims are justified but there are still people that claim too easily.