Lawford Kidd's Blog

A Sunderland firm has been fined for failing to hold statutory insurance that enables employees to claim compensation should they be injured at work.

Section 1 of the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 requires that employers carry insurance against the personal injury of their employees. As well as being insured, employers must make available details of the insurance for staff to see. This requirement applies to most companies; exemptions include public organisations and certain micro companies.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) carried out an investigation after it received information suggesting the firm was uninsured. It found that the company did not hold any Employer's Liability Compulsory Insurance between 9th Feb and 13th December 2012. This meant the firm, which provides and installs solar panels, was not insured against liability for bodily injury or disease sustained by their employees resulting from their work.

A TUC-backed report has accused the government of being dishonest about the UK's 'compensation culture' in order to justify cutting basic health and safety protections at work. It warns that thousands of workers suffering deadly occupational diseases are being denied payouts as a result of these cutbacks.

The report, by the workers' health journal Hazards, shows that far from being a compensation free-for-all, as ministers claim, the number of people actually receiving awards for work-related injuries or diseases has fallen by 60% over the last decade - down from 219,183 in 2000/01 to 87,655 in 2011/12.

The report, based on official government figures, shows even the families of those dying from occupational diseases have little chance of securing a payout.

The subject of whiplash claims has returned once again to the spotlight with the publication of a report by the House of Commons Transport Select Committee, which looked into the impact of whiplash claims on the cost of motor insurance premiums.

The report recommends that Ministers should consider reducing the limitation period for road accident insurance claims, and require whiplash claimants to produce more supporting evidence. However, the report also stresses that genuine claimants should not be demonised.

Accreditation scheme

Looking in more detail at the report, the Committee states that it supports the proposal for an accreditation scheme for medical practitioners who provide medical reports in relation to whiplash claims.

Uncontested claims for compensation for “slips and trips” and other injuries at work or in a public place in England and Wales can now handled by a simpler and faster legal system, the Ministry of Justice has announced.

The change will make no difference to the amount of compensation victims will receive for genuine claims but will reduce the unnecessary additional bills faced by insurers and enable them to pass on savings to customers.

The move is part of a package of reforms brought in by Government this year to tackle the high cost of insurance premiums. These have been blamed for schools, businesses, community groups, councils and others being unable to stage activities where there is any risk of someone getting injured, as well as increasing costs for drivers.

The needs of bereaved families will be put at the heart of a reformed coroner system by a new national code, according to Justice Minister Helen Grant.

The new legal framework will ensure all 96 coroners in England and Wales will work to the same standards, ending the past inconsistencies which led to criticisms of a postcode lottery – with bereaved people in some areas facing long waits for inquests.

Coroner services will now be overseen by the first Chief Coroner of England and Wales, His Honour Judge Peter Thornton QC, and will be locally delivered within national standards designed to lead to a more efficient system of investigations and inquests.