In 2010, a report by Lord Young to the
Prime Minister on the “compensation
culture” stated “…there is no end to the
constant stream of misinformation in
the media…” and that “…the health and
safety agenda had been hijacked by
the tabloid press, whose reports often
contributed to…. Misunderstandings by
regularly exaggerating and ridiculing
instances which in reality have little or
nothing to do with health and safety”
control its own speed, and when the
vehicle crashed, sued the manufacturers
for failing to warn him that it did not self
steer. Remember that story? And we
all thank goodness we don’t have that
kind of mad claims culture over here,
but it will come to us if we’re not careful.
The thing is that story is exactly that – a
story. It’s completely made up. One of
those urban legends that gains credibility
because people keep repeating it as if
the health and safety agenda had
been hijacked by the tabloid press
In March 2013, the Master of the Rolls
Lord Dyson gave a lecture which spelt
out the dangers of believing what you
read in tabloids. He gave the example,
which I am sure you will all have heard,
and which was repeated in the tabloids
at the time, of the Motorhome driver
that apparently put the vehicle on
cruise control, then went in the back to
make himself a coffee, believing that
the vehicle would steer itself as well as
it’s true.
You’ve also probably heard about the
McDonald’s coffee story – Mrs Liebeck
suing because her coffee was too hot.
Incredible. But what you don’t get to
hear very often is that she suffered
third degree burns to various parts of
her body, remained in hospital for 8
days, had to undergo skin grafts, was
disabled for two years, and is scarred
permanently, and it became clear during
the trial that McDonalds coffee at the
time (early 1990s) was heated to around
180-190 degrees centigrade, that they
had known there was a problem with
it as they had previously had over 700
claims for burns brought against them,
and yet they still hadn’t reduced the
temperature.
In this country, British stoicism is actually
likely to make people less inclined to
bring claims than the tabloids would
have you think. Out of 4,000 people
who die each year from work related
lung disease, only a small minority
receive compensation – 59 people last
year. And out of over 200,000 cases
of work related stress and anxiety that
are recorded by the HSE, less than 300
received any compensation.
In my experience, people have been
desperate when deciding to make a
claim, not knowing how their employers
will treat them, not knowing if they can
support their families, and usually in
considerable and long lasting pain.
Getting some justice for genuinely
injured people is what brought me in to
the legal arena in the first place, so I’m
proud that at Mayo Wynne Baxter, we
continue to fight hard for such clients.
By Chris Randall
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