None of this is made up
Cornwall Council compensation payments to school pupils for personal injuries in the last financial year:
- Fell from workbench when attending lecture - £30,450
- Stone thrown by child unintentionally hit claimant - £10,000
- Gate fell onto claimant when attempted to climb - £2,100
- Splinter injury when sliding on wooden bench - £2,500
- Teaching assistant kicked a ball which hit claimant - £2,000
Source: FoI disclosure log
No doubt the council's insurers advised it was cheaper to pay up, rather than risk a court case.
I'm Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Radio Devon’s Graham Smith, blogging on news, views and some fresh insights into West Country life, particularly the way government works locally and nationally.
Comment number 1.
At 14th Jul 2011, Saltashgaz wrote:Graham that is all well and good but what is not shown is how much was paid in legal fees (6.10 below) or if true justice was delivered
RE - IAR-646804
Source CAB document No Win, No Fee No chance
6.1 Personal injury compensation is not delivering access to justice
6.3 CAB evidence on consumers experience suggests that the market is not always functioning in their best interests.
6.4 Our evidence suggests that the move from public funding to CFAs is not having the intended effect of extending access to justice
6.10 The growing discrepancy in the legal process in respect of the proportionality between costs and damages needs to be tackled urgently. Costs at all stages of the process are getting out of control and the growing number of intermediaries in the marketplace adds to the overall burden of claimants’ costs liabilities. The whole problem of controlling legal costs and expenses, so that they can be absorbed within a sustainable system of funding public access to justice, needs to be addressed.
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