RoSPA Press Office : Press Release

December 22 , 2005
RoSPA BACKS INSURERS’ CARE AND COMPENSATION PLANS

RoSPA has welcomed proposals by the Association of British Insurers to help accident victims.

The ABI’s “Care and Compensation” plans would reduce the time taken to settle personal injury compensation claims and increase the provision of care and rehabilitation for ill and injured people.

Errol Taylor, Acting Chief Executive of RoSPA, said: “RoSPA believes that accident victims should be treated compassionately and speedily. Every effort should be made to restore them to health and productive work. Evidence shows that long-term absence from work is bad for the health of the individual and forces employers to find alternative ways of covering their role.”

He said it was morally questionable that victims of workplace accidents had to wait for an average of three years before they received compensation and that for every £1 paid out in compensation an extra 40p was paid in legal and other costs.

RoSPA wholeheartedly supported the ABI's proposals for:

· a simplified claims process using a universal claim form and a publicly available scale of compensation payments
· access for claimants to free and independent legal advice
· an increase in the small claims court personal injury limit to £5,000 to allow more cases to be resolved in the small claims courts
· financial deterrents for exaggerated claims
· a review of the tax treatment of occupational rehabilitation services to encourage employers to provide them and individuals to make use of them
· promotion of rehabilitation by the HSE

RoSPA also supports the ABI’s “Making the Market Work” initiative which aims to improve the operation of the employers’ liability insurance market in the face of rising costs for insurers and higher premiums faced by businesses. RoSPA wants to see greater use of tools such as its own Health and Safety Review and HSE’s Health and Safety Performance Indicator to make it easier, for smaller firms particularly, to improve their management of health and safety risks and thereby secure lower premia.