Call Us
08000 224 224
In cases where the effects of an injury are that the claimant’s consumption of alcohol or tobacco increases, a recent case of Hutchinson -v- Metropolitan Police Commissions (2005) suggests that damages may be awarded for the increased cost of smoking or drinking more as a result of the injuries. There is a useful article on this at page 2 of the October 2005 Personal Injury Law Journal entitled “The cost of compulsion”
This has now received its First Reading. The Bill proposes to give public bodies, such as schools and voluntary organisations, liability protection in the event of an accident. The Bill is supposed to stagnate the alleged “compensation culture”.
The Bill proposes that, when considering whether a defendant should have taken steps to prevent a risk, Judges may have regard to whether a requirement to take those steps might prevent a “desirable activity from being undertaken” or “discourage persons from undertaking functions in connection with a desirable activity”. It is all very interesting and rather strange. What is a “desirable activity”? Are we just talking about school trips, as the media has made such a fuss about?
All this at a time when the Better Regulation Task Force has confirmed that there is no compensation culture and that there has in fact been an overall decline in litigation in recent years. The Government is falling into a trap set by the insurance industry. We will report further on this as the Bill makes its progress through Parliament.
We have referred to these regulations in previous issues. They came into force in July 2005. There is a helpful article on the regulations in the November 2005 issue of the Personal Injury Law Journal at page 9 entitled “Limiting exposure”.
Hand-arm vibration: the control of vibration at work regulations 2005(L140) (which replaces HSG88) is now available. There is an explanatory booklet for employers available at www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg175.pdf
Personal Injury Law Journal – No 40 November 2005 contains the following articles: