Welsh schools accident bill reaches £600,000

There have been hundreds of reports claiming that accident claims are costing local councils and the NHS millions but now a recent report has shown that schools in Wales are now feeling the cost of what many have been dubbing the American style compensation culture. The same argument rages over schools as it did with the NHS and Councils, with them saying that it’s the lawyers fault and the lawyers simply retorting that they are providing access to justice to those who wouldn’t normally be able to afford it. Who is at fault in the row between the schools and the lawyers or could both parties benefit from sitting down a discussing there differences.

According to the BBC report Welsh schools have nearly shelled out £600,000 in the last three years due to accident claims. These accidents range from the bizarre (slipping on a carrot) to the typical (breaking up fights). Plaid Cyrmu AM Chris Franks used the freedom of information act to find out how much compensation was being paid out by the schools. Only 19 out of the 22 local authorities responded perhaps suggesting that the true figure may in fact be higher. Nearly half of the compensation paid out was from one authority with one of their legal bills amassing to near on £50,000 pounds. One legal expert said that all these figures where just an attempt to drum up a moral panic around compensation claims. This may be true but it seems that Chris Franks has found the root of the problem by saying that safety measures in schools need to be tightened.

Mr Franks continued to say that Mr Franks said: "The level of pay-outs in compensation and legal costs is perhaps a reflection of the arrival of no-win, no-fee lawyers. In the United States, claiming for compensation is so much part of the culture and that trait has clearly spread to the UK, although I believe people who suffer serious injury, whether in school or elsewhere, because of negligence should be compensated.”

"In the past many people who suffered minor injuries might have just dusted themselves off and carried on with life. There is a price to pay for everyone in terms of higher insurance premiums or perhaps even higher than necessary council tax bills.”

In response to Mr Franks comments Mr Moorhead, an expert on compensation matters said "with regard to the idea that this is a US-style compensation culture, this is an argument that crops up every time somebody looks at compensation figures? Generally, across England and Wales, the numbers of compensation claims are not increasing."

"£600,000 over three years may sound like a lot of money but it's not the sort of figure that would give me cause for concern. It's quite a small figure, it seems to me. It doesn't suggest there have been lots of claims or that people are getting money that they shouldn't get."

So accident claims may not be as high as the original sum of £600,000 and as Mr Moorhead said, people who are deserving of compensation are receiving it. So this time it seems that it might just be scaremongering on Mr Franks half, but he last made an extremely valid point that safety measures need to be tightened up so these accidents don’t happen in the first place.

Seamus has more articles pertaining to accident claims and other legal related articles.