Essay On Compensation Culture

Words: 2377
Pages: 10

Should the law of tort be doing more to curb UK’s compensation culture?

Is there evidence that the UK’s compensation culture is out of control?
The literal interpretation of “Compensation Culture” can have very many meanings but generally can be summed up to mean the same thing. As defined by WIKIPEDIA the Free Encyclopaedia, “Compensation Culture is a pejorative term used to imply that within a society, a significant number of claims for compensation for torts are unjustified, frivolous or fraudulent and those who seek compensation should be criticized. Collins online dictionary defines it as a culture in which people are very ready to go to law over even relatively minor incidents in the hope of gaining compensation. This essay will address
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In 2013 Vanessa Behan took a High Court action over an incident which occurred when her three year old daughter at the time suffered a laceration on her right little finger and had to be taken to the hospital. She alleged the company that runs the restaurant was liable for the injury.
President of the High Court Mr. Justice Nicholas Kearns dismissed the case. He later said ‘Quite frankly this is another case of compensation culture gone mad concerning an extraordinary suggestion that the restaurant should have warned Robyn's mother when she was being shown to a table that the sugar dispenser had a risk associated with it.' Ms Behan now faces a legal bill of between €50,000 and €100,000 for her failed lawsuits in both courts.

The head of one of Britain's biggest insurers has attacked the country's spiralling compensation culture and warned it has become a "real issue for society". He also warned that the UK was at risk of turning into the US, with soaring insurance premiums and companies or social groups too worried to stage events where someone could fall over and sue them.

At the other end of the spectrum, claims management companies are also advertising online that Britons could be "eligible for compensation" even if they lose their appetite at work, as it could be caused by pressure from the