Update 5 September 2018
According to Adam Coffman at the APPCG (All-Party Parliamentary Cycling Group): “Last night during the Second Reading of the Civil Liability Bill in the Commons the government confirmed that it is planning on exempting vulnerable road users (including those who cycle but also pedestrians and horse riders) from the scope of its whiplash compensation reforms.”
“Minister of State Rory Stewart MP made clear in his summing up that this relates both to the proposed tariff for minor injuries, and to the planned increase in the small claims limit for road traffic collisions from £1,000 to £5,000.”
“While we await exact details it is important that pressure continues to be put to bear on the government to ensure its assurances translate into action, however it is very welcome that pressure from so many APPCG members and supporters has helped achieved this important concession.”
Cyclists and other vulnerable road users risk being short changed
Proposed changes to the personal injury claims process are likely to have a detrimental effect on injured vulnerable road users seeking compensation.
The government plans to remove the right to recover general damages for soft tissue injuries in an attempt to stop spurious claims for whiplash. However, this type of injury does not tend to affect vulnerable road users like motorcyclists, horse riders, pedestrians and cyclists and the incidence of fraud amongst these groups is negligible. Crucially, no safeguards are yet in place to protect the rights of these groups to compensation and legal representation when they are hit by drivers.
Rather than engage specialist solicitors and claim compensation for their minor injuries, victims of road traffic collisions will be steered towards the small claims court.
According to the Vulnerable Road Users Campaign, “The reforms are aimed at reducing whiplash claims (spurious or otherwise), by increasing the small claims limit (SCL) and introducing a tariff for the payment of compensation awards for people injured in a road collision that wasn’t their fault. The effect of these two measures is that genuinely injured people will not be able to access legal advice for any claim under £5,000.”
If you feel strongly about your legal rights and the legal rights of your family then please contact your MP to oppose the increase in the ‘Small Claims Limit’ for vulnerable road users. You can use the contact from here
Changes to law for injured cyclists
Does it mean that cyclists with a claim under £5,000 are being encouraged to pursue claims for compensation through the small claims court without legal representation?
It seems likely that many personal injury lawyers will leave the market as the costs they are able to recover will be less than their operating costs. In the small claims track no legal fees are recovered if the case is not issued. If court proceedings are issued then only court fees are recovered. Scrupulous lawyers advise clients who have a small claim that the costs that they would have to pay for representation would be disproportionate to the sum recovered.
Is it less likely that cyclists will receive compensation?
Details of the changes are not yet clarified, but the time and bureaucracy involved in making a small claim with no prospect of cash compensation is likely to put many vulnerable road users off pursuing a claim. There is a move away from cash compensation towards awarding physiotherapy only for soft tissue injuries.
Why cash compensation is right and proper for victims of road traffic collisions
Fraudulent claims for whiplash has have cost drivers and insurers many millions of pounds, but the elimination of cash compensation for soft tissue injuries will have an unwelcome effect on vulnerable road users, a group already treated like second class citizens by the legal system. In the absence of the presumed liability that protects cyclist or pedestrians struck by a cars in other European countries, British cyclists are forced to argue for compensation – even when injury may have affected their recollection of events. When vulnerable road users are through no fault of their own, it is right and proper that they receive compensation for what is always a traumatic event.
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