The Government has announced that it will not be raising the limit under which claimants can recover their legal costs if they have to sue their employer after an injury or illness. The current limit is £1,000 and there had been calls from insurers and others to increase it to either £5,000 or even £10,000. This could have prevented the majority of those who currently take action for damages from having a solicitor represent them.

Commenting on the consultation into the claims process for personal injury claims published Friday 27th Ap[ril by the Department for Constitutional Affairs, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:

"The Government is right to recommend that there should be no change to the small claims limit for personal injury cases. When someone gets injured at work and wants to make a claim against their employer's insurance company, they need good legal advice help them win their case.

Increasing the limit below which claimants are unable to claim back their legal advice costs would have meant that tens of thousands of workers injured or made ill through work would have been denied access to justice.

While we share the Lord Chancellor's view that personal injury claims should be handled speedily and effectively, the TUC will be responding on the detail of the proposals at a later date."

Source: TUC, Risks

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