The Government and the insurance industry have thrashed out a deal that has, as its mission, the dismantling of a compensation culture and the slashing of health and safety red tape.
 
The prime minister held a summit on Tuesday (14 February) with members of the insurance industry, consumer and business groups, and the HSE to discuss, among other issues, rising premiums that businesses are facing to protect themselves from personal-injury claims.
 
The summit saw David Cameron reaffirm his commitment to tackle the compensation culture, reduce legal costs, and cut health and safety bureaucracy. In return, the insurance industry promised to pass the resulting savings on to consumers.
 
It also committed to adjust premiums to reflect any reductions in legal costs created through a new fast-track employers’ liability scheme, which will be based on the existing process for road-traffic accident (RTA) personal-injury cases, as well as planned reforms of ‘no-win, no-fee’ and a ban on referral fees.
 
Other measures were agreed to address the fear of compensation that Mr Cameron believes is exerting a stranglehold on business’ ability to thrive.
 
To dispel the myths that still surround health and safety legislation, insurers agreed to provide short guidance for all clients at the point of purchasing insurance. This guidance will set out what small businesses need to do and, critically, what they don’t need to do to comply with health and safety law and acquire insurance cover, to ensure that businesses are not asked to go beyond what is required by law.
 
As a further measure to tackle the compensation culture, insurers also promised to challenge more vexatious health and safety civil claims.
 
The Law Society, personal-injury solicitors and workplace safety pressure group Families Against Corporate Killers criticised the prime minister for not including them in yesterday’s discussions.