Personal injury claims on the rise
Efforts to reform the personal injury claims market have apparently failed after figures showed the number of High Court claims jumped by nearly a third in two years.
Despite the introduction of stricter legislation over the registration of claims management companies, the number of personal injury claims taken to the High Court surged by 31.8% between 2006 and 2008, said legal publishing specialist Sweet & Maxwell.
Only 914 claims were launched in the High Court in 2006, compared with 1,205 in 2008, according to the latest data.
The figures show that efforts to regulate the industry, such as the Compensation Act 2006 which imposes registration requirements on claims management companies, appear to have had little effect.
Sweet & Maxwell said the recession could have caused an increase in the number of people pursuing claims that they would not normally have done in more stable economic times.
A spokesperson for the company said: "Financial stress has meant that some individuals will have submitted personal injury claims - including perfectly legitimate claims - which they might not normally have been motivated enough to pursue. Meanwhile, insurers suffering from weak returns from their investments may be more willing to contest a claim that they feel has no merit."