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Small Claims (Courts)

I wish to raise only one aspect of the report and that is paragraph 54, which contains the recommendation on limits for small claims in personal injury cases. Before doing so, I declare an interest. Prior to the general election in 1997, I practised as a personal injury lawyer for almost 20 years, mainly working with trade unions. I remain a consultant with my law firm, which is listed in the Register of Members' Interests, but I have not handled any cases since being elected, as I do not think that I could do that and work as an MP. I have kept in close contact with the personal injury world. I am a founder member of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers and a member of its executive committee, and I handled its damages special interest group from its foundation until my election. I was also appointed by the Law Society as an accreditation assessor for its panel of specialist personal injury lawyers, and have sat on appeals against refusals of accreditation. Although I say so myself, in the Legal 500, the peer-group review, I was rated in the top five personal injury lawyers in London for three years running, until I was elected to this place. I have handled many thousands of personal injury cases in my career: high-value cases, complex cases in the House of Lords and many cases of lesser value—the sort of cases that we are talking about today. It is fair to say, although I say so myself, that I know a little about the subject. Today, however, I hold no brief for the legal profession; I hold a brief for my constituents who may be the subject of personal injuries. Having said that, I recognise that no law firm will become particularly rich dealing with relatively low-value cases, as they do not make a lot of money, despite what the insurance company might say. My job is to stand up for victims. The basic error into which the Select Committee has fallen is to suggest that personal injury cases are somehow on a par with consumer cases. There is a real difference. If someone's washing machine does not work, they know how much it cost to buy and how much it costs to repair. They have a good idea of how much money they are looking for. Similarly, if a garage has not repaired a car properly, the owner knows how much is involved. However, the average person in the street has no idea what a personal injury claim is worth. I am amazed that the Committee even suggested that the comparison should be considered. That reveals the power of the insurance industry lobby today—it has the ear of the Government and the ear of the Committee, too. Despite the Committee's previous findings on compensation culture and all the statistics showing otherwise, the same compensation culture arguments are still trotted out all the time. The Committee's report came to a different conclusion, which I welcome, but the tabloid press churns out such arguments, which, despite the facts, nevertheless chime with the judiciary and the powers that be.