Government plans to change the rules for compensation claims would make it much more difficult for workers to get the money to which they are entitled when an employer’s negligence injures them or makes them ill, the TUC has said.

The union body says compensation cases classed as ‘small claims’ don’t qualify for legal costs, so even successful claimants may run up a costs bill if a solicitor is needed. Under current rules, claims where workers are injured or made ill go through the small claims procedure where the claim is for less than £1,000, so for most successful claims legal costs will be recouped. Any settlement, including these costs, comes from the firm’s employers’ liability insurer.

The TUC is concerned that the Government is now looking at changing the small claims limit for all types of claim to “at least” £5,000 .
The TUC says the move will bar many workers from making work-related injury or disease claims. It points to a TUC report that found only one in seven workers made ill or injured through work gets any compensation under the current, more affordable, system.

According to TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson: “Claims under £5,000 are not ‘minor’ and can include partial amputation of a finger or an injury that could have led to the worker being off work for several months. It will impact greatest on the lowest paid workers who are least able to afford losing several thousand pounds and for whom £5,000 could be almost six months’ pay.” Potentially disabling conditions like occupational deafness are typically settled for sums considerably below this £5,000 threshold, so could also involve a major cash gamble for an affected worker. “This is an appalling attack on workers and will mean, not only will tens of thousands of injured workers be denied justice, there will be far less incentive on employers to make sure that these injuries and illnesses do not happen,” said Robertson.