Karl McCartney – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2014-04-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the Supreme Court’s judgment in Summers v Fairclough Homes that exaggerated or fabricated personal injury claims might be struck out in exceptional circumstances; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The Government is committed to reducing the number of fraudulent personal injury claims. To this end, we are considering what specific reforms might be appropriate.

As announced last year, we are working with stakeholders in the industry to tighten the medical evidence process so that only evidence from accredited experts can be considered, and the costs for those reports can be fixed. This will mean people can no longer profit from exaggerated or fraudulent compensation claims but victims with genuine cases can still get the help they deserve. We are introducing these reforms later in the year. We are also working to secure better data on motor accident cases, including the number of fraudulent cases.