New survey shows most Britons believe that "blame culture" is more prevalent than five years ago

Belief in a compensation culture is perhaps more prevalent than ever.
December 11, 2007


According to research by Brit Insurance and YouGov1,the survey found that the majority of Britons (90%) agreed that people are more likely now than five years ago to sue for physical and emotional injury.

The survey, of 2,000 adults across the UK, revealed that three quarters of people believe their fellow Britons are taking less responsibility for their own actions than five years ago, a view that grows stronger with age. 83% of those aged 55 and over think this as compared to only 55% of 18-24 year olds. And more than eight out of ten Britons (84%) believe that people are more likely now than five years ago to blame others when accidents and injuries occur, which highlights the existence of a "blame culture".

John Murphy, UK Liability Underwriting Director of Brit Insurance commented:

"We wanted an unclouded view of the existence or otherwise of, and the nature of British blame culture, and undertook this survey with an open mind. We were struck by how overwhelming the conviction is that the blame culture has grown in the past five years. Figures from the Compensation Recovery Unit show that in fact the number of compensation claims in the UK has fallen by 30% in the past five years.2

"Our experience at Brit Insurance is that the number of claims is not rising to the extent that the public thinks. What has been increasing, however, is the amounts paid out for claims, which have risen as guidelines change, and inflationary pressures put up costs."

There is evidence of people exercising their judgement about whether there is a valid justification for claiming compensation. For instance, although over half (52%) of people would sue a restaurant if they suffered from food poisoning after having a meal there, only 4% of people would sue a travel company for being hit by a coconut which fell from a tree they had chosen to sunbathe under; and only 2% of people would sue a nightclub for an injury sustained after falling over in the club whilst drunk.

Further evidence of this use of judgement is that although one in three people think a judge would be likely to grant compensation for an everyday accident, injury or inconvenience3, just under a quarter are likely to make a claim. The only exception to this, where more people are likely to sue than think a judge would award compensation, was the scenario of missing a job interview because of a cancelled train.

The survey asked people how likely they would be to sue, and how likely they think a judge would grant compensation, under a number of different scenarios. Highlights include:

  • People are highly unlikely to take legal action against friends and neighbours, with only 6% likely to sue a neighbour for an injury caused by tripping on an uneven patio. However, 42% would be likely to sue the council for a similar injury caused by tripping on an uneven paving stone.
  • Despite recent high-profile cases in the media, only 2% would sue a nightclub for an injury caused when they were drunk.
  • 17% of people would sue a train company for a cancelled train that caused them to miss a job interview. With only 11% confident of a judge granting compensation, this was the only category where the likelihood to sue outweighed the expectation of a payout.
  • People are more likely to sue a restaurant after a bout of food poisoning (52%) than they are to sue the NHS for unexpected and unrelated pain after a medical procedure (38%).

ENDS

Further information:

Carne Curgenven, Communications Director, Brit Insurance Holdings PLC
020 7984 8500

Fiona Gibson or Juliet Tilley, Haggie Financial
020 7417 8989

Notes to Editors

Brit Insurance is a UK-domiciled international general insurance and reinsurance group. Its operations principally comprise three strategic business units: Brit Global Markets, Brit Reinsurance and Brit UK. All three have access to the two regulatory vehicles through which Brit Insurance underwrites: Brit Insurance Limited which is a UK FSA regulated insurance company and Lloyd's syndicate 2987 which is managed by Brit Syndicates Limited. Brit Insurance has UK underwriting offices in London, Reading, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds, Darlington, Ilford and Manchester.
www.britinsurance.com

1 All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,018 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 22nd - 24th August 2007. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

2 Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) Compensation Recovery Unit (CRU) figures show that 79,841 public liability claims were registered in the year 2006/7, compared to 100,989 in 2002/3, a decrease of 27.3%. It is a legal requirement for compensators to notify the CRU of any compensation claims they receive.

3 Respondents were asked how likely they would be to sue and how likely they thought a judge would be to award compensation for the following scenarios:

  • an injury caused by tripping on a damaged/uneven paving stone
  • an injury caused by tripping on an uneven patio at a neighbour’s house
  • an injury caused by falling over when drunk in a nightclub
  • a missed job interview caused by a cancelled train
  • severe pain following an operation, which is not a medically expected side effect of the operation
  • food poisoning following a visit to a restaurant
  • an injury caused by a coconut falling from a tree while the respondent was sunbathing on holiday

On average, 34% of respondents said they thought a judge would be 'very likely' or 'somewhat likely' to award compensation under these circumstances, and 23% of respondents said they would be 'very likely' or 'somewhat likely' to sue under these circumstances.
 
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