The British Safety Council has announced it is against the government’s plans to increase the small claims limit for workers injured through no fault of their own.

Since 2016, Thompsons Solicitors has vigorously campaigned, alongside Usdaw and other unions, against the Civil Liability Bill and ‘associated changes’ to the small claims limit. While the Bill has almost completed its journey through parliament, the fight against the changes to the small claims limit which will impact on over 350,000 a year including workers, goes on.

In a news article published in Health and Safety at Work magazine David Parr, policy and technical services director at the British Safety Council aligned BSC with Usdaw’s Justice for Injured Worker’s campaign, said: “Workers should not be prevented from pursuing redress whenever they sustain workplace injury or ill-health through no fault of their own simply because of financial limitations.

“Wherever employers are found to be negligent in the management of workplace health and safety, there should be accountability. No-one should be injured or made ill at work, but if they are, workers should have the support to hold the employer to account, so that incidents do not reoccur.” Read more of Mr Parr’s comments here.

Currently, if a person is injured through no fault of their own and has a claim worth more than £1,000, the cost of obtaining independent legal advice (to ensure they get fair compensation) is paid – at rates fixed by the courts - by the party responsible for their injury.

However, the Tory government wants to double the small claims limit threshold to £2,000 in all cases including workplace injuries and to £5,000 for people injured on the roads. They are using the Civil Liability Bill which is actually about whiplash claims to make the changes with the result that access to justice will be denied to hundreds of thousands of people in England and Wales every year whose claims have nothing to do with whiplash.