(The Nationalist, February 2002)
I know an elderly man who recently spent some time in hospital. On one occasion he needed to go to the toilet, but required help to get there. Since no nurse was free, he asked a visitor who was standing beside the next bed to give him a helping hand. The visitor, a pillar of the local community, refused, saying, ‘If you fall, you might take an action against me’. The old man then asked another visitor, but received the same answer. He struggled on by himself, deeply hurt.
A county council closed children’s playgrounds in about ten towns in the county, explaining that it could no longer afford to pay the insurance premiums necessary to protect itself against claims for personal injury. The Northern Ireland Housing Executive is reluctant, despite criticism, to set up children’s playgrounds on its estates, partly because of the likelihood of personal injury claims.
Voluntary organizations are finding it increasingly difficult to get helpers. One reason is that volunteers have to be insured, and that costs scarce money.
I went once to a local doctor to have an ear syringed – about as minor a surgical procedure as you can imagine. But first, I was presented with a full-page list of possible ear problems – none of which I had heard of – and asked if I had ever suffered from them. If I had said ‘Yes’, that would have complicated matters and led to questions and delays.
James Le Fanu writes (The Tablet, 27 May 2000, p. 717), ‘Common sense tells us that accidents happen without there necessarily being anyone to blame. For many years now, lawyers have argued the reverse – for each and every misfortune, some individual or institution must be to blame, against whom, in the cause of “justice”, a hefty claim must then be made’. And recently, a solicitor advertised on national radio “No win, no fee” litigation for compensation claims.
What is the human price for this? Trust is a casualty of the compo culture; people have become afraid to trust each other. Another casualty is truth, when people commit perjury by swearing on oath in court about the extent of injuries or suffering which they know they are exaggerating. And freedom is yet another casualty: you cannot talk or deal with people freely if you are afraid they may bring a claim against you if you put a foot wrong.
Everyone accepts that there are cases where people are entitled to compensation. But we have gone well beyond that and turned the process into a system of organized greed. Selfishness undermines everyone. The real price is the loss of community. Is it worth it?