Business and employers' organisation IBEC has proposed a 14-point action plan aimed at tackling what it claims are the spiralling costs of personal injuries claims and insurance costs.
The plan follows the organisation's latest national survey of personal injury claims, which revealed that the average cost of such claims can rise to more than £38,000 (#48,250), depending on how the claim is settled.
Out of 526 companies sampled in the survey, half had recorded claims between 1995 and 1999. The survey also showed that while accident rates and claim rates fell between 1999 and 2000, costs to business still went up.
A key recommendation of IBEC's plan is that those found to have made spurious or exaggerated personal injury claims should pay compensation. The organisation also wants a ban on advertising for personal injury claims.
IBEC says there should be a less costly system for dealing with compensation in genuine cases of personal injuries, including measures that would prevent the need to go to the courts and proper guidance on the amount of damages for personal injuries.
However, the director general of the Law Society, Mr Ken Murphy, said IBEC's plan was intended to divert attention from the high number of workplace accidents that do take place, particularly fatal ones. He said IBEC should focus more on promoting health and safety in the workplace.
He said the Law Society had recommended a change in the law to ban advertising for personal injury claims, and that the law already provided for companies to seek compensation from individuals who have made bogus claims against them.
