Protection Of Compensation

EDM number 493 in 1995-96, proposed by Frank Cook on 22/02/1996.

That this House notes that rules governing recoupment of benefits received from compensation awarded as a result of an accident require such payment to be repaid when a personal injury claim is settled and that an amount equal to benefit paid in respect of injury or disease must be deducted from the compensation payment (whether or not it has been reduced because of contributory negligence), the deduction is made for what has been paid in benefits to the date of settlement, or for the first five years, whichever is sooner, and the compensator must pay the amount deducted to the Compensatory Recovery Unit of the DSS; notes that settlements less than ú2,500 are exempt from these rules but in such cases one of half of the benefits may be deducted from loss of earnings, that there are many cases where recovery is made from compensation awarded for pain and suffering, and that claimants are often pressed by insurance companies to accept ú2,500, an amount well below the value of their claim, rather than have it swallowed entirely by the repayment rules, and that the only ones to benefit from this are insurance houses who save many thousands of pounds in this way and neither injured party nor the Revenue gain anything; and urges Her Majesty's Government to introuce legislation so that no recoupment of benefits be made from compensation for pain and suffering or out of pocket expenses incurred as a result of an accident, account be taken of reduction for contributory negligence and the first ú2,500 of all claims be exempt from the recoupment provisions.

This motion has been signed by a total of 44 MPs.