Fixed costs are unfair and unjust to claimants, says Patrick Allen
Fixed costs for claims up to £250,000 will cause substantial disadvantage to individuals who bring claims and bring an undeserved windfall to insurers and corporate defendants.
The backers of fixed costs (including Lord Justice Jackson, the government and insurers) suggest that they will bring certainty to the system to make it proportionate and predictable.
But it is not so simple. Litigation is not a fair fight between equally resourced players but a war between two very unequal parties.
Statistics confirm that most claimants are individual citizens of modest means (the median gross earnings for all employees in 2014 was £22,044, pensioners, children and the disabled, who will also be claimants, earned much less) and the defendant is usually local or central government, the police, a large corporate body or an insured person. As a consequence, most defendants have the backing of considerable wealth and resources.
This is shown by the fact that:
- About 1.5 million claims are issued each year.
