Master of the Rolls sticks up for accident victims

The Master of the Rolls has attacked the UK’s record on looking after accident victims. Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers (left) asked the Government to back the rehabilitation of those affected in its plans to deal with the spiralling costs of employers’ liability insurance. He told delegates at the Forum of Insurance Lawyers annual conference on 2 December that the Government could make more than £1bn of savings in benefits payments. A paraplegic in Scandinavia has a 50 per cent chance of returning to full employment; in the US the figure is 42 per cent; but in the UK it is a mere 14 per cent. First revealed on www.thelawyer.com 3 December