Detailed scrutiny of the Bill is due to start tomorrow, where the Government could accept the fair and reasonable compromise of raising the small claims court threshold to £1,500, which has cross-party support from the Justice Select Committee.
 
Usdaw is deeply concerned that the Government is trivialising serious injuries incurred at work where the employer is at fault, by forcing victims into the small claims court. Usdaw says that these injuries are not a small issue if an accident resulted in a worker suffering:

• A black eye, broken nose and split lip.
• Back pain so bad they cannot pick up their own child.
• Facial injuries and scarring.
• An ankle injury that stops them from driving for months.
• Anxiety attacks when they go back to work after being assaulted by a shoplifter.

Speaking at the TUC conference in Manchester, Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says: “The Government’s proposed Civil Liability Bill sets out to increase the small claims limit for personal injury cases. The Government tries to justify this Bill with a lot of talk about fraudulent whiplash cases, but this is just a smokescreen.
 
“The Bill, if passed, will mean that thousands of injured workers will no longer receive the necessary legal advice in often complex claims against their employer.
 
“Reducing the ability of workers to take legal action over injuries at work will inevitably lead to a reduction in Health and Safety standards in the workplace. We will see weaker health and safety in the workplace combined with workers not being able to take legal action over injuries at work.
 
“The proposed reforms are unfair, unnecessary and an assault on workers access to justice. As the trade union voice for workers, we must campaign loudly and effectively to stop this attack on access to justice for injured workers.”
 
Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest and the fastest growing trade union with over 430,000 members. Membership has increased by more than 28% over the decade. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.
 
Measures linked to the Civil Liability Bill will double the threshold for cases taken in the small claims court to £2,000. Usdaw is backing the cross-party Justice Select Committee recommendation of a £1,500 limit, which reflects inflation since the limit was last set in 1999.
 
House of Commons Justice Committee - Small claims limit for personal injury - Seventh Report of Session 2017–19: “81. We are deeply unimpressed by the Ministry of Justice’s inability to quantify the potential impact of raising to £2,000 the small claims limit for employer liability and public liability claims. Given the potential complexity of these claims for self-represented claimants and evidence of the role of litigation in maintaining safe and healthy workplaces, we recommend that they continue to be subject to the lowest small claims threshold—which we have recommended should be set at around £1,500 to take account of inflation since 1999.” https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmjust/659/659.pdf
 
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