Changing the personal injury discount rate to take account of risky investors means leaving some seriously injured people under-compensated, a senior solicitor has warned. The discount rate, which is used to calculate lifelong compensation for the seriously injured, changed from 2.5% to -0.75% in March and is under review.
Writing in NLJ this week, Julian Chamberlayne, partner at Stewarts and Chairman of the Forum of Complex Injury Solicitors, says rhetoric from the insurance industry has focused on the fact some claimants will be over-compensated. Owing to the many variables involved, the flipside is that some claimants will be under-compensated. Chamberlayne questions whether this is acceptable, given the justice system aims to provide 100% compensation to successful claimants.
