19th Century British compensation claims

When someone suffers a serious form of personal injury during an accident which was not their fault, lawyers will strive to help them receive maximum compensation.

As well as helping them improve their lifestyles following a successful case, the damages may also provide for lost earnings or any treatment fees which were caused by the incident. Furthermore, any funds awarded could provide for future care and the costs of rehabilitation.

Personal injury lawyers are a good thing because they have allowed ordinary men and women to exercise their legal rights for years. In fact, these professionals may have been helping people make accident at work, vehicle collision, and catastrophic injury claims since the 1860s.

Many people regard the ‘compensation culture’ as a recent phenomenon – something which has barely been in the UK for a decade. However, in 2011, insurance provider Aviva published a list of claims which dated back to the 19th Century.

Although every instance of personal injury can greatly affect sufferers, some of these cases are quite bizarre. For example, one of these claims involved an Essex man who sustained an eye injury while throwing rice at a wedding in 1892. As a result, he received £50 in compensation. To put that into perspective, this sum would have been worth £2,994 today.

In addition, other claimants received compensation from rat bites, catapults, and even after accidentally ingesting poison. As well as these, more modern day hazards existed, such as individuals who suffered slips, trips, or falls, head injuries, and sports accidents.

The UK’s compensation system has been unfairly criticised in recent years. For example, some newspapers have accused solicitors of increasing insurance premiums through their actions and helping unscrupulous opportunists receive unjust damages.

However, the truth of the matter is this: without us, people who have sustained spinal cord injuries or brain damage might find it much harder to claim compensation. Looking at this research, it appears our predecessors may have been just as committed in helping sufferers receive damages as we are today.