Why Is The Amount Of Compensation So High?

[beastmonkey]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2598686/Teacher-injured-breaking-playground-fight-handed-110-000-compensation-debt-hit-council-gave-dinner-lady-1-500-hurt-defective-sauc

Please don't reply with answers ranting about blame culture/schools/councils etc, all i want to know is what process is used to determine the amount paid out?

A pupil got over £18,000 for having a ball kicked in their face, this happened to me at school and I, nor my parents ever thought to sue.

[factor-fiction]

I haven't read the article but as it's the Mail i don't expect it to give the key details as the facts may spoil a good story. For a settlement of £18000 there must be some ongoing medical issue resulting from the accident. For a settlement of £110000 there is probably an element of lost earnings and lost pension .
Often these 'awarded £50000 for slipping on a grape' have a lot more to them than meets the eye

[Gromit]

I expect the amount is determined by two factors. compensation for the injury and compensation for lst of earnings. It is easy to see how a caretaker might get £40K if the injury stoppped them doing their job for 12 months.

The Councils are insured, so the sums paid out do not come direct from the council tax, though the insurance premiums are.

The No win - No fee solicitors are fuelling claims.

[Old_Geezer]

"A caretaker who hurt their thumb in a school window was paid £40,000"

Really !?!?

In secondary school during a windy day I had a metal door slam on my thumb splitting it open. Got no more than treatment and a bandage from the school nurse.

[factor-fiction]

It depends what is meant by "hurt his thumb". If it meant he couldn't hold his tools and had to stop working then it's easy to see how the claim could be £40000

[dave50]

There should be no money involved unless there was a loss of earnings. That's the only thing that should be compensated.

[Old_Geezer]

Surely a caretaker would not be self employed but employed by the school. I can't see that loss of earnings would be involved. He'd be on full sick pay due to an accident at his employer's workplace.

[factor-fiction]

Not all employers pay sick pay for a long period- even generous employers will only normally pay it for six months.
Anyway, it's difficult to criticise or defend these payment amounts unless we know all the circumstances, and the Mail article gives no meaningful details

[cassa333]

Sometimes I dispare at the amount of compensation some people get.

Genuine cases where people have had multi million pound payouts have been because of the level of care they will need for the rest of their life but someone who has had a fall and can get back to 'normal', still function on every level and if needs be retrain get hundreds of thousands is, on the face of it it is farsicle.


I know we don't know all the details or difficulties these people have but when you hear of someone gettng a large 5 figure sum becuase they couldn't cope with the job they wanted to do it does rather stick in your throat.