Iwas thinking today because of the compensation culture in the US is out of control at the minute. How far would you go to sue a company?

For example would you buy a product and purposely break it to cause you harm for a couple of grand?

I'll be interested in the responses!

That particular example is fraud, of course....;)

I think I'd only sue a company big time if their actions or inactions have cost me time and money; for example, I've approached railway operators after being delayed on trips and managed to get some compensation out of them. But for me to sue I'd have to lose a fair amount of money AND feel that the company hadn't given a stuff about sorting it out.

I'd try and resolve it nicely first before getting the lawyers involved, because on the whole the lawyers will score big as well, and I'd hate to have to put work the way of lawyers...;)

Joe

and not making an attempt to resolve it before resorting to litigation would prejudice the case against you.

I know its resurrecting a old thread but....

Do yo' fellow forummers think the whole compensation thing is spiralling out of control?

I personally think the whole concept of personal responsibilty for your actions is being slowly eroded by the "Can I have some money then" brigade.

For example - you know the advert for some claims company where the woman slips on something and sues her employer. Now if that were me I'd just think "I'll look where I'm going next time", not "right where's my cheque". It just seems sheer madness to me.

If you ever saw that episode of Shameless where he tries to sue the corner shop and nearly puts it out of business that sums the whole sorry state of things up to me.

What is the world coming to?

I blame that stupid Injury Lawyers 4 U advert! :rant:

I mean WTF?! That woman needs a slap!

I used to work in Commercial Underwriting when this culture was first becoming apparant in the UK...we were shown a 'set up' collision between a bus and car on an American Highway...the drivers of both vehicles and all 10 bus passengers were actors....!!

After the 'framed collision' on a busy highway the bus driver left the vehicle and was 'arguing' with the car driver....the CCTV on the bus caught 12 people getting ON after the collision....now why would that be.....!!

When the police arrived it was 'these' 12 people who were eager to give their names/witness statements!!!!!!



:suspect:

We laughed at the time and thought never in the UK......now it IS happening.....only last year my brother in law crashed into a bloke in a car by himself on the way to work in bad weather ...however the driver said on his claim form his wife was with him and tried to claim for whiplash injuries????? HE WAS IN THE CAR ON HIS OWN!!! :rant:

Originally posted by 367squadron
Iwas thinking today because of the compensation culture in the US is out of control at the minute. How far would you go to sue a company?

For example would you buy a product and purposely break it to cause you harm for a couple of grand?

I'll be interested in the responses!

It certainly is out of control! See the thread about the Wendy's chili finger lady. She was hoping to collect a wad of cash from Wendy's...although things didn't turn out quite the way she'd planned. Heh.

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=35720

The Law can be an honorable profession, and I'm not saying it's not necessary. People need someone to speak for them and seek compensation when they are injured by shoddy products, or if they are injured or even killed due to negligence.

But greedy lawyers have taken the law and twisted it to suit their own money-grubbing ends.

One reason John Kerry lost the election was because his running mate, John Edwards, is a personal injury lawyer. And a damned good one too. He is a millionare many times over.

How many people who think the election was "stolen" or "fixed" were even aware of John Edwards profession? While I personally had nothing against John Kerry, I absolutely despise John Edwards!

Funny pictures aside http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/images/blpic-kerryedwardsinjury.htm

John Edwards has personally put many doctors and even hospitals out of business. http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20040816-011234-1949r.htm

It is not an exaggeration to say that today in the US, you can literally sue anyone, at anytime, for anything. Disgusting.

:) Sierra

People these days won't accept responsibility for their own actions. A man sued Waverlley council ,he was on Bondi beach walked down to the water walked a couple of metres in to the water and then dived, He hit his head on the bottom and finished up a paraplegic. He blamed the council saying they should have signs up warning people that the water was shallow. :loopy: I think he got about $2000.000.compo

Originally posted by Saifa
For example - you know the advert for some claims company where the woman slips on something and sues her employer. Now if that were me I'd just think "I'll look where I'm going next time", not "right where's my cheque". It just seems sheer madness to me.


So what happens when you lose wages due to you having time off work. Is everyone guaranteed sick pay?

What is the world coming to? It's when employers be responsible and provide a safe place for people to come to work to. Not every accident is down to your own carelessness. Slip and fall accidents are very common. I had a friend who slipped on a wet floor that she was unaware of, cracked open her skull and sustained major neck injuries. She therefore lost her job as a waitress. Oh yes she sued. Employers now are required by law to carry workers insurance to cover accidents while on the job. I agree there are frivolous law suits and companies often settle out of court just to make them go away.
Americans love their day in court. Never been myself but will if it's not my fault and I didn't cause it. Especially if it effects my way of life and my ability to enjoy it. Hell, I can't afford time off work. I'm self employed.

btw, we have no socialized medicine like the NHS. Therefore if we get injured we pay for private health care. A trip in an ambulance cost me $300.00 (150 pounds) plus the ER charges. I now pay $189.00 per month for health insurance.

Funke88,

I reckon I'd proably sue or want to in those situations. I believe that most of the problems start when you get people resurrecting old injuries to chase, or when the 'someone must pay for my stubbed toe' mentality comes to the fore.

Down in Chav Central Sheffield (the area around Exchange Street - where the Chav Elite Meet and Greet) there are frequently people running around with clip-boards asking if I've ever suffered an industrial accident or fallen over a paving slab. Just for the hell of it I once engaged one of these people in conversation and he admitted he was canvassing for potential business from an 'ambulance chaser' company.

There was a general feeling that people have a 'right' to damages, and that there is always someone to 'blame'. Sometimes an accident is just that - no negligence, no blame, just someone being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Our culture now seems to be geared very much around 'rights' and not responsibilities, so it's unsurprising that more people think they can regard the civil damages aspect of the legal system as an extra free go on the National Lottery.

Joe

Hi guys,

Would agree with you there JoePritchard, however would just like to add that I don't think its now in our culture to want to sue people - in fact I would say that our culture in general abhors that kinds of thing unless there is a real claim, as you can see from the posts most people have made.

I reckon it's just a minority of people who want easy money and a whole raft of crafty businesspeoples getting on the bandwagon. 'Rights' at work are definitely a good thing, people should not be put at risk by their employers (something that happened far too often in the past) - I blame the judges, personally, who award huge sums of money in such ridiculous cases.

fortunately so far in this country the judges seem to be earning on the side of sensiblness. Probably despite what the sun would have us believe most frivolous claims are thrown straight out and only ones that the judge believes have serious merit are heard at all.

It is very hard to sue a large company or establishment because they have the time and means to wait it out.

In my families case, my father was exposed to Asbestos just over ten years ago at his place of employment. In April 2003 he discovered he had Lung cancer through asbestos poisoning and died 9 months later.

We are trying to get compensation but the place he worked are making it very diificult and my mum has not got the emotional strength to fight.

It annoys me greatly that his employers have not got the decency to admit what they have done to our family but instead want to drag it out so that we hopefully give up which looks like being the case.

Originally posted by Cyclone
fortunately so far in this country the judges seem to be earning on the side of sensiblness. Probably despite what the sun would have us believe most frivolous claims are thrown straight out and only ones that the judge believes have serious merit are heard at all.

Agreed, any judge worth his wig'll tell most Joe Bloggs claimants to go away and don't be so bloody daft when they're making claims for silly amounts of money.