'There must be a Better Way': Personal Injuries Compensation since the 'Crisis in Insurance'

Abstract

It is now six years since the 2002 ‘crisis in insurance’. It can now be observed that the attributed cause of the crisis - an explosion in common law personal injuries claims - was overstated. It is also evident that the legislature’s solution to the crisis was excessive. Statutory amendments took away from injured plaintiffs the right to sue - to the benefit of negligent tortfeasors and their indemnifiers. They assisted private corporations’ return to profitability by depriving the injured of the right to compensation. Accordingly, it is now time to consider other alternatives: if not a return to an unfettered common law (the limitations of which have often been discussed), then perhaps other alternatives, including broad-based no fault compensation such as that in use in New Zealand.