On trains we see multiple posters plastered up and down the carriages reading “Delayed train? Your compensation isn’t far away”. A news story last week claimed that not enough people know they are entitled to compensation for delayed flights. We are actively encouraged to claim redress for being late.

Yet people who are injured by someone else’s careless driving, who must take time out of work, go through physical pain, and endure the impact on family and social life, are often derided for having the nerve to claim compensation. A three-hour flight delay is apparently worth £505. Personal injury reforms mean that three months of pain from a soft tissue injury will be ‘worth’ just £235. It is completely unfair and unacceptable that being late is taken more seriously than being injured needlessly. Bear in mind this is not about mistakes or mishaps, these are injuries which should never happen.

Gordon Dalyell

President

Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL)