An outright ban on phone calls and texts touting for personal injury compensation claims would have overwhelming support from the public, research published today (8 September) reveals as campaigners urge the Government to take action.
“Today marks the third anniversary of the Government’s introduction of measures to curb the practice, which we warned at the time would not work,” said Mike Benner, chief executive of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) which commissioned the research by YouGov*.
“Injury calls and texts have still been the biggest cause of complaints to the Information Commissioner’s Office in the last three years – and each year by a considerable margin,” he said.
Ninety-three per cent of UK adults think there should be a total ban on calls and texts about personal injury compensation claims. The figure rises to 97 per cent among the 29 million UK adults who received such a call or text in the last year.
“Nine out of ten people feel annoyed, angry, anxious, disgusted, or upset when they receive a call or text about making a claim for compensation for an injury. It is no surprise with such strong emotional responses, that the people of this country want this practice to end,” said Mr Benner.
“It generates the false perception that obtaining compensation is easy, even when there is no injury. It brings an often very serious issue – needless injury and the need for redress - into disrepute,” he explained.
“Solicitors are banned from cold calling for personal injury claims and we fully support this. Unfortunately, claims management companies are still free to contact people provided they have given consent. Both plain common sense and this research tell us that no-one will agree to be called about a personal injury claim.
“An opportunity was missed to impose a proper ban on these tasteless and intrusive calls and texts, but it still could be put right”.
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