The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers recently announced it has plans to take legal action for the Lord Chancellor’s failure to review the discount rate after promising one would be forthcoming in November of 2010.
Used in personal injury claims cases, the discount rate is used to calculate how much should be deducted from an injured claimant’s personal injury compensation award in light of any income that may result from the investment of their damages.
The discount rate was set at 2.5 per cent in 2001. At the time the rate was based on yields that had been generated by facility known as index-linked government stock.
Since that date the ILGS yields have been declining gradually. The average gross yield over the last three years has not risen above 1 per cent, according to APIL.
The legal organisation recently decided to issue proceedings for a judicial review. The APIL’s case revolves around the claim that the Lord Chancellor has neither completed a review nor provided a timetable for one.
Muiris Lyons, president of the Association, stated that APIL was gravely disappointed in the government, as it has failed to to carry out its review. Accident claim compensation has been lacking by hundreds of thousands of pounds in some cases, Mr Lyons said.
The legal organisation’s president added that the issue had been brought to the attention of the Lord Chancellor a full nine months ago and found it completely unacceptable that there has been no meaningful progress made made since November of 2010.
The government has not yet issued a response to APIL’s statements regarding the lack of a discount rate review, nor was the Lord Chancellor available for comment regarding the issue.