APIL launches judicial review of discount rate

The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) is launching a judicial review, saying that the Lord Chancellor Kenneth Clarke has failed to organise a timetable for action on the discount rate.

APIL says it hopes the legal action will now ramp up the pressure on Lord Chancellor Clarke to take action on the discount rate.

The discount rate is used to calculate the amount deducted from an injured person’s compensation to account for any income he may receive from investing his damages.

The discount rate set by the (then) Lord Chancellor in 2001 was based on yields generated by index-linked government stock (ILGS) and was calculated at 2.5%.

Since that decision was made, yields on ILGS have gradually declined and over the last three years the average gross yield has been less than one per cent, APIL says.

APIL president Muiris Lyons said: “We are gravely disappointed that the Government has failed to carry out its review as injured people are continuing to be undercompensated, in some cases, by hundreds of thousands of pounds.

“It has been nine months since we first brought this issue to the attention of the Lord Chancellor and we find it unacceptable that no meaningful progress has been made since then.

“This decision is not something we have taken lightly, but we feel that we are left with little alternative other than to seek a judicial review on behalf of the injured people we represent.

“Our only hope is that the Lord Chancellor now takes swift action and that injury victims are provided with access to the full and fair compensation they deserve.”

For more, read our analysis: APIL discount rate review could force decision from Clarke.