APIL Advanced Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Conference 2025
President’s Speech, 15 May
Matthew Tuff
Good morning everyone.
When preparing for this speech, I did consider wearing a red baseball cap and using a slogan like Making Personal Injury Great Again, but somewhere at the back of my mind, I’m sure that there is someone who has done something similar already. And they’ve done it bigly.
Before I go any further, I would like to thank and recognise Kim Harrison, who has done an amazing job as president over the last 12 months. She will certainly be a tough act to follow, but I will do my best!
It has only been 12 months since I joined the APIL EC. It has been quite a steep learning curve, but with the support and patience of other members of the committee, I have learned so much over the last year.
In particular, it’s been brought home to me what a vital job APIL does. It is the only organisation that speaks solely for victims of negligence and their lawyers.
I am very excited and proud to be the next APIL president.
I am going to be talking today about some issues that are really important to me and what I hope to achieve over the next 12 months. These will include continuing our efforts to generate a better understanding of the work we do, trying to reduce the justice gap, addressing fundamental dishonesty issues and campaigning on bereavement damages.
I would like to start by emphasising that APIL is incredibly proud to represent, not only the victims of negligence, but also the lawyers who act for them.
APIL would be nothing without its members; and our clients, the victims of negligence, would not be able to get the rehabilitation and damages that they so urgently need without them.
APIL will not shy away from speaking up for its members, as well as for the injured people that they represent.
More than ever, we need a strong, united voice to counter the narratives put forward by some defendant insurers. APIL is proud to be that voice and proud to be the champion of the claimant PI sector.
How many people here have been at a dinner party or other gathering and, on telling a fellow guest that they are a PI lawyer, have been met with a joke about them being an ambulance chaser? I know I have and I find it pretty galling.
When I was younger and less confident, I would maybe go along with the joke and say something like ‘oh chasing all those ambulances keeps me fit!’ However, now I am just fed up of this. Maybe I should be less thin skinned, but I believe that it does a real disservice to both us and those we represent when you hear these jaded repetitive jokes.
I believe that there are 2 main issues here. First, we of course deserve respect for the work we do. We all went into this job because of a desire to help injured people and in the knowledge that it would not have the financial rewards that some other areas of law do.
The other issue is that it can make our jobs harder. As I will be mentioning later, we are continuing to campaign on vital issues such as the justice gap and bereavement damages. But our campaigns will have less traction if those in power are misled by false, detrimental myths about PI lawyers.
The image of PI solicitors has improved in recent years and I believe that APIL has made a significant contribution to this. However, there is still more to do to re-educate those who would misrepresent our work.
I believe that APIL’s Rebuilding Shattered Lives campaign will really help with this. This flagship project will ultimately rebuild public trust in claimant lawyers, educate people about the needs and motivations of our clients, and demonstrate the vital work that we do.
‘Rusty’s Story’, the latest chapter of the Rebuilding Shattered Lives’ campaign has been really successful on social media. This is not some frothy marketing campaign, this is a true, gritty story about a person, who through his own strength of character and the vital, empathetic support of his lawyer, overcame so many obstacles caused by his injuries and by the conduct of the defendants.
So, we should be proud of who we are and what we stand for; and we need to be ready to shout loudly about the difference we make to people’s lives. I am proud to be a personal injury lawyer and I am sure that I am not the only one here that feels that way.
This year marks 10 years since the Criminal Justice & Courts Act was introduced and one issue that is really important to me is the increasing abuse of the fundamental dishonesty rules.
Where a claimant is clearly dishonest, they probably deserve to have their case dismissed, however, as we all know, insurers are increasingly using fundamental dishonesty as a cynical tactic to avoid paying compensation to honest claimants with life changing injuries.
When their allegations of dishonesty fail, the defendants seem to face few consequences and, as we all know, if a defendant is dishonest, there will be no fundamental dishonesty finding against them.
I think that this problem probably affects those with severe injuries disproportionately - there is more money at stake for insurers in these cases and perhaps greater motivation to deploy this tactic.
This abuse of the fundamental dishonesty rules is something we need to fight back hard against. I believe that this is comparable to SLAPPs (strategic lawsuits against public participation). It is just another form of corporate bullying. It is awful that a claimant who may have experienced catastrophic injuries and psychological trauma is, on top of everything else, wrongly accused of dishonesty.
We need a united voice to combat this growing problem and I believe that APIL can provide that voice.
Another issue that really exercises me is the growing justice gap in personal injury.
Since the pandemic, road traffic collisions have been rising, however there has been a drastic drop in RTA claims.
Between 2020 - the year before the whiplash reforms - and 2023, the number of road injuries increased by 15 per cent, according to data published by the Department for Transport. However, during the same period, the number of registered motor injury claims fell by 29 per cent.
As we all know, the whiplash reforms drastically slashed the compensation for whiplash injuries.
The Official Injury Claim portal was at least supposed to simplify and speed up the process of claiming compensation, however the system has been dogged by delays and technical problems.
When the portal was introduced, the insurance industry promised that it would lead to a reduction in insurance premiums.
However, as anyone who drives a car will know, there have been no benefits to motorists and insurance premiums have rocketed upwards in recent years. They have gone up by 64% since the whiplash reforms were introduced.
The consumer now has less access to justice and higher insurance costs. It is a complete lose – lose situation.
The Government has recently confirmed that it will be carrying out a review of the whiplash reforms later this year and APIL will be making representations to the Government about this review.
Similarly, with Employers Liability, there has been a significant drop in claims, despite a reported increase in workplace injuries. APIL analysis of data from the Compensation Recovery Unit and the Health and Safety Executive found that between 2018 and 2023 there was a 16 per cent increase in the number of workers with injuries requiring more than seven days absence, or who became ill because of their work. However, over the same period, employers liability claims have dropped by 50%!
This decrease in claims may be because workers do not fully understand their right to claim. It may be because they are afraid to make a claim.
It may be partly because of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013. There may also be other reasons. It is vital that we gain a better understanding of why this drop in employers’ liability claims is happening and, if necessary, ensure that people are fully aware of their rights.
For those who are not aware, s69 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 changed the law so that there is no automatic civil liability for breach of health and safety regulations. Rather than being able simply to rely on an employer’s breach of regulations, claimants now have to prove negligence at common law.
Section 69 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act is effectively a licence for negligent employers to avoid their health and safety responsibilities. We cannot allow employers to continue to get away with injuring workers through lax standards.
APIL will persevere with persuading lawmakers to repeal section 69 of the Enterprise Act.
Section 69 of the Enterprise Act was an incredibly retrograde step and it is about time that it was reversed.
To make matters worse across most types of personal injury case: as we all know, the Government extended fixed costs in October 2023, with the introduction of the Intermediate Track. It is still quite early days, but it is very likely that this will have had a further chilling effect on access to justice. It is vital that we continue to do everything that we can to resist any further extensions which don’t get the levels of fixed costs right, and which don’t ensure that the process works smoothly for the benefit of victims.
Another important issue is bereavement damages for wrongful death.
APIL will continue to campaign to improve bereavement damages.
The figure of £15,120 (in England and Wales) is insultingly low for the loss of a life, and the system of awarding damages for wrongful deaths is massively out of step with the society of today.
As we all know, only a very limited class of people are entitled to bereavement damages. For example, damages are not payable to the father of an illegitimate child. This ignores the fact that around half of children now are born to parents who are not married.
In 1982, which is the last time that any significant changes were made to the Fatal Accidents Act (which governs bereavement damages), the percentage of children born outside of marriage was 14%. By 2023, the percentage born outside marriage or civil partnership had increased to 49.5%.
More and more adult children live with their parents, often into their 30s, maintaining that close bond of love and affection. However, as we know, parents of adult children cannot claim bereavement damages, nor can children claim where their parents are victims of a wrongful death.
Many children live with, and are cared for, by family friends or relatives other than their parents, however again the law denies bereavement damages to these carers.
I would like to ask you what kind of society only recognises relationships between married people or treats as second class citizens those who are not married parents?
The law in Scotland on this issue is vastly superior to that in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The courts there are not limited to a fixed figure. Courts have discretion to decide on the appropriate figure for damages in each case and consequently the amount of bereavement damages awarded is generally higher. Bereaved relatives have received bereavement damages as high as £140,000. Importantly, there are many more classes of people that may be entitled to claim bereavement damages.
As I have mentioned, the law in England and Wales has remained largely unchanged since 1982. Society has changed hugely since then and it is about time that the law is brought up to date. It is time that the law reflects modern society. It is time that the law here catches up with Scotland.
I have recently written to the Justice Minister Sarah Sackman KC to ask for a meeting to discuss these issues.
APIL has repeatedly campaigned on this issue and called on governments to carry out a root and branch review of the system for awarding bereavement damages. The previous Government declined to do this. However, hopefully the new Government may take a different, fresh approach.
I am sure that I am not the only personal injury lawyer here who is open to taking a collaborative approach with defendants, for example when securing rehabilitation for my clients.
And, as a mature, modern, pragmatic organisation, APIL is open to collaborating with defendant organisations if this can help to achieve positive outcomes for victims of negligence and their lawyers.
I know I was critical of some defendant insurers earlier in my speech, but you may be astonished to hear that many of them are actually quite decent human beings!
A couple of months ago, I along with many other APIL members attended the Serious Injury Guide 10th Anniversary workshop. This was hosted jointly by APIL and FOIL and was a really constructive day, where both claimant and defendant representatives met to discuss how the Serious Injury Guide was working in practice and to share suggestions about how it could be enhanced.
And this is not the only area where we have taken a collaborative approach.
Late last year, the Government announced that funding will cease for Level 7 Apprenticeships, which are a really important way for aspiring lawyers to enter the profession. If this cessation of funding happens, it will in my view be a real backward step and APIL has worked with FOIL to see whether this can be reversed. By working together with other organisations - with greater strength in numbers - I hope that there is a greater chance that those in Government will take notice of our concerns.
APIL, together with a number of other organisations, including the ABI and various Defendant law firms, last year met with the National Police Chiefs’ Council to discuss the increasing problems that personal injury lawyers, both Claimant and Defendant, have when trying to get disclosure from the police.
Other areas where we have worked with Defendant organisations include rehab in low value OIC cases, ADR, universal credit, and the Lugano Convention.
Last July we got a new Government. I believe that this is a chance for a reset – to try to move on from the policies and legislation that have reduced access to justice in recent years. We all know that the Government has a lot on its plate – from tariffs to wars in Europe. However, we will continue to build relationships with the new administration and to put our case for a fairer society where victims of negligence have greater access to justice.
So, I am really excited about the year ahead and what it holds for us all.
And, as we look ahead, let’s remember why we chose this job— to fight for those who find themselves at the lowest point in their lives and to help them to rebuild those lives. In their need for redress to help them turn their lives around, they risk standing alone against big, corporate insurance companies. And, it is you who make sure that these vulnerable, injured people, and their families, are not in that fight alone.
You don’t just practice law. You change lives. This is why APIL is so proud to represent you. So, let’s keep pushing. Keep challenging. Keep showing up—because when we do, justice has a fighting chance.