Brett Dixon, president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) said

“The discount rate must be set to meet the needs of catastrophically injured people. Someone with a life-long, life-changing injury such as brain damage or a spinal injury cannot afford to take any risks with how his compensation is invested. He needs the money to keep a roof over his head, to fund his equipment, and to feed and clothe him and pay for his care for the rest of his life. We need to examine the detail of the Ministry of Justice’s response, but what I can say is that the new formula for calculating the rate will be critical to injured people.

The last thing people with devastating injuries think about when they are lying in hospital is their insurance premiums. They think about how they are going to manage. Insurers say an increased discount rate will ‘benefit’ customers through their premiums. It is of no benefit if they are severely injured and forced to take risks with the compensation they so desperately need.”