by Lacy Harbough
Chances are that you’ve heard the phrase “compensation culture” thrown about the media quite a lot lately. But this is nothing new. Compensation culture was a term coined to refer to the Stella Liebeck court case in 1994. This case saw the courts award a woman $2.9 million in damages from McDonald's after she spilled a cup of coffee over her own lap. This, of course, created scandal, as people began to question how much responsibility companies should hold over the general public. Numerous subsequent cases have been documented where people have attempted to sue businesses for incidents that would seem out of the business’ control, or a direct result of negligent behavior on the claimant’s part. This has created somewhat of a stigma around compensation, meaning that people are now relatively reluctant to seek legal aid or claim compensation themselves, for fear of being judged. But is compensation culture really a negative issue? Or is it just media hype? Here’s everything you need to know on the topic!
The Negatives of Compensation
The media claims that people making claims for incidents that are undeserving of compensation results in insurance companies being able to boost their prices, negatively affecting general members of the public. While this is a relatively convincing theory at first glance, it’s important to bear in mind that the court doesn’t take compensation cases lightly, and anyone that is awarded money, generally deserves that money. The court wouldn’t just hand out cash to undeserving individuals - this simply wouldn’t make sense!
The Positives of Compensation for You
When it comes down to it, compensation is given out to individuals who have been let down by the negligent individuals or businesses in a position authority. If you believe that you have experienced any form of physical or psychological issues at the hands of someone else’s negative behavior, you should reach out to legal services from Accident Injury Attorneys. They will be able to survey the situation and determine whether you have a legitimate case on your hands or not. If you don’t, they will consolidate you, but won’t waste your time or the court’s time. If there has been genuine wrongdoing, they will be able to build a case on your behalf. Any money that you have lost as a result of the issue at hand will be returned to you, as well as some extra for your suffering.
The Positives of Compensation for the General Public
Pursuing compensation isn’t only beneficial for you. It benefits the general public too. Companies tend to do the bare minimum when it comes to looking out for the general public. As long as they are generating profit, they are content. They are likely to cut as many corners as possible to make their products and services cheap to make, meaning they make more money from them in the long run. However, the threat of compensation cases means that they don’t cut any corners where employees, consumers, or other individuals could be harmed.
As you can see, compensation is a relatively complex area. But generally speaking, its positives far outweigh any negatives that the subject has been tarred with!