The personal injury claims process has lost sight of the injured person, the president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers has said.

Speaking at the APIL president’s lunch, John McQuater said a good claims system needed to strike ‘the right balance’ for injured people and society as a whole, in ‘fostering a sense of responsibility but, when things do go wrong, in providing proper and fair redress’.

He added: ‘We must never lose sight of the fact that an injured person has been wronged by someone else, someone who has failed to comply with their legal responsibilities. No injured person wants to be in the situation they find themselves. Each and every one would say the same thing: "I just wish it had never happened".

‘Have we lost sight of this? I think we have. I suggest to you that the balance essential to the integrity of our legal system is tipping the wrong way and it is time to both recognise and address that.’

He added: ‘The last decade has seen great changes. Further changes are now proposed, yet much that has been promised before has yet to be delivered.

‘For example, I am disappointed that recommendations to increase levels of damages have still not been implemented. I am concerned at proposals that the damages to which injured people are entitled should be used to fund success fees so that, in turn, access to justice can be maintained.

‘How quickly has it been forgotten that recoverability of additional liabilities was introduced to justify withdrawal of legal aid, which remember APIL opposed, just a decade ago.’

McQuater continued: ‘Whatever changes are made in the future, I do not want to see further dilution of our justice system. I urge the government not to create a monolithic litigation process which allows the interests of big business to trample on injured people. That is not only bad for the individuals concerned but bad for society as a whole. ‘