Royal dissent over PI

The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) has this week hit back at warnings from the Prince of Wales that the UK is veering towards a US-style compensation culture.

APIL spoke out after Prince Charles reportedly wrote to the Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, arguing that the legal system was causing society to become mistrustful and suspicious.

'I and countless others dread the very real and growing prospect of an American-style personal injury "culture" becoming ever more prevalent in this country,' he is said to have written.

But an APIL spokeswoman said research had shown that of a potential 1.8 million claims, only 614,000 were made to insurers in 2001-2002.

'We don't want a "nanny" state, but we challenge anyone to argue that accidents should not be prevented from happening, wherever it is possible to do so,' she added.

A St James' Palace spokeswoman said any letters sent between the Prince and ministers were confidential, but added that he was always keen to 'highlight problems and represent views that otherwise might not be heard'.

A Lord Chancellor's Department spokeswoman confirmed that the Prince often wrote to Lord Irvine, who welcomed the correspondence.

Paula Rohan