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I find it very interesting that the Government has announced both the small claims limit rise and the 'crackdown' on what they call soft tissue injuries but what we all know is whiplash. They want the public to be nodding along happily saying 'yes, stop the fraudulent whiplash claims, yes yes!' so as to distract them from the fact that it also means - as others have eloquently said - that claims for injuries arising from work accidents, accidents in shops etc will equally be caught by the £5000 suggested limit. I agree with other comments that what the Government ministers see as 'small claims' is not small to the average man on the street, and anybody feeling vulnerable and injured already will not want to have to try to navigate the small claims court procedure on their own. Would you? After being injured, shouldn't you expect to be able to receive recompense from the person/entity that caused your injury without adding to your suffering further? The legal issues surrounding breach of duty are the same whether you are claiming a penny or a million pounds. If the Government wants to stop 'soft tissue injuries' then make it clear that it is whiplash injuries from motor vehicle accidents that it wants to crack down on. Don't blur the issues by lumping all injuries below £5000 into it. Claiming for a car accident may well be fairly straight forward and common sense, and I suspect most people would be able to put together a fairly decent set of allegations on a claim form if needed. But to expect the average man on the street to do the same with allegations of negligence in the work place or a public place - that's nonsense.

Could it be that the Government want us to be up in arms about the whole thing so that they can then simply get what they're actually wanting to achieve through on the nod? Hmmmm.