Things that make you go What the F**k?

[brokencrossbar1]

I'm on the right side of centre from a political viewpoint , but not wedded to a particular party. Would probably have given most no1s to FG during my voting career.
Can't believe a sensible poster like BCB is defending this wench's claim.
It's risible

I am not defending her claim. I agreed on the specific case that there were issues with it. In a general sense though I find the attack on the 'Claim culture' very wrong.

[five points]

Significant twist this morning. https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/td-bailey-ran-10km-race-three-weeks-after-swing-fall-38146778.html

[Tony Baloney]

I'm on the right side of centre from a political viewpoint , but not wedded to a particular party. Would probably have given most no1s to FG during my voting career.
Can't believe a sensible poster like BCB is defending this wench's claim.
It's risible

I am not defending her claim. I agreed on the specific case that there were issues with it. In a general sense though I find the attack on the 'Claim culture' very wrong.

There's a shock 

[brokencrossbar1]

Significant twist this morning. https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/td-bailey-ran-10km-race-three-weeks-after-swing-fall-38146778.html

Well I've no sympathy for her being vilified then. This sort of shit is what causes the kick back against the thousands of legitimate claims that are dealt with year on year. She deserves all the criticism she is getting. This does not take away from my main point though.

[RedHand88]

Sure exercise helps with the pain 

[lfdown2]

Significant twist this morning. https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/td-bailey-ran-10km-race-three-weeks-after-swing-fall-38146778.html

Well I've no sympathy for her being vilified then. This sort of shit is what causes the kick back against the thousands of legitimate claims that are dealt with year on year. She deserves all the criticism she is getting. This does not take away from my main point though.

Setting aside the recent development, would you consider this a legitimate claim, (while conceding you may not have all the detai)l? Surely the duty of care should start with the individual, Christ she was on a swing!! And while this may be a particularly extreme case do people no longer take responsibility for their own actions. In the instance of the soft play areas, I listened to an owner on Matt Cooper who provided some examples of claims which were in my view the parents taking advantage of the situation (and these were not life long or life changing injuries). As someone who works in the field have you seen an increase in business? I would also agree that insurance companies are using the narrative to their advantage.

[general_lee]

Is this not one of those gimmick type swings you get in nightclubs rather than one you'd get in a play park? I think Ollies in Belfast have one... the brass neck of your woman, then again she is Fine Gael so there is no surprise there. Rejected the hotels cheque to cover medical costs. I'm all for people seeking compensation they are entitled to but when it's a result of their own clumsiness or idiocy I have no sympathy

[Tony Baloney]

She has, unsurprisingly, dropped her case.

https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/swing-case-td-maria-bailey-drops-compensation-claim-against-hotel-38147952.html

[Rudi]

Where o where is Brokencrossbar?

[Hound]

Well it was completely fraudulent, so fair play to the media for sorting her out.

Alan Farrell FG TD also had a fraudulent claim recently. Judge said he totally exaggerated his injuries and he was caught up ladders putting up posters when he was supposed to be crippled with pain. But judge still gave him 2,500 (he was looking for 15k)

Of course the solicitors encourage this.  More cases. More fees. No brainer.

[brokencrossbar1]

Where o where is Brokencrossbar?

I'm here....I said that there were problems with her case and as soon as I heard about her running 3 weeks after the fall it was quite obvious she was bluffing. I have issues with how the MSM portray people making claims but I am happy when they expose shit like this.

[armaghniac]

Hotel to seek legal costs according to Irish Mail on Sunday.
https://www.broadsheet.ie/2019/05/25/de-sunday-papers-312/

[johnnycool]

Sure exercise helps with the pain 

The Westmeath hurlers physio may be needing private work shortly and he'll surely sort her out in good time..

[Ethan Tremblay]

I lol'd at the part "She alleges the hotel was negligent because the swing was "unsupervised" and there were no signs to instruct patrons how to use it safely."

If she doesn't know who to use a swing, its her parents she should be suing. 

[Franko]

Maria Bailey FG Politics. 60k for falling off an unsupervised swing whilist holding items in both her hands. Insurance costs are soaring, small businesses are failing due to these exorbitant insurance costs, yet someone who should be seen as a role model is making a claim like this. Sense of entitlement from this yoke is disgusting.

First things first,  we do not know the full extent of why she is taking her case so to make assumptions about the whole case on a single excerpt from the proceedings is wrong.  We don't know how she fell and we do not know the extent of her injuries and there is political capital being made out of this without full facts.

Secondly she is not claiming for €60k and this is a f**king real bug bear of mine.  She has issued her case in the Circuit Court which has a range from €15k to €60k.  Even at the best case scenario most cases that are issued within this bracket settle or are awarded in the €15-30k mark.  There is an agenda being driven at the minute that there are exorbitant damages being paid out but that is categorically wrong.  The damages being paid out are generally in line with the Book of Quantum that was drafted by the Government and therefore the legal profession are simply following what the industry standard in the country has been for years! 

Thirdly, I work as a litigation solicitor in Personal Injury.  I can count on 2 hands the amount of what would be deemed fraudulent cases I have seen in my whole career.  I have dealt with hundreds, maybe thousands of cases.  My professional colleagues would have the same experience.  It would seem, if the insurance industry are to be believed, through their Blue Shirt media mouthpiece The Independent, that every second case that is being litigated on is fraud.  It is not.  The integrity of the legal profession is being undermined constantly without any real cogent evidence to back it up. 

Fourthly,  the amount of claims per head of capita are actually reducing!  The Injuries Board released figures last year which showed that the amount of claims are reducing in comparison to how many people live in the country.  The amount of claims has increased but as a stand alone statistic that does not allow for the increase in the population over the last 20 years,  it has increased by over 1m.  Also, we hve a much more affluent country therefore the amount of cars on the road have increased significantly which obviously has a knock on effect of more road traffic accidents.  Thirdly,  with the building boom and economic boom in general with more factories etc in teh country, there has been a significant increase in work place accidents.  These types of factors are never thrown out whenever people discuss the idea of the 'claim culture'.

Finally the insurance companies are complicit in the whole issue of carteling and price fixing.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/price-fixing-probe-into-motor-insurance-companies-454045.html

https://www.independent.ie/business/personal-finance/latest-news/insurance-pricefix-inquiries-set-to-drag-on-37866267.html

It is not inconsequential that there is a serious blame game being driven against the Legal profession to deflect from the fact that the insurance companies have been ripping us off to our faces for years.  A simple example is the question of the soft play areas that have had difficulty getting insurance and had to get together and go to England.  In the last 5 years they have paid,  as a group, to Irish insurance companies a total of €5m in premiums,  increasing on a year by year basis.  During that time the total amount of compensation paid out to all plaintiffs for accidents in these soft play areas was just over €200k....that does not compute in my book. 

Don't believe all you read about insurance fraud etc.  It is part of an industry deflection to cover up their own sneaky and underhand behaviour for years.

You haven't taken into account the increase in H&S requirements put on businesses in the past 20 years.  You say that the claims per capita has decreased but you have to consider this against a backdrop of a huge increase in the precautions that have been taken in order to prevent accidents.  A building site today is unrecognisable when compared to one 20 years ago.  The fact that the number of claims are still managing to increase can only be down to people (maybe lawyers?) getting ever more inventive in the things that they think they claim for. e.g. an adult falling off a swing in a bar because it was unsupervised and didn't have any operating instructions...