Abstract:
This article deals with statutes in the UK which have established a system for recovering from damages in tort certain state benefits obtained by those who have suffered personal injury. These state benefits may take the form of social security monies or health care services. These are “collateral benefits” to the award of damages.
The recovery of benefits statutes are placed here in their wider policy context. In particular, the political climate which led to their enactment is considered. The often uneasy relationship between tort law and the welfare state is discussed. The question posed in the title to this article in effect asks whether the reforms merely made provision for the two systems of compensation to operate more effectively together, or whether they enabled tort to become entrenched at the expense of a welfarist approach which would have laid more emphasis upon community responsibility for injury rather than the wrongdoing of individuals.
Lewis, Richard, Recovery of State Benefits from Tort Damages: Legislating For or Against the Welfare State? (October 5, 2011).
First posted 2011-10-06 07:20:03
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