Council to 'name and shame' on injury claims

Louth County Council has become the latest local authority to adopt a "name and shame" policy in an attempt to reduce its insurance bill for personal liability claims.

The spiralling costs of people suing for personal injuries has prompted the council to publish a list of litigants, and the awards they receive, in the hope of discouraging people from making claims.

The latest list published shows that 29 people brought successful claims against the council in 2002, totalling just over €400,000 and, according to council chairman, Mr Tommy Reilly of Fianna Fáil, the claims for last year will be even greater.

"The amount of the claims is rising every year and it looks like it's going to be half a million for last year. The members had to take a decision to do something about it, and it was felt that naming the people might mitigate against the number of claims taken next year."

The Louth move follows the policy of Tralee town council who began to "name and shame" litigants in January of last year after its insurance bill rose to €1 million.

"We had a huge insurance bill, Tralee was a black spot for claims, but since we started publishing the names we've had a 50 per cent reduction from one claim a week to just 25 or 26 in the year," town clerk, Mr John Breen said.

Local Fianna Fáil councillor, Mr Ted Fitzgerald said the council had no problem with genuine claims, but, "there seemed to be a certain group of people who were falling all the time".

The councillors felt compelled to take some measure to reduce the number of claims, he said.

"The insurance premiums had rocketed they were costing an arm and a leg. We'd have 100,000 people in the town during the festival of Kerry and no one falls, yet there were these other people always falling over."

Dublin City Council has said it would not consider adopting such a policy to oust bogus claimants.

"We have about 700 or 800 claims a year and a lot of them are genuine, to highlight the dodgy ones could cause embarrassment to people who have a legitimate claim," the council's claims manager Mr Tony O'Shaughnessy said.

"Good investigation and good negotiation is how we do the business. I don't know if shame would be much of a deterrent for dodgy people anyway."

IPBM, the insurance company used by most local authorities has said it has not encouraged any council to adopt a name and shame policy in matters of litigation.