11 November 2022: Carter - B

Counsel picked up on the issue of people with disabilities and the way their claims are reduced due to having a disability. The reductive multiplying factors (for example £20,000 times 0.67 will result in less than £20,000) will produce less of an award if a person has a disability, whereas the amount for pension value is the reverse (since the older a person gets bucks the trend of them dying younger whereas the younger person is still matched to the trend). Basically, you are worth less (worthless?) if you happen to have a disability. The Chair demonstrated his background in employment law matter by stepping in to clarify certain points.

The witness was asked about the relative benefits and disbenefits of an individualised assessment. He mentioned the possibility of a matrix being created, but unsurprisingly he said the ideal was for individual assessments. There was also a question about the “Blamire” approach (an unpopular actuarial tool when a loss figure cannot be achieved), or the Smith and Manchester method. The Chair stepped in again to ensure clarity on these cases where there are so many variables that they make effective use of ASHE or Ogden impossible.

Questioning shifted to the impact on affected people who may have to take a career break to care for an infected loved-one. The witness said there is no way of giving a generalised answer to this impact scenario. It very much depends on the type of work involved. Career paths vary greatly between a long-distance lorry driver and a nurse. Taking a break impacts on a career trajectory. In some cases, it is much harder to re-join the labour market than for others. The witness did not know of any research on the impact on people stopping work for a period of time for caring responsibilities. There is some research covering children who are taken into care in relation to their likely career prospects, but again he was not aware of any research or resource covering the employment/earnings effects on the children of people who may not be able to work or who may need to be cared for.

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