Proposals to overhaul crime victims' compensation slammed by insurers
Insurers are set to clash with the government over proposals to extend employers' liability (EL) cover to victims of workplace crime.
The Home Office is proposing a radical overhaul of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (Cica). This includes extending EL cover to compensate workers injured at work as a result of violent crime.
The consultation paper claims that Cica "was never intended to be a substitute for employers' insurance... However, over the years, the scheme has come to do just that."
The ABI said it would not support the move. An ABI spokesman said: "There are already costs issues with employers' liability. Extending the cover could exacerbate those costs further."
AXA's head of liability claims and professional services, Matthew Scott, said the insurer would also reject the change.
"This seems to suggest that there is a presumption if somebody is injured at work the employer has been negligent, and is therefore responsible," he said. "We would reject that."
Extending EL, he said, could create two risks: "It could prevent the seriously injured from pursuing criminal injuries compensation.
"It also runs the risk of a strict liability, so whatever risk management procedures employers put in place, they would still be responsible for compensating the victim."
Scott continued: "We would urge the criminal justice system to debate this in the wider context of the Compensation Bill."
The consultation is open to responses until 1 March.
