Why is compensation always people's first thought?

[Twenty20]

Regarding the Costa Concordia "More than 100 passengers have already joined a class action and are reportedly seeking to claim more than £100,000 each"

This would, I presume, be on top of any insurance claims they might make for loss of belongings, injury or death of a partner/family member.

It seems like everything that happens these days, people's first thought is 'how much compensation can I get?'

It obviously pays these days to be in an accident.

[hc4361]

You can be sure every passenger has been contacted by claims companies urging them to claim.

[stokemaveric]

''wheres theres blame theres a claim''.............

[Baldric]

Years ago a local person ran into the back of my car.
They then kept 'phoning me up saying the insurance company hadn't recieved my claim, I wasn't going to make one, bit of a stiff neck and a scratch on the car, no big deal.
However they kept 'phoning, so, I claimed, they shut-up, the insurance company paid up. Very nice holiday, thank you.

[emmie]

was it their first thought? i suspect not, more likely to be i am going to drown, help

[bednobs]

what an utterly ridiculous thing to say. Gee, i wish i'd have been aboard a sinking ship, where many of my fellow passengers died, just so i could claim compo. It really does pay to be unlucky.

[emmie]

bednobs, just what i was thinking, if they do get compensation then good.

[cathfromsaron]

tabloid's first thought?

[daffy654]

I think they are entitled to compensation in this case, it isn't like the whole thing was an accident that couldn't be avoided. This was caused mainly by the ship being several miles off course and in shallow waters.

[emmie]

and a captain taking his eye off the ball, and jumping ship when he should have stayed to lead his crew get people off.

[askyourgran]

Bet the poor souls on the Titanic wish they had thought of that.

[emmie]

you are joking surely, all greedy, oh hum..

[boxtops]

If it's prove that the captain was negligent, then they are entitled to it - loss of holiday, loss of belongings, money, passport - yes they can claim from their own travel insurers, but you can be sure that those companies will be recovering the costs from the the Costa Line too. Some people may be traumatised or injured.

This isn't an instance where people are looking around for someone to blame, for an accident which was actually their own fault - those are the ones the ambulance-chasers like, this one's genuine.

[boxtops]

Akemi, I don't think I'd consider myself greedy if I was a passenger on a sinking cruise line, and lost everything I'd taken with me, and was lucky not to be on the Missing list.

[trt]

em10,

The captain didn't jump ship, he accidentally fell in the lifeboat!!!!! :-)

[daffy654]

There is no question that the captain was negligent. The ship was 4/5 miles off it's usual course, even if that was accidental the captain should have been aware of it and altered the course back to the correct one.

[boxtops]

.. and the captain being an employee of Costa, the company are vicariously liable for his negligent acts. I hope I'm never in that situation, but IMO I don't blame anyone for trying to get some compensation - if only for the lost holiday, if not for everything else.

If you get somewhere and your resort's been burned down due to negligence in the kitchen - I bet people would claim then for compensation for lost holidays.

[eyethenkyew]

No it isn't. I had whiplash from an accident several years ago and declined the incessant overtures from some claims company - God knows how they got my details - to make a claim. They eventually left me alone after I threatened to report them for harassment.

[Zacs-Master]

The ship is I believe, US owned and quite a number of passengers were American and we all know the litigious nature of the Americans.

[joko]

had there been such a thing in the past you can bet people would have claimed... it is not a new thing or a 'sign of the times' it sjust human nature to want what you can get...