Stress Claims : A Rolling Snowball Or All In The Mind?

The news headlines read:

• "A snapshot of the state of members in Warwickshire by the National Association of Head Teachers found that 40% of respondents had visited the doctor with stress-related problems in the past year, with 30% taking medication
• "A maths teacher who retired early owing to stress-related ill health was yesterday awarded more than £100,000 by the courts"

Those without an involvement in insuring schools may say "so what", but the incidence of stress claims is increasing across the board. After the Walker decision, some thought the floodgates would open but few claims were litigated. Over the last 2 years, however, there has been a marked increase in claims. Jim Prew of Norwich Union says his specialised unit has dealt with 460 stress claims since Walker decision, and claims are increasing.