Personal Injury Claim?

SolicitorMidlands

Call New Claims Direct - they don't charge for policies. I do not work for them before you ask!!!

Treadway1

Sorry to hijack this post somewhat, but Im a little confused. If the OP is instructing a 'No win, No fee' firm, Ive always thought that meant that if you dont win, you dont have to pay anything.... But I guess I must be missing something. Are costs different to Fees?

SolicitorMidlands

Despite being called a "No win no fee" you still have to retain the right to charge the client in order to recover your costs from the Defendant. Furthermore, if your client is pursuing a claim fraudulently, does not provide you with instructions or misleads you they you can charge the client for costs and disbursements. Costs being the time spent and disbursements being the fees incurred, i.e. cost of obtaining medical records, an expert's report etc. This is of course rare but I have sent out bills to clients who have made potentially fraudulent claims.

I know of firms that do charge for insurance premiums or loan/arrangement fees. However, the bigger firms do not - I am talking the likes of Irwin Mitchell and RJW (possibly the two biggest PI firms in the country). If a firm is trying to assure you that in no circumstance will you get charged this is actually wrong and a breach of the rules.

LadyIndecisive

SolicitorMidlands wrote: »

My firm does not charge client's for ATE premiums. Nor did my last firm. Both of those firms are in the top 5 PI firms in the Midlands.

Find a firm that does not charge you. If you win your case, the premium is recovered from the Defendant . If you lose then certainly my firm's do not pay the insurer the cost of the premium. The insurer accepts that they will lose some but then they can't really take issue seeing as though the firm will be giving them 1m pounds worth + of recovered premiums each year.

This is interesting. So, correct me if I am wrong, your firm pays for the insurance at the conclusion of the case and only if the claimant wins damages? So your firm effectively underwrites the cost of each action.

Why do you bother with ATE at all? The claimant thinks they are covered by a policy but in reality they aren't or at least no premium has changed hands.

Is the compensating insurer paying for an ATE policy that never existed?

SolicitorMidlands

No - the insurers issue a policy. The client signs it as does the managing partner of the firm. The client is protected.

At the conclusion of the claim the premium is recovered if the Claimant is successful.

If the Claimant is not successful the policy covers any third party costs.

If the case is turned down pre-issue, the insurers do not seek a fee.

The client remains protected throughout the duration of the claim as long as they comply with the terms of the policy.