Road Accident Compensation legal costs, help?

Pepper07

Hi

I was in a road traffic accident 18 months ago where i suffered back and neck injuries, it has finally been settled but when i received all the settlement information through from my solicitor he stated that the insurance company of the defendant would negotiate legal costs and would only probably pay 70% and i would have to pay the other 30% out of my damages is this right? i'm totally confused because i thought the insurance companies would cover all the legal fees? your help would be much appreciated

mattymoo

On what basis was the solicitor engaged? Conditional fee arrangement, fee paying (private customer) or via legal expenses?
Are you UK based?

You should have been given an information pack at the outset setting out the terms of business and your liabilities for costs. Did you take out an insurance policy (after the event legal expenses cover) to cover costs?

dacouch

Like mattymoo said put the info and any other info you have up here, there are loads of experts and personal injury solicitors on MSE who can help. You may find some of them like Crazy Jamie and Midlandssolicitor won't post til this evening when they are back from work

Pepper07

hiya

thanks for the replies, yes i live in the UK and it was on a conditional fee agreement basis but i don't no about an insurance policy as i wasn't aware they even existed because i thought your legal costs were covered by the other partie's insurance company

lisyloo

i thought your legal costs were covered by the other partie's insurance company

I'm not an expert but if they are offering 70% of the costs then that implies to me they think your legal company are charging too much (which may be the case).

If you didn't read the small print you might have agreed to cover some of the shortfall.
My MIL had a accident last year and her contract did make her liable for a certain % (I think it was 10%).

mattymoo

I'm afraid you've discovered the catch in these "No Win-No Fee" arrangements.

They ought to add "You Win - You Pay".

Agree with Lisyloo - it does appear your solicitors are overcharging but it is nearly impossible for you to find out where. They'll not tell you and the other sides insurers (who know where the overcharge is) cannot talk to you.

SolicitorMidlands

I cannot advise properly without seeing the actual agreement. Are you able to scan it and send it to me as an attachment or put it up here?

You should not have to pay anything if you have won your claim. Were proceedings issued? Why is the Defendant not paying all of the costs?

A no win no fee should be exactly that if you have won your case and nothing has gone wrong in the middle.

lisyloo

A no win no fee should be exactly that if you have won your case and nothing has gone wrong in the middle.

"no win no fee" means you pay nothing if you LOSE.
It implies nothing about when you win.

I'm not going to argue with people that work in the industry but here is what my MIL's solicitors say

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]

The insurance company normally pays at least 80% of your legal costs and expenses.

[/FONT]and here is the link to it

http://www.wards.uk.com/AccidentandInjury.html

SolicitorMidlands

I have never heard of a firm only recovering 80% and then recovering the rest from the client. Certainly none of the largest PI firms in this country do it from what I know. Nor does my current firm either.

lisyloo

I have never heard of a firm only recovering 80% and then recovering the rest from the client.

It may be so in practice.
My MIL was not asked to pay although I made them aware that I would kick up a fuss as she had legal insurance that they did not use.

However I can confirm that it definitely was in her contract that she was potentially liable.
I am however aware that there a lots of things in contracts that people "reserve the right" to do to cover themselves, but never actually implement in practice.

SolicitorMidlands

lisyloo wrote: »

It may be so in practice.
My MIL was not asked to pay although I made them aware that I would kick up a fuss as she had legal insurance that they did not use.

However I can confirm that it definitely was in her contract that she was potentially liable.
I am however aware that there a lots of things in contracts that people "reserve the right" to do to cover themselves, but never actually implement in practice.

It must absolutely be reserved to recover the costs from the client, otherwise the solicitor cannot recover against the negligent party.

It is standard law society stuff.

If you remain concerned about the practices of this particular firm, put your complaint in writing to the managing partner. Get a written explanation and then refer the matter to the LSC who may in turn involve the SRA if the firm is doing something wrong. However, it will all turn on what is in the agreement you signed.