Injury claims are about to change forever!

peter_the_piper

That should lead to a reduction in insurance fee's due to whiplash.





Oh look a pink pig just flew by the moon.

Gilbert2

dacouch wrote: »

Plenty of PI firms use non solicitors do handle claims, anything complex is referred to their in house solicitors for their opinion

I didn't respond to handling a claim, I responded to actually litigating a claim.

Again, paper pushers do not do this.

Gilbert2

arcon5 wrote: »

What law?

Several, including fraud.

It appears you suggested that a paper pusher could litigate a claim, rather than a solicitor, when the claimant believes a solicitor to, rightfully, be undertaking the task instead.

Takeaway_Addict

thesteal wrote: »

From April this year new legislation comes into play which will result in a number of changes to the UK legal system.

One element of the changes that will be brought about is the scrapping of what we have come to know as “NO WIN NO FEE” agreements in the majority of personal injury cases.

Actually, that’s not strictly true. Elements are being scrapped. These agreements will still be around, you will just struggle to find a solicitor who will act for you under one.

The main effect of this change is that solicitors will not be able to recover as much for their fees (in fact no success fee at all) from the party who is at fault. You would be forgiven for thinking “So what? It doesn’t effect me and I don’t really care how much my solicitor gets.”

… but think about it this way: Of all the different areas of law, personal injury solicitors are some of the lowest paid. If the amount of money they can make from your case goes down, then what’s in it for them?

In other words they will simply stop acting for claimants who have genuine personal injury claims because it will not be worth their while. So “access to justice” goes out of the window!

Some personal injury law firms (even the big ones) are already making redundancies. So not only will these changes affect the people that want to claim compensation, it is also putting people out of work.

This is not just something that the government is considering. This is actually happening.

If you do have a genuine claim and you haven’t already spoken to a solicitor, now is the time to do it. Whether it's one of the big claims companies that advertise on TV or just your local solicitor, act now because after April you may lose out.

I take it this affects your company then?

kazzah60

Op - I thought provision was that the lawyer/firm could collect the "success Fee" directly from the claimant

in other words they would calculate an amount into the damages to allow for this.

What people should know more to the point is that a straight 25% will be coming off their damages - which will impact hugely on the amount claimants receive and general damages are only being increased by 10% to compensate for this

but actually what is MUCH worse is that legal aid funding which is currently available for certain clients such as babies/ under 18 years etc will not longer be available - only a very small minority of children who suffer specific brain damage within 8 weeks of their birth will be eligible for Government Funding - which cuts out a HUGE range of children who have been injured at birth with physical injuries such as brachial plexus injuries, scarring from forceps etc etc

I find this denial of justice to the vulnerable shameful - when criminal can still get legal aid to fight cases under the "human Rights " banner- it is shameful that our country has abandoned children and their parents in this manner

sarahg1969

dacouch wrote: »

Plenty of PI firms use non solicitors do handle claims, anything complex is referred to their in house solicitors for their opinion

Indeed. In my experience, for straightforward whiplash claims from a 'claims factory' firm, there's no way they'd use qualified solicitors. Some of the firms I deal with have a massive turnover of young, inexperienced staff, churning the claims out.

On a positive note, insurers are going to be more open to running suspicious claims to trial, as there will be much less at stake from a costs point of view.

Azari

This is excellent news.

A great deal of the 'compensation culture' has arisen because of this ill thought out system that was introduced primarily at the behest of the legal profession and which has mainly benefited a section of their membership.

By far the greatest loser as a result of this new change will be ambulance chasing lawyers.

pmduk

Azari wrote: »

This is excellent news.

A great deal of the 'compensation culture' has arisen because of this ill thought out system that was introduced primarily at the behest of the legal profession and which has mainly benefited a section of their membership.

By far the greatest loser as a result of this new change will be ambulance chasing lawyers.

The changes can only benefit the reputation of the legal profession.

georgiesmum

About time there was a change in this.It's very welcome

Dave_C_2

pmduk wrote: »

The changes can only benefit the reputation of the legal profession.

From "ambulance chasing money grabbing sharks" to ...

Dave