No win no fee

tilly4597

not sure if this is the right forum but I will try and keep it as simple as possible. My friends husband was involved in a car accident, no-one was too badly hurt and it was the other parties fault. Husband never put in a claim. 18 months on and a no win no fee company rang him and said he would have grounds to peruse a claim through them. He told them although he jerked his neck it was only a couple of days of discomfort and so never thought it necessary to take things further. This company 'persuaded' him to let them start a claim for him. He went to see their doctor and was told yes he could claim. 9 months later this company decided through advise from their barrister it would not be in their interest to continue as their chance of success was less than 50%. Friends husband then receive a bill from them for £9k, when they queried this they were told that in the small print they did advise if unsuccessful costs would occur. There has now been a dispute between the parties and now they have received a bill for £17k!!! Which included 2 x £650 for doctor appointment, even though he only went once! £5,000 for their success fee! A the end of all the paperwork it says words to the effect, if they dispute this then they will seek further costs from them. My friend has seeked legal advise but will need to pay a few thousand to even get the case looked at! Can a no win no fee company really do this, if so a warning needs sending out. Afterall they contacted him!! Any advice would be much appreciated as I hate to see the two of them so upset. To pay £17k they would need to remortgage their house! Why didn't they stop the claim as soon as they realised it was heading no where rather than continuing for all these months!

jacques_chirac

How to answer this without using the word karma?

Which company was it? What do the terms and conditions say about this situation?

tilly4597

Can you post company names on here? I will get the exact terms and conditions from her tomorrow. I even emailed this company and asked if I was to persue a claim with them on a no win no fee and was unsuccessful would I have to pay anything, the reply back was no as they have indemnity insurance for this kind of thing! So why no indemnity for my friend???

bod1467

That email reply may be very useful for your friend.

And yes - you can post company names, just not details of named individuals.

InsideInsurance

The solicitors buy After The Event insurance which indemnifies them for most the costs however as with all insurances it is conditional.

Ultimately need to see both the contract you signed and exactly what the solicitors have said about why the monies are due. If it turns out you were fraudulent or you failed to comply with your solicitors instructions then this can make you liable for the costs incurred and this would have been outlined in the initial engagement letters along with their hourly rates etc

tilly4597

I will get more info from her. The solicitors are Hampson Hughes

tilly4597

I have just been reading on their website the FAQ!

Do I have to pay if I lose?
In the highly unlikely event that your personal injury case is not successful, you will not have to pay any costs or fees.

shaun_from_Africa

tilly4597 wrote: »

I have just been reading on their website the FAQ!

Do I have to pay if I lose?
In the highly unlikely event that your personal injury case is not successful, you will not have to pay any costs or fees.

Don't forget that this is from the current terms on their website.
What was stated when the claim was first started (at least 9 months ago) may have been different.

Another thing is that what is stated on the website is very basic and wouldn't form part of any contract.

The information contained in this website is for general
information purposes only. The information is provided by Hampson Hughes and
while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no
representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the
completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to
the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics
contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such
information is therefore strictly at your own risk

It is the terms stated in the actual agreement that will determine what your friend's husband may be liable for.

tilly4597

It's to do with when they found out he initially told the insurance company he wasn't injured. He went to see the doctors and he told them about his sore neck, headache etc had started one to days after the accident -which is true, but he told the insurers at the time of the claim there were none because he wasn't bothering claiming for minor injuries and he was more bothered about getting his car fixed. It was only when somebody on behalf of H Hughes said he still had reason to claim regardless of what he said and said you've got nothing to loose as its no win, no fee!!!

Surely this is entrapment?

shaun_from_Africa

From reading what you have just posted, I think that your friend's hubby should seek professional legal advice.

he initially told the insurance company he wasn't injured

but he then went on to attempt to claim for injuries that resulted from the accident.

Unless he can actually prove what he told Hampson Hughes and that they advised him that he should continue with the claim, he could be on shaky ground as he could well be accused of making a fraudulent claim.

IMO, the first thing he should do is to go and see the doctor that he saw after the accident:

He went to see the doctors and he told them about his sore neck, headache etc had started one to days after the accident -which is true

and ask for a copy of his records relating to this visit.
Provided that he can show that the injuries had been discussed at the time, he should hopefully have a good defence against any claim.

tilly4597

The doctor he went to see were the doctors HH asked him to see.