Personal Injury Claim after car accident - Independent solicitor?

super_saint

Hi


Had a non fault car crash on Sunday with someone driving into side on me from side road resulting in neck/shoulder problems for son & I


My insurance company have handed injury claim over to Carpenters solicitors
Have had a call from Enterprise who are dealing with car repair, so say I am better off choosing an Independent Solicitor (Slater & Gordon) to handle my claim.


I know probably just a sales tactic but said would look at injury over longer term, would be sorted more quickly etc.


Any views greatly appreciated on what I should do

uk1

Your situation isn't straight forward and needs some thought and more questioning from you.

Firstly Slater & Gordon offer a no win no fee arrangment which means that you may either in part or completely pay for their service when your insurers appear to be covering solicitors costs from within your policy. If you have a good case then one asks why you need to risk meeting some or all of the costs of your lawyers when it should be the party who caused the injury. These no win no fee arangements are rarely straight forward. I would also guess that the garage earns an introduction fee from Slater & Gordon if you go them which in effect you might end up paying. In an ideal world Slater & Gordon should get all their costs from a thrd party but things are rarely straightforward and there may be fees from you if they "win".

You need to also understand from your insurers that they are appointing solicitors to act independently on your behalf in order to negotiate as best a level of personal injury compensation from the party that caused it. Also check whether there is an option for you to select your own solicitor and for them to meet those costs if they are reasonable.

Once you've cleared all that up then you can make a more informed decision but on the face of it one hopes that your insurers solicitors should be able to handle it on your behalf.

Good luck.