LegalHD no win no fee??

darrannah

Hi, not sure that this is in the right place so please feel free to move it.
Ok so back in 2017 my son (then just turned 18) was basically badgered into a no win no fee claim for a car accident he was involved in by a company called Legal HD....fast forward 3 1/2 years and the claim still hasn’t been settled, or even gone to court! They are currently phoning him CONSTANTLY, (I.e every other day) they have asked for access to ALL medical records and the like, they have sent him various emails and letters asking to sign for this and that. My son has spoken to them of various occasions but this is now causing him a great deal of stress and mental anxiety as the badger him while he is working. So my question is, is he able to withdraw from this, based on how long it is taking them so far, I understand that they will try to impose ‘termination fees’ on him but if they do, will this affect his credit score as he is currently saving for a mortgage.
Thank you all.

williamgriffin

If he withdraws he may be liable for costs so far, he would need to refer to the contract. 

Depending on how far along this is he maybe out of time to claim for any injury he sustained. 

MattMattMattUK

darrannah said:

Hi, not sure that this is in the right place so please feel free to move it.
Ok so back in 2017 my son (then just turned 18) was basically badgered into a no win no fee claim for a car accident he was involved in by a company called Legal HD....fast forward 3 1/2 years and the claim still hasn’t been settled, or even gone to court! They are currently phoning him CONSTANTLY, (I.e every other day) they have asked for access to ALL medical records and the like, they have sent him various emails and letters asking to sign for this and that. My son has spoken to them of various occasions but this is now causing him a great deal of stress and mental anxiety as the badger him while he is working. So my question is, is he able to withdraw from this, based on how long it is taking them so far, I understand that they will try to impose ‘termination fees’ on him but if they do, will this affect his credit score as he is currently saving for a mortgage.
Thank you all.

The way these contracts are usually constructed is yes, they can charge him fees and they may well be quite substantial, these will be detailed in the contract he signed, or at least the method used to calculate them. It would not impact his credit score unless he refuses to pay and they take enforcement action. If he is saving for a mortgage then the payout from the case might well be of use, of course if the case was tenuous at best then the whole process was and is largely a waste of time. 

However, the reason it has likely not gone to court is that they lack the full evidence required, why has your son not just provided access and the relevant information? 

TonyMMM

He either needs to do what they need to pursue the case, or tell them to drop it. But before he does that he really needs to check the agreement he entered into - it is likely that if he discontinues, he could be liable for all the legal costs of the work they have done so far, which could be a significant amount.
It won't have any effect on his (meaningless) credit score - but if he is liable and doesn't pay, he could end with a CCJ that would damage his credit history for some time.

darrannah

Thank you all for your reply’s so far, 
MattMattMattUK they have only just recently, within the last month, requested access to his medical records. Which I did think was a bit strange that they haven’t requested them before! He has in the past attended medicals and the like at the request of the company at their chosen GP practice, And done and signed everything he has been asked to,
I understand that covid will have had a slight impact but surely not this long? 

He understands that there will be fees for withdrawing from the contract, and would makes no objection to paying if needs be, he was just worried about his credit rating.  I think it’s just all weighing on his mind a bit and a black cloud he can’t shift, but, I think I shall advise him to carry on ‘jumping through the hoops’ for what I think is a complete waste of their time, luckily it is a ‘no win no fee’ contract! 
Again thank you.

williamgriffin

Was he over 18 at the time of the accident? If he was sound like it's heading for a big !!!!!! up. If it's no win no fee then why withdraw and face £1,000's in fees.  

bris

They need access to his medical records to see what injuries were inflicted in the accident. He needs to just agree and let them get on with it. Was he actually injured? These companies get you on the hook with false promises and a little story telling.

Most of these claims never actually go to court, blame is assigned, injuries and their long term affects are revealed and both sides work out a settlement.

After 3 and a half years something is not right if they need access to medical records at this stage.

Withdraw, not a chance without a huge legal bill, he needs to answer their questions and ley them do the rest.

MattMattMattUK

darrannah said:

Thank you all for your reply’s so far, 
MattMattMattUK they have only just recently, within the last month, requested access to his medical records. Which I did think was a bit strange that they haven’t requested them before! He has in the past attended medicals and the like at the request of the company at their chosen GP practice, 

Delays with things like this are not unusual, the legal firm will likely be pushing for a settlement rather than a court judgement, a settlement gives them a guaranteed result, a court trial always risks a loss, in which case they would get nothing.

darrannah said:

I understand that covid will have had a slight impact but surely not this long? 

There was already a fairly significant courts backlog before Covid, then Covid happened and the courts barely functioned for most of that period. Personal injury claims can easily take 2-5 years in the best of times, this is not the best of times.

darrannah said:

He understands that there will be fees for withdrawing from the contract, and would makes no objection to paying if needs be,

He might be when he sees the extent of them, they could easily be several thousand, anywhere between £2,000 and 10,000 would not be unusual.

darrannah said:

he was just worried about his credit rating. 

His credit rating (the number) is always irrelevant, his credit record would only matter, but not something to worry about in this case.

darrannah said:

I think it’s just all weighing on his mind a bit and a black cloud he can’t shift, but, I think I shall advise him to carry on ‘jumping through the hoops’ for what I think is a complete waste of their time, luckily it is a ‘no win no fee’ contract! 

He needs to manage the process better rather than withdrawing from the agreement. If he does not want to take their calls then he needs to tell them that it is only acceptable for them to call at certain times of day or that all communication should take place via email and he will call them when convenient. He could also supply the information that they are requesting, which would likely make the calls stop.

Largely most of these no-win no-fee lawyers, especially the ambulance chasing kind are doing it for their own enrichment and the injured party will likely see very little of their compensation (usually less than half, and sometimes nothing of the claim awarded) once all the fees have been taken into account.

I hope he gets the matter resolved, the process will likely last many more months, but it does not and should not be a stressful process.

Sandtree

darrannah said:

Hi, not sure that this is in the right place so please feel free to move it.
Ok so back in 2017 my son (then just turned 18) was basically badgered into a no win no fee claim for a car accident he was involved in by a company called Legal HD....fast forward 3 1/2 years and the claim still hasn’t been settled, or even gone to court! 

The law of limitations is 3 years for injury, though for a minor this is from their 18th Birthday.

Given its 3.5 years since instructing the solicitors it must be more than that since the accident. So either they have already issued or it is statute barred. Whilst it may not have "gone to court" do you know if they have actually issued?

darrannah

Thanks for all the detailed replies, some food for though. I shall try and answer some of the queries.... no, he was only 17 at the time of the accident but didn’t make the claim until after he was 18, but it was within a year of the accident. He was a passenger in a work van at the time and the colleague was at fault. He didn’t sustain any life threatening injuries just the usual seatbelt/shoulder pain and a little whiplash but it did not affect him enough for hospital treatment (he had had worse at football practice!) He only pursued the case after being hounded by the calls from a 3rd party company who passed it onto LegalHD. 

I have no clue if it has been issued or statute barred but he says he had not received anything to confirm or deny as such. 

I have advised him to carry on with the claim as worst case scenario he will end up with nothing and best case scenario...he could end up with nothing 🤣
Thank you all very much for your time

Sandtree

darrannah said:

I have advised him to carry on with the claim as worst case scenario he will end up with nothing and best case scenario...he could end up with nothing 🤣

He is ultimately their client so is free to ask questions etc, he can easily speak to them and assuming he has passed his 21st birthday already mention that he's read online that it may become statute barred being 3 years since his 18th birthday and see what they say.

These firms can drop the ball and miss deadlines, if they have then its the end of the line of their own fault... wouldnt be the first person to go from unwilling client to irate person that their solicitors incompetence has cost them their compensation and something should be done about it.