Accident injury claim

Hamster123

Hello all, 2 years ago I was the passenger in a car that was rear ended at speed by another car, the driver was very apologetic and details were exchanged between my friend and the third party, I went through the usual injury claim procedures and was offered £1300 which is fine, but in the last paragraph of the solicitors letter it says £1300 minus 25% our fees, I thought the third party would be responsible for any such fees, am I wrong?
TIA 

turnitround

Was this no 'No win-no fee' type claim?

pinkshoes

Hamster123 said:

Hello all, 2 years ago I was the passenger in a car that was rear ended at speed by another car, the driver was very apologetic and details were exchanged between my friend and the third party, I went through the usual injury claim procedures and was offered £1300 which is fine, but in the last paragraph of the solicitors letter it says £1300 minus 25% our fees, I thought the third party would be responsible for any such fees, am I wrong?
TIA 

Is this a no win no fee solicitor?

If you win, they recover your compensation from the opposition, and then you can then pay your solicitors bill from the money you receive. 

I think it is capped at 25% of the compensation.

They can also then ask you to pay any costs that they were not able to recover from the other side. If you win then I think you also often need to pay the insurance premium that you take out that means they pay all your fees (and the insurance premium) if the case is lost. They pay it if you lose.  

Hamster123

Not as far as I’m aware, I’d assume not as surely the other parties insurance should cover all the costs

turnitround

But who handled the claim for you? Did the insurance put you onto a solicitor or did a solicitor approach you? Did you not get paperwork at the beginning of your claim regarding fees etc.

Hamster123

The insurance company instructed solicitors for us 

turnitround

The insurance company will recommend you use the solicitor they want you to use as its beneficial to them, however you would have been free to choose your own. You would have had to sign some paperwork with the terms and charges at the start. It would have said on there what fee they take. You must have agreed to the fee.

Aretnap

Hamster123 said:

The insurance company instructed solicitors for us 

You mean your friends insurance company? Did he have legal expenses cover, and did it cover you as a passenger?

If so then the solicitors should not have charged you a fee.

If not however then ask his insurer will have done is referred you onto a favoured no win no fee ambulance chaser. Under a no win no fee agreement it is standard for the solicitor to take an agreed percentage of the compensation as a fee and no this is not recoverable from the other party's insurer. The fee would, or at least should, have been explained in the documents you signed when you instructed the solicitors.

tifo

Hamster123 said:

Not as far as I’m aware, I’d assume not as surely the other parties insurance should cover all the costs

This changed in 2013 when solicitors were no longer allowed to pay a referral fee and the fixed costs they were allowed to claim were reduced (basically halved) thus forcing them to make a deduction from the client.

Major changes came into place last year in May when compensation was reduced and limits increased for solicitor fixed costs. Now, unless the injury claim is over £5,000, they get nothing. And the compensation for injury is also reduced. Other claims are still at under £10,000 (limited costs), £10,000 to £25,000 (fixed costs) or over £25,000 (billed costs).

The insurance companies have always pushed for these changes by saying premiums will be reduced as they will have to pay out less. That's where the blame lies.

DullGreyGuy

Hamster123 said:

Not as far as I’m aware, I’d assume not as surely the other parties insurance should cover all the costs

No, that was changed in 2012 that the claimant has to pay the success fee which is up to 25% of the award.

For Fast Track cases the solicitors are able to additionally claim a very limited amount from the third party