Plevin insurance

redkipper

Hello! I did have a quick search, so apologies if this has been asked before but couldn’t find anything…

Back in 2019 I used a third party company to process a number of Plevin cases for me. I opted to insure any fees / losses through the third party on the basis that any premium would be deducted from any compensation that received. I also had a written assurance from the third party (a solicitor) that no monies would be payable by me, as they would cover the premium in any case.

Fast forward nearly 6 years and today I received a demand from the insurance (previously not known to me) stating that as they had not been able to recover the premium from my solicitor, they would now pursue me for the money. I have 14 days to pay or they will send my details to a debt collector.

Now, to me, this is a case of ‘tough luck’ - not my circus and not my monkeys and them just being lazy and trying to ‘strong arm’ me into paying out. However before I tell them to stuff it, does anyone know where I stand legally, please?

TIA!

GDB2222

Quite a few of the high volume solicitor firms have gone bust, leaving a trail of confusion behind them.

You may well owe the insurance company some money. You may for example have authorised the solicitors to sign you up for the insurance. Your side agreement with the solicitors that they will pay the premium is nothing to do with the insurance company. 

The saving grace for you is the compensation fund run by the SRA. Have you made a claim? 

dumpster_fire2025

GDB2222 said:

Quite a few of the high volume solicitor firms have gone bust, leaving a trail of confusion behind them.

You may well owe the insurance company some money. You may for example have authorised the solicitors to sign you up for the insurance. Your side agreement with the solicitors that they will pay the premium is nothing to do with the insurance company. 

The saving grace for you is the compensation fund run by the SRA. Have you made a claim? 

It'll also be close to being statute barred at this point.

GDB2222

dumpster_fire2025 said:

GDB2222 said:

Quite a few of the high volume solicitor firms have gone bust, leaving a trail of confusion behind them.

You may well owe the insurance company some money. You may for example have authorised the solicitors to sign you up for the insurance. Your side agreement with the solicitors that they will pay the premium is nothing to do with the insurance company. 

The saving grace for you is the compensation fund run by the SRA. Have you made a claim? 

It'll also be close to being statute barred at this point.

Yes, although the insurance may not have been taken out right at the start of the process. 

The 6 year limit is a double edged sword. Yes, the debt may simply go away because it becomes statute barred. On the other hand, the creditor may act very quickly so as to avoid that happening. 

The op could just ignore the whole situation and hope the creditor gives up. It may work, depending upon how much money is involved. 

DullGreyGuy

redkipper said:

Hello! I did have a quick search, so apologies if this has been asked before but couldn’t find anything…

Back in 2019 I used a third party company to process a number of Plevin cases for me. I opted to insure any fees / losses through the third party on the basis that any premium would be deducted from any compensation that received. I also had a written assurance from the third party (a solicitor) that no monies would be payable by me, as they would cover the premium in any case.

Fast forward nearly 6 years and today I received a demand from the insurance (previously not known to me) stating that as they had not been able to recover the premium from my solicitor, they would now pursue me for the money. I have 14 days to pay or they will send my details to a debt collector.

Now, to me, this is a case of ‘tough luck’ - not my circus and not my monkeys and them just being lazy and trying to ‘strong arm’ me into paying out. However before I tell them to stuff it, does anyone know where I stand legally, please?

TIA!

What happened to the claims?

redkipper

Okay, thanks for these replies so far - you're all very helpful!

It's annoying that I have emails saying that the law firm would pay it from any compensation and if I was unsuccessful, then they wouldn't come to me for the fees. That said I understand what was said above in that if they didn't pay it, then I would become liable, even if I have no control over the situation.

I did look the legal firm up today online and was pleasantly surprised to see that they still seemed to be solvent / working / have a working website until I emailed them to make contact to find out that they were closed down by the SRA on 13th December 2024 due to what appears to be malpractice (GW Legal in Liverpool) and that Stevenson's who have been appointed are absolutely not interested in speaking with me..

So, I think my only option here is to try and be as awkward / obstructive as possible in running the clock down / encouraging them that there's really no point in pursuing me for this as it's clearly going to be more trouble that it's worth...

To answer those questions:

- Yes some of the claims were successful (but I didn't keep back a fund against any possible future expenses after 2 years!)
- I do have emails assuring me that at no point would I be liable to pay any disbursements in regard to these claims (though I do realise now that this doesn't matter!)
-  The monies claimed are IRO £200 (but I am not inclined to just pay them so they go away unless it looks like it is heading for debt collectors to wind this into the thousands / in court)
- Yes, presumable the creditor was happy in their due process with GW Legal until they were closed down by the SRA. Presumably they had just accepted that over 5 years waiting on these monies was acceptable from a professional body, whereas a poor member of the public can get bullied to pay so much easier

First up I think I'll ask for evidence that this is actually a legitimate claim - a signed contract or agreement with explicit agreement from me, and go from there. Whilst this may not be a defence, I reckon I can go a long way to putting them off before having to cough up. 

born_again

https://thenegotiator.co.uk/news/regulation-law-news/award-winning-conveyancing-firm-shut-down-by-regulator/

Okell

redkipper said:

... to find out that they were closed down by the SRA on 13th December 2024 due to what appears to be malpractice (GW Legal in Liverpool) and that Stevenson's who have been appointed are absolutely not interested in speaking with me...

I don't know in these circumstances what reponsibility the firm appointed by the SRA to take over GW's business has towards former clients of GW with a legitimate complaint, but I'd be surprised if they could just wash their hands of the matter.  Have they explained to you exactly why they cannot deal with you?

If I were you I'd also approach the SRA, explain the situation you've been left in because of GW's misconduct, and ask them how this can be remedied.  eg does the SRA hold a contingency fund to assist in cases like this

I would have expected GW to have professional insurance indemnity in place for this, but if they didn't it might be one of the reasons they've been struck off.  Failing that I'd expect either the successor firm appointed by the SRA or the SRA themselves to sort this out for you.

DullGreyGuy

ATE is normally self insured so  if you win you pay the fees out the winnings, if you lose the insurer covers their own fees. There is the untalked of third outcome which is the actions are discontinued against legal advice, in this case premiums are payable and often so too your solicitors fees. 

Okell

DullGreyGuy said:

ATE is normally self insured so  if you win you pay the fees out the winnings, if you lose the insurer covers their own fees...

I've read this before* and I don't know if I'm simply showing my ignorance here or demonstrating incredible stupidity.

ATE is "after the event" insurance and is intended to cover a claimant in a "no win no fee" case in the event that they lose and are ordered to pay the defendant's costs.  Is that right?

I can understand that if the claimant wins, then their ATE premium can be paid out of their winnings, but I don't understand how, if the claimant loses, the premium is covered by the insurer. 

So if the claimant loses and the insurer has to pay out to cover expenses ordered against the claimant by the court, the insurer has to pay the insurance premium too?

I'm sure I must be missing something obvious somewhere, but it just seems counterintuitive to me... 


*I suspect I've read it previously on the motoring board in relation to diesel etc claims against VW or whatever

Jenni_D

🙋‍♀️ I'm probably stupid too  

Isn't ATE insurance only in the event of losing? If you win then your legal costs (including said insurance fee) are covered as part of the pay-out you get. If you lose then the insurance pays out any costs against you (including your own legal costs), and your legal rep pays (or should have) the insurance premium. I thought that was the point of No win, No fee arrangements?