Personal injury side step by solicitor

superlight

Hi all

Was hit in rear July '23, classed as no fault claim on my part.

Whiplash appeared 24hrs later, time off work loss of earnings difficulty carrying out normal day to day things.

Had jumped through hoops and did all that was asked promptly. Insurance company dragged heels tried ignoring me etc. finally got referred to their recommended solicitor thorough my personal injury cover. The solicitors have dragged their heels too, again I responded to all what was asked of me promptly. so after medical examination, psychological examinations, now CBT and fast approaching the 3 year anniversary of the accident the solicitors today email me stating 'due to market challenges they have planned to cease offering personal injury services.?!?!?! Firstly the timing I think is very off. They give me no more than 2 weeks to migrate my case to a third party that they recommend, they've yet to give a positive outline as to if the third party can accommodate my case with vague hints at me appointing my own solicitor of my choice. (might incur fess). put simply, they offer no positive solution and give me no more than 2 weeks to make a decision.

I email back saying they are unreasonable, vague and potentially breaching contract. I then check their website and find they are still advertising personal injury solicitor services. I ask how is their website allowed to stay live potentially misleading clients by offering a service they cannot provide. also ask do they intend of removing this service from their website. I suggest they are disingenuous and mistrustful and ask if someone can morally answer my concerns.

Has anyone experience similar? or can anyone offer a potential solution or advice how to deal with this. It feels as if the insurer, solicitor, third party et all have all been playing me for 3 years. Now just when you think its coming to a head, they drop this bombshell. I mean is there any integrity in these peoples lives?

poseidon1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6674366/personal-injury-side-step-by-solicitor

Timing of their withdrawal from the market will be just coincidentally as you will see from the article below -

https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/dozens-of-firms-exit-pi-as-big-players-exert-their-dominance/5127074.article

The referral to a third party is normal in these situations. That third party firm has more than likely done a deal to acquire ( for value) the 'work in progress' of the firm leaving the sector, and is likely your best bet for continuity in concluding your claim since they will have paid a fee for all the active client files they are taking.

Your best bet would be to reach out to the new firm sooner rather than later, and commence a dialogue with them once they have your migrated file.

I can't see what you hope to achieve with the firm who have decided to abandon that area of work, bearing in mind they have likely done so due to their profit margins having been eroded by an ever declining road traffic accident market now being further hammered by the introduction of fixed recoverable costs set by the courts.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6674366/personal-injury-side-step-by-solicitor

You're aware that whiplash, inc psychological damages is a fixed tariff?

2(1)a is whiplash only, 2(1)b is with modest psych issues.

The other problem is that anything coming under this regulation is now also Small Track which means the solicitors dont get paid anything for their time from the third party anymore. It was a nice little earner in the pre-reform days if you could setup a factory style process with fees being £1,700 if settled pre-court, £3,300 pre trial and £4,200 if it went to trial. Now its £0 so the exodus isnt a surprise and only the biggest firms can make it work on a volume basis and get enough kick backs from their experts to make it work.

Obviously your main issue is that the law of limitations gives you 3 years to issue court proceedings and before you issue you have to give them reasonable notice else you are in breach of the CPRs

Given they were insurer appointed have you spoken to your insurers about the solicitors withdrawing?

superlight

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82052669#Comment_82052669

When you say "the law of limitations gives you 3 years to issue court proceedings", I am not issuing court proceedings personally. This is down to the solicitor to act in their professional capacity here and provide the service that my car insurance premiums are suppose to be paying for. I am genuinely concerned that they could fail to deliver here. If that is the case, then it would surely be because of their failure to instruct and act accordingly. I would expect to claim some form of recourse due to their negligence.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82053577#Comment_82053577

The law considers you as the issuing party even if you delegate the activity to your legal representatives. In the same way a director or a lawyer will sign on behalf of a company but its still the company itself that is suing/being sued

It's actually a topic of a fairly recent Court of Appeal case, as many were using paralegals under the direction of a solicitor to issue proceedings but the High Court had ruled this wasnt compliant. CoA overturned the EWHC.

It would be your Legal Expenses policy premiums that are supporting it, some insurers write both motor and LE, others only write motor and cross sell someone else's LE cover. Who is at fault (the lawyers or insurers) would determine who you went after as solicitors are considered "professionals" so it doesnt automatically fall back onto the insurer unlike say if the repairs to your car by the insurers appointed garage weren't good enough.