I thought I would in this post shed some light on what happens if you have a road traffic accident in England or Wales.
Road traffic accident claims are the most common cause of Personal Injury Compensation Claims and with over 30 million cars registered on the UK’s roads this is perhaps not surprising.
Since the 30th April 2010 a new process relating to low cost road traffic accident claims was introduced by the Ministry of Justice. This process applies to all road traffic accident claims where the value of the claim is deemed to be between £1,000 - £10,000.
The purpose was to create a streamlined procedure where information that is required to be passed between the Claimant’s Solicitors and the Defendant’s Insurers is standardised. The process operates via a secure electronic exchange and sets specific time scales which means that a decision on liability is produced much quicker in these cases and hopefully allowing the Claimant’s clam to be settled quicker than was previously the case.
An example is that previously Insurers would have some 90 days in which to respond with the position regarding liability under the new regulations this timeframe is reduced to some 15 days!
If liability for the claim is denied or no response received within the 15 days timescale then the matter falls outside of the new process and resorts to the traditional Personal Injury Protocol. This in itself is not a problem as the Claimant has tried to use the accelerated procedure and cannot therefore later be criticised.
So in short the new process effectively works on the basis of a 3 stage procedure:-
Stage 1 – Claims Notification Form completed by Claimant’s Solicitor and sent to Defendant’s Insurers giving them 15 working days in which to respond on liability.
Stage 2 – Following acceptance of liability, medical evidence is obtained together with details of out of pocket expenses which are then submitted to the Defendant’s Insurers for consideration and hopefully acceptance or agreement by negotiation.
Stage 3 – In the event that the matter does not conclude at stage 2 then the claim proceeds to a quantum hearing before the Court for settlement of the claim to be decided.
If you have been involved in such an accident as a driver, passenger, pedestrian, cyclist or motorcyclist then please contact us on our enquiry form on our website at http://www.rogers-norton.co.uk/make-a-claim.htm or the Personal Injury Department at pi@rogers-norton.co.uk
Following my earlier posting on referral arrangements I received an email from a medical agency this morning offering their services which further clarifies the web which exists in relation to referral arrangements. Perhaps I ought to explain that it is possible when obtaining medical evidence in a personal injury claim to instruct an agency to select from a panel of experts the person to instruct and arrange the appointment. The alternative and a procedure I generally follow is to choose the expert and place the instruction direct which is my desired approach.
However the email offered me an incentive of £40 per case by this particular agency to use their services which, whilst appreciated, is not acceptable and certainly not in my client’s best interests.
I have to ask is this another example of money being made out of the client’s misfortune and that does seem to be the case. In this case the solicitor is receiving £40, dare I say to perhaps offset against the referral fee he has already paid, which I feel must raise the question of whether the solicitor is acting in the client’s best interests.
If an instruction is placed through an agency the question must be asked whether the best expert is being used as generally and from experience I find the best experts need not be on an agency’s panel, as they will receive the cases as they are known to the experienced instructing solicitor, such as myself.
I believe this is a further example of the client’s best interests being served by their chosen solicitor and not necessarily the solicitor on the panel who writes the biggest cheque and who then tries to recoup some of that cost through receiving referral fees and/or thank you payments themselves.
If you have a case that you wish to discuss please contact us on our enquiry form on our website at http://www.rogers-norton.co.uk/make-a-claim.htm we would be delighted to speak to you.
Alternatively, for further information please contact the Personal Injury Department at pi@rogers-norton.co.uk
Over the last week or so the Government have been concerned by the exchanging of referral fees between Solicitors with Claims Management Companies, Accident Recovery Companies and indeed Motor Insurers. Insurers also now seem to be confessing more about the true nature of their arrangements.
It is very surprising that the Government now only claim to have been concerned as the practice of referral fees has been occurring for many years following a change in the Law Society Rules which permitted the payment of a fee for the referral of work.
The change in the rules was accompanied with safeguards that were intended to ensure that the client was no worse off if a referral fee was paid. However at Rogers & Norton we have remained concerned by this and it is for that reason that we have taken a view as part of our business management and ongoing development plans that we will not entertain referral fees in personal injury and clinical negligence cases.
Although currently not illegal to pay a referral fee, providing a declaration of that fee is made to the client, our concern has always been how that referral fee is budgeted for when deciding how the work will be undertaken. Quite simply, if an insurer is being paid by a Solicitor £800.00 for a personal injury referral and that Solicitor only recovers £1,200.00 for his fees on that case, before any expenses of undertaking the work are accounted for the Solicitor is only going to receive a maximum of £400.00 for his fees. In our opinion the only way that the work can then be done is by automating the complete process and providing the client with a Call Centre or an On Line means of noting progress on their case. The expertise is stripped out from the case, the client is not given the best representation and ultimately the client may suffer.
It is for these reasons that Rogers & Norton have decided that referral fees are not an appropriate means of obtaining new work as they are quite simply not in the best interest of their client.
Why are Rogers & Norton different? Quite simply we provide the client with an expert personal injury lawyer who is their main point of contact throughout the case. Whilst we will communicate by email and use all means of electronic communication we are also at the end of a phone line and sitting behind our desk at the office to see the client and answer the questions that they may have. Importantly because we are not concerned by the payment of a high referral fee we can take time to fully assess the claim and ensure that each case is appropriately investigated and areas of injury are not missed because of time constraints or as a result of inexperienced lawyers looking at the case.
We at Rogers & Norton sincerely hope that the referral fee system will now come under more scrutiny and that clients will finally see the true cost to them of their case being referred to an insurer’s chosen solicitor who is often the chosen solicitor because they are prepared to draw the biggest cheque!
If you have a case that you wish to discuss please contact us on our enquiry form on our website at http://www.rogers-norton.co.uk/make-a-claim.htm we would be delighted to speak to you.
Alternatively, for further information please contact the Personal Injury Department at pi@rogers-norton.co.uk
The simple answer is yes but on too many occasions the client seem unaware of their options and become involved in a retainer with a Panel Solicitor which may not be in their best interests.
As I mentioned in my previous posting the insurer will undoubtedly have an interest in recommending their Panel Solicitor and this may not be in your best interest often as a result of the quality of the representation that you receive.
I have personally seen several cases where I have had to take them over because the Panel Solicitor either has not fully investigated the claim, has reached the wrong decision on liability, has not obtained the right medical evidence or at worst has under settled the claim.
In most personal injury cases you will get one bite of the cherry to get it right and it is therefore necessary to ensure that the claim is fully investigated, fully documented and appropriately valued before settlement is made on a full and final basis.
I fully advocate that the client should be provided complete freedom of choice in terms of the solicitor that they wish to use and it is often quite possible for the client to have that freedom of choice and to still use the benefit of the insurance cover that they may have for their legal fees. Just let us as the solicitors deal with the insurer. To do that, we usually need to be contacted early and it is therefore my recommendation to all clients that before you follow the insurer’s recommendations just think about why they are making the recommendation and is it in your best interest. If you are not sure speak to another solicitor first.
At Rogers & Norton we will always have an initial meeting with the client without cost and without obligation. We have a vast array of funding options to enable a claim to be advanced and that includes using the client’s own legal expense insurance. If you have a case that you wish to discuss please contact us on the enquiry form on our website at http://www.rogers-norton.co.uk/make-a-claim.htm, we would be delighted to speak to you. For more information please contact the Personal Injury Department at pi@rogers-norton.co.uk
Welcome to the Rogers & Norton Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence Blog. We are an expert personal injury practice based in Norwich, Norfolk and act for clients both locally and nationally.
As a practice with a team of solicitors and Legal Executives we are recognised nationally by both the Law Society and the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers. As expert lawyers in our field we have decided that it is time to provide our clients and prospective clients with a means of seeking impartial advice on matters of personal injury and clinical negligence through this Blog.
Our aim is to provide topical and relevant comment on areas of personal injury law and to consider both matters in which we are involved and cases reported nationally in the press so as to provide understandable and unbiased advice to clients who may have potential claims.
Our aim is to provide through the Blog a means of discussing potential claims with potential clients at no cost to you and without any obligation and therefore we would be delighted if you feel able to engage in our Blog by asking questions which will be answered by one of our expert personal injury / clinical negligence lawyers once received.
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We may even try and star in our own high definition video updates on the law so watch this space.
In the meantime hopefully you will find the information topical, relevant and importantly informative to your needs.
If you need any assistance please contact one of our personal injury experts by clicking here http://www.rogers-norton.co.uk/accidents-and-personal-injury.htm.
