The Association of British Insurers (ABI) recently had a pop at Personal Injury Lawyers costs, claiming that they were swallowing 43p in every pound in compensation cases. The ABI also accuses personal injury lawyers of taking too long to notify defendant insurers of claims, hence driving up costs. This isn’t an April Fools Day joke – this is what the ABI want the public to think.
Insurance companies are well known for dragging there feet in compensation cases and admitting liability. Take a look around the Internet on many of the consumer forums, blogs and independent watchdog sites to find out how insurers are behaving. Its no wonder that the ABI PR department is in full swing these days.
I have mentioned on this blog before how the power of the web can help individuals highlight their cases when they feel they have been ripped off by insurers.
As for ABI claiming that personal injury lawyers pocket almost 50% of any compensation claim to help cover their costs, here’s what the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) chief executive, Denis Kitchener said. “Legal costs have remained flat at 30 per cent for the last five years! Throwing the blame for rising costs on claimant lawyers isn’t helping anyone. We need to look at the entire system.”