There are several ways of making compensation claims, and there are several companies you could enlist to help you. In fact, the world of compensation claiming can be made so confusing when you have no idea what to do or where to turn.
So – to help you out, read this guide on the best ways of making a claim, and what to look out for when deciding who should represent you.
At the end of the day, you’ve been injured at no fault of your own, and you are legally entitled to recover compensation for your injuries and losses (losses such as lost earnings or medical expenses).
What You Need
What you need is a fully qualified personal injury lawyer representing you for your claim. There is no other way of doing it which will guarantee you a maximum payout in the shortest possible time. With a proper expert personal injury lawyer, they will protect your interests and fight tooth and nail to get you the most out of your claim
WARNING: Dealing with insurance companies directly is a dangerous practice. They will often advise you that you don’t need a lawyer to make a claim, and may even tell you that, if you don’t get a lawyer, their payout will increase to reflect this.
This is not the case. Without any independent representative on your side, you are solely trusting the company responsible for paying you out. There is no one on your side to protect your interests, and once you settle with them directly, you cannot go back to return to the claim.
We receive calls daily from victims of “Third Party Capture” who have settled directly with insurers for far less than what they should have been entitled to recover. If you have settled, there is nothing more that can be done.
Who Do You Choose?
OK – so you are wise enough to get a lawyer – but who do you chose? There are so many law firms out there; it’s difficult to know who will be any good. The best things to look out for is whether they are willing to back their promises up in writing and confirm in black and white that you will always receive 100% of your compensation payout.
Genuine No Win No Fee:
Many firms using the standard No Win No Fee will only seek to recover their fees back from your opponent, meaning you are liable for whatever can’t be recovered. Our Genuine No Win No Fee agreement is unique in that we specifically limit our legal fees to whatever the other side pay us, and confirm in writing that we will NOT seek to recover anything from you. Your payout is protected!
If the claim loses, make sure that you will never pay a single penny for your claim. Make sure you are not having to even make a small contribution to any insurance, disbursements, or fees whatsoever.
The gist should be that you never pay a penny to your lawyers, irrelevant of the outcome of your case.
Service Levels:
You should also make sure to find out as much as possible about the level of service you will receive, and what sort of client care policies are in place for the claim. For example, how often will you be updated? Who is actually dealing with your case? Are there any extra benefits they offer as well?
We personally think our service levels are fantastic – here’s what we do:
- Update our clients at least around every 14 days
- Having a fully qualified expert personal injury lawyer representing you for the claim, with a dedicated Legal Assistant for every client.
- Opening hours between 9am – 10pm all weekdays, and 9am – 5pm on weekends.
- Calls, emails, and letters responded to on a same day basis, or within 24 hours.
- Private medical care at absolutely no cost to you – even if the case loses.
This of course is just a small degree of what we think constitutes a great level of service. But it gives you an idea as to the sorts of questions to ask law firms before signing up with them.
WARNING: not all companies you speak with are law firms. There are hundreds – if not, thousands – of websites out there who are actually Claims Management Companies and referral agents. They are NOT lawyers: all they do is pass over your details to a law firm for a fee (known as a referral fee).
It’s best to go direct to a law firm and cut out any potential middlemen looking to make a quick profit from your accident. The referral fees paid either end up in an administration fee being paid by you if the case wins, a percentage deduction, or a poor quality service if the cost of the referral fee is absorbed by your law firm, who will end up with less money to spend on you and the claim.
Even a lot of the companies on TV are actually claims and accident management companies. The best way to spot one is to look at who they are regulated by, which may be on their website. If they have a regulation umber beginning with “CRM”, or if there is a section stating something like “Regulated by the Ministry of Justice in respect of regulated claims management activities. No. CRM….” then you are looking at a claims management company, and not a law firm.
They are not real lawyers; just middlemen passing your details over to a lawyer for a referral fee in the vast majority of cases.
We are an actual firm of specialist personal injury lawyers. If you call us for advice about a claim, and choose to instruct us for your case, it’s us that you deal with; nobody else.
Feel free to contact me personally on 0800 634 75 75 and ask for me by name (Matthew Jowett). I will provide you with the best advice I can, and if you want us to deal with your claim, you will likely speak with me again as we are all the same company – one specialist firm of personal injury lawyers.
