There are literally hundreds – if not, thousands – of websites, blogs, news articles, and resources that give you information about making a claim for compensation, and what you should do. So, to help you out, here is a concise guide containing the 5 essential things you need to know about making a claim for compensation. Hopefully this should answer all of your queries!
1. You’ve had an accident, what should you do!?
- Seek Medical advice
- Call an Injury Lawyer BEFORE you call any insurers (e.g. your car insurers for road accidents)
You should of course get medical help to have your injuries assessed and the appropriate treatment provided to you. If you haven’t already had any medical attention for your injuries, get yourself to the nearest A+E or walk in centre, or your GP, as quickly as you can.
Your health and wellbeing is the top priority of course
Next, contact an injury lawyer FIRST before you report it to anyone else; even before you contact your own insurers in a road accident. In a road accident, if you contact your own insurers, they will likely tell you that you can make a claim with their own panel of approved solicitors through Legal Expense Insurance, or Motor Legal Protection. They will tell you that it means you will not have to pay an legal fees for a lawyer whatsoever, and they will probably tell you that a No Win, No Fee lawyer will charge you, or will have to pay for insurance which you will end up having to pay.
If you have been paying for it, they will probably tell you that, because you have already been paying for it, you might as well use it, and it means you will not have to pay a penny for your legal fees.
STOP – What they are telling you is not the truth!
All insurers will do is pass you over to one of their panel solicitors for a referral fee. This fee can NOT be recovered from the other side, and can be in excess of £1,000. Your insurers will receive this £1,000 from your referred solicitor for obtaining your information.
For road accidents, our fees are fixed to around £1,500. If your referred solicitor has already wasted £1,000 on buying your case, they in theory have £500 to spend on running your case and turning a profit. This leaves you with a potentially cash strapped solicitor that does not have the money to provide you with the service you need, and does not have the money to fight hard for your maximum payout.
If you want a solicitor that does not have the money to give you a service as fantastic as an independent lawyer like us can, and if you want a lawyer that doesn’t have as much money to fight as hard as they can for a maximum payout like we can, then by all means, join the average of more than 85% of people who claim through legal expenses insurance and referral solicitors that have already potentially under settled their claims.
Trust me when I say – we get calls from people day in and day out who have gone down this route, and its just too late to change over to a better lawyer.
Thankfully, the practice of insurers referring claims to solicitors is being made illegal in the near future following a parliamentary bill this summer.
2.Instruct a REAL Injury Lawyer
- Avoid Claims Management Direct Companies and Accident or Advice Help lines
- Not all websites you visit are lawyers – a lot of them are just middlemen and referral agents
You should always go to an injury lawyer direct. A lot of the companies you see advertising on the TV and the internet are either claims management companies or just “groups” of lawyers using the same referral agent. Even some of the companies that have the word Lawyers in their name should not be the ones for you – there are so many that are just middlemen who cannot actually deal with your case.
These types of companies cannot represent you at all. They are not actual lawyers – even if they claim that “we are real lawyers”. They are often referring to the fact that their panel or group are real lawyers; but ultimately, the firm that’s speaking to you on the TV or giving you advice on the next is just a middleman.
These, like insurers, will simply pass your claim over to a solicitor for a referral fee. The same principle applies; you get some middleman company pocketing £1,000 for no work other than passing your personal details over to a lawyer, and you get a lawyer with less money to spend on you and your case.
Don’t let the brand advertising and promises to help the underdog suck you in – go to a real injury lawyer direct, and avoid the middlemen.
3. The No Win, No Fee; what is REALLY Means
- There are different forms of No Win, No Fee agreements.
- Some lawyers can, and will, charge you. Some lawyers actually cant charge you
Once you’ve filtered out the claims companies and middlemen, choose your lawyer very carefully. The No Win, No Fee agreement is not one standard thing; whilst most lawyers do use the standard Law Society template, there are better ones out there (not that there is anything wrong with the standard stuff though!). The wording and the terms of the agreement are the key things to look out for. Do not accept possibilities or potentials; only accept an agreement that makes it clear when you may or may not be charged.
The agreement should say that, if the claim is to lose, you will not be responsible for paying your lawyer’s fees as they will be written off with some costs can be recovered by insurance. It should make clear that you are not responsible for paying any insurance premiums or excesses either. Ultimately, if your claim loses, you should not pay a single penny to anyone.
If your claim wins, the standard wording for most lawyers is usually that they will “seek” or “try” to recover your legal fees from your opponent. This means that actually they could charge you if they sought recovery of their fees and failed to get them back. You are responsible for the remainder.
But, if you get a Genuine No Win, No Fee like ours, there is an extra line in there to say that, if we fail or recover any or all of our fees from the other side, we will NOT seek to recover them from you. This single line has the power to guarantee you 100% compensation because you cannot be charged any outstanding amount that your lawyers can’t get from the other side.
Most lawyers use the standard wording and have the power to charge you; whilst most wouldn’t, they still could. Our unique agreement stops us from charging you: fact.
4. Chose Your Lawyer CAREFULLY
- Service level is key
- There’s more to claiming then your payout
As I said earlier, contacting a lawyer directly is the best way forward and the best way to make sure you do not end up being messed around. Think of it this way – you go through your insurers or a claims company, and they will just choose a lawyer for you based on (potentially) how much the solicitor is willing to pay for your case. You go to a lawyer directly, and they will do all they can to make sure you know why they are the best.
Ultimately, you have the pick of the crop. They have not paid anyone for your details, so they will prove themselves with the service levels that they offer. That’s where you listen, and gauge whether they’d be any good for you.
Do NOT go to a law firm that is willing to pay you significant amounts of money to take on your case. Granted, if its £50, some chocolates and flowers, or a bottle of bubbly as a thank you, then you should know that’s from the pocket of the law firm and not your service levels. But offering you £250 or 110% compensation as oppose to 100% is in my opinion bribery. It works in the same way as the insurers and claims companies referrals – they are paying out a huge sum of money that will probably just come straight from your service level.
The practice of offering financial incentives to make a claim is also going to be made illegal in the near future.
What you need to look for are the firms that will go the extra mile and spend their money on providing you with a fantastic service and a promise to fight tooth and nail for the highest payout possible. Here are examples of what we think are quality levels of service:
Private Medical Care
For us, it’s not just about your payout – it’s about getting you back on the road to recovery. You have a duty mitigate your loss and injury by doing all you can to recover as quickly as possible. We will provide you with private medical rehabilitation care right from the start of the claim that will never cost you a penny. Even if the claim loses, you don’t pay for it. So, if it does lose, at least you’re not out of pocket, and at least you get some medical treatment to aid a faster recovery!
Frequent Contact
We think around every 14 days is sufficient to keep you updated and consistently working on your case. We will also always make sure to return calls and correspondence within 24 hours at the most as well when we can. We are open until 10pm every weeknight, and open over the weekend anyway; so it’s not like it’s difficult to get hold of us!
Qualified Expert on YOUR Case
You should have a fully qualified personal injury lawyer with conduct for your case, and a qualified legal team assisting with the day to day running of your claim. Instructing a specialist firm of personal injury lawyers is a good way of doing this – if they only deal with injury law like us, you should get a bespoke and specialist service, with a more qualified solicitor fighting for your maximum payout. It kind of goes without saying really!
5. Time to CLAIM
Now you have the power to know who to instruct, its better that you do it sooner rather than later to take advantage of private medical care, and ensure evidence and memory of events are preserved as fresh as possible. You can help the process by keeping invoices and receipts for anything you pay out for in relation to your injuries, and you should keep a diary of how your injuries develop as time goes on.
It’s never too soon to claim – if you have any worries, give us a call and we will be happy to help you out. If it’s a work claim you’re worried about, fear not! You are protected by law, and there is nothing your employer can legally do to adversely affect your employment. You are protected, and you have the right to make a claim; in fact, we find most employers are quite happy for you to make a claim when you have been genuinely injured in the line of duty!
Give us a call for some free legal advice now – we are more than happy to help you out in any way that we can!
We are a real, independent specialist firm of injury lawyers; there is nobody better placed to give you the advice and representation that you need for your claim.