OK – so you have had an accident through no fault of your own, and you believe you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries and any suffering you have had to endure. Who do you speak to for advice, and who do you instruct for your claim?
In all honesty, it’s entirely up to you! I of course will suggest that you speak to us as we are a firm of specialist personal injury lawyers. We are an actual law firm, so we do not pass details over to anyone else to have your claim – it’s us that advise you, and it’s us that represent you.
But aside from my attempts to sway you over to our service, here is a quick guide as to what you should look out for when it comes to getting the right advice and getting the right lawyer for your claim:
Get the Right Advice
The best place to get advice is from a specialist firm of personal injury lawyers. Avoid claims companies, accident management companies, and insurance companies trying to give you legal advice; irrelevant of whether their “legally trained advisors” can actually help you or not. These sorts of companies are, ultimately, NOT law firms, and NOT lawyers. After they have given you advice, they will likely pass you over to a lawyer for a referral fee. You may not have to pay this fee yourself; your solicitor will probably end up paying for it. This leaves them with less money to spend on you and your case, which can leave you with a potentially poor service!
So, the moral of the story above is to speak with a law firm directly! Cut out the middlemen and go straight to the source. The relationship is then between you and your lawyers – they will advise you as to whether you have a claim, and they will represent you for the claim as well.
It is best, in my opinion, to go with a specialist firm of personal injury only lawyers. You should get a more bespoke service this way – at the end of the day, you’re dealing with the experts!
Get a GENUINE No Win No Fee
You may not be aware of this, but there are actually hundreds – if not thousands – of variations of the No Win No Fee agreement (or Conditional Fee Agreement as it is more formally known). Little things in the agreement can mean the difference between being liable to pay your solicitors fees, to actually having to pay them, or being protected from having to pay a penny.
The term Genuine No Win No Fee is something many lawyers use. We use it in an entirely different light – by Genuine, we mean that we actually cannot charge you for a claim.
Most lawyers using the standard No Win No Fee agreements usually will not charge you. But, ultimately, it’s in black and white that they CAN charge you. They can be quite open ended, with statements such as “we will seek to recover the legal fees from the other side” or they may say that “recovery of your legal fees will be sought from your opponent” or another similar statement. They will probably tell you over the phone that you will receive 100% compensation guaranteed with no fees to pay. But, if you read these sorts of statements again, you will notice that there is a key difference between what is said over the phone, and what is put in writing.
In writing, as in, the part you are contractually agreeing to, it says that the legal fees will be sought from the other side. This means that they will try and recover your fees from your opponent. So, what happens if they try, and fail… ?
It means they have the power to come back to you and charge you for anything that they fail to recover!
Some agreements are even scarier, and will specifically state that whatever fees are not recovered from the other side will be recovered from you. If you question them about it, they may tell you that it “has to be worded this way” or that “it’s the standard format”. In all honesty, most reputable firms wouldn’t use this power to charge you. But the fact remains that they CAN charge you.
A Genuine agreement like ours should have an extra part in there saying that if any fees are not recovered from the other side, your lawyers will NOT seek to recover anything from you. This means your lawyer’s costs are actually limited to whatever the other side pay. In reality, the other side could pay nothing more than a penny, and your lawyers could not recover anything from you.
That’s the key thing to look out for – to make sure that all verbal promises are backed up in black and white in the agreement.
If the case does not win, the agreement should make clear that you will not pay a penny. So, with the correctly worded agreement that protects your position, you will never end up paying anything to your lawyers.
Get a FANTASTIC Service
So, you have an expert firm of personal injury lawyers, and a Genuine No Win No Fee agreement to boot. Now, you need to be finding out what more your lawyers are willing to do for you and your claim. Here are a few examples of what we think make up a fantastic level of service:
- Regular Contact – you are updated on your case at least every 14 days. Your file is being regularly worked on and you are always in the loop as to how your claim is progressing.
- Friendly, approachable, and efficient lawyers – speaking in plain English and leaving out the jargon. Always returning your calls and correspondence on a same day basis, or within 24 hours.
- Private Medical Care – right from the outset of your claim at absolutely no costs to you; even if the claim loses. It’s not just about getting you your compensation fast, it’s about getting you back on the road to recovery!
- Going the extra mile – promises to fight tooth and nail for a maximum payout, and do all that they can to go beyond your expectations.
Follow this simple set of rules above, make sure to ask the right questions to the firm you are getting advice from, and you should hopefully have a stress free claim for compensation.
