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At The Injury Lawyers we recover our legal fees from the other side directly if we win your case.  If we obtain compensation for you, like we have in thousands of other personal injury cases for our numerous clients, like them, you will get to keep 100% of the compensation you are due.  So, if you are awarded £2,000 for your whiplash injury, you keep the full £2,000.  There are absolutely no reductions on your compensation made by us.

Sounds great – but there must be some kind of catch, right?

No! Even if you lose the claim, which is unlikely because we only ever take on claims we genuinely believe will be successful, we do not charge you a penny.  This is because at the beginning of your compensation claim we take out an After the Event Insurance policy which covers some of our costs should your case be unsuccessful – this way we can recoup some of our losses.  And when we win, we can recover our costs from the other side directly.  You will not have to worry about facing a hefty lawyers bill.
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OK – so there is this whole thing about a ‘compensation culture’ in the UK that has hit the headlines on numerous occasions. In reality, if you read the Lord Young / Jackson reports of late, the whole idea of a ‘compensation culture’ was deemed a media fuelled myth, of which there really is no issue.

The most recent headlines have been those of our former justice secretary Jack Straw whom, after investigating how one of his constituents details were sold around for money between claims companies and insurers to solicitors, hit out at the frivolous profit making industry of personal injury referral fees; something which we never pay and have always been against.

The insurers themselves were blamed for the increase in our car premiums as it was uncovered that it was the insurers themselves that are a party to the referral fee system, in which their own policy holder’s details are passed over to solicitors who are willing to pay huge referral fees of up to £1000 per claim. This has, according to recent news, been responsible for an increase in ‘frivolous’ claims that have not only driven our premiums up, but provided the insurers with a millions of pounds in profit from passing the details of accident victims over.
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At The Injury Lawyers we tend to see whiplash most commonly from a road traffic accident – so, in this blog, I will be explaining the process of claiming for the same. Whiplash can be caused by a variety of accidents and not simply by a road traffic accident; so if this is the case with you, please see one of our other helpful blogs on that process – a good blog to take a look at is http://www.theinjurylawyers.co.uk/injury-lawyers-blog/2011/07/08/a-quick-guide-to-the-compensation-claiming-process/.

The Process…

If your road traffic accident occurred after 30^th April 2010 and is below the value of £10,000 it goes through a new, faster, more streamlined system set up by the Ministry of Justice.  This system is begun by completing a form called a Claim Notification Form. At The Injury Lawyers we take you through the form and assist you from start to finish in filling it in. Once this form has been signed by you, we can then send it off to the Defendant’s insurers.
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If you have been injured in a road traffic accident and it was through no fault of your own, you may have a claim for compensation. If you are reading this blog you are likely to be in this situation and looking for a personal injury firm to take on your claim.

Choosing the right law firm for your claim…

There are many law firms and referral agencies out there vying for your business, so it is understandably hard to make that all important choice as to where to take your claim. I have therefore set out below some benefits which you should look out for when choosing a law firm to instruct for your claim:
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If you are reading this blog then you may have had liability admitted on your claim and you are wondering where you will be going from here. Well, firstly, having liability admitted is the first successful step towards getting your settlement as the other side have admitted fault for your accident – so you should be pleased.

From liability being admitted, your solicitor will arrange for you to be medically examined by a suitable expert medical consultant. This medical examination should be arranged at a time and place convenient for yourself – at The Injury Lawyers we ask for the examination to be arranged with the closest consultant to you with the shortest waiting list.

Before attending your medical appointment we advise our clients to ensure they inform the medic as fully and as accurately as possible – including the full accident circumstances and the various effects the accident and injuries have had on their life. We advise this as the medical report goes into detail about these various effects and so forms the basis from which your claim can be valued.
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You may think that you know what no win no fee means – i.e. it does what it says on the tin – you lose your claim and you do not have to pay a penny. But, what happens if you win your claim? Furthermore, how does it actually work?

Well I hope to shed some light on the above in this following blog:

If you lose your claim…
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Quite a lot of people are aware that where they have been injured through no fault of their own they could be entitled to compensation.  As such, they seek to instruct a lawyer to act on their behalf.  What most people are not sure about is how claiming for compensation works.  Here is a quick guide to the claiming process for most general accidents, such as accidents at work or accidents in the street.

The very first step is getting in touch with your injury lawyer and providing them with as much detail as possible about your accident.  So, if you tripped over a piece of defective paving whilst you were out shopping, your injury lawyer will need to know the precise location of the defect.  For example, it could be outside the entrance of a shop, or if it was outside a house, the number of the house and name of the road would be useful.  Of course, taking pictures of the defect and the accident location is also particularly helpful.

Once we have all your details, the details of the accident, and we know who we are to pursue your claim against, we then compile what is called the Letter of Claim.  This gets sent to the negligent third party and outlines what has happened and why we believe they should compensate you for your injuries.  By law they are entitled to a period of 21 days in which to respond to this letter and acknowledge receipt.
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What is a referral fee?

This is a sum of money that a lawyer may pay an insurer in order to obtain the details of a person who has been involved in an accident, and could likely make a claim for compensation.  Once they have the victims’ details they may cold call them or bombard them with intrusive text messages informing them that they could make a claim for compensation and that this lawyer could represent them.  By paying the referral fee the lawyer has the first chance to convince the victim to instruct them to deal with their claim.  Paying a referral fee is therefore a way of obtaining business.

Have referral fees always been around and how much are they?

It is estimated that referral fees have been around for approximately 20 years.  Typically a referral fee will be in the region of £200 to £1,000 and the value ultimately turns on how much the claim is likely to be worth.  For example, if the injured party’s injuries are particularly severe and long lasting, their claim will be worth a lot more than someone who has suffered a 2 month minor whiplash claim.  As such, the referral fee for the more severe injury may be greater than the whiplash injury because it will ultimately net a lawyer more money in the long run through carrying out more work.
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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:
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What is Personal Protective Equipment?

Personal Protective Equipment, or PPE as it is more informally known, is equipment which can be used or worn to protect you from risks to your health and safety.  There is a wide range of PPE which is available depending on the job that you do, and the risks that are involved. PPE can range from safety boots, to safety goggles, to respirators.  PPE can be so important, as it does not just protect from those one-off accidents, but also those medical conditions which form over a period of time – known as industrial diseases. An example of an industrial disease is Vibration White Finger – the risk of getting this condition can be reduced through the use of PPE, such as anti-vibration gloves.  In severe cases of Vibration White Finger, a sufferer can lose all feeling in their fingers and through to their hands.

What are your employer’s duties?
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