ChrisB

Never mind the insurance companies sueing for their money back, the directors of the Accident Group should be sent down to stew for a while.

As my Dad says, they were as bent as a nine bob note...

[Edited by ChrisB - 7/30/2003 10:14:55 PM]

zoog

About time that whole compensation culture industry was dealt with.

PARASITES, all involved: lawyers, claimants, and the "Accident" companies. The same people who dream up these scams in their front rooms are doing benefit fraud and all the rest of it.

People like you and me pay for it all in insurance premiums and income taxes.

Stueyb

I think statutary (sp?) jail sentances for fraudulant/dishonest claimants would be a good start. I didn't see the program but we all know how these things work! Secondly I, personally, would do away no win no fee completely. Therefore if they want to claim they will have to fund it out their own pockets, hence will think twice and be detered. Just my 2p's worth.

Anyone know if its repeated?.

T.C

So by doing away with the CFA (No Win No Fee) you would be happy for those who are genuinely injured through no fault of their own but don't have the money to fund a case to suffer are you?

TAG are well known within the legal profession for their dealings which is why so many law firms gave them a wide berth. The no win no fee or to give it its proper title Conditional Fee Agreement works very well if set up correctly, and most law firms like us will actually pay for the insurance premium ourselves and then claim it back as part of our disbursments at the end of the case.

A genuine CFA means what it states on the tin, if you don't win you don't pay, and if you do win the victim keeps 100% of their compensation, and the law firm claims the legal costs plus the cost of the CFA together with an uplift on their fee's (called a success fee) against the defence.

For lawyers it is all regulated by the Law Society but fir Accident Claims firms such as TAG, Claims Direct, Rider Support services they are totaly unregulated.

In short, don't put everyone involved in personal injury claims into the same basket, there are a lot of us out there who work our butts off on behalf of the genuine claimants, but unfortuantely the likes of TAG have brought the whole procedure into disrepute.

Stueyb

It would suit me actually, as IMHO, and it is just that, at least 75% of these cases are dubious in their nature.

YES there are genuine cases but they should do as I have done and come to an arrangement with their solicitor.

T.C

If the vetting procedure and risk assessment is carried out correctly, then the dodgy claims shouldn't get any further than the vetting process.

Not everyone is suitable for dealing with as a private client, and by the time the initial disbursments have been paid you are looking at upwards of £2,000 - £3,000 which as I said are paid for up front by the solicitor.

The solicitor also needs some guarantee's that their out of pocket expenses will be met, and although on a CFA the solicitors do not get paid if they lose the case, they at least get their disbursments refunded.

Before you start slagging off the CFA, no win no fee in general, may I suggest that you research a little more how the system works.

For legitimate claims and legitimate law firms regulated by the law society it works very well for both the client and the law firm.

barge

where there is blame there is a claim

TurboKitty

A lot of the claimants bring the process into disrepute too.

I bumped the back of another car at a roundabout last year at low speed, (under 10mph). It did fairly minimal damage, but as the car was an old, left-hand drive hatchback, it was evidently going to be a write off. That evening I spoke to the woman who had been driving to check she was OK and, in order to deal with it quickly and easily, I offered to pay the value of the car, (around £700), plus around £100 to cover getting a hire car for a few days while they sorted out getting a replacement. She was very nice and said she'd think about it and let me know.

Two days later I hadn't heard from her so I called her at work. I asked how she was and she told me she'd felt a bit stiff the day before so she'd been to see her doctor, but he'd told her it was to be expected after a bump, and to take paracetamol. She said she felt fine that day. She also told me that her husband would be dealing with things and that she'd get him to call me.

He rang me a few hours later and was pushy and aggressive right from the off. He informed me he wanted £1500 for the car or they'd be making a personal injury claim. I pointed out that his wife had told me that morning that she was fine, and he agreed she wasn't hurt, but said that a PI claim was free money. I told him I wouldn't be blackmailed into paying him over the odds for the car and that the offer stood at £800. He could take that immediately, in cash, or he could go through my insurance. This seemed to surprise him. I think he thought that because I'd offered to settle that he had some sort of leverage; I believe he thought I was not insured.

Anyway, he opted to go through my insurance company. They paid out £700 for the car, and he made a PI claim through a no win, no fee company specialising in this type of claim. Over a year on and it's not yet been settled, but my insurance company have informed me that they are likely to pay out as the risk of having to pay costs if they fight it and lose is too great. This is their standard policy, apparently.

Ultimately I am glad this is going through my insurance as the bloke involved is such a slimeball that I think it's likely he'd have made a PI claim even if I had paid him what he wanted for the car. In future I won't even consider settling a claim myself, everything will go through the insurance. Some people are just fundamentally dishonest.

Please also note, before the critics start, I was not trying to hide this from my insurer. I informed them of the accident immediately, but I told them I was going to try and resolve it without claiming.

Stueyb

OK T.C. Point taken. Where do all these dodgy claims come from if the vetting is done properly. Dare I say it is the legal profesion getting even greedier ?

I mean for ***** sake. If I tripped over in the street, my fault. Im not gonna start suing people. Its all about personal responsability. I did it, my fault. I don't look for a cash cow and someone else to blame.

The solicitors adverts on Discovery etc, are the bad eggs but they are to my mind encouraging false claimants "slip or trip anywhere" etc

Example:

Where my ex bird works a woman fell down 2 steps. Yep 2 steps. She is now claiming. there is **** all wrong with her. Now on friday a lad at work fell through dodgy flooring at our new warehouse about 14 foot onto a concrete floor. He has smashed both his legs, ankles shattered beyond repair. Now he has a claim. But she takes the ****. You can bet your bottom dollar that some dross of a solictor would take her on.