Cheltenham solicitors' warning ahead of changes to compensation rules
SOLICITORS in Cheltenham are warning that changes to the law will reduce the amount personal injury claimants receive in compensation.
From the beginning of next month, solicitors will no longer be able to claim legal costs from the defendant in a successful claim.
Cheltenham firm AT Law Solicitors said this would force lawyers to take a slice of claimants' compensation in order to make money out of successful cases.
Armorel Smith said: "The only viable option for personal injury lawyers will be to seek a contribution to their costs from a claimant's compensation – up to 25 per cent.
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"This means that the genuine cases where the person who has been injured, whose life has been turned upside down and may have lost earnings or even their job, will soon be expected to pay for their own legal representation out of the compensation."
AT Law helped Freddy Dowsing from Cam win compensation when he suffered elbow injuries after being knocked off his bike by a car in Crawley in November 2010.
The 36-year-old IT consultant believes the legal changes will put many people off trying to win compensation over fears they will not get as much money.
"If the 'no fee' disappears, I think it can only be in the interest of the insurance companies because it will deter people from going ahead with a claim," he said.
"When compensation is something they are entitled to because what happened has affected their lives, it is wrong for them to lose out on some of the amount."
Currently, the costs that claimants recover from defendants include a solicitor's success fee, which is calculated as a percentage of the solicitor's basic fee.
It is used to offset the risk of the solicitor not being paid anything should the claimant lose the case.
This sum is only payable if the claimant wins the case and it will usually be paid by the losing opponent.
However, from April successful claimants may be deprived of up to 25 per cent of their general damages in order to pay solicitors' success fees, as these will no longer be recoverable from defendants.
Mr Smith said it is important employees and members of the public do not fear the prospect of making a claim should they be injured at work or in an accident.
2 Comments
by Quill
Saturday, March 16 2013, 10:30PM
“RoadWombat, if you had an accident at work or out in the street or in you car, would you claim? Think the answers would probably be yes. Good solicitors do not chase ambulances, they are contacted by individuals who need help and assistance while they recover from what could be a very serious accident. Health and safety was around a long time before "no win no fee solicitors" the work that they do has helped to improve H&S in the workplace by highlighting incidents that should not have happened in the first place if good business practice is in place. The only winner in the whole of this process will be the insurance companies who will not reduce their premiums and who managed to,pull the wool over the governments eyes who will also lose out on the taxes that solicitors currently pay.”
by RoadWombat
Saturday, March 16 2013, 2:05PM
“'No win, no fee' solicitors are a blight on the country and largely to blame for the stupidly over-zealous health & safety rules that we have to contend with.
The Health & Safety Act is an excellent one, and drawn up with perfectly respectable ideas in mind. Unfortunately, the chasing of frivolous claims by this brigade has led to many organisations putting in place ridiculous rules of their own, out of ignorance and fear, that bring the whole thing into disrepute. Schools closing when there's a little bit of snow, for example).
Hopefully many of these companies will go bust and those that are left will only be able to pursue legitimate and valid claims where someone has blatantly ignored common-sense rules and left people in real danger (for example, a company not installing guards on lathes etc.).”