We are now in a much better position to assess how these changes will affect our future client’s who want to bring a claim for injuries suffered as a result of an accident that wasn’t their fault.

In the past we have dealt with many of our client’s claims on the basis of a conditional fee agreement (No win, No fee agreement). This type of agreement provides for a success fee which until the beginning of April was recoverable from the other side in a successful claim. From the beginning of April this is no longer the case.

The success fee in a conditional fee agreement is now recoverable out of the client’s damages where the claim is successful. At Wanstalls we have decided that where our client has an appropriate case we will deal with it on the basis of a conditional fee agreement without a success fee.

In this way we hope to be able to provide the majority of our client’s with funding for their claim without a success fee being deducted from their damages.

In the past to protect our client’s from the other side’s costs we have taken out an insurance policy called ATE insurance. The premium for the policy was recoverable from the other side in a successful case but this is no longer the case.

The premium for ATE insurance is now recoverable from the client out of their damages in successful case. The insurers who provide ATE insurance have responded well to these changes and now provide policies at much reduced rates.

No one should be put off making a claim because of these changes, if you have been involved in an accident that wasn’t your fault give Wanstalls a call so we can discuss with you in detail the changes, without obligation. At Wanstalls we are confident that we can provide the most favourable funding arrangements for your personal injury claim.

Whether you are a driver, passenger, motorcyclist, cyclist or pedestrian involved in a road traffic accident it is highly likely that your claim will be dealt with via the electronic system used for these types of claims.

There are further changes that come into force on the 30^th April with regard to the solicitors costs payable for claims dealt with within the electronic system. The costs that a solicitor receives for dealing with a claim in the electronic system will reduce from £1,200 to £500.

It is quite likely that many firms of solicitors will no longer feel that it is economic to deal with these types of claims due to the reduced fees. The good news is that at Wanstalls we will still deal with these types of claims and provide the high level of service that we always have.

If you have been involved in any type of road traffic accident that wasn’t your fault give Wanstalls a call on 0191 375 3938.

Despite the reduction in fees at Wanstalls it is still business as usual!

At this stage I should point out that, although they will no doubt beg to differ in opinion, even 17 year olds are still classed as “children” for the purposes of legal proceedings.  You remain a child in the eyes of the law until you reach your 18^th birthday.

As is the case in adult claims it is necessary that the claim is worth more than £1,000 before a firm of Solicitors can become involved.

As your child is likely to have been a passenger then he/she will not have been at fault in any way and we will be able to make a claim on their behalf against either the driver of the vehicle they were travelling in or the “at fault” driver of the other vehicle involved.

There are differences in the way a child’s claim is dealt with and I will now explain these differences.

Taking instructions

As indicated above your child is deemed to be incapable of making decisions about his/her own claim or giving valid instructions to us.  In those circumstances you will be asked to nominate a “litigation friend” who will deal with the claim for your child.  The “litigation friend” does not necessarily have to be related to the child but it is preferable for one of the parents to act unless, of course, the parent was responsible for the accident when there would be a conflict of interest.  The role of the litigation friend would be to give instructions on behalf of the child and the criteria is that the litigation friend has the child’s best interest at heart.

Accepting an offer to settle claim

When the case reaches the stage where the insurers for the at fault driver make an acceptable offer in settlement the litigation friend will be asked to approve the offer.  The instruction from the litigation friend is, however, insufficient to conclude the matter as one major difference when dealing with children’s claims is that the claim cannot be settled until the settlement is approved by the Court during an Infant Settlement Hearing.  The Judge will want to ensure – among other things – that the child had fully recovered from his/her injuries.

Recovery from injuries

In adult cases it is permissible, and indeed very common, for damages to be agreed before the client has fully recovered from his/her injuries.  The client has the right to make the decision that they are confident that recovery is underway and that they will make a full recovery within a relatively short period of time from the prognosis in the medical report.  It is not possible to re-open adult cases even it is later transpires that the adult does not recover for some time after the original prognosis.

In child cases, however, it is not advisable to make this decision on behalf of the child.  The Judge will want to ensure that the child has fully recovered.  The Infant Settlement Hearing is therefore designed to protect the child’s interest and ensure that the compensation is appropriate in the circumstances.

Infant Settlement Hearings

The Infant Settlement Hearing will be heard by a Judge in his/her Chambers rather than in open Court and although it would be necessary for the child and litigation friend to be present the process is not as scary as it sounds.  Your Solicitor will attend with you and will assist throughout the Hearing.  Although it is possible for someone from the insurance company to attend this rarely happens and it will normally only be you, your child and your Solicitor who attend the Hearing.

Judges understand that the child and their litigation friend are likely to be nervous in attending Court as it is likely to be their first encounter with the Court system.  In those circumstances they go out of their way to make everyone feel as comfortable and to make the whole process as painless as possible.  The Judge will ask the child (or litigation friend depending on the child’s age) about their injuries and their recovery.  If the Judge is satisfied that the child has fully recovered and that the offer is appropriate an Order will be made to settle the case.

Investment of damages

The Judge will then have options as to how to deal with the damages (money) agreed.  The money cannot be paid over to the child until they reach 18 but the Judge can order the money to be paid into the Court Funds Office where it will accrue interest (albeit at a low rate) until the child reaches 18 when the money will be paid to the child.  If your child’s money is paid into the Court Funds office is very important that you keep them informed of any changes in your child’s address so that the Court knows how to contact him/her when it is time to release the money.

In some cases, however, the Judge may decide to order the money to be paid to the litigation friend to hold for the benefit of the child until he/she attains the age of 18 when the money must be handed over with any interest which has accrued in the meantime.  This is often the preferable outcome as the person holding the money then has control over the rate of interest but the decision on how the money is to be paid will be made by the Judge alone.  A Judge may decide to use this option if the money involved is low in value or if the child is nearly 18 at the time of the Court Hearing.

Claims are made up of two separate parts, liability i.e. is there someone to blame successfully for the accident and quantum, the value of the claim.

In order to receive damages it is necessary to establish that someone else is liable for your accident. In road traffic accidents this is generally quite straight forward and in most cases liability can be established quite quickly. Road traffic accident claims worth less than £10,000 are dealt with on an electronic system where once the claim is submitted the other side only have 15 business days to respond on the issue of liability.

In straight forward road traffic accident claims liability can be sorted out within a matter of weeks. If the injuries are not too serious then medical evidence can be obtained quickly and the whole claim dealt with from start to finish in two to three months, sometimes even quicker!

With accidents at work, accidents in public places and road traffic accidents that are not suitable for the electronic system liability can take much longer to resolve. Once the claim is put in the other side will have three months to investigate and then say whether or not they are accepting liability. If liability is accepted within the three months and the injuries are not too serious then these types of claims can be settled in four to six months.

The claims that take the longest are those involving serious injury or where liability is denied by the other side.

Where injuries are serious it might take a long time before a position is reached where it is possible to decide what the long term consequences of the client’s injuries might be. The claim cannot be settled until it is possible to assess the long term consequences of the injury and this can take many months.

Even in cases where the injuries are not too serious if the other side deny liability then the claim can take a long time to resolve. Sometimes in these types of cases it may be necessary to commence court proceedings and even go all the way to a trial. This can take many months and even longer if the injuries are also severe.

There is no simple answer to how long a personal injury claim will take but if you have been injured in an accident that wasn’t your fault call Wanstalls and we will give you the best indication of how long your claim is likely to take that we can.

At Wanstalls we will always try to deal with your claim as quickly as possible but sometimes it is important not to sacrifice getting the right level of damages in favour of a speedy settlement of the claim.

If you have been injured in an accident that wasn’t your fault why not give Wanstalls a call. We will advise you on all aspects of your potential claim so that you can decide if you wish us to pursue the clam on your behalf. There is no charge for advising on your potential claim and no obligation. You have nothing to lose by giving us a call!

Ian Wanstall

Wanstalls are a firm of solicitors specialising exclusively in personal injury claims arising from all types of accidents.

When clients contact us the first stage of the process is to discuss with the client what happened and obtain as much information as possible. This can be either done on the telephone or face to face. As part of this initial discussion we will identify the best form of funding for the claim.

The next step is to provide the client with the appropriate paperwork as there is a lot of information that solicitors are required by the Law Society to provide to new clients.

Once the paperwork is in place the next step is for the solicitor to start your claim. How this is done depends on the type of accident.

If the accident is any form of road traffic accident worth £10,000 or less then it is dealt with electronically. The details of the claim are put onto an electronic system called the “MOJ Portal”. The details go automatically to the relevant insurers who then have 15 business days to indicate whether or not they are accepting liability.

If liability is admitted the claim remains in the electronic system and moves to the next stage which deals with medical evidence, details of other loses and expenses and settlement.

All claims arising out of other types of accidents and those road traffic accidents that don’t come within the electronic system are commenced by writing a letter of claim to the other side.

Once the other side have received the letter of claim they have a set period to acknowledge receipt of the letter and they then have three months to investigate the claim at the end of which they must confirm whether or not they are accepting liability. If liability is denied then they must provide reason for their denial and copies of all relevant paperwork.

If liability is admitted then medical evidence and details of all the other elements of the claim are provided to the other side and in most cases a settlement of the claim is then negotiated.

It is worth pointing out that the majority of personal injury claims are settled by negotiation though the time scale for settlement depends very much on the level of injuries that the client has suffered. Where the injuries are quite serious it is often necessary to wait for some time before settling the claim to make sure that we have a clear understanding of the long term consequences of the injuries.

In those cases where liability is denied or the value of the claim cannot be agreed with the other side it becomes necessary to consider the commencement of court proceedings.

If court proceedings are necessary they are issued and served on the other side. The other side provide a defence but it does not mean that the next step is going to trial.

Between the service of court proceedings and the case going to trail there are many procedural steps which are aimed at making sure that each side has a clear understanding of the other side’s case and the evidence that they will be relying on.

Most cases are settled without court proceedings and not many of those where court proceedings are commenced go all the way to a trial. Many cases settle during the procedural steps leading up to a trial as each side asses its chances of being successful at a trial.

The last step in those few cases that do go all the way to a trial is that the court hears all the evidence and decides whether the defendants are liable for the accident and/ or the value of the claim.

The time scale for dealing with a personal injury claim can vary from a couple of months in straight forward road traffic accidents to a number of years in claims of substantial value that go all the way to a trial.

At Wanstalls Solicitors we do our best to advise clients at the outset how long we think their claim is going to take, the procedure for pursuing their claim and the factors that might make the claim take longer than the majority of cases.

If you have been injured in an accident that wasn’t your fault why not give Wanstalls a call so that we can advise you on all aspects of your potential claim and then guide you through the various stages of your claim. You can also contact us using the contact form here.

Ian Wanstall

The suggestion was that the insurers for the “at fault party” would make contact with the injured party and agree to compensate them directly. He indicated that in this way the injured party would get as much compensation or even more than they would have got if they were represented by an independent solicitor!

My job as a solicitor is to make sure that my clients are fully compensated for their injuries and other losses. The job of an insurance company is to make as much profit as possible for their shareholders; the less they pay out the more profit they make.

Unlike the insurance companies I do not think the public are gullible and I’m sure that the public will have no difficulty in seeing that they are going to get the best levels of compensation if they are represented by a solicitor who owes a duty to them to get the most they compensation they can for them.

It puts me in mind of a day at the races many years ago when a friend had just put a bet on a horse. Knowing that she knew very little about horse racing I asked how she had decided which horse to back. She said it was very easy, she just asked the bookie which horse he would recommend! I’m sure it will come as no surprise that the chosen horse came in last.

The practice of insurance companies approaching injured parties direct and offering them compensation is not new. Over the years I have acted for many clients who having been approached directly by the insurers became suspicious about the amounts of compensation they were being awarded and decided to seek independent advice.

There was a time, in a less cynical age, where the better insurance companies actually recommended that those who were injured sought independent legal advice. Those days regrettably are long gone.

What is always interesting is to look at the timing of insurers publicising a particular idea. I have provided a series of blogs on the changes that are soon to come in that are aimed at discouraging members of the public from making claims.

One of the changes is the banning of referral fees. Whilst the changes are as a result of a sustained and ultimately successful campaign of propaganda by the insurance industry, one change that may be seen as an “own goal” is the ban on referral fees.

The reason that in the past insurers have not sought to deal directly with injured parties as much as they might is that they had an alternative way of making money. A person injured in an accident that wasn’t their fault would be approached by their own insurers and the suggestion would be made that the insurers refer their claim to the insurers chosen solicitors. In this way the insurers would receive a referral fee from the solicitors.

The alternative, known as third party capture, was where the insurers for the driver who was at fault would immediately make contact with the other driver and suggest that they refer their personal injury claim to the insurers chosen solicitors. In this way they would get a referral fee from the solicitors.

It is very interesting that just as the insurers are about to lose a very substantial income from referral fees, they are very publically suggesting that injured parties don’t need solicitors as the insurers will deal with them direct.

The promise, as always, is that the insurers will pass on the savings to the public in reduced premiums. As I have indicated above, unlike the insurers, I don’t think the public are that gullible and will no doubt ask the very sensible question, if insurers are saving money will they pass the benefit to the public or their shareholders?

The insurers seem to forget that those who are injured in motor accidents are also those who buy motor insurance. Yes we all want lower premiums but are we prepared to get lower premiums at the expense of being ripped off by an insurance company when we are injured in an accident?

The advice, as always, is if you are injured in any type of accident contact an independent solicitor who’s duty it is to look after you’re best interests and get you the compensation you are entitled too.

If you have been injured in an accident why not give Wanstalls a call or contact us now. Initial advice is free and without obligation. By calling us you will have a friend in your corner with only your best interest at heart.

Ian Wanstall – Contact me at ian.wanstall@wanstalls.co.uk

Wanstalls Solicitors are based in County Durham in the North East of England. We represent clients both locally and nationwide and offer a friendly personalised service. If you would like to discuss any aspect of a personal injury claim, we would be delighted to hear from you.

There is a simple underlying message and that is that when the changes do come into effect they will have a very negative effect on those wishing to make a claim for personal injuries.

Anyone who has been involved in an accident that wasn’t their fault and suffered injury as a result should make a claim now before the changes start to come into effect in April of this year.

If you are not sure whether or not you might have a claim ask us now as there will be no better time to make a claim than in the next two months. At Wanstalls we are very happy indeed to advise you on whether or not you have a claim; the advice is free and without obligation.

Even if the accident was some time ago and for whatever reason you have delayed getting advice on a potential claim, now is the time to pick up the phone, dial 0191 375 3938 and discuss your potential claim with the solicitors at Wanstalls.

If you delay making a claim the only people who will benefit are the insurance companies. The changes are coming and the only way to beat the changes is to act now!

Call Wanstalls today on 0191 375 3938 or use the form here and let us help you beat the changes!

Ian Wanstall – Contact me at ian.wanstall@wanstalls.co.uk

There are further changes proposed that will not necessarily come into force in April or, in deed at all, but which represent even greater threats to the public’s access to justice. The proposed changes will, in some cases make it even harder for people injured in accidents that were not their fault to claim compensation.

At the moment compensation claims with a value of £10,000 or less are dealt with via an electronic system which we call the MOJ Portal.

The electronic system has been in operation since the end of April 2010 and overall it has been successful in speeding up the settlement of straight forward claims for injury damages arising from road traffic accidents.

The electronic system includes fixed costs for the solicitor handling the claim which whilst not generous are generally adequate for the amount of work involved in a straight forward road traffic accident.

The government want to make three changes to this system. The first change is to raise the value of claims handled through the system from up to £10,000 to up to £25,000.

The second change is that the government wants to extend the scope of the electronic system to cover accidents at work and accidents in public places as well as road traffic accidents.

The final change proposed by the government is to cut the amount of costs payable to the solicitor for handling a claim that goes through the electronic system.

The problem with the proposed changes is that they mean that much more complex claims will be handled via the electronic system whilst at the same time reducing the amount that solicitors receive for carrying out the work.

Whilst I appreciate that the public are not going to be upset by solicitors receiving less in fees for the work they do, there are implications to this that are important.

If the fees provided by the electronic system are insufficient to enable a solicitor to deal with the claim then either solicitors will simply be unprepared to deal with these type of claims or client’s will have to pay some of the solicitors costs out of their damages.

As the electronic system covers more complex and higher value claims with lower fees the danger is that claims will be dealt with without proper solicitor involvement which will undoubtedly lead to under settlement of claims.

The greatest danger to the public having their claims handled properly by solicitors lies in another change which the government have proposed.

At the moment claims that do not involve personal injury have to be worth in excess of £5,000 before the other side are obliged to pay costs even in a successful case. This is referred to as the “small claims limit”. Claims for damages for personal injury have always been treated differently and the small claims limit for injury claims is currently set at £1,000. This means that as long as the injury element of a claim is worth £1,000 or more the other side pay the claimant’s legal costs in a successful case.

The reason that personal injury claims are handled differently is that it has always been accepted that assessing the value of a claim for personal injury is complex and therefore even in relatively low value cases should be dealt with by a solicitor.

The government have proposed that the small claims limit even for personal injury claims should be raised to £5,000. As the vast majority of personal injury claims dealt with by solicitors involve injuries worth less than £5,000, the proposed change to the small claims limit could have far reaching and negative effects.

At the moment all but the most minor of injury claims are dealt with by solicitors who’s costs are paid by the other side so that the claimant receives their damages in full and the process does not cost them anything.

If the proposals do come into force, it will either mean clients having to pay their solicitor out of their damages in claims where the injuries are worth less than £5,000, or, alternatively, members of the public dealing with the claim themselves directly with the insurers which inevitably will lead to under settlement of claims.

It is to be hoped that common sense will prevail and the small claims limit for personal injury claims will remain where it is. If not there is a new form of funding agreement that is part of the changes coming into effect in April that will be a solution but an unattractive one.

At the moment a solicitor cannot act for a client in a personal injury claim on what is called a contingency fee basis. This means that a solicitor cannot agree to deal with a claim on the basis of receiving part of the client’s damages by way of payment in a successful case.

As part of the changes coming into force in April the government are introducing “damages based agreements” which are a form of contingency fee agreement. The amount of the client’s damages that a solicitor can agree to take is limited to 25% of the clients injury damages. If any costs are recovered from the other side then these are deducted from the amount to be paid to the solicitor by the client out of their damages.

Damages based agreements have been used in employment law for a long time as generally no costs are payable by the other side even in a successful case before the employment tribunal. The fact that they will soon be available in relation to personal injury claims is not a positive thing but might be the only way that a solicitor can act for a client in some personal injury claims if the current proposals do go through.

In summary all the changes that are coming into force or are proposed do not benefit the prospective claimant in any way and, as far as I can see, can only possibly benefit insurance companies. The changes are clearly aimed at discouraging people from making claims and making it cheaper for the insurance companies when they do.

At Wanstalls Solicitors we will do everything we can to continue to provide a service to our client’s at no cost to them but much will depend on what, if any of the proposed changes come into effect.

Our advice at the moment is that if you have been injured in an accident that wasn’t your fault, contact our Durham office straight away so that your claim can be got underway before the changes come in. This is the only sure fire way of avoiding the effects of the changes.

If you have been injured in any type of accident that wasn’t your fault call us now on 0191 375 3938 so that we can start to deal with your claim.

Ian Wanstall – Contact me at ian.wanstall@wanstalls.co.uk

Wanstalls Solicitors are based in County Durham in the North East of England. We represent clients both locally and nationwide and offer a friendly personalised service. If you would like to discuss any aspect of a personal injury claim, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Under the new rules, coming into force in April, the premium for after the event insurance will no longer be recoverable from the other side and therefore if a policy is taken out the cost will have to be paid by the client out of their damages.

There are some further changes that will have an effect on the whole issue of insuring cases where the client does not already have legal expenses insurance.

At the moment, putting it simply, in a personal injury claim the losing party pays the costs of the winning party. Most personal injury claims are successful so the other side pay the client’s legal costs.

If court proceedings are issued and a claim proceeds through litigation then the other side will also have legal costs. At the moment, if the client loses they are responsible for paying the other side’s costs.

It is the client’s potential liability for the other side’s costs that is the main reason for taking out an after the event insurance policy. In the event that the client’s claim is lost in the course of litigation the insurance policy pays the other side’s costs thus protecting the client from this liability.

The change that is coming in is called “qualified one way costs shifting”. This means that provided the case that was brought was legitimate, but fails in the course of litigation, the claimant will not have to pay the defendant’s costs.

The liability for the defendant to pay the costs of a successful claimant will remain the same, so where a client’s claim is successful, they will still have their legal costs paid by the other side.

It would appear that on the face of it “qualified one way costs shifting” gets rid of the need for insurance as the client’s liability to pay the other side’s costs in an unsuccessful claim would no longer exist.

Unfortunately, the situation is not that simple due to what are called Part 36 offers. Either side can make a Part 36 offer but for the purposes of this blog we are concerned with a Part 36 offer made by the defendant.

The easiest way to understand the effect of a Part 36 offer is by example. Let’s say that the other side have accepted liability and they make a Part 36 offer of £2,000 to settle the claim.

Having valued the claim we advise the client that it is worth £3,000 and the client therefore rejects the Part 36 offer of £2,000. It proves impossible to agree a more reasonable settlement figure with the other side so the case is litigated and goes all the way to a trial.

At trial the judge (who does not know the amount of the Part 36 offer) awards the client £1,900 which under the current rules would mean that the client would then be responsible for the other side’s costs from the date of the Part 36 offer up to the end of the trial.

Under the new rules the above example would be an exception to qualified one way costs shifting so the client would still be liable for the other side’s costs though it is proposed that this be limited to the amount of the damages awarded to the client. In other words in the above example even under the new rules the client would have to pay the entirety of the £1,900 to the other side towards their costs if their costs were more than this figure.

At the moment the client would be covered by a policy of after the event insurance which would pay the other sides costs and the client would receive the £1,900 that they were awarded. It would seem therefore that even under the new regime there is a place for after the event insurance though the cost of the policy would have to be borne by the client out of their damages.

It would be very risky indeed to pursue a claim into litigation where the other side had made a Part 36 offer without the protection of after the event insurance. Obviously where the client has the benefit of legal expenses insurance as part of their motor insurance or house contents insurance then they will be protected without having to pay a premium for after the event insurance.

The companies who provide after the event insurance will no doubt be looking at the changes and will create policies that reflect the change in the risk which hopefully will be cheaper than the cost of current policies.

I suspect that the reality will be that a lot more cases will settle by the client accepting a Part 36 offer rather than incur the cost of an after the event insurance policy or run the risk of taking their claim into litigation without the protection of insurance.

The net result is obvious, from April 2012, the defendants will use Part 36 offers much more to drive down the overall amount of damages that they pay to claimants.

Ian Wanstall – Contact me at ian.wanstall@wanstalls.co.uk

Wanstalls Solicitors are based in County Durham in the North East of England. We represent clients both locally and nationwide and offer a friendly personalised service. If you would like to discuss any aspect of a personal injury claim, we would be delighted to hear from you.

I thought it might be useful to illustrate this point with a recent actual example.

I was called by someone who was driving his car when he was involved in a straight forward collision with another vehicle where it was clearly the other driver’s fault.

The person concerned had taken on board the advice in my previous blog and rang me before he rang his own insurance company.

I explained that in an accident of this type there were options to dealing with the damage to his car. He could call his own insurers who would deal with the repairs to his car but he would probably have to pay his excess and his no claims discount might be affected.

As an alternative he could call the other driver’s insurers to see if they would deal with the repairs to his car.

He took my advice and called the other driver’s insurers. The accident had been reported to them and they agreed that their insured was responsible for the accident.

The other driver’s insurers were more than happy to deal with the repairs and arranged for the car to be repaired at a local body shop and arranged a hire car whilst the car was away being repaired.

As there was no claim on his insurance, there was no excess to pay and his no claims discount wasn’t affected even temporarily.

The person concerned was not injured in the accident so there was nothing more that I could do for him but he certainly appreciated the advice as he was very happy with the outcome!

The best course of action following a motor accident will depend on lots of factors. If you call Wanstalls Solicitors before your insurers we will be more than happy to review the options with you and help you chose the best option in the circumstances whether you are injured or not. Our advice is always free of charge and without obligation.

We have just created a video to highlight some of the benefits of calling us first and you can watch the video below.

Ian Wanstall

Wanstalls Personal Injury Solicitors Durham – Why call a Solicitor before your Insurance Company from Wanstalls Solicitors on Vimeo.

Wanstalls Solicitors are based in County Durham in the North East of England. We represent clients both locally and nationwide and offer a friendly personalised service. If you would like to discuss any aspect of a personal injury claim, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Conditional Fee Agreements – The current “No win, No Fee” Arrangements

Currently, a conditional fee agreement (CFA) protects the client from having to pay their own solicitors costs in the event of their claim being unsuccessful. For this reason CFA’s are best known by the public as “no win no fee” agreements.

No Win, No Fee agreements cover the claimants costs but what it doesn’t cover is the other parties costs if the claim is unsuccessful. This in most cases is not important as most personal injury cases are dealt with by the insurance company and therefore there are no external costs.

However, if court proceedings have been issued and served then the other party will have costs that need to be covered. The sums involved could be very considerable if the case has gone all the way to a trial and then been lost.

The other thing that a CFA does not protect against are the client’s own disbursements. Disbursements are payments that a solicitor makes to other parties on behalf of their client and will include such things as medical report fees, barristers fees and court fees. In an unsuccessful claim the client could be responsible for paying the disbursements which cannot be recovered from the other side.

After the event Insurance Policy – Client Peace of Mind

To protect the client from the risk of having to pay the other sides costs and their own disbursement there are insurance products available. These policies are called after the event insurance (ATE) policies and are taken out by your solicitor to ensure the claim does not cost the claimant should they win or lose.

ATE insurance policies are carefully designed so that the client does not have to pay the premium and with most ATE policies the premium does not have to be paid till the end of the case.

At the moment if the case is successful then the other side has to pay the premium for the ATE policy as part of the costs recovered from them.

If the claim is unsuccessful and it is necessary to claim on the policy to recover either the client’s disbursements or the other side’s costs then most ATE policies also cover the premium. In other words in an unsuccessful personal injury case the policy also covers the premium so that the client even in an unsuccessful case does not have to pay the premium.

The policies can operate this way as ATE insurance is generally taken out at the beginning of the case when the conditional fee agreement is first signed. As the majority of personal injury claims are successful most premiums are recovered from the other side. This enables the insurers to take the risk of having to cover the premiums in unsuccessful cases.

The key to the whole system of ATE insurance is the fact that the other side has to pay the premium in successful cases. It is this that is due to change with the legislation that comes into effect in April 2013.

How is this going to change in April 2013?

When the legislation comes into effect the other side will no longer be required to pay the ATE insurance premium even in a successful case. This will mean that if a clients CFA is to be protected by insurance then the client will be responsible for the premium. The cost of ATE premiums can be considerable ranging from a few hundred pounds to several thousand depending on the type of claim to be insured.

It is likely that the insurers who provide ATE insurance will have to look at their products and it may well be that cheaper premiums will become available. However, the cost of ATE insurance will undoubtedly be a cost that a client will have to pay.

If the ATE premium is not payable till the end of the case and only payable in successful cases the client may have to pay the premium out of their damages which might make a significant dent in what they receive.

This is one of the changes in the law relating to personal injury claims that will potentially bring an end to the current situation where most claims are pursued at no risk of cost to the client where the client receives their damages in full.

There are other changes that impact on the area of ATE insurance but I will deal with these in a subsequent blog as they are complex and will require yet another lengthy blog.

Ian Wanstall

In this country the automatic reaction of most people involved in a road traffic accident is to call their own insurance company. If you have fully comprehensive insurance your own insurers will arrange for the repairs to your car, they may provide a replacement vehicle and if you have been injured they will want to refer your personal injury claim to their own chosen solicitors.

If the accident was your fault then the only choice that you will have is to get your own insurers to deal with the repairs to your car or pay you the value of your car if it is written off.

If the accident was not your fault then by calling your own insurers you are quite likely to have to pay your excess when your car is repaired or it will be deducted from the amount you receive for your car if it is written off. Until the cost of repairs or the value of the vehicle is recovered from the other driver’s insurers then your no claims discount will be affected unless it is protected.

By contrast if you call Wanstalls first after your accident we can advise you straight away on the options available to you. Only one of which is to contact your own insurers.

If the accident is quite clearly not your fault then one option that might be best for you is for Wanstalls to contact the other driver’s insurers and get them to deal with the repairs to your car or pay the value should your car be a write off. If the other driver’s insurers can see that their insured is clearly at fault then they will usually be very happy to deal with getting your car repaired.

The other driver’s insurers will also be very keen to provide you with a replacement vehicle as this will enable them to control the cost of providing a replacement rather than running the risk of the replacement being provided by another company which would cost them more.

I have helped many client’s in this way by contacting the other driver’s insurers and arranging repair of my client’s car and a replacement vehicle either immediately after the accident if the car is undriveable or while the car is away being repaired. In this way my client has not had to pay their excess nor has there been any affect on their no claims discount as they have not made a claim on their own insurance.

Many solicitors also have contacts with accident management companies who represent a third option. An accident management company can arrange vehicle replacement and repairs to the vehicle recovering the cost of the vehicle and the repairs form the at fault driver’s insurers. Again the client does not have to pay their excess and their no claims discount is not affected.

Your own insurers will be very keen to deal with your personal injury claim by referring it to their own chosen solicitors. The reason for this is that they will receive a substantial referral fee from the solicitors they refer your case too. The solicitors that your claim is referred too may be anywhere in the country and invariably will be one of the very large firms where your claim will be handled by an unqualified junior member of staff.

By calling Wanstalls first you are making your own choice of solicitor and can benefit from having your claim handled by an experienced solicitor where communication between you and the person dealing with your claim will be much better.

Wanstalls will discuss with you what is the best option for you to get your car back on the road with the minimum of inconvenience and without paying your excess or causing problems with your no claims discount.

There is an obligation to report your accident to your own insurance company but we will advise you on this as you may only need to report it for “information purposes only” once we have agreed with you the best course of action for you.

The bottom line is that by calling Wanstalls first you have access to a range of choices and an experienced solicitor to advise you on what the choices are and the best way forward for you.

Call us first after your road traffic accident as we will advise you without charge or obligation on the best way forward for you.

Ian Wanstall – Contact me at ian.wanstall@wanstalls.co.uk

Wanstalls Solicitors are based in County Durham in the North East of England. We represent clients both locally and nationwide and offer a friendly personalised service. If you would like to discuss any aspect of a personal injury claim, we would be delighted to hear from you.

This is a good example and relates to a claim that I am dealing with for a cyclist who was knocked off his bike by a motorist doing a U turn across his path.

Unfortunately my client suffered some very nasty injuries but it at first appeared that his bicycle had suffered little damage.

We had the bicycle inspected by a reputable local cycle shop in Durham and they identified some minor damage to the saddle and the tape on the handlebars.

What was interesting though was that as the bike had a carbon fibre frame, although there was no apparent damage, because it had been involved in an accident then the frame and forks should be replaced.

Apparently the nature of carbon fibre is such that when it has suffered a blow there may be no apparent damage but there may be internal damage to the structure of the carbon fibre which may cause it to fail at a later date. Bearing in mind that we are talking about the frame and forks of a bicycle if the structure were to collapse the consequences could be very serious.

Liability for the accident was accepted by the car driver’s insurers and we put forward details of the client’s damaged clothing and safety equipment as well as the cost of the repairs to the saddle and handlebars. In addition we also put forward the details of the cost of the replacement frame and forks together with the labour cost of transferring all the parts to the new frame and forks.

It should be pointed out that this was an expensive bicycle where the cost of the replacement frame and forks was nearly £2,000.

The initial response from the insurers was to agree to pay for all the other elements claimed but they refused to pay for the replacement frame and forks.

This left my client in a very difficult position in that he had a bicycle that looked OK but he knew there was a danger of the frame and/or forks collapsing at some point in the future so he did not dare to use the bicycle.

The argument put forward by the insurers was that they could not be expected to pay for damage that may have occurred only for damage that could be shown to have occurred.

I carried out some further investigations by speaking first of all to a very large national cycle shop who supplied bikes by this particular manufacturer.

The cycle shop were very helpful and confirmed that their advice would be exactly the same that where a carbon fibre framed bike had been involved in an accident then the frame and forks should be replaced.

The bicycle was manufactured by a company in Italy but the cycle shop put me in touch with the UK distributors of this make of bicycle.

I spoke to the UK distributors and again their advice was the same that the frame and forks should be replaced.

I also asked them if there were any tests that could be performed to see whether there was any unseen damage to the frame and/or forks. They told me that there were two ways of checking for unseen damage but neither investigation was a viable option. They could get the frame checked with ultrasound but this would cost a lot more than the price of a new frame. The alternative investigation would involve the total destruction of the frame and forks!

The distributers very kindly put their advice in writing so that I could forward this to the insurers.

It also occurred to me that although I had not come across this situation before with a bicycle there was a very similar and very common situation in motorcycle accidents.

In motorcycle accidents if there is any chance that the rider or passenger’s helmets have suffered a blow then they must be replaced even if there is no apparent damage. Crash helmets can also suffer from an unseen compromise to their structure which could cause them to be less effective if involved in another accident.

I have never had an insurer refuse to pay the cost of the replacement of a crash helmet as the problem with possible unseen damage is widely accepted.

I put all the information I had obtained from the cycle shop and UK distributers to the insurers. I also pointed out that I could see no difference between this case and the case of a crash helmet that had suffered a blow in an accident.

To the insurance companies credit they then accepted the claim for the replacement frame and forks and paid the cost of the replacement.

My client is of course very happy that he now has a bicycle that he can use. The definition of damages is to “put the person in the position they would have been in had the accident not occurred” so it is entirely correct that my client should be put back in the position of having a bicycle in the same useable condition as it was before the accident.

Encountering a new issue in a case is always interesting and despite having dealt with accident claims for well over 20 years there are still issues that arise that I have not encountered before. The way to deal with new issues is by investigation and drawing on knowledge of similar issues that have been encountered before.

Ian Wanstall – Contact me at ian.wanstall@wanstalls.co.uk

Wanstalls Solicitors are based in County Durham in the North East of England. We represent clients both locally and nationwide and offer a friendly personalised service. If you would like to discuss any aspect of a personal injury claim, we would be delighted to hear from you.

The end of the riding season inevitably causes me to look back over the highlights of the season just gone and to ask myself the question which was the best bike ride of the season?

I had many great motorbike rides in Durham, Northumberland and the Scottish Borders during the season though I do seem to remember getting wet more often than I would have liked!

I think though the best ride I had was a trip to see an old friend who lives down in Suffolk so that we could have a ride out together in the beautiful countryside of East Anglia.

My friend and I have made the journey to and from Suffolk to Durham on many occasions and have tried many different routes to avoid the obvious though boring route of using the A1 and the A14.

As I had all day to make the journey I chose what is my favourite route which begins by heading down the A19 to York. I then pick up the York ring road heading for the A1079 towards Hull via Market Weighton and Bishop Burton.

On approaching Hull I follow signs to the Humber Bridge. I have crossed the Humber Bridge on many occasions and I always find it impressive. What is impressive in a car is even more so on a motorbike. There is something very special about crossing such a huge expanse of water on a motorbike and of course it’s even better that motorbikes cross the bridge for free!

Over the Humber Bridge and follow the A15 towards the M180. On some occasions when I have made this trip I have got onto the M180 heading west for one junction and then re-joined the A15 towards Lincoln. This stretch of the A15 is remarkable by virtue of it being almost entirely straight, well at least on a map!

On this occasion I avoided the M180 and took the A18 heading East and then South East towards its junction with the A16. Then follow the A16 South via Louth and Boston all the way down till it joins the A17. Then East on the A17 toward Kings Lynn.

What made this journey particularly special was not just having a long ride through great scenery but also that it was supposed to rain but didn’t. As anyone who rides a bike will know you keep an eye on the sky to see what sort of weather is coming up and even change your route if rain can be avoided. There were black clouds but they kept to the far distance so I was able to ride in warmth and sunshine!

I rang my friend to see if he was going to ride out to meet me somewhere along the A17. It was raining where he was so he declined my invitation, something to do with not getting his highly polished Harley wet!

I followed the A17 around Kings Lynn and then picked up the A10 heading South to the junction with the A134 which is a great road going through Thetford and then down to Bury St Edmunds.

Just as I was riding into Bury St Edmunds it started to rain for the first time that day and boy did it rain!

I only had to go from Bury St Edmunds along the A134 to Long Melford which is very near to where my friend lives. It was a very wet ride for the last part of the journey and I could quite see why my friend had not wanted to come out to meet me.

The following day was glorious, the sun shone and we had a great ride out up into Norfolk and then back to a small custom bike show in the wilds of Suffolk.

The next day was the ride home and this was very different from the ride down. It was raining when I left my friend’s house and it did not stop till I got back to Durham. With the dreadful weather I decided against a nice route and went for the most direct, A14 from Bury St Edmunds to the A1 then North all the way back to Durham. Over 250 miles in the pouring rain! I have certainly had better rides.

The good thing was that however wet I got it was at least not cold and if you ride a motorbike in the UK you have to expect to get wet some times. There is a certain satisfaction in arriving home wet and bedraggled but having made it. Would I rather have been in the car?  Certainly not. The great thing about a long journey on a motorbike is that it is always more than a journey, it’s always an adventure!

Ian Wanstall – Contact me at ian.wanstall@wanstalls.co.uk

Wanstalls Solicitors are based in County Durham in the North East of England. We represent clients both locally and nationwide and offer a friendly personalised service. If you would like to discuss any aspect of a personal injury claim, we would be delighted to hear from you.

The rules then changed and legal aid was no longer available for personal injury claims. With the removal of legal aid a new form of funding was introduced. The new funding concept was the introduction of what is now known as a Conditional Fee Agreement but which have become known by the public as “no win no fee agreements”.

The concept was quite simple, a solicitor could pursue a claim for a client on the basis that if the claim was unsuccessful then the client did not have to pay the solicitors costs.

In the early days of this new system, as the solicitor would be acting on a basis where they may not recover any costs if the claim was unsuccessful, the agreement would include a fee payable if the claim was successful. The success fee was an additional percentage of their costs that was paid by the client out of their damages in a successful case. The idea being that the solicitor would be compensated for those cases that were unsuccessful by the success fees in successful cases.

An example would be that if there was a 25% success fee and the solicitor recovered £1,000 of costs from the other side in a successful case then their client would be obliged to pay the solicitor a success fee of £250 out of their damages.

However, the system was later changed so that the success fee along with the solicitors costs and the client’s disbursements (things such as medical report fees, engineers report fees, court fees etc.) would be recovered from the other side in successful cases meaning the client gained 100% of their claim compensation.

This is now all about to change again. Under the new rules that come into effect in April 2013 the success fee under a conditional fee agreement will no longer be recoverable from the other side. If a client has a conditional fee agreement with their solicitor that includes a success fee then the client will be obliged to pay the success fee out of their damages.

Over the years the public have become used to a system where win or lose pursuing a claim costs them nothing but this may well change after April 2013 in successful cases.

What is the real implication of this change for clients? I suspect that in straight forward cases where liability is unlikely to be disputed, solicitors may well be prepared to enter into conditional fee agreements with their clients that do not include a success fee. Therefore the client will continue to receive their damages in full.

I suspect that where a client’s case is unusual, complex or where liability is likely to be disputed a solicitor will be less likely to take the case on under a conditional fee agreement without a success fee. In particular where anther solicitor has declined to take on a case then it is even more unlikely that a solicitor who is prepared to take the case on will do so without a conditional fee agreement with a success fee.

The net result will be that where a conditional fee agreement is the only way in which a claim can be funded then clients will find that solicitors will be much more cautious in deciding which cases they will take on without a success fee. For the first time in many years some client’s will be faced with having to pay something out of their damages to their solicitor if they are successful in a less than straight forward case.

Interestingly, I remember that when conditional fee agreements were first introduced clients had no objection to a part of their damages being paid to their solicitor by way of a success fee. However the current system has been around for many years and people have become accustomed to the success fee being paid by the other side so they receive their damages in full. It will be interesting to see how people react to the new regime and the erosion of the concept that in a successful case the client necessarily receives 100% of their damages.

I understand that the forthcoming changes may be confusing. If you have any questions at all about the new rules and how they may affect the compensation you receive, I would be delighted to take your call. Please call our Durham office on 0191 3753938

Ian Wanstall – Contact me at ian.wanstall@wanstalls.co.uk

Wanstalls Solicitors are based in County Durham in the North East of England. We represent clients both locally and nationwide and offer a friendly personalised service. If you would like to discuss any aspect of a personal injury claim, we would be delighted to hear from you.

The public are largely unaware of the changes that are coming but they are aimed at discouraging and to some extent preventing injured people from pursuing their right to compensation for their injuries.

You won’t see much if anything about these changes in the media as they are technical and difficult to explain so do not make good “copy”. Also, those who already have claims will not be affected and no one thinks they are going to be in the position of having to make a claim until it happens!

The technical changes that come into force next April are the culmination of many years of hard lobbying and propaganda by the insurance industry who have managed to convince successive governments that steps should be taken to reduce the number of claims being brought by those who are injured through no fault of their own.

You may have been aware of the initial success of the insurance industry’s lobbying in that they managed to convince the government of the day that we had developed a “claims culture” in this country that was unhealthy. Although there was a lot of talk of the development of a “claims culture” with lots of comparisons to the United States the research that was carried out showed, as all personal injury lawyers knew anyway, that there was no such “claims culture” in this country.

As the propaganda has not worked in discouraging people from exercising their right to claim compensation for their injuries, then the next step is legislation.

The difficulty in explaining the forthcoming legislation is that it is first necessary to understand how the system operates now in order to understand the impact of the changes. For this reason I will explain each of the changes in terms of how things operate now and how this will change after the changes are introduced.

Look out for the future blogs on this subject as I feel it is important that the public understand the nature of the changes and how they will affect their access to justice in the future.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of a personal injury claim, I would be delighted to take your phone call.

Ian Wanstall – Contact me at ian.wanstall@wanstalls.co.uk

Wanstalls Solicitors are based in County Durham in the North East of England. We represent clients both locally and nationwide and offer a friendly personalised service. If you would like to discuss any aspect of a personal injury claim, we would be delighted to hear from you.

In order for more people to hear about our services, we have embarked on our first radio advertising campaign across the North East. The adverts have started to be broadcast over the last few days and I am very pleased with them.

Have a listen to the advert below and let us know if you have any comments.

Wanstalls Solicitors are based in County Durham in the North East of England. We represent clients both locally and nationwide and offer a friendly personalised service. If you would like to discuss any aspect of a personal injury claim, we would be delighted to hear from you.

I was recently contacted by a friend to say that he had been in a non-fault motorbike accident the previous day and would I deal with his claim.

Over the next few days my friend and I spoke often as he was getting lots of phone calls and even texts all of which were aimed at getting hold of his personal injury claim. He had never been so popular!

Not surprisingly his own insurers wanted to refer his claim to their own solicitors.

My friend contacted a certain well known motoring organisation of which he is a member. As it was not a break down but an accident they would only agree to recover his motorcycle if he agreed to be referred to their “accident management unit”. He was somewhat aggrieved at this as he was at the side of the road bleeding so had no choice but to agree to the referral of his claim to the accident management unit.

As soon as the accident was reported by the at fault driver his insurers were also in contact with my friend wanting to know if he had been injured and could they assist by referring his claim to their solicitors.

By coming to me first and so soon after his accident my client had a distinct advantage. He was able to tell all of those who wanted to deal with his claim that he already had a solicitor and there is no easier way to get rid of all those offering “help”. He was also able to call me each time he was contacted by a different body for advice as to what to do.

I was able to contact the other driver’s insurers straight away and arrange for them to organise the repairs to my friend’s motorcycle at the repairers of his choice. I was also able to sort out the paperwork for his claim quickly and put the claim onto the electronic system for dealing with road traffic accidents. In this way his choice of solicitor was protected as the other side have confirmation that Wanstalls Solicitors are dealing with the claim.

So why were so many people keen to help? The reason is that unfortunately my friend was injured in the accident and each of the parties involved wanted to sell his claim to their own solicitors.

The moral of this story is that if you want to exercise your right to choose your own solicitor the best thing to do is contact your chosen solicitor as soon as possible after your accident.

If your choice is Wanstalls then we can guide you through the bewildering number of approaches that you will get following the accident and help you through the claims process. Not only will we deal with your personal injury claim but we will help to ensure that your damaged vehicle is dealt with as quickly as possible and in the best way for you.

I should emphasise that although my friend and I have known each other for over 30 years the help and service that he has had is no different to the service we give to all our client’s. You don’t have to be an existing friend to instruct Wanstalls but we certainly hope you will feel as if you have a friend in your corner.

Ian Wanstall

Wanstalls Solicitors are based in County Durham in the North East of England. We represent clients both locally and nationwide and offer a friendly personalised service. If you would like to discuss any aspect of a personal injury claim, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Whilst getting a “thank you” from a client brightens my day there is a more fundamental reason why it is great when people are kind enough to show their appreciation.

At Wanstalls we attach a very high level of importance to the type of relationship we have with our clients. By being friendly, approachable and accessible we hope to create an atmosphere where our clients will always feel that they can talk to us.

We have direct phone numbers so when a client rings they speak directly to me or a colleague who will know who they are and all about their claim.

It is important to me that our clients feel they are part of the process and we are always very happy to explain to clients what is happening at each stage of their claim. In this way I hope that our clients feel part of the process and not excluded from it.

The team at Wanstalls are all experienced solicitors who use their expertise to deal efficiently and effectively with our client’s claims. This however is only part of our service, we want our clients to have a good experience in dealing with us.

We never lose sight of the fact that whilst we may have dealt with thousands of claims; for many of our clients, their claim is the first they have ever had and this may be the first time that they have dealt with a solicitor.

When I first speak to a new client, they are often apprehensive as they are entering an unfamiliar world. If I can make that person more comfortable by explaining the claims process with specific reference to their circumstances then I have a achieved an important part of my job.

We don’t expect thanks from our clients but when they are kind enough to thank us it shows me that we are achieving the sort of service that we strive to provide to our clients. It shows me that I am right in the view that it is not just what we do that is important but how we do it!

If you are reading this and think you may have a claim why not give me a call on 0191 375 3938. I’ll be very happy to talk through your potential claim with you without obligation. If you do then decide to have Wanstalls deal with your claim then I very much look forward to welcoming you as a new client.

Ian

Wanstalls Solicitors are based in County Durham in the North East of England. We represent clients both locally and nationwide and offer a friendly personalised service. If you would like to discuss any aspect of a personal injury claim, we would be delighted to hear from you.

When I am not working as a personal injury solicitor my passion is motorbikes. For bikers, unlike car drivers, traveling is about the journey not where we are going from or too.

As I am privileged to live in the beautiful North East of England, I thought it would be fun to share with other bikers a snap shot of my favourite rides. I hope that other bikers will use the comments area below to share details of their favourite rides in their part of the country.

In the summer months I like to get up early in the morning (apologies to any of my neighbours who might read this!) and enjoy the spectacular roads of Durham, Cumbria, Northumberland and the Scottish Borders. The scenery is spectacular and here’s something to make many others jealous, the roads are fairly empty.

One of my favourite rides takes me the short distance from home to Lanchester not far from Durham. Turn left in the middle of Lanchester towards the village of Satley. Shortly after Satley the road comes to the A68. Turn right onto the A68, which I believe is one of the best biking roads in the UK, and head North towards Northumberland and the Scottish Borders.

With the exception of a brief flirtation with the A69 dual carriageway, the A68 takes you all the way to Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders and beyond.

The scenery on the whole of the A68 is spectacular but I would particularly recommend stopping at the England/Scotland border crossing to take in the view.

A word of warning, as you go across the border into Scotland you will soon realise that the Scots love their speed cameras! Not that I would be speeding you understand, but I put this warning in for others.

After Jedburgh I like to continue on to the lovely border town of Melrose next to the Eildon Hills. The town is worth a visit but then carry on past Melrose to join up with the A7. I then head south towards Carlisle on the A7.

I know there is a bit of a theme here but again the A7 is a great riding road through spectacular scenery.

I turn off the A7 at Longtown and head towards Brampton in Cumbria. At Brampton I cross the A69 and head for the market town of Alston. Alston another lovely town but its hilly and cobbled so sometimes parking the bike can be a challenge!

From Alston I head down Wear Dale towards Stanhope and Wolsingham. There is a very nice café in Wolsingham called No.10. Its more Latte and Panini than mug of coffee and bacon sarnie but none the worse for that.

I turn left in the middle of Wolsingham which takes me back to where I originally joined the A68. Cross the A68 back to Satley, Lanchester and home.

In fairness this route is a good days ride (unless you’re on a sports bike then it’s probably just a few hours!) but very rewarding. When the UK so often seems crowded it’s great to spend a whole day seeing empty country with the occasional small town.

The best test of the quality of a ride is to share it with others. I have taken friends from East Anglia on this ride and they were bowled over by the roads and the scenery. I had to tell them not to worry when their bikes seemed to be heading towards the sky. It just means they are going uphill, something they are not very familiar with!

Any bikers reading this, give the route a try, I promise you you will not be disappointed. Why not share details of your favourite rides in your part of the UK.

Ian Wanstall

My current ride – Honda 1100 Shadow ACE

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Wanstalls Solicitors are based in County Durham in the North East of England. We represent clients both locally and nationwide and offer a friendly personalised service. If you would like to discuss any aspect of a personal injury claim, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Anyone who has been involved in an RTA Personal Injury claim in the last 16 months will be aware of the new electronic claims process.

Stage 1 of the process deals with liability and Stage 2 with valuation and, hopefully, settlement.

There is a third stage to the process not surprisingly called Stage 3. Stage 3 is a truncated system for the resolution of disputes on the value of the claim by the courts.

Stage 3 is also used to obtain court approval for settlements for children but it is the other use of Stage 3 that is examined in this blog.

Some months ago when we spoke to a couple of county courts in major cities we were told that they had received very few applications under Stage 3 for the court to decide the value of adult RTA claims.

In some respects it is good news that Stage 3 is not being used extensively. This demonstrates that the system is working well in that the majority of claims are settling at the end of Stage 2.

On the negative side it may be that the Stage 3 process is not being used enough. It is only by using Stage 3 in appropriate cases that an appreciation can be gained of the levels of damages a court is prepared to award in the area of low value RTA claims.

The Stage 3 system is better for clients than the litigation of disputes as to the value of a claim under the old system particularly where the case is dealt with on paper without the need for the client to attend court.

Another advantage of Stage 3 is that the client receives the damages offered by the insurers at the end of Stage 2 so they do not have to wait till the end of Stage 3 to receive payment at least of part of their damages.

In our experience what does discourage a lot of clients from using Stage 3 is the prospect of having to pay back some of the damages received if the court ultimately awards less than the amount they were paid at the end of Stage 2. The effect of this should be minimised by careful selection of those cases where the use of Stage 3 is advised.

The other concern for clients is if the insurers insist on an oral hearing as this would involve the client in attending court which is a prospect that not many relish!

The experience of Wanstalls to date is that those cases that we have taken to Stage 3 have been dealt with on paper with no inconvenience to our clients. The experience has also been one of success with the court awarding higher damages and in some instances awarding damages for heads of claim that the insurers refused to consider.

The other success we have had is with insurers offering higher damages as soon as we “pressed the button” for Stage 3!

Whilst it takes the courts several months to deal with a Stage 3 case even on paper it still works well as a simplified process to have the court asses the damages in appropriate cases. It is certainly a process that we would encourage the use of.

As yet, apart from infant settlement approval hearings, we have not yet had an oral hearing for an adult claim at Stage 3. I’m sure we will in due course and that can be the subject of another blog.

Ian Wanstall
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Wanstalls Solicitors are based in County Durham in the North East of England. We represent clients both locally and nationwide and offer a friendly personalised service. If you would like to discuss any aspect of a personal injury claim, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Wanstalls Solicitors are delighted with our new posters that have gone up in County Durham. If you see one, please do let us know what you think. The poster below is in Prince Bishops Car Park in Durham City Centre.

Wanstalls Solicitors Poster

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Wanstalls Solicitors are based in County Durham in the North East of England. We represent clients both locally and nationwide and offer a friendly personalised service. If you would like to discuss any aspect of a personal injury claim, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Referral fees continue to dominate the insurance news of late as the current debate rolls on about whether they should be made unlawful.

So, what are referral fees?
A referral fee is a fee paid by a solicitor to a third party (claims management company, insurance company etc) for the referral of a client who wishes to pursue a claim for compensation for personal injury.

Referral fees are paid by solicitors for other types of work but what is outlined here is restricted to those paid for the referral of personal injury claims.

Is the payment of a referral fee detrimental to the client?
In a word, no. Referral fees are not recovered from the client (regardless of the outcome of their claim), or in deed the other side. A referral fee is purely a commercial expense of the solicitor who pays the referral fee.

What is considered wrong with referral fees?
It is argued that because organisations are paid referral fees for valid claims, a market has grown to encourage people to make personal injury claims that may otherwise not be identified.
As a by-product of this growing market, there is an on-going debate that referral fees increase the cost of litigation. Adding to this, Insurance companies argue that the existence of referral fees and the industry that has grown up around them inevitably increases the cost of insurance.

Is there a positive side to referral fees?
Many claims management companies provide a valuable service to their customers. Once the claim is referred to the solicitor, the claims management company are on hand to help the client with paperwork and queries relating to their claim. This can be particularly beneficial where English is not the client’s first language and the Claims Management Company is operating in and is part of the clients own community.

There has always been, and will probably always be reluctance on the part of some potential clients to approach solicitors directly. They are happier dealing in the first instance with a Claims Management Company who provide an interface between the potential client and the solicitor.

The existence of referral fees creates a much greater awareness and encourages people to make claims. Some see this as a bad thing, however if someone is injured through no fault of their own it is their legal right to claim damages. Making people aware of their rights under the law can only be a good thing and to suggest otherwise has sinister implications!

But what about the increasing cost of insurance?
Where the argument is about referral fees increasing the cost of a claim, it is not very convincing as costs are either fixed or carefully controlled by the courts. The referral fee is a commercial expense paid by the Solicitor to obtain the case and is not recovered from either side at any point in the claim.

Where does the industry stand on referral fees?
Lord Justice Jackson in his recent lengthy report detailing a number of reforms to the civil justice system aimed at reducing the cost of litigation mentions referral fees. He recommends that they be made unlawful or, as an alternative, are subject to greater control, for example, by putting a cap on the amount that can be charged by way of a referral fee.

There are those in parliament who have gone on record as saying that they would consider outlawing referral fees should the public demand it. It is very unlikely that there would be public demand for the outlawing of referral fees and in any event to remove referral fees now after they have been lawful for some years would mean dismantling the industry that has grown up around them.

Those who refer cases are already controlled and regulated by the Ministry of Justice and solicitors are bound by strict rules regarding referral fees. Part of the rules demand openness in that the solicitor has to make the potential client aware that they will be paying a referral fee for their case, who the fee is paid to and the amount of the fee.

How can this be resolved?
Tighter control of referral fees and those who charge them would seem to be the right way forward.
If a claimant has been injured in an accident that was not their fault, they have a right to claim compensation for the injuries that they have suffered.

The real expense to the insurance industry and solicitors alike are those who seek to make fraudulent claims. Tighter control is desirable particularly to ensure that only genuine claims are referred to solicitors and more importantly, greater sanctions against those who seek to refer other than genuine claims.

In any event the public always have a choice. Anyone who disapproves of the payment of referral fees only has to approach a solicitor directly to avoid any referral fee being paid.

At Wanstalls we are very happy for clients to approach us directly and strive to be as approachable and accessible as possible to encourage direct approaches.  If you would like any further information about making a personal injury claim, please contact us using the form found here.
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Wanstalls Solicitors are based in County Durham in the North East of England. We represent clients both locally and nationwide and offer a friendly personalised service. If you would like to discuss any aspect of a personal injury claim, we would be delighted to hear from you.

The philosophy of my firm is that not only should we provide
our client’s with a first class service but also that we are friendly and
approachable. We have designed this website to give you an insight into the
work that we carry out and I hope that you will find it interesting and
informative.

In addition to providing information about the work that we
do, I also thought that this blog would be a great place for us to inform our
clients about news, views and opinions happening in the industry today.

As you may well have heard, personal injury has been in the
news of late for many of the wrong reasons with the debate about referral fees
and the highlighting of fraudulent claims. Whatever the uncertainties regarding
the claims industry, this should not in any way discourage those with genuine
claims from approaching solicitors direct to deal with their claims.

Here at Wanstalls we believe that as someone who has
suffered a personal injury you are entitled to claim the compensation that you
deserve. We also believe in the personal touch and many of our clients are
gained through recommendations from previous clients and not through the
referral fee process.

The testimonials page of this website goes a long way to
show what our clients think of our service but we will also be using this blog
as a place to continually update on the success of the work that we carry out
for our clients.

You can also find information about Wanstalls Solicitors by
following us on Twitter, by “liking” us on Facebook or through our LinkedIn
Profile.

Here at Wanstalls we would much prefer to discuss your claim
in detail rather than offering generic advice. So although the information
contained in this website can give you an overview of the services we offer,
why not pick up the phone and give us a call. Alternatively, request us to call
you by clicking here.

Ian Wanstall
Principal Solicitor

Wanstalls Solicitors are based in County Durham in the North East of England. We represent clients both locally and nationwide and offer a friendly personalised service. If you would like to discuss any aspect of a personal injury claim, we would be delighted to hear from you.