We are often contacted in situations where you, as the injured person, have been in touch with your insurers following an accident and they have recommended particular solicitors to you to deal with your claim.
Situations where insurers recommend particular solicitors
The types of insurance scenarios here include cover under motor insurance, house insurance and legal expenses insurance.
It seems to be regularly the case that you will be left with the feeling from your discussion with your insurer that you have “no choice” but to go along with what they suggest. The solicitor is effectively appointed for you. They will probably not be local to you.
You can choose your solicitor
In truth, you do have a choice.
First of all, you need to understand that many insurers have commercial relationships with the solicitors they recommend or appoint. The firms in question are often large and will delegate the bulk of the work on your case to non-solicitors.
Secondly, as a result of European legislation, note that you are free to choose your own solicitor in any situation where court proceedings are required. Many insurers interpret this to mean that, until court proceedings are required (and you do not usually know for sure at the outset of a claim), you are not free to choose your solicitor and you have to take their one.
Advantages of choosing your own solicitor
The advantages of dealing with a smaller, local firm are clear where the solicitors are accredited specialists, your claim will generally be handled by a single person throughout and you can meet face-to-face with that person if and when you wish to do so.
Indeed, there is no possible disadvantage to you where that local solicitor guarantees you from the outset that you will keep all of your compensation -100% – if your claim is successful and pay nothing if the claim fails. Your insurers can tell you all they want that you are not “covered” if you go with a solicitor other than the one they nominate, but it won’t matter.
Grigor & Young / Moray Claims offer that guarantee in virtually all cases where either you are a resident of Moray or your accident happened in Moray. We can generally tell you at once if we think yours is a case where there might be a problem with the general rule of 100% recovery of damages.
A big disadvantage of insurer-appointed solicitors to beware of
Recently, we have become aware of cases where the solicitors recommended by the insurers have wanted to take a percentage of the injured person’s compensation in the event that the claim is successful and that makes no sense at all from your point of view as the injured person. Many claims – particularly road traffic accident claims – are very straightforward on liability and there is no justification at all for you losing any of your compensation to pay your solicitor.
How we can help you out: either ourselves or with a recommendation
So don’t allow yourself to be bullied by your insurers in your choice of solicitor. You want to be with someone who has expertise you can trust in and who communicates well with you and the opposition.
If you have any concerns regarding choice of solicitor in relation to a personal injury claim, get in touch with us for a chat. All enquiries are free of charge and without obligation. If we don’t think we’re the best people to help you, we will tell you frankly. We will probably know someone else who can do the best job for you on a fair basis – and you can trust our recommendation more than that of your insurers.
Contact either Peter Brash or Marie Morrison via 01343 544077 or complete and submit an online enquiry form by clicking HERE and one of us will call or email you back.
