Grigor & Young LLP, Solicitors, use Moray Claims as a trading name in their business of dealing with personal injury compensation claims for clients. Grigor & Young have offices in Elgin and Forres, Moray.
Claims arising from accidents on premises are usually against the person or business which has control over the land or buildings in question.
Injuries resulting from accidents on premises – also known as occupiers’ liability claims – can result in a wide variety of ways.
- You may have fallen through a floorboard in your rented accommodation because it was riddled with woodworm.
If we take on your claim at G&Y, it will be via one of the following three funding methods.
Legal aid
Your eligibility for legal aid depends upon your financial circumstances.
If you qualify for legal aid, we will look closely at using that as the funding mechanism for the claim though we will also discuss with you the other options mentioned below.
It is worth noting that, if your claim is successful under any form of Scottish legal aid, you will receive 100% of your compensation. The legal aid rules disallow your solicitor from taking any form of Success Fee as a deduction from your compensation.
“Before the event” (BTE) insurance
This is a type of legal expenses insurance which you may have attached to buildings or contents insurance, for example. Often, people have this type of legal expenses insurance cover without realising that they have it.
We will ask you to do a check to see if you have any such insurance policies.
We will go over them with you, if they exist, and we will contact the relevant BTE insurers on your behalf. This will not cost you anything. We will find out whether the policy would provide cover in the circumstances of your case.
It is known as “before the event” insurance because it’s insurance you had taken out before the date of your accident (which is the “event” in the BTE acronym).
The type of insurance we look at next (“after the event” insurance) can generally only be taken out once a check has been made for BTE insurance policies and none has been found to exist.
If your claim fails while it is covered under BTE insurance, there will be no charge or loss to you. And in the event that your claim is successful with the benefit of BTE insurance, you will receive 100% of your compensation, either as that is negotiated and agreed with the other side or as it is determined by a court.
“After the event” (ATE) insurance
This is the type of insurance associated with most “no win-no fee” arrangements for personal injury claims.
This insurance is required because it’s not generally sufficient reassurance for your own solicitors to say that you will not have to pay anything to them if your claim fails. If your claim is unsuccessful after a court action has been raised, there is a risk that you may have to pay some or all of the other side’s costs. This risk is significantly reduced since the introduction of qualified one-way costs shifting in Scotland but the risk is not nil.
If conducting your claim through Grigor & Young, we will take out ATE insurance through an insurer called ARAG.
Where your accident relates to an occupiers’ liability (OL) scenario, the total insurance premium payable to ARAG will depend upon the level of damages/compensation you receive.
- Above £1,000 and up to £10,000, the policy premium is £431.20. In that scenario, Grigor & Young will pay the full premium. Your receive 100% of your compensation.
- Above £10,000 and up to £25,000, the policy premium is £616. In that scenario, Grigor & Young will pay the full policy premium. Again, you would receive 100% of your compensation.
- Above £25,000 and up to £100,000, the policy premium is £1,752.80. In that scenario, Grigor & Young will pay half the policy premium and you will pay the other half out of your compensation (i.e. £876.40 each).
- Above £100,000, the policy premium is £3,360. In that scenario, Grigor & Young and you will each pay half the premium (i.e. £1,680 each).
We (G&Y) have a general policy of meeting the cost of the ATE premium ourselves where the accident happened in Moray and/or the client resides in Moray.
As you can see, however, this does not apply in all circumstances. It does not apply where the value of your occupiers’ liability claim exceeds £25,000.
But we still consider ourselves to be “good value”.
It is worth drawing attention to the fact that if, say, an occupiers’ liability claim settled for £26,000, having to pay £876.40 out of the compensation towards the ATE policy premium represents losing about 3.4% of the compensation. If the settlement was at £110,000 then having to pay £1,680 towards the policy premium represents a loss of about 1.5% of your compensation.
These are small percentages when you consider that many providers of services for no win-no fee personal injury compensation claims will expect to take 20% of your compensation as a success fee.
See the article here if you’re not sure how it is usually possible for Grigor & Young to run a personal injury claims service without charging you anything (or much).
Get in touch for more tailored details from us.
Should you have any questions about the details provided in this article or if you would like to have a more detailed discussion about a possible personal injury compensation claim based upon an accident on premises / occupiers’ liability, please contact us.
All initial enquiries are at no charge and without obligation. Get in touch with Peter or Marie on 01343 544077 or send us a Free Online Enquiry.
