No Win, No Fee Abolished?

Some people are under the impression that the famous No Win, No Fee has been abolished. This isn’t true; but I will explain why some people may be under the impression that it has been stopped.

April 2013 saw the biggest shakeup in years of the personal injury world as the recoverability of certain legal fees has been stopped. This means that most law firms are no longer offering 100% compensation. Before the changes, most law firms for the majority of cases had 100% agreements because lawyers were entitled to recover all reasonable fees directly from the other side.  Since the changes, this is no longer the case.

From April 2013, any agreements entered in to mean that the lawyer for the majority of cases cannot recover a Success Fee of an After The Event insurance premium. The Success Fee is part of our costs that helps us to fund No Win, No Fee claims – as we cannot win them all. The insurance premium (abbreviation ATE) is to protect you against having to pay for certain costs, like the opponents costs if something goes south for example.
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Why Should You Make a Claim for Compensation?

Unless you have been injured in an accident that wasn’t your fault, you’re likely to have the opinion that making a claim for personal injury compensation is somewhat of a joke, and perhaps even immoral. Personal injury is looked upon fairly negatively as people assume that victims of negligence are just milking the system and taking what they can from insurers.

Whilst I’m not going to go too much in to the ethics of making a claim, I will give you a few reasons as to why you should consider making a claim…

It’s just an insurance claim!

Insurance is there to cover people for eventualities when money is owed to someone. When you make a claim for personal injury compensation, in the vast majority of circumstances you are simply claiming money from insurance that exists to cover you for such eventualities. You are covered by someone else’s car insurance if they knock in to you. You are covered by your employers’ insurance. if you are injured at work in a none fault accident. The same applies for visiting a shop, or a cafe.
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What is a No Win No Fee Agreement?

I will keep the content of this article general, because different firms work in different ways. So generally speaking, a No Win, No Fee agreement is a contract between a solicitor and a client that normally means the client is not charged in the event their case loses.

So how can we offer to do this? Who pays us if we lose? Well, nobody pays us if we lose. It’s No Win, No Fee, so we won’t be looking to come to you for fees. But it’s not some big secret or trick as to how we can offer the No Win, No Fee agreement. Really it’s all about our perception of the risk of your case.

We will assess your claim and we will make an informed decision as to whether we think we can win the case or not. If we feel there are good prospects that the case will win, we might be able to offer the No Win, No Fee guarantee. If we feel the risks of the case outweigh the benefits of trying to pursue it, we may not offer a No Win, No Fee agreement.
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Claims Management Companies – Why to Avoid Them!

We recently did an article on the clampdowns being faced by claims management companies. The changes that will affect thousands of firms have hit the news as well recently. I’ll come on to a little something about the story being in the news shortly, but for now let’s stick to the main point of the article – why avoid claims management firms?

They’re Just Middlemen…

Well firstly, they are just that – middlemen. They don’t add any value to the claim by simply giving you an idea as to whether you have a claim and then passing it to a law firm for assessment. Really it just delays the process. Speaking to a law firm directly like us means there are no middlemen involved – we can normally tell you on the first call whether you have a claim, and then it’s actually us that represent you.
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Motorcycle Accidents – Contributory Negligence for Safety Gear

Motorcycle accidents will often result in fairly serious injuries being sustained by the rider. We’re more than used to dealing with the devastating effects of these types of accident as we actually specialise in representing victims making a claim after a motorbike accident. From the first day when we speak to you or see you at home or hospital, to the day we settle the claim, we’re here every step of the way.

So I thought I’d write a little blog about contributory negligence in motorbike personal injury compensation claims.

Contributory negligence is an allegation from the defending side of a claim that you are partly responsible for the accident or your injuries. By this point, they will normally have admitted liability, but will be suggesting that they are perhaps 80% to blame and you are 20% to blame. As such, any compensation you receive will be reduced by the percentage of blame that is apportioned to you.
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Part Time Work Accidents, Can I Still Claim?

A lot of people know their rights when it comes to making a claim for personal injury compensation for an accident at work. But some people are a little unsure about their rights if they work part time. Do you still have the same rights as a part time worker or casual worker?

The short answer is yes – you, as a part time employee of the employer, are still covered by all of the workplace regulations that cover full time employees as well. The regulations are there for anyone who works directly for the employer. Even if you work just one day a week, there is the same duty on your employer to make sure that you are not injured at work. The same duty at work applies.
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Bus Driver Liability – Injury Lawyers Advice

If you are injured on a bus, can you make a claim for personal injury compensation? Can the bus driver be held liable? When might they be held liable, and pave the way for you to make a successful injury claim? Here’s a little advice about it.

Bus drivers have a responsibly to pay due care and attention to avoid any passengers becoming injured whilst under their care. Ultimately the bus company will be responsible and will have to pay out, usually through insurers, in the event of making a claim. As a passenger in a collision, you pretty much have a guaranteed claim for compensation if you are injured.

So aside from the obvious avoidance of road accidents, i.e. if the bus driver is responsible for causing a road traffic collision, when else can they be held liable?
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Manual Handling on Stairs – Injury Lawyers Advice

From the perspective of a workplace personal injury compensation claim, your employer owes you a very important duty of care for them to adhere to The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992.

Regulation 4 of the legislation states:

(a) so far as is reasonably practicable, avoid the need for his employees to undertake any manual handling operations at work which involve a risk of their being injured; or

(b) where it is not reasonably practicable to avoid the need for his employees to undertake any manual handling operations at work which involve a risk of their being injured

Further to this, employers are responsible to risk assess all manual handling activities and assess whether both the employee who will be undertaking the manoeuvre and the route are suitable. So things like stairs, which can be an obvious hazard, must be taken in to serious consideration. Common problems caused by stairs when it comes to manual handling are:
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Medical Negligence Compensation Claims

The definition of medical negligence is an ‘act or omission by a health care provider in which the treatment provided falls below the accepted standard of practice‘. If a doctor or nurses care falls below the expected standard, their actions may be considered negligent. It would have to be proved that the medical professional did something wrong or failed to meet their duty.

Examples of medical negligence:

• Misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose
• Incorrect treatment, which leads to an adverse affect on the patient and their condition
• Being prescribed incorrect medication
• Failure to give you the standard of care expected.

The duty of a medical professional must not fall below the standard that would be expected of a reasonably competent doctor. It needs to be seen that a body of doctors would have acted in the same or similar manner, when treating the patient in question.

Inherent risks of treatment are normally not considered to be negligent, as they are simply a risk you agree to in order to receive that medical care. The risks and complications would have been present, regardless of the actions taken by the medical professional.
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Whiplash Claims – Refused First Offer. Why This is Normal!

For most road accident personal injury compensation claims in the UK, it’s the lawyers that have to make the first offer to the insurance company to settle the claim. Before, and in many other types of claims such as accidents at work or slips and trips, we provide the other side with medical evidence and losses information and invite them to make an offer for settlement to us.

But now, due to legal reforms that came in to force from April 2010, we have to make the first offer to the other side when we provide the medical evidence and losses information.
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