ONE YEAR OF CLAMPING DOWN ON COWBOY CLAIMS COMPANIES

Cowboy claims companies have been forced to clean up their act, says a report published yesterday.

The Ministry of Justice’s first annual report says better regulation has significantly reduced cold calling in person, which includes the practice of ‘clip boarding’ - knocking on doors and aggressively approaching people in shopping centres.  Unauthorised advertising and marketing in hospitals have also been almost entirely removed.

Bridget Prentice said:

“The regulation has put in place vital safeguards for consumers when using the services of claims management companies and is raising standards across the industry.”

“The new rules that claim managers must now follow have cleaned up the industry.  Consumers can have more confidence that they will be dealt with fairly when seeking to make a claim.”

“I am delighted to present the first annual review for the Ministry of Justice Claims Management Regulation Unit.”

Those authorised to provide the regulated services must now follow strict rules of conduct.  This will ensure that consumers are given clear information about the options available for pursuing their claim and the associated costs.  If an authorised person fails to comply with the rules the regulator can take appropriate disciplinary action.

Other successes include a strategy developed to deal with outright fraud like contrived accidents and a significant reduction of malpractice by companies handling claims made to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, with some businesses voluntarily leaving the market.

The speed in which regulation was introduced - nine months from Royal Assent to the Act being fully in force - and the success in raising awareness among businesses that would need to be authorised resulted in three times more businesses coming forward than had been anticipated.  The flexibility in the legislation and the regulatory framework means we can respond to such demands quickly.

COMMENT:-

This is good news for consumers, but why use a claims management company (CMC) at all when it is likely that most people who have had an accident will have access to legal advice locally from experienced firms of personal injury claim solicitors, and will usually be able to see a personal injury lawyer at short notice.  Many of these firms will be members of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers and be able to provide a No Win No Fee service.

The use of CMCs simply increases legal costs as they make their money by selling cases to solicitors.  The current average fee charged to solicitors for each case is around £650.  CMCs are an unnecessary and expensive link in the personal injury compensation process and potential claimants ought to think twice before responding to such companies’ TV or Yellow Pages adverts.

PERSONAL INJURY CLAIM SOLICITORS:-

If you have been injured in any type of accident, contact personal injury specialists Hinchliffes Solicitors for immediate legal advice, to find out if you are entitled to make claims for injury compensation.  All cases are dealt with on a No Win - No Fee basis and successful Clients keep 100% of the compensation recovered.

Call now on 0800 138 1348 to speak direct to a personal injury lawyer or go to our Start Your Claim Now page to submit details of your personal injury claim online.

Tags: Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, claim, claims companies, compensation, personal injury lawyer

This entry was posted on Friday, May 23rd, 2008 at 10:52 am and is filed under ALL NEWS ITEMS, Claims regulation.