Claims management companies 'v' the traditional solictor

If you have been injured as a result of an accident which was not your fault in the last three years, where should you go for advice as to how to make a claim for compensation? The answer used to be “visit your local solicitor”. However, the Government abolished legal aid for personal injury cases and as a result, many members of the public felt they would have to pay high fees when dealing with a solicitor direct for a personal injury claim, and therefore were vulnerable to aggressive marketing from claims management companies such as Claims Direct and The Accident Group. Although these companies have now faded away, others have appeared in their wake.

You will no doubt have heard claims management companies advertising on the radio, on television and in newspapers. Often, these companies are staffed by salesmen, none of whom have been legally trained. Unfortunately, many potential claimants fail to read the small print when dealing with such companies. Signing up with these companies can involve having to take out a loan to pay for the cost of an insurance premium and can also result in unnecessary deductions being made from your compensation. Although the Compensation Act, passed this summer, will go some way to regulate these companies, the answer for anyone wishing to make a claim because of an accident they have had should still be to visit their local solicitor.

Abney Garsden McDonald are your local personal injury solicitors in Cheadle Hulme and Poynton. Our advice is free as all work done would be paid for by the other side in a successful case or by an insurance policy in an unsuccessful case. We are not permitted to make deductions from compensation recovered. We concentrate just as much on speeding up our clients’ recovery from their injuries as on recovering compensation for them. We are also Law Society accredited and members of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, who strive to improve working conditions and general health and safety standards and place the injured person at the forefront of their claims.

Making a claim for compensation also helps to protect people’s health and well-being and can often result in the law being changed to prevent similar accidents occurring in the future.

Please visit your local personal injury solicitors, Abney Garsden McDonald in Cheadle Hulme and Poynton.