Is there anything I can do to speed along a personal injury claim that has got out of hand?
A year ago my wife was injured when driving my car, which was declared a write-off. The other driver admitted full liability and our insurance company eventually sent us a cheque. Meanwhile they had placed us in the hands of an accident management firm to negotiate an injury claim. This necessitated visiting a medical expert, my wife receiving physiotherapy and subsequently three sessions of acupuncture. Her main injury is a severely painful right shoulder restricting her arm movement.
After dragging this out over nine months the accident managers suggested she needed to see a psychologist, which her GP thought unnecessary. Last month, she was assessed by another medical expert who requires her full medical records before he can give his assessment. The offender's insurance company made what the accident managers described as a derisory offer some time ago. We were advised to reject it, which we did. Our insurers have closed their file but today our new and third "Fee Earner" has advised that both he and his case supervisor are charging a rate of £275 per hour. This seems excessive.
Today is the anniversary of the accident and we seem to be pawns in an extortionate money-making exercise. Medical records can take two months to arrive so the end is nowhere in sight. We are appalled that after all this time the accident managers have only just revealed how much they must be making from all this, judging from the size of our file. Is there anything we can do to speed things along? Your opinion would be most appreciated.
After dragging this out over nine months the accident managers suggested she needed to see a psychologist, which her GP thought unnecessary. Last month, she was assessed by another medical expert who requires her full medical records before he can give his assessment. The offender's insurance company made what the accident managers described as a derisory offer some time ago. We were advised to reject it, which we did. Our insurers have closed their file but today our new and third "Fee Earner" has advised that both he and his case supervisor are charging a rate of £275 per hour. This seems excessive.
Today is the anniversary of the accident and we seem to be pawns in an extortionate money-making exercise. Medical records can take two months to arrive so the end is nowhere in sight. We are appalled that after all this time the accident managers have only just revealed how much they must be making from all this, judging from the size of our file. Is there anything we can do to speed things along? Your opinion would be most appreciated.
Asked on 22 April 2011 by SB via email
Answered by
Honest John
Our legal people write:
“This appears to be a case where the "time charging" culture of the solicitors has taken over. They will not be just charging £275 an hour, but under the current rules they can charge a 200 per cent mark up on their fees as a "success fee" which means they will be on £550 an hour. The circumstances of the case where there has been an admission of liability would suggest that a successful claim is almost assured and it appears they are dragging it out as much as possible to increase their revenue. There has been a procedure in place for some time to speed up non-contentious claims such as this which means any non-contested claim should be settled within a reasonable time-scale (usually 3-4 months)."
“This appears to be a case where the "time charging" culture of the solicitors has taken over. They will not be just charging £275 an hour, but under the current rules they can charge a 200 per cent mark up on their fees as a "success fee" which means they will be on £550 an hour. The circumstances of the case where there has been an admission of liability would suggest that a successful claim is almost assured and it appears they are dragging it out as much as possible to increase their revenue. There has been a procedure in place for some time to speed up non-contentious claims such as this which means any non-contested claim should be settled within a reasonable time-scale (usually 3-4 months)."
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