The Jury Is Out On The Changes To Personal Injury Law

The Jury Is Out On The Changes To Personal Injury Law The Government has announced that it will slash solicitors costs for road traffic accident claims and will also impose a new scheme for accidents at work and slips and trips types of claims. It will also outlaw fees paid by solicitors to claims management companies amid concerns they were driving up insurance premiums. In many cases, innocent accident victims will have to pay their own costs out of their damages and you will not be able to insure against losing anymore. This is supposed to drive down insurance premiums, but not only is it to the detriment of the injured person, it will make forward UNLESS it's a certain winner - making access to justice much more difficult to come by for everybody other than the rich. harder and harder to get a solicitor to take your case However, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), which regulates 120,000 + solicitors in England and Wales, said the changes may not have the desired effect. Costs for solicitors were reduced in 2010 however, there was no corresponding fall in insurance premiums. From a 2012 Survey it was found that: 94% of professionals in the personal injury industry believe that injured people 77% 16% will find it more difficult to access justice following reforms due to come in to force in April 2013. 16% 96% of respondents believe the referral fee ban will benefit felt the proposed reduction was excessive. injured people whilst 95% 77% believe it will benefit agreed personal injury firms will struggle to operate after Apri 2013. insurers. Government legislation aimed at reducing motor insurance premiums may have the knock on effect of preventing accident victims finding lawyers who can afford to take on their claim with fixed fees slashed by almost 60% under the proposed changes. For example: Fixed recoverable costs for Road Traffic Accident (RTA) Portal claims up to £10,000 will be cut to £500. The side effect of these changes is that Government has made it far, far harder for the man or woman in the street to get access to justice on a small claim. It is almost as if the Government wants to discourage all compensation to injured claimants. As time goes on, claimants will realize that the system has been slanted heavily against them - and justice will be much harder to come by. Richard Collins, executive director at the SRA said: "We will do everything we can to make the ban effective in terms of stopping the payment of referral fees in these cases but I think the bigger question will be whether actually enforcing that ban properly, as we will aim to do, will actually have the wider social impact the government may be looking for." Beardsells Personal Injury http://www.realwire.com/releases/Survey-Says-Jackson-Reforms-Damage-Access-To-Justice-For-Inju red-People g-confirms-worst-fears-rta-portal-fee-outs http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/grayling-c http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknewslaw-and-order/9433590/Personal-injury-referral-fee-ban-ma y-not-work-warns-Solicitors-Regulation-Authority.html http://www.independent.co.uklife-stylethe-changing-face-of-uk-injury-claims-8220515.html The Jury Is Out On The Changes To Personal Injury Law The Government has announced that it will slash solicitors costs for road traffic accident claims and will also impose a new scheme for accidents at work and slips and trips types of claims. It will also outlaw fees paid by solicitors to claims management companies amid concerns they were driving up insurance premiums. In many cases, innocent accident victims will have to pay their own costs out of their damages and you will not be able to insure against losing anymore. This is supposed to drive down insurance premiums, but not only is it to the detriment of the injured person, it will make forward UNLESS it's a certain winner - making access to justice much more difficult to come by for everybody other than the rich. harder and harder to get a solicitor to take your case However, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), which regulates 120,000 + solicitors in England and Wales, said the changes may not have the desired effect. Costs for solicitors were reduced in 2010 however, there was no corresponding fall in insurance premiums. From a 2012 Survey it was found that: 94% of professionals in the personal injury industry believe that injured people 77% 16% will find it more difficult to access justice following reforms due to come in to force in April 2013. 16% 96% of respondents believe the referral fee ban will benefit felt the proposed reduction was excessive. injured people whilst 95% 77% believe it will benefit agreed personal injury firms will struggle to operate after Apri 2013. insurers. Government legislation aimed at reducing motor insurance premiums may have the knock on effect of preventing accident victims finding lawyers who can afford to take on their claim with fixed fees slashed by almost 60% under the proposed changes. For example: Fixed recoverable costs for Road Traffic Accident (RTA) Portal claims up to £10,000 will be cut to £500. The side effect of these changes is that Government has made it far, far harder for the man or woman in the street to get access to justice on a small claim. It is almost as if the Government wants to discourage all compensation to injured claimants. As time goes on, claimants will realize that the system has been slanted heavily against them - and justice will be much harder to come by. Richard Collins, executive director at the SRA said: "We will do everything we can to make the ban effective in terms of stopping the payment of referral fees in these cases but I think the bigger question will be whether actually enforcing that ban properly, as we will aim to do, will actually have the wider social impact the government may be looking for." Beardsells Personal Injury http://www.realwire.com/releases/Survey-Says-Jackson-Reforms-Damage-Access-To-Justice-For-Inju red-People g-confirms-worst-fears-rta-portal-fee-outs http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/grayling-c http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknewslaw-and-order/9433590/Personal-injury-referral-fee-ban-ma y-not-work-warns-Solicitors-Regulation-Authority.html http://www.independent.co.uklife-stylethe-changing-face-of-uk-injury-claims-8220515.html