insurance solicitors

[smiley]

Hi every one, Not sure where to post this one.

A while ago I was involved in a collision .. long story very short slammed into steering wheel so injury to head..
Person who rear ended me was taken to court..fined ets Points:-

1 When I rang TPU she said didn't I receive paperwork? big silence on other end of phone..
2. It ended up me on phone to TPU to get them to send report to solicitors, hence how I found out about other person being taken to court.
3 This collision was back in 2015 November...I know a long time ago..
4 Solicitors sent out forms to fill in for injruies last May i returned them then heard nothing so asked for updates which took 3 weeks to them to reply
5. Rang solicitors 3 weeks go and call went badly due to me getting very upset and stressed hung up couldn't cope with call....
6 Sent a letter of complaint to the boss of firm, who rang me. I thought he wanted to talk about the complaint but, took me off guard because he had received the polilce report so was eager to question me and wanting to now book an appointment for medical assessor.
7. Again once he started to ask ask about that my mind was straight back to collision and I couldn't cope on the phon e when he said their on my side, I said I can't deal with this on the phone to which he carried on, so this time I passed the phone over to daughter boyfriend being the only person in the house...
8 Well emails arrived which i couldn't deal with being so upset and stressed and second email arrived I just forwarded them to hubby 3,500 miles away... he said basically there dropping me for lack of info..
9 I have to print off and read letters I don't really want to have to look for another solicitor..

This is really stressfull, my day to day llife continues but when the collision is mentioned i turn into something else I have to get in the car and see a steering wheel i now drive braced for impact, not to mention the thoughts running through the head..

Does anyone know the proccedures, not claims have been made yet except the insurance paid out on the car.. we had to arrange a hire car ourselves ...

This is the most off loading I have doen about this ever, only because I'm typing it ...

Questions
1 If I have to how would I find another solicitor
2 It say if I go to some one else they can still have their 25% of payout.
3 Could I claim this money back
4 How do I find out about police and not telling and what happened in court and should I have had to have gone

5 I don't know anymore...

Thank for llistening ( or reading) anyway. I have garbbled a bit so it most probabley doesn't all make sense...

 

[Raywood]

I am sorry to read your story but will try to answer your questions.
I appreciate your problems in dealing with the circumstances of the accident but unfortunately unless you give the solicitors your version of the circumstances he simply cannot deal with it. I am not sure changing solicigors will help but you might get a more sympathetic one.
If the solicitor has said they are dropping you they no longer act for you and would not have a claim on any compensation but it would be better to have this in writing. I would not use a solicitor taking 25% of damages, to me that is far too high and plenty will work on a no win no fee basis.
l assume as you were not summoned to the court the other driver pled guilty and you were not needed. Your solicitor can get a Police report so I would not bother.

There are several good solicitors specialising in this type of claim the best known is probably Slater and Gordon but there are plenty more. I am afraid though you will have to be prepared to discuss this with a solicitor and if you cannot face that I am at loss to know what you can do. You have three years from the date of the accident to raise an action for damages for injury so you will need to do something fairly soon if you are to move the claim on.
I hope you can get over your problems and if I can help I will try and I am sorry if this reply is a bit dry but I hope it helps.

 

[Parksy]

I'm sorry to learn that you are having such difficulty in dealing effectively with what must have been a horribly traumatic experience, but you are not unique or unusual, physical scars can heal but hidden mental scars involving stress have to be recognised and treated before you can begin to address the situation.
Is your GP sympathetic, and would you be likely to be offered counseling and help or treatment if you went to the doctors and described how you are feeling?
The advice given previously by Ray is good advice, but I'd strongly advise you to seek some professional help with your feelings in order for you to be able to deal with them without further ill effects.
If you decide to consult your GP you don't have to go alone, take a close family member for support and if you don't feel up to describing the incident all you have to do is to describe your symptoms, I'm sure that help is available.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I am really sorry to read of the distress you are experiencing. I would hope that any personal accident claims solicitor worth their salt would understand how traumatic some of these incidents can be, and would as a matter of course try to find a way to obtain your statements in the most sympathetic way possible.

Initial contact from the solicitor may well be via letter or telephone but as soon it was clear you having trouble relating the experience they would probably arrange a face to face meeting at a suitable location.

I would certainly hope that either a relative or a close friend may be able to make the first contact on your behalf, and perhaps chaperone you at the meeting.

As a start perhaps try writing down what happened and how it has affected you in your own words on a the computer, take as long as you want, and get a relative or a friend to read it and perhaps offer editing suggestions.

Good luck

 

[smiley]

Well, solicitors have pulled out saying it not the case for them

don't understand a few words though

"we therefor hereby terminate our Conditional Fee Agreement"

anyone understand that

thanks anyway

 

[Raywood]

The letter is confirmation that the solicitor is no longer prepared to act for you. The conditional fee arrangement was part of the basis on which they acted, as they no longer act do not worry about it. I think you may be better off with a more sympathetic firm and the advice to take a family member or friend sounds good but I agree seeing your GP to get counselling might be worthwhile.

 

[otherclive]

Its pretty awesome and cool.

It’s also a three year old thread too :-(

 

[Parksy]

It’s also a three year old thread too :-(

I've removed the potential spammer from our midst Clive 😊

 

[Notmyvan]

I once ran a business where our drivers were always having accidents usually in customers cars, also we had various break ins, I found that using a Chartered Loss Assessor would bring results. An Insurance Company appoints a Chartered Loss Adjuster but they wont mention your right to use a Loss Assessor. Neither will your solicitor in case the Loss Assessor suggests another firm of solicitor,
This happened in 2015. You perhaps need to check if the 6 year limit for bringing a claim is getting near as if you miss the deadline it dosent matter how good your claim is, the period for bringing a high court action has elapsed.

 

[RayS]

Another example I'm afraid of the legal profession not living up to the advertised servces/
A few years ago I had a major dispute with the supplier of a defective caravan and eventually sought legal advice. I went round the CAB route several time and then to the Law Society asking for solicitors in my area experienced with and able to handle consumer legislation. They provided contacts with 7 reasonably local companies. Approaches to all 7 produced only two replies, one saying ' not interested' and the other promising to contact me which never happened despite me contacting them several time
Consumer protection people will not deal directly with the public, so all the publicity about Consumer Protection is just not working - I'll save the Mods removing what i really want to say.
If i had behaved in this manner as a Chartered Engineer I would have expected and deserved to be struck off.

 

[otherclive]

Another example I'm afraid of the legal profession not living up to the advertised servces/
A few years ago I had a major dispute with the supplier of a defective caravan and eventually sought legal advice. I went round the CAB route several time and then to the Law Society asking for solicitors in my area experienced with and able to handle consumer legislation. They provided contacts with 7 reasonably local companies. Approaches to all 7 produced only two replies, one saying ' not interested' and the other promising to contact me which never happened despite me contacting them several time
Consumer protection people will not deal directly with the public, so all the publicity about Consumer Protection is just not working - I'll save the Mods removing what i really want to say.
If i had behaved in this manner as a Chartered Engineer I would have expected and deserved to be struck off.

I cannot see what the 7 did wrong that would have had them struck off had they been Chartered Engineers. Failure to reply and non interest in undertaking the work isn’t really a valid reason for striking anyone from a professional body. What I do think is that 6 were incredibly poor in customer relations. Even Chartered Engineers providing consultancy services can decide whether or not to accept a job.

 

[Buckman]

Another example I'm afraid of the legal profession not living up to the advertised servces/
A few years ago I had a major dispute with the supplier of a defective caravan and eventually sought legal advice. I went round the CAB route several time and then to the Law Society asking for solicitors in my area experienced with and able to handle consumer legislation. They provided contacts with 7 reasonably local companies. Approaches to all 7 produced only two replies, one saying ' not interested' and the other promising to contact me which never happened despite me contacting them several time
Consumer protection people will not deal directly with the public, so all the publicity about Consumer Protection is just not working - I'll save the Mods removing what i really want to say.
If i had behaved in this manner as a Chartered Engineer I would have expected and deserved to be struck off.

CAB is a voluntary organisation and in some cases not really experts in consumer law as we found out. We had the same issue phoning around to find one that agreed to take on our case and then realising that I knew more about CRA 2015 that the expert and my knowledge was poor at the time. Consumer law is too complex for solicitors and not many are experts in the field of consumer law as we found out at a cost of £550. CAMC were even more useless. Eventually we used Which Legal Services and using their advice we were able to take on the dealer, the finance house and the FOS to win.

 

[Raywood]

I know this is a problem in that most litigation solicitors are set up to pursue injury claims and not a lot else. If you need them for something and are having problems finding a suitable one try the Law Society web site.

 

[otherclive]

I know this is a problem in that most litigation solicitors are set up to pursue injury claims and not a lot else. If you need them for something and are having problems finding a suitable one try the Law Society web site.

Didn’t the OP go to the Law Society and did not get a great deal of success?

 

[Beachball]

This is a three year old thread

 

[ProfJohnL]

This is a three year old thread

The original postings may be 3 years old, but the more recent ones are relevant today, though Ray's post is a matter he has raised a number of times over the last few years.

 

[Raywood]

Clive, My point about the Law Society was aimed at the current postings rather than the OP. I do know this subject can be a problem for many people though.