Third Party Capture
This is a practice whereby the insurance company acting on behalf of the party at fault (whether it relates to a road traffic accident or other types of accident) contact the innocent person who is not at fault and seek to "capture" the case by stating that they will act for both parties. They promise a quicker and easier process than conducting the case through a solicitor however there appears to be an obvious conflict of interest in acting this way. The Association Of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) have conducted research into this practice and have found that people who agree to their case being dealt with in this way are usually under-compensated. This is because there is no independent check on the levels of compensation being offered or on the different types of compensation covered (such as loss of earnings, travel expenses and the cost of medication).APIL have been in talks with the Government and the Financial Services Authority to press for action on the issue and the BBC have recently reported on the same. The idea is to ensure that this practice is not allowed to continue and that claimants will be encouraged to seek independent advice from a solicitor who will act in their interests alone.
