December 2009

Lexcel award

P.S.R. Solicitors have now been accredited by the Law Society under their Lexcel standard. This is a mark of excellence designed to distinguish between different law firms and shows that a firm has met the Law Society’s high standards.

Lexcel firms offer:

• Excellent client service
• Cost efficiency
• Minimum risks

Firms are examined thoroughly before being awarded the Lexcel standard and we are very proud that our new firm has been recognised as offering the best service to our clients. As we continue to grow this recognition should ensure that, as we expand, our commitment to our clients remains excellent.

November 2009

New RTA Claims System

The Government is now in the process of finalising their plans for a new system dealing with low value road traffic accidents (valued at under £10,000).

Both solicitors and insurance companies have been consulted and the new system appears to offer benefits to both sides with the process being streamlined so that claims can proceed quicker and with more certainty, but also with costs being kept tightly under control.

This will mean that for the majority of personal injury claimants, their cases will be settled quicker whilst the actual level of compensation they receive will not be affected.

Whilst a proposed date of April 2010 has been put forward, there is still a lot of work to be done in changing the current system and producing guidelines for when matters do not proceed smoothly.

October 2009

Professional Indemnity Insurance and the Legal Climate

The Law Society has reported that a number of firms have been unable to obtain Professional Indemnity Insurance cover for the coming year and some have chosen to simply close their doors and cease practicing. Others have had to enter the Assigned Risk Pool which is an insurer of last resort where the premium payable is based on the firms turnover and as such can be prohibitively high.

This is to be considered in the light of a wider struggle for legal services taking place in the current economic climate where banks have been reluctant to lend money not only to people trying to purchase houses but also to companies.

P.S.R Solicitors managed to obtain Professional Indemnity Insurance cover without any problems however and is continuing to grow.

September 2009

Fatal Road Accidents Reduced

The European Transport Safety Council has reported that Fatal Accidents on the road in Europe have decreased from 54,000 in 2001 to 39,000 in 2008.

Although rates are falling, Eastern European countries still have a high ratio of fatal accidents in comparison with Sweden, the Netherlands and Britain who were calculated to have the safest roads. That is obviously good news for those of us who live and drive in this country.

August 2009

Fraudulent Claimants

In the case of Kirk v Walton 2009 the Claimant, Mrs Kirk, was awarded compensation for her injuries following a personal injury claim. She had been involved in a road traffic accident. However after "winning " her case the insurance company acting for the defendant brought proceedings for contempt of court against Mrs Kirk on the basis that she had deliberately misled the court as to the extent of her injury. They had obtained video surveillance of her involved in a number of activities which appeared to be contrary to the medical evidence she had provided and she had also tried to claim disability benefits. Although not all the allegations against her were upheld by the court, 2 of them were and she was ordered to pay a fine and a considerable amount of costs.

This is an unusual case but it does show the lengths defendant insurers are now going to, to prove that some claimants are fraudulent.

July 2009

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.

June 2009

Lord Justice Jackson has provided his preliminary report on civil litigation costs which may eventually result in fixed costs for all fast-track cases and the abolition of success fee's for cases run on Conditional Fee Agreements. However the report also stated that in 90% of the 2.1 million civil cases settled in 2007, legal costs were proportionate to the compensation awarded.

May 2009

The solicitor's profession is constantly under attack from many angles. Currently the government is considering further reducing the fees solicitors can charge for representing people who suffer as a result of an accident. This is part of the Compensation Culture myth which is circulated regularly in the press. Research by APIL has shown however that the overall number of claims has not risen in the last few years and that there is still only a small percentage of people who can claim who actually do.