Partners at a leading North West personal injury legal practice are warning that the recession could result in a large number of bogus or unmeritorious personal injury claims being pedalled by unscrupulous claims management companies as more and more people lose their jobs and are caught up in spiralling debt.
It is feared that vulnerable and desperate people will be bombarded by some claims companies seeking to persuade them to pursue claims where no claim exists or even worse to fake or embellish claims to obtain compensation they are not legally entitled to.
Liverpool Solicitors Paul Rooney Partnership believe that the coming months will witness an increase in claims as more and more people try to claim compensation to supplement income or pay off debts.
These claims are likely to fall into one of three categories: the genuine claim, the wilfully fraudulent claim and the unfortunate accident where no claim exists.
Partner at the practice, Steve Ireland said: “We have already seen an increase in the number of claims we’d expect at this time of year and an increase in the number of claims we reject at the first stage of scrutiny. These are claims where there was a genuine accident so no blame can be apportioned or where we have suspicions about the claim.
“In many respects we are entering uncharted waters. At the time of the last major economic downturn in 1990, there was no ‘no win-no fee’ funding for personal injury claims – this did not come into effect until 1994.
“The introduction of “no win no fee” led to an explosion of claims companies seeking to make money out of the claims process and there are many unscrupulous companies out there. They often charge fees to even assess a claim or help themselves to a percentage of the claimant’s damages relying on small print clauses in agreements with claimants.
“Nobody should be fearful of pursuing a legitimate claim. The law is there to ensure that if you are injured as a result of someone else’s negligence you can recover proper compensation for your injuries and financial losses and if you are not sure whether you have a claim, you should seek advice.
“But anybody who is considering a fraudulent claim as a way of making money should remember that reputable firms have systems in place designed to detect and weed out these claims.”
Little can be done to prevent an unscrupulous claims company from encouraging fraudulent claims but the message is clear: don’t waste our time
For more information visit http://www.paulrooney.co.uk/
