Accident victims will miss out warns Shropshire solicitor

Aug. 11, 2011 - PRLog -- Telford, Shropshire, UK: New rules will mean victims injured in accidents that aren’t their fault will face drastically reduced compensation payouts, a Telford solicitor has warned.

Alison Carter leads the personal injury team at Martin-Kaye LLP Solicitors, and said the proposed changes would have a dramatic effect on the system.

“Once the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill comes into force, anyone injured because someone else has been negligent will be considerably worse off.

“The proposed legislation will make it more difficult for victims to get justice and will also reduce the amount of compensation available because it restricts ‘no win no fee’ agreements.”

In the last five years, almost 3 million people have used “no win no fee” agreements to fund their legal claims, and 80% said they were satisfied with the current system.

“At the moment, the victim keeps 100% of their compensation if they are successful in a personal injury claim, and they can take out insurance to protect them from having to pay the other side’s costs if they lose.

“They can also recover the cost of their insurance from the person who is to blame, and if the case is a success, the victim’s solicitor can recover their fee from the other side too.

“But under the new proposals, neither the insurance premium nor the success fee can be recovered and the victim will have to foot the bill.

“This means victims will face hefty reductions in the amount of compensation they receive which will be very bad news for anyone who is catastrophically injured and needs every penny to fund their future needs.

“And the new rules will also mean funding will be a stumbling block for anyone considering putting in a claim, as many victims will not be able to afford to pay for the insurance and so will not be able to risk losing.

“Solicitors will also have to reduce their success fees or do without one at all in order to attract clients, which will mean law firms will shy away from the riskier and more complicated cases, leaving the seriously injured with nowhere to turn.

“This new legislation will have a huge impact on victims getting the compensation they need and deserve, and so anyone who has been injured in this way should make a claim sooner rather than later, so they can use the current system which is much fairer.”

Martin Kaye LLP is based in Shropshire and has the largest specialist personal injury team in the region. To find out more information, visit http://www.martinkaye.co.uk/services/personal-injury/pers...

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Martin-Kaye LLP is one of the West Midlands fastest growing legal practices. Based in Telford, the firm boasts a number of specialist departments with a particular focus on commercial and business law.