England 05/06/2013 – When personal injury claim rules were changed in April, many predicted a drastic drop in the number of new claims being made.
However, many personal injury lawyers are reporting that they are still busy. Naturally, there has been some impact, with some potential clients assuming that they would now have to pay all legal fees should they end up losing their case.
However, not everyone automatically believes this. Many people who have suffered an injury are still contacting a personal injury lawyer anyway, and discussing their options. Many are pleasantly surprised to find that these lawyers are offering what is effectively still a no win, no fee service. The lawyers have simply changed their approach slightly to take account of the rule changes.
The use of after the event insurance
If a case is taken on and won, the rule changes do not have a huge impact. Fees have to be paid, but the compensation won covers this, so in most cases proceeding with a claim is clearly worthwhile. The fact that you also have to pay the success fee does mean a larger percentage of the compensation is paid out in fees. In other words, the amount of money that ends up in a claimant’s bank account may work out to be lower, but it is still enough money to make pursuing a claim worthwhile.
The biggest issue is what happens if a claimant loses their claim. In this situation, they are liable for the legal costs of their opponent. These costs can be substantial. However, specialist firms like First Personal Injury believe that including ‘after the event’ insurance a case will ensure that claimants do not lose out. These policies can be used to pay off all legal fees, should the case be lost. This means that people can still make a personal injury claim at no real financial risk to themselves. It will take a few more months before the full impact of the rule changes are seen. However, the early signs are that the level of claims being made will not fall by much.