| Testimonial |
| "I am very happy with the way my claim was handled...I would not hesitate to recommend them to a friend or relative"
Mr Saini |
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Terminology
Independent Solicitor
Your claim will be handled by a firm of solicitors specialising in personal injury claims. There is no middleman. You will enter into an agreement direct with a firm of solicitors. The solicitors have no connection with claims management companies, leaving you to deal with us direct.
You enter into an agreement with us. We are regulated by the Law Society and have to strictly adhere to our rules and regulations. In the event that you wish to make a complaint, initially you can address it to us. If you are unhappy with the response, you can take up the matter with The Law Society. |
Most importantly, we cannot practice without a professional indemnity insurance policy. In the event that you consider that we have provided you with negligent advice, you have a right to pursue a claim against us.
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Claimant
If you are making a claim, the you are described as a Claimant.
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Defendant
The person or entity against whom you have a claim is described as a defendant. It can be an individual, a partnership or local authority.
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Claims Management Company
The most famous companies are Claims Direct and the Accident Group (TAG). Both of these companies have gone into receivership and are no longer trading. Claims management companies are not regulated. They are able to use all types of methods of generating enquiries from members of the public. However they do not deal with your claim, but simply sell the claim to a firm of solicitors.
Solicitors were prevented from paying for work until 1st March this years. Thus many of the solicitor firms in this area of law were receiving instructions contrary to their professional rules. Would you wish your claim to be handled by such a firm?
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Legal Fees
If a claim is successful, you will recover your legal fees from the opponent. The basis of our charges to you would be set out on the Conditional Fee Agreement (see below). You would be reimbursed in full by your opponent on a successful claim.
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Expenses
There are expenses of investigating your claim. We would need to obtain records from your General Practitioner and from hospitals where you have received treatment. Whilst we will represent your interest on a conditional fee basis, from time to time you may be asked to pay for these records. If your claim is successful, you will recover these fees wholly from the other side.
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Barrister's Fees
If your claim needs to be tried before a court of law, we may appoint a barrister. If they accept instructions on a "No Win, No Fee" basis, you would not have to pay unless the claim is successful. If we accept your claim, we will find barristers who will accept your claim on similar terms. However, when your claim is successful, the fees will be recoverable from the other side.
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Medical Experts/Fees
Your claim for pain and suffering and some aspect of your financial losses has to be support by an expert medical opinion. We shall appoint a medical expert for you. Experts are not allowed to accept instructions on "No Win, No Fee" basis. Thus their fees need to be paid. However, we shall appoint an expert through a system whereby fees can be funded.
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Legal Expense Insurance Policy
This is an insurance policy, which you would take out in the event that you may have to pay your opponentís costs. If unadvised you take the matter to a court of law and you were to lose the case and/or you were to abandon the case once started in the courts, you would be ordered to pay your opponentís legal costs. If you had an insurance policy, this will be met by the insurance company. Many household contents policy and motor policies have a legal expense cover. Thus you need to check. If you have a legal expense cover, then there will be a limitation on who you can instruct as your solicitors. We can advise you further on that, should the situation arise.
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Conditional Fee Agreement
This is an agreement between you and the law firm. The agreements provides that you will pay the lawyers fees if the claim is successful. However, if your claim is successful, you will be reimbursed by the opponent for your solicitorís fee. In order to obtain reimbursement, you need to have in place an agreement in writing before the appointment of the solicitor.
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Success Fee
As we will not be paid unless the claim is successful, by law we are entitled to charge a success fee over and above our cost (base cost). The Conditional Fee Agreement will provide for a success fee. We can charge up to a 100% success fee.
The success fee is based on a percentage rate of the hourly rate agreed for your work. If therefore we set a success fee of 50%, and an hourly of £150.00, a success fee of 50% would be £75. Therefore for every hour we charge a base cost of £150 and a success fee of £75.
Please note that if your claim is successful, you will recover the success fee from your opponent.
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Loss Assessor
These are companies that would be appointed by persons who have suffered a loss in cases involving property and fire damage, loss assessors are normally appointed. They usually accept your instruction on a contingency basis; that is, they will charge a percentage of the damages recovered for you.
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Loss Adjusters
These are companies appointed by the insurance company to investigate the claim. They normally represent the insurance company.
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Panel Solicitors
If you have a legal expense cover, your insurance company will appoint a solicitor that you can hire to make your claim. Your insurance company will have agreed to pay their fees. If you are in such a situation, you can obtain permission of your insurer to utilise solicitors of your choice.
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Rates & Base Cost
Our Conditional Fee Agreement will provide that you will pay our cost (base cost) on an hourly basis. This is a standard practice used by most firms of solicitors. Depending upon the size and complexity of your claim, our hourly rate will be as follows:-
| Staff Member |
Hourly Rate |
| Abdul Hafezi, Principal |
£120.00 - £210.00 |
| Assistant Solicitor |
£135.00 |
| Trainee |
£70.00 |
| Paralegal |
£50.00 |
The base cost will be recovered from your opponent on a successful claim.
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