| Why use Solicitors instead of a "claims consultant" ?
Anybody can give themselves the title of a "claims consultant", Direct Injury Claims Expert, Personal injury Expert/Specialist, or another conceited sounding title. Ask to see proof of legal qualifications; it doesn't surprise us that most have to admit they have none. A "claims consultant" can be devastating for your wealth, a solicitor can charge your opponent for all of the legal fees, but a "claims consultant" can't. They only have authority to charge you!
A "claims consultant" does little more than get you to authorize them to keep some of your money, often up to 40% of your compensation, however much that may be.
A quick example: If you had a claim for £50,000 and received that award, you could stand to lose up to £20,000 to the "claims consultant".
Solicitors on the other hand can only charge a fair price for work they do. They have to tell you their charges in advance. They've studied for years, done acknowledged training courses, are bound to Professional Rules and Standards and are fully insured and regulated. "Claims Consultants" have none of these rules or regulations, they choose how they operate. What happens if it all goes wrong?
If you choose to use a "claims consultant" you may never even see a solicitor. At your meeting with the "claims consultant" ask about their qualifications – what makes them able to advise you about your claim. Ask if they are on commission for getting your name on the dotted line. Ask if they are in actual employment of solicitors and where in the country the solicitors are based, do you want your case being handled by someone hundreds of miles away? A service where you can't meet your case manager or your solicitor is second rate in our opinion.
The "claims consultants" can only be paid for the work they do by taking part of your compensation or by getting a commission from the solicitors they use, which is actually against The Law Society rules!
An unqualified "claims consultant" cannot offer you a better deal than a solicitor that has trained for years, is subject to strict laws and rigorously policed regulations of professional conduct and has insurance cover. (Insurance that is required by law)
Check the form you fill in with a "claims consultant", somewhere it usually states that your compensation will be paid to a third party and not even to you. Why? So they take their cut first out of your money.
You may be asking what does it matter? A solicitor or "claims consultants" both take a percentage from my winnings based on a 'No Win No Fee' basis don't they?
The crucial difference is that the solicitor's fees don’t come from your compensation. Their fees are calculated as a percentage of the COSTS and not a percentage of your compensation – it's usually a vastly smaller sum. If your case is won, the legal costs, disbursements and insurance premiums are recoverable from your opponent if you win. You don’t pay the success fee, you just get your compensation.
A "claims consultant" may not take your case, they don’t take cases that aren’t certain winners. They don’t say that if your case needs to go to Court they cannot claim their slice. This means they may settle for less out of Court just to be certain they get their money. Your compensation could be much less than you deserve.
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