Deciding on a Solicitor for Your Accident Claim
Deciding on a solicitor to manage your accident claim is both an important and complicated decision. If you don’t take the time to find the right solicitor then you risk having your accident claim rejected, or your compensation significantly reduced. The more complicated an accident claim, the more consideration should be made when choosing a solicitor to act on your behalf.
It is rarely a good idea to trust a claims management company with your case because the advice they provide is not always high quality. Ask yourself why a solicitor would need to pay money to claims management companies in order to buy cases like yours. Do you want a solicitor who buys his or her clients to handle your case?
Instead choose a solicitor with a specialism in personal injury. There is nothing to stop you researching law firms on their websites or by contacting them directly. You should certainly ensure that they are members of one or more personal injury professional bodies, such as APIL, MASS to the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority Personal Injury Accredited Scheme.
Once you believe that you have found a firm you can trust with your accident claim, ensure that they are prepared to see you free of charge for an initial consultation. During the consultation, they will want to know all the details of your injury and the accident that caused it so that they can establish whether you have a case for an accident claim. At the same time, the consultation is your chance to check out the solicitor. Ask how many other personal injury accident claims he or she has managed in the past year and enquire about their outcomes.
After the initial consultation, your solicitor should give you a written copy of a lot of clear information for you to take away to think about. You should have a clear understanding of the potential value of your claim, the likelihood of it being successful, the risks and costs associated with it and the probable length of time a claim could take. If you leave in any doubt as to the answers of these questions then your accident claim solicitor is not worthy or your case.