Explanation

Topics which play a part in accident and personal injury compensation

Google sued over walking directions

June 15, 2010 in Case examples, Explanation | No comments

Woman sues Google over Utah walking directions

I came across a news report about a law suit in the United States against Google complaining its Google Map had given an unsafe pedestrian route.

Extract from the report of 1 June 2010 reads:

Salt Lake City — A pedestrian injured by a motorist while following an online route has filed a lawsuit claiming Google Inc. supplied unsafe directions.

Lauren Rosenberg filed a lawsuit on Thursday seeking more than $100,000 in U.S. District Court in Utah. It also named a motorist she says hit her.

Rosenberg used her phone in January to download directions from one end of Park City to the other.

Google Maps led her to a four-lane boulevard without sidewalks that was “not reasonably safe for pedestrians,” according to the lawsuit filed by the Northridge, California, resident.

The case has become a sensation on tech blogs, websites and cable television channels, with critics assailing the woman for ignoring her own safety to blindly follow online directions. Her lawyer, Allen Young, said the truth was different.

Rosenberg believed she could reach a sidewalk on the other side of Deer Valley Drive and tried to cross the boulevard, but didn’t even make it to the median, he said.

She was struck by a speeding car on a pitch-black night and received multiple bone fractures that required six weeks of rehabilitation, Young added.

“We think there’s enough fault to go around, but Google had some responsibility to direct people correctly or warn them,” Young said. “They created a trap with walking instructions that people rely on. She relied on it and thought she should cross the street.”

Rosenberg is seeking compensation for medical bills, plus more for lost wages and punitive damages. The lawsuit provided no other information about the woman, who has been misidentified online as a Los Angeles publicist by the same name.

Young said the woman is a native of Northridge in her mid-20s and is unemployed. No phone listing could be found for her.

Google spokeswoman Elaine Filadelfo said the company had not received a copy of the lawsuit and couldn’t discuss it, but she disputed Young’s assertion that Google Maps provides no warning that walking routes may be missing sidewalks or pedestrian paths.

Every software version for desktop computers and mobile devices has had that disclaimer since Google Maps was launched in 2008, she said.

Park City police said some segments of Deer Valley Drive have sidewalks but not the stretch that Rosenberg reached. The boulevard has a walking path on the side Rosenberg failed to reach, police Capt. Rick Ryan said.

Young said the walking path was “totally snowpacked” and of no use to pedestrians in January.

You must remember this is a United States case. It is also important to realise the law varies between States. They have punitive damages which are intended to punish an organisation for carelessness. You might think including Google and criticising Google Maps is a tactic to achieve that type of compensation.

If the case was run in this country it is unlikely Google would be included, let alone found liable. A Court in the United Kingdom would not be impressed with such a complaint. Erecting a footpath sign when the path ended at a cliff top might get you in trouble, and providing such a route would get Google Maps in trouble too, but providing a route across a city is unlikely to involve Google in a legal action in the United Kingdom.

This type of case means we will see more disclaimers and warnings, rather like almost every food packet telling you there may be a trace of nuts.

The full report by Paul Foy of The Associated Press an be seen at http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2010/06/01/14220536.html

Choose a solicitor

June 6, 2010 in Explanation | No comments

Choose a solicitor

Choosing a solicitor to represent you is an important decision.

Like so many areas this decision is helped by information you can gather on the internet. Comparing insurance quotes is now pretty quick and straightforward. Finding the cheapest television is now so much simpler. Before choosing a solicitor in this way you should think about what you are actually looking for.

You might find a builder on the internet, but would you take a quote and start the job without talking to and meeting the builder first? Do I want this person working at my home, do I trust this person, and is a good job going to be done? All very good questions and not one can be answered by an internet comparison mechanism.

Comparison sites for solicitors are going to grow, and they will influence you, but do please understand how they will work. Insurance comparison sites are middlemen. They introduce the buyer to the seller and take a commission payment when the deal is done. As most people believe they must have insurance, and that all insurance is basically the same, comparing on price alone is fine. Ask yourself does that work for a solicitor.

Looking on the web today I quickly found Lawyer Locator at www.lawyerlocator.co.uk, Compare Lawyers at www.compare-lawyers.co.uk, and Contact Law at www.contactlaw.co.uk. These were in the sponsored links section, so they are paying to appear at the top of the search page.

Beyond the sponsored links is the Law Society at www.lawsociety.org. You can find solicitors by specialism, but not every practice area has identified specialists. You can search by practice and geographical area.

Beyond the Law Society you find Home Buying Guide at www.home.co.uk. You might just get away with a conveyancing choice based on price and timescale, but there are times when local knowledge and experienced advice will help you.

How to choose a solicitor is the headline for Legal Junction at www.legaljunction.co.uk. Their advice is sensible, but they are a marketing company, and income from the site will be based on who they put you in touch with.

There are going to be lots of new sites offering a new fresh way to choose a solicitor. Legal Compare.com will be next at www.legalcompare.com. Unfortunately they will not have a cute meerkat to guide you, but they will do the same thing as the insurance sites. They will use the factors which can be shown in comparative terms such as price and geography, but like all these sites they cannot tell you what it is like to work with a solicitor.

When choosing a personal injury solicitor you should make a personal choice. Your personal injury solicitor will have to understand how an accident has affected your life, your family life, and your work. Your finances will have to be discussed, and more than likely your medical records. All quite personal stuff, so a personal choice has to be made, not an internet comparison.

Contact me for a chat without obligation, and let’s see how we get on. It might suit you best to chat in the evening or weekend, and that is fine with me.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

Mark ThompsonMark_Thompson_199

Referral fees

June 3, 2010 in Explanation | No comments

What are referral fees?

You will read about them in the media There are often questions about their legality.

A referral fee can be paid by a solicitor in return for being put in contact with a client. Referrals are made by estate agents, banks, building societies, insurance companies, insurance brokers, and a whole host of other agencies. They are being paid a fee for introducing legal work to a solicitor. It is quite usual in the conveyancing and personal injury fields of law.

These referral fees are perfectly legitimate but in certain instances the payment of a referral fee and the amount must be made known to the client. Referral fees between solicitors do not have to be made known to a client, but if a referral fee is paid to a non-solicitor introducer then the payment should be made known, and in writing.

In the personal injury area many companies have sprung up to attract personal injury clients. They advertise on the television and internet promising no win no fee. They make their money by attracting cases and selling those business leads to solicitors. The solicitors pay a referral fee. You might say the solicitors are letting someone else do their marketing, and paying for that marketing when a client is introduced.

Certain introducers of legal work are regulated by the Claims Management Regulations. These businesses market for clients mainly in these fields:

• Personal injury.

• Criminal injuries compensation.

• Employment matters.

• Housing disrepair.

• Financial products and services.

• Industrial injury disablement benefits.

The policy background taken from an explanatory note to the regulation of this business tells us claims management businesses gather cases either by advertising or direct approach. They then act either directly for the client in pursuing the claim, or as an intermediary between the claimant and a legal professional or insurer. Claims management businesses make money from several sources—from referral fees from solicitors; from commission on auxiliary services; from the sale of after-the-event insurance; and sometimes from loans to their clients. Concerns have grown over the unprofessional conduct by those who are providing the service for commercial gain—particularly as the activities of claims management businesses have extended into many areas of litigation, well beyond personal injury, and even into claims for certain kinds of benefits even though no litigation is involved.

Such businesses must be authorised (which means registered), and must tell the potential client they will receive a fee if a solicitor accepts their case. You should also be told the amount, and be told at the outset.

Many institutions are exempt from these regulations, and the most significant are the insurance companies. They are perfectly entitled to charge a referral fee, and many do, but they do not have to tell you.

How much is paid as a referral fee?

A quote from a report by Oxera Consulting Ltd Marketing costs for personally injury claims (Association of British Insurers Research Paper 15, 2009):-

“The final dynamic in the market is competition between solicitors for a relatively stable supply of PI work from referral companies. Referral fees have indeed increased over time. Evidence suggests that the payment of explicit referral fees began in 1999, at a level of approximately £50 per referral. For some BTE referral companies, this explicit referral fee was paid in addition to the solicitor accepting a number of unprofitable, non-injury, cases for every PI case referred. As the business model of such referral companies altered, and the non-injury cases were handled in-house, referral fees for the PI cases rose quickly to around £250. By 2006, fees of approximately £600 were considered typical and, more recently, fees of £850 £1,000 were considered not uncommon.”

How is a personal injury solicitor paid?

June 3, 2010 in Explanation, Legal costs | No comments

How a personal injury solicitor is paid

There should be no mystery about how a personal injury solicitor is paid for the work carried out in your personal injury claim for compensation.

The basic cost is an hourly rate multiplied by the time spent on your case. Most personal injury solicitors will follow the Guideline Rates set by the Advisory Committee on Costs. These are based on the experience of your solicitor and the cost of practising in the various regions of the country, London being more expensive than Exeter.

A solicitor’s bill is made up of a charge for their time, plus VAT, and the expenses incurred on your behalf, known as disbursements. For these purposes I will put all those terms together and call them solicitors costs.

I will also talk about the costs of the other side, or the Defendant. That means the person or organisation against which you are claiming compensation.

Solicitors usually record their time in six minute units on computerised systems. The presumption of the time recording system is that nothing takes less than six minutes.

There are fixed costs rules in place for certain types of case, such as road traffic accidents with value below £10,000, and I will deal with these separately.

You will be told that the costs will be paid by the Defendant, the other side in your case, if the case is successful. The confusing part is that you sign up to a deal saying you are liable to pay your solicitor’s fees, and the reason is you must be liable to pay these costs for your solicitor to be paid by the other side. A costs award is based on the other side covering your liability to your own solicitor. If you are not liable to pay your personal injury solicitor, your solicitor cannot be paid. It is called the indemnity principle and must be carefully explained to you.

Even if you are represented on a no win no fee arrangement, properly called a conditional fee agreement, you are liable for your solicitors costs in the event of the case being successful. If you fail you do not pay for the solicitor’s time, but you are liable for your solicitor’s disbursements and the costs of the Defendant.

Some personal injury solicitors still follow the practice of insisting on being paid for every minute they spend on a case. The other side must pay on the basis of the work which was necessary, but your liability to your solicitor is based on the work which was reasonable and necessary. Some solicitors insist on you making up the difference between the time they have spent and the time they have been paid for by the other side. That can produce a nasty sting at the end of the case. It is vital to know how your personal injury solicitor will charge, and to be sure you will receive all of the compensation.

So hopefully that makes sense to this point. Your case has been successful, you receive the compensation and your solicitor is paid by the other side.

But what if you do not win, or do not win completely?

If your personal injury case is unsuccessful you will be responsible for your own solicitor’s fees, and those of the Defendant’s solicitor.

So how do you avoid the risk of paying your own personal injury solicitor if your case does not succeed?

The answer is an insurance policy provided in the form of trade union support, legal expenses insurance, or after the event insurance which supports a conditional fee agreement. All of these forms of insurance are designed to cover your liability to pay costs in a personal injury compensation claim.

Each form of protection will depend on its own terms, but in general the insurer has agreed your case has a reasonable chance of success, and will cover your liability for costs if the personal injury case goes wrong. As with any policy check the amount of cover you have as there is always an indemnity limit.

Please carefully note you have duties under these policies. You must be honest and cooperate with your solicitor. If your case fails because you were dishonest your insurance would not pay, so be honest.

Can I carry on with my case if the chances of winning are not good?

It is here where we see how these various types of legal cover actually work. The insurer must be satisfied at all times that the prospects of success are reasonable. If something changes, such as a witness no longer backs your story, the insurer can back out and refuse to continue to cover you. So you have an insurance policy, but it is a fluid insurance policy, as once the chances of success reduce below the required standard the insurer can pull out.

The most common reason for the insurer to review its position is when you are made an offer. You might be offered 50:50 on liability, which means you and the Defendant are equally to blame for your injury. You might be made a financial offer which the Defendant thinks is reasonable. When that offer is made you can accept it and the Defendant will pay your costs. You can refuse the offer and press on, but if the ultimate agreement or award is less than you were offered you will only get your costs to the date of that offer, and beyond that offer you are liable for the costs of both sides. In practice this is the greatest risk in a personal injury case and it is on this point you must be sure you have good insurance protection, as a straightforward case can go bad if a good offer is refused.

A good policy and a good personal injury solicitor are your protection in a personal injury case.

Expert evidence

September 28, 2009 in Compensation, Explanation, Legal costs | No comments

Only experts can give opinion in a compensation case, and the opinion must be limited to the field of expertise.

A medical expert is the usual expert, but again the medical expert must keep to their own area of expertise. Accident compensation cases sometimes need the help of a reconstruction expert, an engineer, an occupational or employment expert, or an accountant. Wherever the Court needs expertise to assist in coming to a decision you will be allowed to instruct an expert. The Courts can be restrictive, and have the power to limit the evidence overall to the evidence necessary to prove the case. The lower the value of the likely compensation, the less likely you are to be able to rely on experts.

The role of the expert is to provide a report to the Court. That is the first and foremost duty of the expert. Even though your solicitor may instruct and pay the expert, the expert is not “yours.” This was designed to get over the old problem of each side using an expert they will know supports them, and the trial of the case being a decision between the two opinions. The duty to the Court was introduced to prevent the expert feeling obliged to please the party paying them, the worst examples being referred to as ‘hired guns.’

The Court manages the use of experts to ensure costs are not increased unnecessarily. The Court may impose a single joint expert. This will reduce costs, but solicitors still like the opportunity to instruct an expert they see as theirs, in the hope the expert will support their case.

When a client is going to see a medical expert, I am often asked how should the client behave. The answer is always the same. Treat the examination as you would any medical examination. Answer questions honestly and openly, and do not be embarrassed to explain the problems the injury has caused. We are often too British when we are asked about problems, as we feel we should not complain. Once the examination is over it is a bit late to complain no mention is made of a problem.

If you have had similar injury, or problems in the past, volunteer that information. Otherwise, once discovered, you will look as though you are hiding relevant history. Your medical records are usually available to a medical expert. That means all of your medical records. If you are bringing an action saying someone has injured you, there is a right to see your medical history to ensure there is no other cause. That is fair enough, and with the exception of problems of the highest sensitivity, your medical records have to be available to an expert, and to all parties to a case.

Experts can be asked questions. If there is more than one expert in a case, they will usually be ordered to undertake a discussion with other experts, the aim being to advise the Court where they are in agreement, and where they are not. The Court can then decide what evidence it needs to hear to decide the case. The process saves time and cost.

I want to change solicitor

September 28, 2009 in Explanation, Legal costs | No comments

Do you need to change your solicitor?

I do take over cases from other solicitors. This does not mean the current solicitor is poor, it usually means a client is not receiving the time and attention they deserve. Working with a solicitor is a personal experience, and it should be personal.

It is easier to change solicitor than you may think.

I rarely find location a problem. My office is in Exeter but I have clients in Leeds, Southampton and Hayle in deepest Cornwall. You will not need to see me every five minutes, so it is time to dedicate to you and your case which is most important. When we need to meet I will travel to you.

Many people do not choose their solicitor. You may have been referred to solicitors by your insurance company, your broker, or some other agency.

The most common problem we hear about is that clients are not happy with the way they are dealt with.

Solicitors are often set up to deal with high volumes of cases. They are heavily computerised, and sometimes give the impression of being a call centre, rather than your personal adviser. There are sound business reasons for handling cases in this way, but if your case needs a more personal approach, you are perfectly entitled to change solicitors.

You only have one chance to get things right, so best be sure the case is in safe hands.

As ever, please feel free to discuss a case with me without obligation.

You are liable to pay your own solicitors fees and disbursements, but almost all will wait until the case is completed. It is usually understood that costs and disbursements will be recovered from the other side at the end of the case, so there should not be a problem.

Your new solicitor will have to agree the basis of transfer, and the term “lien” will be used. The first solicitor owns its file until it is paid, so we can agree to preserve their “lien,” or ownership, of these papers.

Do not be concerned, as transferring papers between solicitors is not unusual. A solicitor might welcome the chance to transfer the file of a client falling outside their systematic approach, or will see transfer as preferable to handling a complaint.

Contact Mark Thompson now for help.

Mitigation

August 31, 2009 in Compensation, Explanation | No comments

Mitigation means keeping your losses to a minimum, reasonableness being the guiding factor.

When you claim compensation after an accident you have a duty to mitigate, or reduce, your losses. Your response to the problems created by the accident must be reasonable. This applies to your ability to work, or having a damaged item repaired reasonably quickly to avoid a reduction in its value.

A simple example may help. You are involved in a car accident, and your car is badly damaged and cannot be driven. What do you do, as you need to get to work? Have you alternative transport is the first question. Hiring an expensive car is not a reasonable approach when you have an alternative vehicle available. If the car repairer has a courtesy vehicle available when yours is in the shop, using that vehicle keeps your losses down, and is a good example of mitigation.

A more complicated example is a self employed lorry driver. If you cannot drive it might make more sense to hire a driver to cover for you rather than give up the work and contracts you are committed to.

To mitigate your loss you should take sensible steps to keep the loss down. The law will not support you if you let losses run away with themselves, expecting compensation to come to the rescue.

Common sense and reasonableness should be your guiding lights. Mitigating your loss avoids argument and disappointment when recovering compensation, and it will help you. Keeping your activities and work as normal as possible is going to be better for you in the long run. I always encourage clients to do what they can, and not to think about the effect on compensation. As soon as you start valuing the effect of any activity on the compensation you will receive you are in danger of falling into the compensation trap.

Proving your injury and financial losses for a compensation case means you must always show what has gone wrong. How injured are you, and what has been its effect. You are examined by doctors and will feel under pressure to impress them just how bad your injury was. So if your lawyer concentrates on how bad things are, how can you get on with life as normally as possible?

Compensation is really an expenses claim. You receive some payment for the injury and its effect, but most of the compensation is for financial losses and expenses, to date and in the future. There is no benefit in allowing an unnecessary increase of these losses, as you have to suffer the loss first before you can claim it. If you rely too heavily on compensation to put things right you may be disappointed.

My advice is to carry on with life as normally as you can. That is the best strategy. Those who fight disability will tell you not to allow the disability to rule. In a compensation action my advice is the same. Do what you can to preserve normality, and let compensation help mop up afterwards. Compensation is not the answer, it is just the law’s way of trying, in money terms alone, to put you back in the position you should have been in had the injury not occurred.

Contributory negligence

August 14, 2009 in Compensation, Explanation | No comments

Contributory negligence is such an important subject it is worthy of its own section.

You can prove your case by showing you were injured by someone who did not take reasonable care for your safety. They might be able to show you were partially to blame, and therefore contributed to the injury. Your contribution is assessed as a percentage, and that same percentage is knocked off your compensation. That may sound fair enough, but the effect can be tough. Losing 50 per cent of a £2,000 claim may not be the end of the world, but in a larger case, where most of the compensation is ear-marked to pay for long term care, losing even a small percentage for contributory negligence, can be very expensive indeed.

Even if liability is admitted in your case, contributory negligence can still be argued against you. An admission of liability alone does not mean you will receive full compensation. You need confirmation that contributory negligence is not to be argued. A simple example is a car and pedestrian road accident. The car should have been driven in such a way that the driver could safely stop or avoid anything or anyone in its path. So if a pedestrian is hit by a car on a road, the pedestrian will usually succeed. The closer the car is to a pedestrian when he or she steps into the road, the more likely is a finding of contributory negligence.

A regular argument against the claim of a motorcyclist is speed. “I did not see you” says the car driver, but if you were going slower I would have had more chance to see you.

Contributory negligence is often agreed, and if not agreed, assessed by a Court. Contributory negligence is often used in negotiations as a way of persuading a claimant to accept less than the full value of their case. So in a case where contributory negligence has not been agreed or decided on by a Court, you will always have this argument nagging at you when negotiating, or at Trial.

Do not quickly accept contributory negligence. The test for negligence is not high. Have you failed to take reasonable care for the safety of someone else? That is the test and a low standard of proof is applied, called the balance of probabilities, which means is something more likely than not. So it is not difficult to show someone is at fault, and on the other side of the argument it may not be difficult to show you have contributed, but do not give in too easily.

Where does the balance of responsibility lie. Someone driving a large and heavy metal object, better known as a car, must take more care than the pedestrian. An employer has responsibility for the work place and equipment, so carries that additional level of responsibility. Do not forget this balance when thinking about contributory negligence.

Recovering costs

August 10, 2009 in Explanation, Legal costs | No comments

Recovering costs from the other side.

It might surprise you to learn there is no automatic rule which says if you win your case your costs will be paid by the losing side. It happens in the vast majority of cases, but it is not an absolute rule. The practice comes from the affordability of the costs to the losing party, as that party is usually either insured or a trade union member. If there is such financial backing behind a losing party then it is very very likely a costs order will be made against them.

As has been explained elsewhere, not all of your costs may be payable by the other side. If they have agreed to pay costs, or are ordered to pay your costs, they are effectively covering your liability to pay your own solicitor.

Disbursements are subject to a test of reasonableness, and the hourly rate and the time spent are subject to a test of reasonable necessity.

So what if all time spent by your solicitor is not recovered from the other side? Do you have an agreement the solicitor will accept what can be recovered from the other side, or are you liable for the difference. That could be several thousand pounds in a long running case. Some solicitors do believe they are entitled to be paid for every minute they spend on a case, so the promise that you will get all of your compensation might be true, but your solicitor might want some of it back. Ask the question, and ask it this way – you are a professional and know what costs are recoverable, and which are not. As you are the professional will you please manage my case so that all costs and disbursements are recoverable from the other side. Having this conversation will avoid any nasty surprises at the end of the case.

One problem on recoverability of costs is the concept of proportionality. This is a very sensible concept in theory, but in practice a little naïve. The basic idea is that you should not be spending £5,000 in costs to recover £200. Fair enough you might say as what is the point in that. The trouble is that the legal costs actually reflect the time spent gathering and presenting the evidence in a case. Just because the case is not worth much does not mean this work on the evidence will be straightforward. The concept affects the amount of costs the other side will be ordered to pay, and the use of the concept to date has been inconsistent, so it is difficult to give you guidance. Again your solicitor is in a better position to judge proportionality than you, so have the discussion, and ask “what happens if not all of my costs are recoverable through an unfavourable imposition of the proportionality principle?”

You are asked to take much for granted when you are told, “of course we will recover our costs from the other side”, but there are problems which may have to be faced, and best the answer is known beforehand. Best to use an experienced solicitor you trust.

Conditional fee agreement

August 10, 2009 in Explanation, Legal costs | No comments

Conditional fee agreement

Conditional fee agreement is the proper name for “no win no fee.” It means your own solicitors fees are only payable by you in the event of success. Success is defined in the agreement, but in compensation cases it usually means recovering a compensation payment in your favour.

If we set up a conditional fee agreement you are liable to pay my hourly rate only in the event of success. If we do not succeed I am paid nothing. Regardless of success you are liable for the disbursements I incur, and the costs and disbursements of the other side if we lose. To cover that risk I will advise you to take out insurance, called after the event insurance.

After the event insurance covers your risk of paying your own solicitor’s disbursements, and the costs and disbursements of the other side in return for a premium. The insurer is banking on your own solicitor’s judgment. Surely they would not be running the case if it is not going to succeed? Well that is usually the outcome, but the odd one goes wrong, and you will be glad the insurance was taken out. The premium for this insurance can be recovered from the other side if the case succeeds, and as many after the event insurers will wait until the end of he case to be paid, there is no good reason not to take out this insurance. The only reason why this insurance is not complete is that the level of cover can be limited. An indemnity level will be set at the outcome, say £25,000, and that is the maximum the insurer will be liable to pay. This level can sometimes be increased, but there is no guarantee and an increase can be expensive, and not necessarily recoverable from the other side. Best you get the level of cover right in the first place. Once you have the policy the cover is reviewed. The insurer must always be satisfied the case has reasonable prospects of success, so if the balance tilts away from you, the insurer may pull out. Rather like insuring a car, but having to phone your insurer if the weather forecast is bad. On balance you ought to have this insurance, on the basis the why not argument is stronger.

The purpose of this arrangement is straightforward, but the agreement and the insurance make it feel rather complicated. It does require patience and experience to walk you through this arrangement, and it is not something to sign up to after only a quick chat on the telephone.

If you have legal expenses insurance that is a simpler alternative. If you are a trade union member then follow that route. The same protection can be put in place with a conditional fee agreement, but it does need proper explanation.

Success fee

A success fee can be sought by a solicitor acting under a conditional fee agreement. This is the incentive offered when legal aid was replaced. It allows a bonus fee in successful cases to make up for those which lose.

You will only be liable for the success fee in the event of success, and a reasonable success fee should be recoverable from the other side.

At the outset of the case you will be told about the risk assessment which sets the success fee at a maximum of 100 per cent. There are rules which dictate how much of this success fee can be recovered from the other side, so do make sure you understand what is going to happen with the difference.

Many solicitors will set up the arrangement to allow maximum recovery from the other side, with no intention that you will actually pay anything. However if they do not recover as much as they wanted they can turn to their client and ask that they pay the difference. A promise that you will receive 100 per cent of your compensation does not help you here, as you are receiving 100% of your compensation plus a bill.

We will explain how the costs of personal injury and accident cases are recovered from the other side, and that will help clear the picture.

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