If you have recently suffered an injury while at work, on holiday or on the roads, you may be thinking about making a compensation claim. Ensuring that you have enlisted the help of the best personal injury solicitor should be your main priority. Yet such is the wide range of compensation claim solicitors available, it can be difficult to determine the best solicitor for your needs. Here are the top 5 things to consider when making a personal accident compensation claim:
1. Free Accident Claim Advice
Before you choose an accident claim solicitor, you may want to use a free accident claim calculator to compare your entitlements. This will help you to ascertain your rights. Many accident claim solicitors also offer no obligation accident claim advice free of charge. Solicitors are expensive so, aside from providing the details of your case in a free accident claim advice session, you must determine what would happen if you pursued your case and lost it. Many solicitors work on a no win, no fee basis so you may wish to ask your solicitor whether they are willing to insure your compensation claim against the chance that you may lose your case.
2. Specialist Solicitors
When seeking a reputable solicitor to handle your case, it is essential to ensure that your chosen solicitor specialises in the particular area of law in which you wish to pursue your claim. If you have experienced an accident in the workplace and wish to submit a workplace accident compensation claim, you will require a solicitor who specialises in this area of law. In the event that your chosen solicitor fails to specialise in a particular area of law, you could end up losing money.
3. Testimonials
Your chosen solicitor should provide you with testimonials from previous clients and you should also consider carrying out your own independent research by searching for reviews of your chosen solicitor on the Internet. Where possible, you should aim to enlist the help of a solicitor who has been recommended to you by trusted relatives or friends. However, it is essential to be comfortable with your chosen solicitor as you will need to frankly discuss the details of your accident case with them.
4. Solicitor’s Agreements
When you sign a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) with your chosen solicitor, you will wish to ensure that the solicitor will claim for their fees and expenses from the opposing party – not from the accident compensation that you receive. The majority of personal injury solicitors include a clause in the CFA that states that you will be responsible for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred. Out-of-pocket expenses may include the cost of medical treatment that you are advised to receive by your accident compensation solicitor and any overtime incurred by the solicitor’s own staff. Your solicitor should be responsible for recouping the money for meeting these costs from the opposing party.
5. Out-Of-Court Settlement vs. Court Proceeding
Some accident claim solicitors fail to listen to the desires of their clients and instead instigate full court proceedings. If you wish to settle your compensation claim as opposed to taking your claim through the courts, you should ensure that your chosen accident claim solicitor does not have any objection to you doing this. Conversely, if your solicitor is advising you to settle your claim out of the courts yet you wish to take your claim through the courts, you should discuss with your solicitor the disadvantages of taking your accident compensation claim through the courts.
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