Claims against solicitors who settled personal injury claims for less than they were worth (“under-settlement”) are on the increase.
Common Mistakes Leading to Under-Settlement
The amount of compensation recovered might be too low for a number of reasons:
- the case settled too quickly
- the person dealing with the case missed something important
- the claim was mishandled
- the claim was not investigated properly
- it was wrongly valued
- incompetence
- the solicitors unlawfully deducted costs from compensation
Reasons For Under-Settlement
Under-settlement is happening more often because of recent changes in legal rules which mean that lawyers get paid much less than they used to for dealing with injury claims.
Now, in the majority of injury claims that settle, a lawyer can claim only £500 for legal costs. And in accident claims that are funded ‘no win, no fee’ basis, the lawyer has to wait until the end of the case before he or she gets paid.
Law firms have responded to these changes by:
- recruiting low cost, unqualified people to handle personal injury claims that used to be dealt with by qualified and experienced solicitors
- limiting the amount of time that these inexperienced claims handlers can spend on a case
- encouraging early settlement of claims, so that the law firms get paid sooner
Inevitably, mistakes are made, either as a result of lack of expertise or lack of time.
What Can Be Done About Under-Settlement
All of these errors can be grounds for a professional negligence claim against the law firm that dealt with the personal injury claim.
If you have lost more than £10,000 as a result of solicitor negligence, call CAP LAW on 0121 270 5654 to start your claim today. When the office is not open you can email us at enquiries@cap-law.co.uk