Come April 2013 referral fees for personal injury claims will be banned therefore accident management companies will not be able to make money from referring cases to solicitors. Now what impact will this have on people making these claims, the accident management companies blamed for this compensation claim culture and will the insurance premiums fall as promised by the insurance industry?
At the moment accident management companies charge injury solicitors for providing them with compensation claim cases which the insurance companies blame for the rise of claims and insurance costs. Post April accident management companies won't be able to charge solicitors for referrals and this theoretically should reduce insurance premiums. Cut out the middleman so you save costs, costs that insurance companies incur. So to save money it makes sense to cut out these middle accident management companies right? Maybe, time will tell. Clever insurance companies. To make a point, these insurance companies are also part of these middlemen. They have been acting as middlemen for accident victims for years. They have been selling personal injury client details to their preferred solicitors for referral fees. Yes referral fees. For years insurance companies have been milking both sides of the spectrum. They are charging extortionate insurance premiums and also been receiving referral fees from solicitors. If you thought they were clever before then what do you think of them now? Crafty! Post April no one will be able to charge referral fees for personal injury claims and the government is hoping this will resolve the compensation claim culture. Government and the insurance companies have been fighting to ban referral fees and slow down the personal injury express in an aid to resolve this compensation culture. Now you may ask yourself why insurance companies would hack at their own feet with an axe if they are making money from both sides, the insurance premiums and the referral fees. It's simple, world domination! Not really, but similarly they want to cut out all the other middlemen and dominate the personal injury market. So how will they do this if referral fees are to be banned you may ask. Well they will simply merge with their preferred solicitors to share profits or even go to the lengths of opening their own law firms to deal with the accident injury cases. Now that's clever/hostile takeover.
Recent bad press reflected upon accident management companies to be evil. Evil in terms of that these companies are the source/cause of the general public making personal injury claims and these companies are blamed for hard, pressured sales tactics in generating claims. In all industries there are the good, the bad and the dodgy. Hooks and crooks are everywhere so a minority should not account for the whole sector. Honest, trustworthy and professional firms are out there, you just have to look. Personal injury claims can run into the thousands and should not be taken lightly. Do your research, look around and find the best team for your claim. We should not let a minority be the deciding factor in your choices. The government is doing right to eliminate the cash for crash firms and trying to close these fraudsters. The companies that pride themselves helping people at a time of need will still endeavour to keep helping the general public, with or without referral fees.
Spend a little time to find the best personal injury team for your compensation claim as there are thousands of firms out there, so do not geographically limit your selection. You have the full UK market to choose from. Compare these personal injury solicitors before making any claim.
