Personal Injury Referral Fee Ban

From the 1st April 2013 it is now illegal for a law firm to buy or sell personal injury referrals / leads in order to generate profit.

The official word from the SRA is here for those who havent read the prohibitive instrument in all its glory:

The personal injury referral business is worth hundreds of millions of pounds - or rather it used to be.

The end of the personal injury world as we know it
....and I dont feel fine

For those old enough to recall that lyric you may well have enjoyed a halcyon period as a personal injury lawyer but it seems that our world is changing forever any time soon.

Not content with the big hit on reforming the fee structure and banning referrals, the government now seem intent on hitting the small claims court limit which has been stable at £1000 for 2 decades or more.

More on the story here 

If these changes go ahead then the PI industry we know and love will not exist below a £5000 damages threshold.

I will keep you posted on developments

Meanwhile my conveyancing friends tell me things are picking up in the housing market. Who would have thought it 6 years ago that a conveyancer had brighter prospects than a personal injury lawyer..!!!

From April 2013 the personal injury world as we know it - changes forever

After months of jousting and posturing, during which time LegalSpy has kept his counsel, the fat lady has finally sung on the subject of the personal injury reforms.

From April this year the following rules come in:

Claimants must pay for their own insurance to protect them in any legal proceedings. Previously the insurance was recovered as part of the claim.

Claimant lawyers to be paid less than 40% of what they would have achieved in the current regime

Insurers no longer have to pay the claimants success fee which the lawyer would charge to reflect the risk taken in pursuing a No win No fee case. Now the claimant has to pay this out of compensation and in personal injury terms this will equate to 25% of damages.

Claims arising from road accidents, accidents on the street, public place or those occurring at work under £25k in value all now fall to be dealt with via a computerised system known as the "portal". The intention is to dumb down the process and buy claims off as quickly as possible. 

These measures may not sound too extreme ... but they are.

The whole industry has been turned on its head and the people who will suffer the most will be the injured accident victims. Why...? Because at the lower end of the spectrum the legal process will be geared towards speed and efficiency not client care or service. 

Sad times and unfortunately ... this is just the start.

PPI Radio Ad Banned for Using Scare Tactics

Without fail, every time we switch the radio on, our ears will be filled with the words “PPI” and “claims”, and not without good reason – you should reclaim what’s rightfully yours, it’s your money.

But what about when companies take it too far to get your attention?

PPI specialists Payment Protection Partnership recently took it a little too far, warning listeners that their “time is running out” to claim. 

The ad went on to ask “£2,000? £4,000? Just how much are you costing yourself…You could be in line for thousands, but only if you claim in time.”

Of course, this may have been somewhat over amplifying and the advertising watchdog, ASA, has banned the campaign for using scare tactics by “overstating the urgency for referring a complaint through PPP”.

In truth, although the banks are now pushing the FSA to set a deadline, this is not likely affect claimants until next summer, at the earliest. 

There is currently no deadline for claiming for mis-sold PPI, as PPI Claimline will tell you. And, even if you don’t have your paperwork, any reputable claims company (such as the aforementioned) will find it all for you.

So, if you had the scarers put on you after hearing that ad, fear not. There is no urgency to reclaim…although those few thousands you’re entitled to would be nice! 

Cerebral palsy sufferer keeps NHS payout

A Leeds family are celebrating after winning an appeal court hearing brought by the NHS. The case in my view illustrates all that is wrong with the approach taken by the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) when defending claims against the medical profession.

Nathan Popple was awarded compensation of £5.5m by the High Court after he suffered devastating brain injuries during his birth. Now 14, Nathan developed cerebral palsy and severe disabilities. He cannot speak and must be fed through a tube as he is unable to swallow. However our friends at the NHSLA appealed the decision, telling the Court of Appeal that the brain damage occurred “some time remote from delivery” in the last three days of the labour. At the appeal court rejected this argument tank goodness.

Nathan now lives with his mother Beryl Sanderson and her partner in the Cookridge area of Leeds and they claimed to have spent most of the last decade, firstly trying to get the compensation they felt they were owed from Birmingham Women’s Hospital, and then fighting to keep it in the light of the case going to the Court of Appeal. 

For all the negative press that lawyers receive for pursuing such claims, it is entirely appropriate that the NHSLA are brought to account for adopting such an aggressive and in the end futile defence to an already complex injury claim.

Living and working as I do in Leeds, I am very pleased that justice prevailed for this local family.

HSE Statistics for 2011

New annual Heath and Safety Executive (HSE) statistics have been published in relation to workplace health and safety. 

On 31 October 2012 the figures were announced for the period April 2011 to March 2012. Numbers of fatal and serious injury incidents appear to be falling.

Some of the key findings are as follows:

173 workers were fatally injured. This is down from 175 in 2010/11. The average over the previous five years is 196 deaths a year.

22,433 major injuries were reported, in comparison to 24,944 in 2010/11. The previous five year average is 27,170.

88,731 other serious injuries, resulting in at least four days off work, were reported. This is down from 91,742 the previous year and the 103,627 previous five year average.

Around 1.1 million people said they were suffering from an illness caused or exacerbated by work in comparison to around 1.2 million in 2010/11. The average over the previous five years was around 1.25 million.

HSE prosecuted 551 cases in England and Wales, an increase of 6% from the previous year, and secured 506 convictions (92%). Local authorities prosecuted 95 cases in England and Wales, a fall of 23% from the previous year, and secured 92 convictions (97%)

The Procurator Fiscal heard 34 cases in Scotland, a drop of 11% on the previous year, and secured 32 convictions (94%).

27 million days were lost overall (17 days per case) with 22.7 million due to work-related ill health and 4.3 million due to workplace injury.

Construction, agriculture and waste and recycling remain amongst the higher risk sectors.