Injury solicitors have begun to strike back against legal reforms to be instituted by the Government by warning injured individuals to not tarry in making accident claims.
Accident victims need to stop wasting time and make personal injury claims as soon as they can, some solicitors have said, as the government is poised to make changes to no win no fee accident claims. The changes in question are included in the new Legal Aid bill working its way through Parliament, and could go into effect as soon as this coming spring, experts say.
The planned reforms include an abolition of success fees as they exist currently, with the insurers of a losing defendant having to foot the legal bills for the solicitors of a successful claimant. The aim of the current system was to encourage out of court settlements, solicitors say, adding that under the new rules, claimants will see their compensation payouts diminish because they will have to pay their own legal fees out of their claims awards.
The Government’s proposals to change the current scheme had been made in an attempt to put an end to the so-called ‘compensation culture’ gripping the UK, solicitors say. However, only around 1 out of every 4 accident victims ever make a claim, indicating that the Government may be trying to eliminate a problem that is not nearly as prevalent as it may think, and the only one to benefit from these new changes will be rogue employers who fail to keep the health and safety of their workers in mind and and large insurance firms, as many injured people in the future will have extremely limited access to justice, even though they may have a valid claim for injuries they sustained due to a failure of on the part of their employers to provide their workers a safe work environment.