In our last post “Who Is Sending Me These Fake Accident & Personal Injury Claims Texts?” we included tips on how to spot a trustworthy personal injury solicitor or claims management company from a not-so-trustworthy one. Since then we have had a number of people contact us to ask what the difference is between a personal injury solicitor and a claims management company.
We thought it might be helpful if we were to outline the main differences and to highlight another party you may unwittingly come across – particularly when dealing with unsolicited personal injury compensation claim texts or calls; the ‘Media’ or Marketing Company.
Personal Injury Solicitors
Personal Injury Solicitors are lawyers who specialise is cases where someone has been injured (either physically or psychologically) as the result of the negligence of another person, company or organisation. This negligence may have resulted in a car accident, accident at work, medical accident or mistreatment, a trip or fall, poisoning or an injury sustained as the result of a defective product.
Their aim is usually two-fold – to ensure those at fault are brought to justice, preventing similar examples of negligence from happening again and to secure compensation for the victim’s injuries, pain, inconvenience and any financial loss.
As the variety of injuries and circumstances that lead to them are vast, many solicitors specialise in one particular type of injury claim, perhaps focussing on the circumstances, such as road accident claims, medical claims, or focussed on the type of injury; brain injury claims, or poisoning for example.
Claims Management Companies
May I Claim is a claims management company and the clue to what we do is in the title really - we manage claims. We do so on-behalf of both the claimant and solicitor.
Many of the most well-known Claims Management Companies are owned by large law firms. You might wonder why these law firms would need a separate company to manage personal injury claims for them - surely they have loads of Personal Injury Lawyers?
Well, that may be true, but the thing about Personal Injury Claims is that there are a number of criteria that are required in order to file a successful personal injury compensation claim.
- The accident or injury must have occurred within the past three years
- There has to be proof of some form of negligence
- There must be medical proof an injury has been sustained
When managing a claim, the first thing we do is establish whether we think a claim is valid and that it meets these requirements. Making sure claims are valid can be a time consuming and expensive task for a Personal Injury Lawyer and so they entrust it to us, along with other claim management tasks, allowing them to do concentrate on what they do best - winning cases.
We Love Personal Injury Solicitors
We really do, it's true. However, as much as we love our Personal Injury Solicitors, we do have a distinct advantage over them when it comes to managing claims. That is - our first language is English, not Legalese. So if you come to us having had an accident, we can discuss your potential claim in clear and simple terms.
We also have an advantage over the claims management companies that are run by Personal Injury Lawyers. As we are not tied to one particular law firm, we can choose the best Personal Injury Solicitor for the job. Not just the no 1 accident claims solicitor in one particular law firm, but the no 1 accident claims solicitor from a whole panel of law firms – including those that have their own claims management companies!
So we’re not only able to make things as clear and simple for both the Personal Injury Solicitors and for you, but we’re also able to ensure you get the best representation for your particular claim.
Media & Marketing Companies
These folks, we don’t like so much. In our last post we touched on how some of the companies sending unsolicited personal injury compensation claim texts, were doing so in the hope that people would respond with their personal details – and that 6% of all recipients do respond to confirm they have had an accident, or have taken out a loan that had payment protection insurance.
They also use other means to encourage you to share your details – via email campaigns or cold calling and posing as claims management companies or Personal Injury solicitors.
‘Rogue’ Claims Management Companies
We really don’t like ‘Rogue’ claims management companies. These are our industry’s ‘Cowboys’. Every industry has them, unfortunately. They give us a bad name, make our job much more difficult and they take advantage of innocent individuals.
These ‘rogue’ companies encourage people to claim when their claim is not valid and can even encourage people to claim when they have not been injured.
In our last post, we explained how you can tell if a company who contacts you is registered with and regulated by the Ministry of Justice and new measures have just been announced that will make it even more difficult for these cowboys to operate in future. In the meantime, if you are not sure who you are talking to, follow our advice and ask for the company’s CRM number then check they are registered with the Ministry Of Justice.
May I Claim
May I Claim, is a trading name of R Costings Limited and our CRM number is 25770.
If you have had an accident that wasn’t your fault and have suffered an injury - you know you can trust us to handle your claim professionally.
Call us now on 0800 756 7774 and talk to us to find out if you have a claim - or fill in our Quick Claim form (on the right of this page).
http://info.mayiclaim.co.uk/personal_injury_compensation_claim_news/bid/220997/Personal-Injury-Solicitors-and-Claims-Management-Companies-What-s-the-Difference
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