Insurance Settlement Offer – Newsflash

The House of Lords has expressed concern at the insurance industry’s practise of “third party capture” where insurance companies approach injured people directly after a road traffic accident and encourage them to accept an offer of compensation without the benefit of receiving independent legal advice.

The peers tabled four amendments on this subject last week during the second reading of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill. They want to ensure that insurers do not approach the claimant direct when they know that the claimant is already legally represented. They also want to ensure that if the insurers do carry out this practise then they must inform the claimant that they are entitled to get legal advice, and obtain medical evidence of the claimant’s injuries.

Personal injury lawyers have long been opposed to this practise as without their own legal representation claimants are vulnerable to the insurers under-settling their claim. Whilst personal injury practitioners are encouraged to see concerns being raised at the highest level, they are worried that the victim will not be adequately protected. The fact is that many victims are approached before they have had time to seek legal advice, so a ban on approaching claimants when solicitors are involved will not help those victims who do not have legal representation. Claimants are often discouraged from seeking legal advice with insurers either failing to mention that victims have this option, or, wrongly, implying that this will cost claimants money. The peers also want to require insurers to get medical evidence to back up their settlement offer, but the problem here is that the ordinary victim will still not know what their injury is worth. That expertise will be available to the insurer through their in-house legal departments but not the victim.

The problem with “third party capture” is that offers of compensation are often made very soon after the accident, without any medical evidence, before the extent and duration of injuries can be known. Victims can feel under pressure to settle at that time but can then lose out later on when money is required for treatment or other expenses. Once a settlement is made it can be very difficult (and would certainly require court approval) to re-open a case. Independent legal advice from a specialist personal injury lawyer can be crucial and will not delay your claim or involve any legal costs.

We are a firm with 20+years experience in the personal injury field and can deal with your claim on a no-win, no-fee basis. Even if an insurer has made you an offer you can call us free at any time on 0808 178 9002.

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