Pursuing a claim

Carter Hodge has a long established personal injury practice which has helped thousands of people with injuries to recover compensation. Individual partners and Solicitors in the firm are members of :-

• The Law Society Personal Injury Panel
• The Law Society Clinical Negligence Panel
• Association of Personal Injury Lawyers
• Spinal Injuries Association
• Action for Victims of Medical Accidents

We offer specialist advice on all aspects of personal injury litigation including the choice of medical and rehabilitation experts and experts in relation to employment services and financial losses.

Funding

We are able to offer a range of funding options.

Private Fee Paying
We are willing to act for clients on a fee paying basis and will discuss an estimate of fees with clients who wish to proceed in this way at the outset.

Public Funding
For the majority of personal injury claims public funding (Legal Aid) is no longer available. We will discuss with you the possibility of an application for public funding but it is unlikely to be an option for all but the most expensive claims.

Conditional Fees
A Conditional Fee Agreement (no win - no fee) is an arrangement where a Solicitor recovers no costs if the claim is unsuccessful. To balance that possibility the Solicitor will be paid a success fee in addition to the normal costs recoverable if the claim succeeds. The percentage uplift on the costs recovered is agreed with the client at the time the Conditional Fee Arrangement is entered into. The percentage uplift will differ dependent upon the type of case and the prospects of success. It is possible to recover the success fee from the losing party.

It is usual to purchase insurance against losing and having to pay the otherside’s costs and since lst April 2000 it should also be possible to recover most if not all of the insurance premium from the otherside upon winning a claim.
We will discuss with you the possibility of a Conditional Fee Agreement and provide information about insurance products available.

Insurance
Since the withdrawal of Legal Aid a number of insurance companies have introduced a range of insurance products both before and after the event.

After the event is cover which can be purchased after the accident which leads to the legal claim. These policies provide cover for your costs and your opponent’s costs if your case does not succeed. We will be able to guide you as to the range of products available.

You may already have before the event Insurance. It may be attached to an existing insurance policy such as for household content cover or a motor policy. An insurance company might try to insist that you use their own panel Solicitors rather than your own choice of Solicitor but you may not have to accept this.

We will advise you on the scope of cover available to you upon production of the relevant policy.

Trade Union Help
If you are a member of a Trade Union they may be able to assist you with a legal claim.

Disclaimer
Please note that this information is given on the basis that no liability is accepted for any errors or fact or opinion it may contain. Professional advice should always be obtained before applying the information to particular circumstances.
Carter Hodge do not accept legal responsibility for the accuracy of any particular statement.