Changing Your Solicitor

When you instruct a personal injury solicitor to handle your claim for compensation – whether for an accident at work, medical negligence, industrial illness, or a road traffic accident – you will want to know that the legal firm you instruct is committed to your case and dedicated to helping you receive the fullest possible compensation package.

You will also want to be kept well-informed, have your queries answered in a timely manner, and have a solicitor who really understands your case and possesses the relevant experience to handle your claim.

Vitally, particularly in the post-Jackson Report era, you’ll want to be sure that your solicitor is meeting procedural deadlines as well as providing clear and timely details on costs.

If you are concerned by the manner in which your case is being managed, you have the right to complain to your existing solicitor – using the firm’s appointed Complaints Officer – and, if the service does not improve, you may then wish to instruct another solicitor to take on your case.

Why might you want to change solicitor?

You might wish to change solicitors if any of the following occur:

• Your solicitor is never available and does not communicate regularly with you
• Your phone calls and correspondence are not being returned or answered
• Your solicitor has been changed on a number of occasions by the firm you have instructed – there is no continuity of service
• Your lawyer is not making good progress with the claim
• You are not satisfied with medical reports
• You are being encouraged to accept a low or initial settlement offer
• Your insurer allocated a solicitor and you are dissatisfied with their service
• Your claim is being allowed to drag on without progress
• Your claim is being rushed through without adequate attention to its merits

Perhaps the solicitor you previously instructed has experience of relatively routine, low-value, cases but does not have an understanding of high-value and/or complex personal injury claims you require – cases involving brain or spinal injury, for example, require a particular level of expertise.

In the majority of cases, changing a personal injury lawyer will simply involve sending your old solicitor a form so that they can recover any costs incurred at the conclusion of the case. Furthermore, it is important to remember that Regulation 6 of the Insurance Companies (LEI) Regulations should give you the freedom to choose and change your lawyer at will.

How we have helped our clients

With Healys Solicitors you can be assured that you will receive a comprehensive legal service which is always client-focused, performed by experts, and offers a range of first-class legal and non-legal assistance to ensure you receive maximum compensation and the best possible care.

Below is a brief case study on how we have helped our clients:

1. Mr T was involved in accident while riding his motorbike which caused a severe injury to his right shoulder.  Initially Mr T was dealing with a different firm of solicitors but was not happy with the service or level of expected compensation. Mr T decided to contact Healys Solicitors’ specialist personal injury team and one of our experienced solicitors, Paul Keown, was able to deal with his claim.  Paul was able to get all the paperwork handed over with ease and began working on the case almost immediately. The case was later settled out of court and Paul was able to secure Mr T £180,000 in compensation to aid in his recovery.

You can view a number of case studies on how we have helped our clients by visiting the case studies section.

So contact the team on 0800 280 0432 or fill in contact us form for us to call you back.