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Coming up to the second year anniversary I had zero contact from S&G, despite me emailing them monthly. It took me going the social media route and going via their general customer service number to get a response. I was then ringing them weekly to get updates before it was eventually sorted two months later.
Sadly you do have to stay on top of your solicitor to get things moving.
Ste_S-
Calling every other week and still here I am
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hI
I am going through with a claim at the moment. I was persuaded to use an accident claims company who referred me to a firm of solicitors on a no win no fee basis. From april 14 no win no fee arrangements could no longer add legal costs to the settlement amount and your legal costs are met out of any settlement you receive, and these are capped at 25 % of any settlement. Judicial Guideline amounts of compensation for injuries were increased by 10% to compensate for this. I do not know if this only applies to no win no fee agreements and not to a standard hourly paid solicitor. It is important to remember that you are still legally liable for legal costs including the other party's should you lose, and you would take out an indemnity insurance (around £200) to cover this.
The advantage of no win no fee is that these solicitors will usually front up for the indemnity and any independent medicals required so you do not have to put anything up front. An hourly paid solicitor may also do this but they may want paying from time to time dependent on how long the case lasts and the amount of billable hours and other costs incurred.
The downside is that if you later wish to change solicitors it can be financially unviable as you will have to pay their costs before they release your case file. Once a medical has been done you are stuck with your initial choice.
I get the impression that no win no fee solicitors are a bit of an assembly line and since the changes in April 14 look to get quick settlements with minimum input and the insurers are happy to collude in this process as it cost them less to pay out smaller settlements quickly.
I went the no win fee because I did not have the funds to cover the independent medicals required nor could I have afforded to commit to paying periodical solicitor bills up front even if I was reimbursed at a later date in the event of a successful claim.
Had I had sufficient funds I would , based on my experience with this particular no win no fee solicitor, have gone with an hourly paid solicitor. Your mum may have legal expenses cover with her home or car insurance which might pay for this preferred route? It is worth checking.
My experience of no win no fee has not been a good one but I am hopeful of a successful outcome eventually. Other no win no fee solicitors may be better though and I have experience of only one!
best of luck with the case. Keep receipts for all travel in connection with the claim hospital, doctor trips etc as these can be claimed from the other party.
PhilDAS
jonH
I've been going through cams. Coming up to two years since my crash and not a penny yet despite the driver being prosecuted by cps so liability proven etc. It's armstrong solicitors dragging their feet though and cams themselves were great, got me a new cannondale carbon synapse to ride for months free of charge while my bike was out of action etc