Did your solicitor overcharge you for your Personal Injury Claim? You may have been charged a secret commission or paid hidden fees.
Clients of some law firms were being overcharged for services relating to their personal injury (PI) claims, being charged hidden commissions relating to After The Event insurance policies (ATE) and being pressured into signing fee agreements within minutes of introductions.
As a result of these actions, law firms are breaching their fiduciary duties and the Solicitors Code of Conduct which could mean a full refund of all your fees, including your success fee and any secret commissions you paid.
After The Event insurance is purchased to protect against adverse costs in relation to a failed legal claim; covering the defendants costs if your claim was unsuccessful. ATE is often a deferred premium, meaning that you only pay for the insurance costs if your claim is successful. ATE for PI cases was generally a cheap insurance policy, often £25-£50, but some law firms were charging over £500 for the insurance. This premium was then filtered back into the law firm from the insurance company, via a third party, in the form of a secret commission and recognised as revenue.
An average PI claim is around £2,000, with fees at 25% inc. VAT (£500). Once you include the cost of an inflated ATE policy you could be paying a significant percentage of your redress in fees and secret commission.
For Example:
| Average Claim | High Claim Value | Low Claim Value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Damages awarded to you: | £2,000.00 | £30,000.00 | £750.00 |
| Success fee (25%): | -£500.00 | -£7,500.00 | -£187.50 |
| Inflated ATE fee: | -£250.00 | -£250.00 | -£250.00 |
| Total costs to you: | -£750.00 | -£7,750.00 | -£437.50 |
| % of damages paid in fees | 37.5% | 25.88% | 58.33% |
If you want to find out more including your eligibility to claim compensation, please complete the below form.
Start your claim here: