Claim Today Solicitors Go on the Attack Over No Win No Fee Changes
LONDON, February 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
Top personal injury firm Claim Today Solicitors have launched a radical marketing campaign attacking government changes to the legal system.
The ad, to be broadcast on cable TV channels and over the internet, features Richard O'Brien one of the firm's employees posing as a news reader. The message he delivers is an uncompromising warning to accident victims that time is running out for them to claim compensation.
The ad also includes a clip of CTS client Tilak Sharma (71) being knocked down by a speeding driver. CTS say that under the changed No Win No Fee system Mr. Sharma would have received considerably less compensation and the case might not have been settled at all.
CTS are one of the leading firms in the UK dealing with personal injury legal cases. The firm's normal advertising hangs on the strap line "Don't delay Claim today". The new ad directs anyone who was injured in an accident in the last three years, which was someone else's fault, to make a claim before it is too late with the slogan "Don't delay claim today - before the government takes your rights away."
The changes to the current system of No Win No Fee funding of legal cases are included in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill set to become law in the spring. The plans include abolishing success fees paid by defendant's insurers to successful claimant's solicitors if they lose a case at trial. The purpose of which is to encourage defendants to settle simple cases out of court. The new system will see claimants having to pay these fees out of their compensation.
The No Win No Fee system was introduced in 2000 when legal aid was abolished for personal injury claims to enable anyone regardless of their means access to justice. CTS argues that this year's changes will incentivise defendants to hold out to trail in every case putting extra financial strain on claimants which will deter all but the wealthiest of accident victims from seeking justice.
CTS Managing Director Rob Bhol said "The Government has proposed changing NWNF arrangements in an attempt to stem what it calls a "compensation culture,"but with only around 25% of accident victims ever making a claim they'reattacking a problem that doesn't exist.
"The only beneficiaries from changes to No win No Fee arrangements will be big insurance companies and rouge employers who neglect health and safety for their workers. In future many people with genuine claims for injuries caused by employers who owe them a duty of care will have no chance of seeking redress. There is though a small window of opportunity before the law is changed that's why we are urging all accident victims to claim today."
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