The FSA has recently published a document to make it quite plain to the providers of legal expenses insurance that they are not permitted to force you to use the solicitors they choose to send you to. The document is here. FSA warning.
So at long last the move gathers pace to enact a european law that which was inadequatley impliemented here initially and its clear the choice of solicitor is yours. Of course it may take a while for it to sink in at some offices but one expects the sham policies and the silly minor premiums for legal expenses will now come to an end. It will be an even playing field for the profession and competition can be fair. At last !!
Of course there has long been disquiet about the length insurers will go to inorder to make it awkward for clients to use non panel solicitors local to them. The insurers suggest that they best control quality that way. But staggering sums in the order of millions change hands to secure work for firms who join the panel and its not always for the better. Exclusivity is a boon for a legal expenses insurer. Yet some of those firms are ruddy good – I lectured to a few of them on a number of courses and they were just as committed as anyone else to securing fair and decent justice for victims of accidents. Some however are sadly not so good. So a word to the wise don’t look at the adverts and the decor check the person who actually runs your case it makes a real difference to many outcomes.
