How will leaving the EU change Personal Injury Claims?

You may think that this would not be a change that would make a difference to your personal injury claim, however, MG Legal, your local personal injury solicitor Lancaster, have used certain EU rules and regulations to progress claims for our clients.  

 

One such piece of law was the European Communities (Rights against Insurers) Regulations 2002 which gave the Claimant the right to issue Court proceedings directly against the insurer of the fault party rather than having to track down and sue the fault party themselves. This has proven invaluable over the years, particularly with Road Traffic Accidents where drivers often decline to provide a full name and address, employers or public liability claims where the Defendant has a multitude of Limited companies to hide behind and cases where the Defendant simply does not cooperate or respond to claims and their identity cannot be specifically verified. 

 

The Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 2010 was created to enshrine this right into UK Law, however, not until recently, with the Insurance Act 2015 and certain amendments, was the Act brought into full force. This left a gap of some 14 years between the EU Regulation being created and the UK version becoming fully active.  

 

Whilst this particular avenue of bringing a claim is now protected for the people of the UK, there will be many other protections and routes to success that will be closed. What these are and how long, if ever, a replacement takes to come into force remains to be seen. This is why MG Legal, your local personal injury solicitor Lancaster, keeps a close eye on all developments in the Law, not just the departure from the EU but all forms of case-law which could help us bring your claim to the shortest and most favourable conclusion. 

 

Shortly, it is expected that the new Small Claims track limit for Road Traffic Accidents will come into force, meaning Claimants with only soft tissue injuries will not be able to recover any legal fees and their damages will be governed by a new damages table. This does not, however, mean that making a claim will get any easier as the insurance companies remain able to use historic case-law and regulations to Defend any claim. This is why MG Legal, your local personal injury solicitor Lancaster, recommends that you always use a solicitor for any legal matter. 

 

We always look to take all personal injury claims on a Conditional Fee Agreement (no win, no fee agreement) to ensure you have access to representation for a personal injury claim. Call, email or drop in to our offices in Lancaster, Garstang and Longridge to discuss your claim today.