Vincents adds 12 to RTA compensation team

Expecting a higher number of cases than ever before, Vincents has bolsteed its Preston-based Personal Injury-Road Traffic Accident department with new solicitors, senior litigators, litigation executives and administrators.

Three new litigation solicitors have been brought in to deal with the increasing number of cases being taken to court as insurance companies contest claims. Nadeem Vazar joins Vincents from Turner and White in Preston, Antonia Tziortzie from Equitas, and Natalie Tomlinson was previously with Scott Reece in Skelmersdale.

The department's workload has all but tripled over the last three years due to word-of-mouth recommendation, pro-active marketing, and in-house language specialists able to deal with clients in Greek, Polish, Punjabi and Gujarati.

"Within the next couple of years, the majority of people injured in minor road traffic accidents will therefore have to make the claim by themselves as their claims will be classed as being less than £5,000 and as such will be in the small claims track within the court where legal costs are not recoverable.

“No one quite knows the exact details of all the changes, or the exact timescale, but the overall result will undoubtedly be reduced pay-outs for victims and an inability to use legal support. They will have to fight their own cases without a solicitor’s help, even though insurers will undoubtedly still employ lawyers to act on their behalf. Although claims can be made up to three years after the date of the accident, any delay now could leave victims quite severely out of pocket.”

Cath added: “The upshot is that many road traffic accident victims will be disadvantaged by the government’s reforms, with access to justice being seriously curtailed in this country. So, it’s most definitely worth getting any claim started as quickly as possible while the legal support is still available under a Conditional Fee Agreement. “In light of the expected changes, we have increased our capacity in order to process as many claims as possible as quickly as we can, to help victims secure a fair level of damages and compensation for loss of earnings and any medical costs incurred.”