Fresh warnings from road safety charity over insurance companies
A national news story that involves Camps has been featured on BBC radio recently, after we reported an insurance company that had been harassing several of our clients with its underhanded tactics. Road safety charity BRAKE has voiced its concern that insurance companies are pushing accident victims to settle their claims far too quickly – often within hours of their accident, before they have had time to take stock of events.
Jane Horton is a spokesperson for BRAKE; she says insurers should not make this kind of direct and often unsolicited contact. Speaking to the BBC she said, “It’s as if having been made a victim once… you’re then being made a victim twice by then being approached when you’re not really equipped to deal with it.” The Motor Accident Solicitors Society (MASS), of which Camps Solicitors is a member, has joined BRAKE in calling for tighter regulation of insurance companies to put an end to these practices.
One of those companies singled out for criticism in the BBC radio programme, to be broadcast next week, is Quinn Direct. An ex-member of staff at the insurer told BBC Radio 4’s Money Box programme that his role in the firm was to “doorstep” third parties, sometimes only hours after an accident. At these “doorsteppings” offers were made to the accident victims to get them to settle their claims up front, for much less than they were actually worth.
The rules which govern how insurance companies must behave only mention their own clients, not third party claimants. This is why Camps Solicitors will be taking a keen interest in the outcome of a Financial Services Authority investigation into insurance company tactics used on third parties when it is published later this year.
If you have been involved in an accident that wasn’t your fault and you have received unwanted communications from the other party’s insurer, you need independent legal advice. Camps Solicitors can offer you expert legal advice to help you to make a No-Win No-Fee injury compensation claim. For more information call 0800 092 8586 to speak with a member of staff about making a claim.
