Dealing with referral fees is just part of the approach to tackling personal injury challenges says InterResolve.
London 30th June 2011 – Peter Ashdown Barr, Chief Executive of InterResolve, said:
“The comments from Jack Straw and others about referral fees highlight why change is needed to an outmoded and outdated process.
But the abolition or capping of referral fees needs to happen alongside a corresponding reduction in solicitors’ fixed fees. Otherwise there will just be a windfall for solicitors and no reduction in actual claims costs.
Action on referral fees could remove some of the worst excesses of claims farming, fraud and profiteering from claims. However, the use of alternative claims settlement processes provides a platform to address all of the concerns currently being expressed about injury claims.
The solution is already here and working through the use of pre-solicitor mediation without referral fees. It is available for take-up without the need for lengthy debate, legislation or deference to an outdated notion that all claims must be automatically referred to lawyers, regardless of the circumstances or the claimant’s preference.
This is a proven alternative that avoids the referral fees issue and should now be adopted on a much wider basis.”
