header-logo header-logo

Solicitors told to steer clear of unregulated claims managers

27 April 2007
Issue: 7270 / Categories: Legal News , Legal services , Regulatory , Profession
printer mail-detail

Solicitors dealing with unregulated claims referral companies or claims management companies could face disciplinary sanctions or even prosecution from this week.

Regulation of claims management services—which was brought in by the Compensation Act 2006 and is backed by criminal sanctions—came into force on Monday.

Solicitors have been warned by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to check the status of any claims management company which provides their firm with regulated claims management services.

SRA chair Peter Williamson says: “We expect solicitors to take care that they are only using companies which are properly regulated. These are important measures designed to protect the public from claims farmers who have been using unscrupulous tactics and aggressive selling techniques.”

Claims management companies must comply with new rules of conduct covering advertising, marketing and soliciting of business. For example, clients must be given certain information before they sign a contract and there is a duty to have a complaints procedure.

Mark Boleat, head of claims management regulation at the Department for Constitutional Affairs, says: “We will be closely managing the activities of claims management businesses and will not hesitate to take regulatory action where necessary.”

Issue: 7270 / Categories: Legal News , Legal services , Regulatory , Profession
printer mail-details

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
In this week's NLJ, Steven Ball of Red Lion Chambers unpacks how advances in forensic science finally unmasked Ryland Headley, jailed in 2025 for the 1967 rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne. Preserved swabs and palm prints lay dormant for decades until DNA-17 profiling produced a billion-to-one match
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
back-to-top-scroll