Third Party Capture by insurance companies face mounting criticism from Consumers
The purpose of third party capture is to reduce the level of compensation paid out to people claiming personal injury compensation.
Third party capture is when an insurance company deals directly with a person who has a claim against their policyholder. Some insurance companies waste no time offering to settle personal injury claims while victims of accidents are still in pain.
When a claim is notified to the insurance company by their policyholder and if they feel that their own driver was at fault, they contact the injured person direct and offer to settle the claim immediately.
Quite often the amount offered in compensation by the insurance company is no where near the actual compensation the injured person could have got if they had used a specialist personal injury solicitor.
Some insurance companies are aggressive and bullying in an attempt to lower their pay-outs. If the injured person refuses an offer of settlement, the insurance company may offer to appoint a solicitor from their own panel to represent the person making a claim.
We have come across several cases where victims of accidents have been pressured to accept under compensation as a result of these tactics.
We took on a case recently from a man who had been pressured to accept £1500 by a leading insurance company. They had called him within hours of the accident and their employee had visited him at home while he was in severe pain. Thankfully the man was not in a position to refuse or accept their offer. We settled the claim for £10,000.
The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers is calling for the whole process of third party capture to be regulated.
The Charity Brake is concerned that insurance companies are pushing accident victims to settle quickly, before getting legal or medical advice.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) on its website advises insurance companies to treat third party claimants fairly and should inform victims of accidents of their rights including their right to independent legal advice.
Anyone suffering loss or injury as a result of a car or road traffic accident could be entitled to compensation. Our free
Car Accident Compensation Guide provides more details.