Claims assessors

If you have sustained a personal injury you may be considering using the services of a claims assessor (sometimes known as a claims manager). Claims assessors offer to take up cases on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis but there may be some disadvantages, including:-

• a claims assessor will not usually be a solicitor and may not have a solicitor taking responsibility for the case. If this is so, the assessor will not be able to claim compensation through the courts and if you have suffered the injury you may receive less compensation
• the claims assessor may ask you to pay a percentage of whatever compensation you receive to the assessor. You should be aware that while paying 50% of £1,000 damages may be acceptable to you, paying 50% of £10,000 may not.

All claims assessors must be authorised by the government to carry out business. They must stick to a strict set of rules which cover how they advertise, take on business, deal with and represent clients.

If you aren't happy with the service you get from a claims assessor, you can make a complaint. They must have an internal complaints procedure which they must tell you about.

Before you use a claims assessor, you should check that they are authorised. You can report a claims assessor who isn't authorised to the Claims Management Regulation Monitoring and Compliance Unit by phone on: 0845 450 6858, or by email at: info@claimsregulation.gov.uk.

To find out more about the rules covering claims assessors and to check whether a claims assessor is authorised, go to www.claimsregulation.gov.uk/consumer.

If you are considering using a claims assessor you should first seek advice from an experienced adviser, for example, a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB