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Can you change solicitors during a compensation claim?

By Ian Morris | Updated September 14th, 2023

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In the vast majority of personal injury compensation claims, claimants report high levels of satisfaction with the service they receive from their specialist personal injury Solicitor.

Direct2Compensation work hard to ensure that our Solicitors are able to settle the majority of claims for personal injury compensation quickly and in our clients favour. Over the years, we have developed a specialist claims process that provides a great service. Our clients are kept up to date, know how to communicate with their Solicitor and understand what the claim means to them in terms of costs. So, luckily for us, we don’t have an issue with clients complaining about their Solicitor or wishing to switch Solicitors during the process of the claim – unless the claimant is coming to us having had a bad experience elsewhere!

Sadly, a good personal injury claims experience is not the case for everyone. When a claimant has instructed a Solicitor to pursue their claim for personal injury compensation on a conditional fee agreement basis, how easy is it to switch to a different solicitor if the claimant is unhappy with the way in which they are managing the claim?

The claim must be financially viable

One consideration a ‘new’ Solicitor must take in to account when considering a claim that is already under instruction with another, is whether the matter will be financially viable for them. This is due to the requirement for a new Solicitor to meet the costs incurred by the previous Solicitor should the new Solicitor go on to successfully settle the claim for the client.

As Solicitors work on quite restricted fees in standard personal injury compensation cases, sadly it is often just not financially viable for a new Solicitor to undertake involvement in a claim where a previous Solicitor has acted. Solicitors must undertake a considerable amount of working hours and incur costs when pursuing a claim for compensation and if they then had to hand over the majority of the fees recovered on success of a claim, there would be no merit in the effort and cost that they had incurred. With this in mind, claimants need to be careful when instructing their Solicitor to ensure that they are instructing the right specialist with the right expertise in order to minimise the risk of the claim not being handled correctly. Claimants must also be very careful when considering withdrawing from their current Solicitor or seeking to cancel their claim – on two counts: The potential exposure to costs under the terms of the CFA they have signed when instructing their Solicitor and not being able to find a new Solicitor able to take on their ongoing case.

In cases where the potential settlement value of a claim is substantial, it is much easier for a new Solicitor to undertake involvement as the potential fee recovery for the successful Solicitor would be higher and this would render the financial viability issue redundant.

Of course, if you can’t find a new solicitor there’s always the possibility of claiming by yourself, but this can be fraught with difficulty.

Switching if your solicitor closes your claim

The most common reason that someone comes to us after having already instructed another claims management company or Solicitor is because their Solicitor has closed their claim, having taken the view that the prospects of succeeding are less than 50%. Remember, your solicitor only gets paid IF YOU WIN. If a Solicitor believes that a claim is unlikely to succeed, they will close the matter. It’s important to remember that by pursuing a claim that is unlikely to succeed, a Solicitor is only risking further costs to themselves should the claim fail. Whilst it costs you nothing if you lose, there are costs to the Solicitor and they must make a decision as to whether it is in your or their best interests to continue.

If your solicitor has closed your claim and advised that the 3rd party will not admit liability and that the defendant has a very strong defence to the claim that the courts would likely accept should your Solicitor continue to take the matter to court (their only option other than close the claim if liability is in dispute), A new Solicitor will not view the case any differently without new evidence available to strengthen the claim or weaken the defence raised. With this in mind, if your claim has ‘failed’ and been closed by your Solicitor due to a robust defence, you should be prepared to accept that there is no realistic prospect of succeeding with a new Solicitor unless you can uncover new evidence that had not previously formed part of your claim.

However, you do have a right to seek a second opinion and to that end, if you feel strongly about your claim, you can contact us as we can get a Solicitor to consider whether there is merit in undertaking a review your claim file to see if there is a way forward. Understandably, any claimant who has a claim that has been closed or failed will be disappointed, yet most understand why this happens as long as they are given a simple and clearly understandable reason for this by their solicitor.

Complaints against a current or previous solicitor

Occasionally, clients come to us when they believe that the Solicitor they have instructed to run their claim for personal injury compensation has acted negligently or handled the claim poorly. It is rare that Solicitors manage claims poorly or neglectfully, but we’re all humans and mistakes can be made. Indeed, when we look in to such enquiries it is often the case that the Solicitor has given the client bad news regarding their claim and the client doesn’t like it. We all want someone to blame when things don’t go our way and this can happen in personal injury compensation claims too. However, when there does appear to be a genuine case of poor claim management by a Solicitor or negligent behaviour, there are things that a claimant can do in order to rectify the situation, with the last resort being switching solicitors to a new firm.

When it comes to personal injury compensation claims, it is always important to be honest and transparent. With this in mind, Direct2Compensation advise clients that it is not always in their best interests (or even needed) to switch Solicitors with their claim. There is a correct way to handle a complaint about a Solicitor and their handling of your claim and often things can be resolved with your current Solicitor which if done, will see your claim settle more quickly than if you switch to a new Solicitor. If you believe that you have a genuine complaint against your current Solicitor, here is a list of the things you can do about it:

Complain to your Solicitors office and ask for a written reply to your complaint. In the majority of cases, you will find that there may have been a lack of communication about a certain point of interest in the claim or that you may not have received an important bit of correspondence. By complaining, your Solicitor will have every chance to rectify the situation quickly.
If you are not happy with your Solicitors response to your complaint, you can contact their regulator – the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. They have a complaints department and can hold your Solicitor to account for their actions.
If you are not sure what you should expect from your personal injury compensation Solicitor, contact us as we can advise you on this and let you know what you should expect from them.
If you feel really aggrieved about your current Solicitor, that the relationship with them is beyond repair and that you have no faith in them it is probably then best to end their instruction and authorise a new firm to investigate taking the claim forward. This should only be done once the above process has been attempted and exhausted.

Of course, you might just want to discuss the way in which your claim has been handled and not yet be sure that you wish to switch solicitors. We’ll be more than happy to give you our honest opinion and let you know what you can do about it and if needs be help you to instruct a competent specialist no win no fee Solicitor to pursue your claim for personal injury compensation.

Direct2Compensation can boast a proud record of excellent service and work with some really great specialist firms – we call them our Solicitor partners. Find out what is so special about us, or take a look at the feedback shown on our testimonials.

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Comments & Questions

Read on for questions and advice about claiming...

I am a member of unite and my union has assigned me a solicitor for my claim of injury at work but these solicitors are negligent, changing solicitors without any notification, they’re rude and I’ve found out the solicitor they have assigned me has never dealt with work related compensation, can I change the firm although my union referred me to them?

You can switch Solicitors but you should only attempt to do so as a last resort. Therefore, before you do switch you should make a formal complaint to your existing Solicitors (check their website for details as to their complaints procedure) and afford them the opportunity to resolve your complaint. Should they fail to do so, you would then be within your rights to switch Solicitors.

Hi, since my last a question here re: my motorcycle accident. I’ve tried changing solicitor. On the 8th Aug the firm dealing with the case recurved my signed authority for another solicitor to deal with the case. It is now October & they’ve yet to hand over my file. Is there any time limit to this or are they in their rights to delay in this manner?
RTC 24/12/18. Offending driver charged in May. Yet I’ve had no offer of transport since as my bike was a write off.

There is no prescribed time frame for a previous Solicitor to release a file to a new Solicitor. In most cases, one would expect the process to take around 1 month.

I am with a solicitor’s firm at the present moment about a work place accident that happened a year ago. I want to change solicitors because they have a paralegal working on the case and I would prefer a solicitor. What happens when you transfer your case to another solicitor’s firm? Does the case start from scratch or do you pick up from where they left off?

If a new Solicitor were to take over the running of a No Win No Fee claim for personal injury compensation from another firm, the new Solicitor would obtain the previous Solicitors file of papers, review the work undertaken and then commence action on the claim from the point that it has reached to date.

My solicitors have told me they are not willing to work for me anymore! My claim is an RTA case. The 3rd party have admitted full liability and the claim has been running for over a year now. I have had an MRI scan and the report from that indicates that I may have to have spinal surgery.

I have been fed up with my Solicitors and did fall out with a portal team manager due to their handling of the matter.

I have been on morphine for over a year, so that doesn’t help matters! I have no solicitor now and don’t no what to do?

If liability has been admitted in full, it is hard to explain why your previous Solicitors would close the claim. You mention falling out with them and perhaps they have taken exception to your language or complaint? That said, it should not prevent you from locating a new Solicitor and we could possibly help with that.

I would suggest that you should email me a description of your accident including the date, time and location along with information as to what happened and the injuries sustained. If you could also include your current symptoms and the details of the vehicles involved (Registration Numbers) and your previous Solicitors name and reference, we’ll have our Road Traffic Accident Solicitors contact you to discuss the potential of their taking over the running of your claim on a No Win No Fee basis.

One point to note here is that you clearly seem to be suffering with a serious and long term injury. In that case, the length of time that the claim may take to reach a stage of settlement, could be some time. This is because your Solicitor will want to ensure that a full understanding of your long term recovery or what limits your recovery will have in order to be certain that any settlement is made at an appropriate level of damages. It may be possible to secure an interim payment award to help with some day-to-day living expenses whilst the full understanding is reached, but you should be prepared to see this matter through and follow the advice of any instructed Solicitor to ensure that your claim is settled appropriately and in your best interests.

I have had a complex claim with a solicitor regarding toxic megacolin I had a bowel issues and brain injury kidney failure and developed sepsis. The current Solicitor only looked into my bowel problems and not the sepsis. I was in A&E for three days and no sepsis test was done and I went into septic shock and was in a coma for four months and in hospital for months to rehabilitate and to learn to walk etc. I have been told that they can’t take the case on regarding the bowel problems but I have asked on a number of occasions to look at the lack of a sepsis test what can I do?

If your injuries/incident took place less than 3 years ago, you are free to discuss a potential claim with any Solicitor. If your Solicitor is unwilling to or unable to pursue a claim for you, it could indicate that they are of the view that the claim is not sufficiently strong to enable a successful outcome. It could also indicate that they do not feel sufficiently expert in such a claim to be able to represent your best interests. However, it is always wise and sensible to seek a 2nd opinion and we can certainly help with that.

If you would like to take this further with us and see what the Solicitors we work with think about your possible claim, please go to our ‘start a claim’ page and input your details and description of what happened. We’ll then be able to present your enquiry to a qualified personal injury Solicitor who can review the enquiry for you.

I am not happy with the way my personal injury solicitors handling my case, so I stopped the claim (not formally) but they send me their cost(bill).

I don’t know what to do in this situation.

If you have signed a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) you have a duty to cooperate with your Solicitor and provide them with instructions. If you fail to do that, you could then be liable for their costs.

However, if your Solicitor has mishandled your claim or you are not happy with their work, you do have the right to switch to a new Solicitor who may given an undertaking to the previous Solicitor regarding costs. In your case, you need to complain to your previous Solicitor formally regarding the reasons for your unhappiness with their work.

I had accident in Dec hitting pothole and coming off my bike. I had a claim in but the solicitor who I was with advise me not to take it further. But I don’t think my case was put forward in a good way, I never heard from my solicitor. I had bad injuries, broken bone in hand and dislocated shoulder which I’m still receiving treatment from the hospital. Just don’t think my case was put across to the council, don’t think solicitor had any interest in my claim.

It is possible to have your claim reviewed by a different Solicitor who would get you to complete a form of authority to authorise them to obtain the file from your previous Solicitor.

However, the problem here could be that the defendant already has one version of events and they may not accept a different version.

If you believe that your previous Solicitor has failed you and not represented your claim properly, you should make a formal complaint to them immediately (view their complaints procedure on their website). If they cannot resolve your complaint, you could then make a complaint to the legal ombudsman service.

Hi I slipped on a wet floor in a nightclub with no hazard sign in sight , I’ve injured my back & have deangulation of my coccyx bone, this happened July 2018 & I’m still in agony having physio/accupunture & still don’t know if I need surgery as yet, my solicitor has informed me the nightclub is not admitting liability as they have an inspection sheet & toilets r inspected, the floors in toilet were thilthy & very wet when I fell but staff said they cleaned them, no way was this toilet inspected, can you advise me if I should seek advice from another solicitor as my solicitor has closed case due to cleaning Rotas in place at Time of fall.

Sadly, it would seem that your Solicitor has been forced to take the decision to close the case on the basis of a robust defence from the nightclub. It would be reasonable to expect another Solicitor to reach the same conclusion.

In November 2016 I had a fall on somebody else’s property. Building work was being taken out but no safety barriers put up, resulting in me falling down a hole which wasn’t visible in the dark. I went to hospital and as a result of this fall I dislocated and broke my shoulder and also broke my foot. I tried to make a claim at the time with a solicitors by the name of Michael Rose Baylis. It was a difficult case as the details from the builders was a dead end. This seemed to be due to them not being registered and therefore having no insurance. My solicitor at the time suddenly gave up and sent me an automated email stating he had left the company. I was left in limbo and gave up. It is only recently when somebody suggested trying to claim again with a ‘better’ solicitors. Do you think this is something that is worth pursuing?

Whilst it may be worth taking up the claim again with a specialist personal injury firm, there are a couple of obvious issues against you. Firstly, whilst you have a claim limitation period of 3 years from the date of an accident in which you can pursue a claim for personal injury compensation and although you are within that, almost all Solicitors will require a minimum of 6 months of that limitation period remaining to be able to take the claim on a No Win No Fee basis. In your case, you could well be within 6 months of your 3 year period.

Secondly and perhaps more importantly, what evidence do you have of the accident site and to support your claim?

My young daughter met with an accident in December 2018. She had the right of way and another car came in front of her and she crashed into the passenger side of the other car. Both the cars had to be written off. The other party insurance company accepted the liability immediately and paid for the car. Now she has spoken to injury lawyers, filled in their paperwork and they are offering her just £1000 for the injury without even sending her for a medical examination. She suffered from trauma due to this accident and still cries and becomes upset the minute we start talking about the accident. She hasn’t bought a car as yet because she is still going through the trauma and chest pain. At this stage can she decline the offer and choose to go to another solicitor? Please help.

Without knowing the full details of the accident, we cannot advise specifically. However, on the basis of your description of your daughters road traffic accident and the trauma caused to her – both physically and mentally, it would be unwise to accept a settlement of £1,000. You mention that she continues to suffer chest pain and emotional trauma and we are now more than 4 months after the accident. Therefore, one would reasonably expect a settlement of a higher value than that currently offered.

It is hard to understand why her Solicitor has not instructed a medical expert to assess her injuries – both physical and the emotional upset – and to provide a detailed report as the contents of such a report is likely to lead to her settling her claim for personal injury compensation at a far higher value.

Your daughter can change Solicitors, but before she does, she should make a formal complaint to her existing Solicitors and give them an opportunity to act on her instructions to seek medical report evidence and a fair settlement for her claim.

Should she wish to switch Solicitors, she could use the ‘start a claim’ page of our website to make contact with us. We have expert specialist Solicitors who can take over the running of her claim should such action be needed.

Hi, I had a rta in March 2017. Got a call from injury lawyers 2 days after to make a claim. I agreed, went for a medical the following month. Didn’t hear anything for a while, so called them and was told they couldn’t retrieve my records from GP. My records were still in my maiden name. So in 2018 went for another medical assessment (over a year later) where I innocently mentioned my injury had caused further pain up my arm, from wrist to my elbow which wasn’t mentioned in previous assessment, now they get back to me saying there’s inconsistencies in my statement about my injuries. The other party want to go to court even though their client has admitted liability at scene and in police statement. Other members in this rta have had their claims settled. My solicitor made me feel like I was in the wrong.
Can you please give me some advice because I don’t even feel like talking to my solicitor, not like they ever get in touch anyway.
I have nothing to hide or lie about but the prospect of going to court is quite daunting.
Thank you.

As long as you have not acted in a fundamentally dishonest way in ANY aspect of your claim, you need not have any concerns whatsoever. Of course, you need to know what discrepancies the 3rd party are highlighting.

In cases for personal injury compensation, if a claimant has been shown to have acted dishonestly in any aspect of the claim, the entire claim will be failed and the claimant will have to bear the costs of the defendant – EVEN if the claim was managed on a No Win No Fee basis. For example, in a case where liability has been admitted, there is no argument that an accident happened and that it was caused by a defendant. Therefore the claimant should succeed with their claim. However, if the claimant were deemed to have exaggerated or falsified ANY aspect of their injury or exaggerated or falsified ANY aspect of their special damages claim, they will be found to have been fundamentally dishonest and not only lose their right to claim, but also have to pay the costs of the defendant.

If this is not the case for you, you have nothing to worry about and really do need to speak with your Solicitor to make sure that they understand that you are acting honestly and need their assistance.

Hi, I had a road traffic accident last week and i just informed my insurer but i had a call yesterday from some solicitors regarding my accident and they had all my details and the third party’s as well. I thought they are dealing on behalfof my insurance and i agreed with them to proceed with my case but no documents have been signed. Can i now withdraw my case without paying any fees?

Yes you can. If you have not signed any No Win No Fee agreement (formally known as Conditional Fee Agreement) you would not have any concerns if withdrawing your claim. Indeed, even if you do sign a conditional fee agreement, there is a standard 14-day cooling off period in which you can change your mind without any penalty.

You have every right to pursue a claim for compensation if you were injured in a non-fault road traffic accident. However, we would advise of being very wary of acting on the basis of a cold-call from a Law Firm as such work is outside of the regulatory legalities placed upon our industry. You should seek an independent law firm of your own choosing and instruct a specialist road traffic accident Solicitor to work for you on a No Win No Fee basis.

We would be happy to assist you with this process and invite you to call us on 01225430285 or use the ‘start a claim’ page of our website to make further contact.

I was represented by a firm of solicitors I did not ask for ( due to my 1st choice solicitors closing practices) over 2 yrs liability was admitted straight away from third party insurance but my solicitors failed to keep in touch with me, they lied to me on so many times. I complained to their managers but nothing changed they completely mishandled my claim so I had to change solicitors, now I’m having to pay 50% of my award which is now being negotiated can this be legal?

The situation in which you find yourself should immediately be referred to the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) and Legal Ombudsman Service (LOS). Both of these bodies have powers to investigate the handling of your situation and can, if appropriate take action against any parties found to have acted negligently.

I have a solicitor at the moment working on a no win no fee claim for personal injury compensation. I had an accident in 2017 on the 10th November at 2pm. I slipped and fell and suffered a neck & back injury and had a chemical on the back of my hand from an unknown substance. I am having ongoing health problems. My Solicitor hasn’t been too helpful with my case and he recently told me they may not continue with my claim. Would you be interested in taking the case on?

Whether or not another Solicitor will be able to take over the running of your claim will largely depend on the reason that your previous Solicitor has closed their file. If the defendants have produced a strong defence and your Solicitor has been given expert Counsel opinion that advises that the claim is unlikely to succeed, i’m afraid any other Solicitor will be likely to elect to not pursue the claim.

My 74 year old father was approached by a company to pursue a hearing loss claim. He signed with them forgetting that he’d already signed previously with another solicitor months before (he got confused and thought the first one wasn’t handling it anymore) the second firm has now discovered this and wants him to pay £5000 for their fees etc over the year or so they say they were pursuing his claim. My fathers memory is not so good these days and he’s being tested for dementia. Does he have to pay this amount to the second solicitors? He really had no idea what he was doing and I’m annoyed as they called him and he’s elderly and that it took so long for the second firm to discover the first was already involved.

Have you spoken with both firms about the situation? Most Solicitors are reasonable and would understand if you explained that your Father possibly has dementia and issues with memory. The best course of action would be to cancel the instruction to the newer firm and allow the previous firm to continue to represent his claim.

What happens if I’m trying to change solicitors because I’ve lost faith in my current one and there are refusing to release the files until they are paid there outstanding fees are there ways around this?
I’m worried my case will be on hold for a very long time if I choose to change.

Changing Solicitors in a personal injury compensation claim is possible, but it is never easy and certainly is not always the best solution. However, in some cases it can be the only option if all other attempts to resolve the situation with the current Solicitor have failed.

In No Win No Fee compensation claims, a Solicitor will be reluctant to take on a claim from a previous firm of Solicitors as the work that they will then do to succeed may not provide a very good cost return. In No Win No Fee compensation claims, a Solicitor who has acted in a claim will be entitled to some of the costs should a new Solicitor then go on to succeed with the claim. In this case, the new Solicitor can provide an undertaking to the old Solicitor to meet their lien costs.

I was a passenger in my husbands car in June 2017 when we were hit from behind by a lorry on the M25. We were spun around and facing oncoming traffic, we then hit a concrete wall before stopping. I hit my head on the door and had a huge lump on the front of my head, 2 black eyes and neck and shoulder pain, I was taken to queens hospital in Essex where i had a ct scan, my husband decided to not go to hospital as he was worried about how to get car off motorway, when i arrived at the hospital i had a ct scan and had concussion and was very shocked.
Then my son contacted a solicitor because we had been involved in an accident a year previously, however this was almost 2 years ago and the other party has admitted liability and my husband accepted a payout of £1900, however the solicitor does not keep us up to date and i have had no treatment for my neck i was sent to see a consultant but received no treatment. I’m very concerned that my solicitor is going to accept a payment on my behalf and just send me a cheque as he did my husband. If it had been a minor accident i wouldn’t be bothering but it was a serious accident where we could have been killed and the physiological affect is huge and the fact that i have had no physiotherapy and still in pain, i don’t feel this is right, i don’t know if its too late to change but i’m not happy if this is how people are treated after such a serious accident, i would very appreciate your view on this.

There is no way that your Solicitor should be accepting or declining any offers without having discussed such outcomes with you first. Given the description of your Solicitor, it could well be a sensible move to switch to a specialist independent Personal Injury Solicitor. Further, if your injuries or psychological trauma is ongoing, it is vital that these matters are discussed with your GP and added to your medical records and that the damage caused to you in this regard is properly accounted for during your claim for personal injury compensation.

In cases such as yours, we would ensure that the full extent of your injuries (both physical and psychological) are taken in to account in order that should you win your claim, you would receive a settlement that appropriately compensates you for the distress, trauma and upset caused to you.

I am currently going through a claim regarding an accident I had in 2016, I was in a taxi at the time and the taxi company referred me to make my claim through their solicitors. However I feel as if he has not been helpful with my case and is extremely difficult to get hold of. The other side are denying liability despite it being very obvious what happened. I would really like to change my solicitors but wanted to speak to someone about what has happened to get some advice. Is it possible for a solicitor to contact me by email as I work long hours and it is extremely complex to go through on the phone.

It is possible to switch Solicitors if you have lost faith in the firm representing you so far and our Solicitors do have the ability to take over the running of a claim from a previous Solicitor.

We have made a request for a specialist Solicitor partner of ours to review and respond to your email.

I had a injury 3 years ago, I approached a solicitor and he agree to take my claim. I had written confirmation and I provided almost everything I can to support my claim. During the 3 years the communication with solicitors wasn’t great I always have to call him to find out about the claim. Although he knows my injury was bad he didn’t requested me to see the doctor all he asked was for my hospital letters of appointments and medication. I trusted he was doing a good job and let continue. At the end of three years he started claiming I didn’t collaborate by providing with my revenue paper, up to that point he didn’t send me to see a doctor so they can give him the report. At the end of 3 years period he send me to see the doctor which I missed the appointment for that reason he closed my claim, and he told me to find another solicitor to represent me. However he submitted my claim to court but I don’t have representative. Please can you advise me what to do in this circumstance.
Looking forward to your response.

If the claim has been submitted to the courts, you may still be able to pursue your claim. I would suggest that you contact us so that we can immediately pass you to a specialist Solicitor to discuss this situation with you.

Solicitors are pursuing a personal injury claim for me. The amount they intend to claim seems rather low to me. This amount was advised to me in an eMail today. I will not have the opportunity to discuss this until the return of my solicitor from leave on 3.October. Is there any way I can get a sit down meeting with another firm of solicitors for a second opinion before giving my current solicitors the go ahead?

It will be very difficult for another firm to give you a view on the claim value as they will not have access to the expert medical report that your Solicitor should be basing the valuation of your claim upon.

In your case, I assume that you have undergone a medical assessment with an expert. This expert will have then written a report for your Solicitor detailing the injuries sustained, the current situation and a prognosis for full recovery or statement as to any limited recovery. Your Solicitor will then have taken this report to a Barrister to obtain an expert view as to the appropriate level of damages to be pursued.

Therefore, you need to speak to your Solicitor to find out why they have applied a valuation that you feel is low.