A loss adjuster listed on the New York Stock Exchange has announced plans to enter the UK legal market with a joined-up service for injury and property claims.

Crawford & Company, which promotes itself as one of the world’s largest independent providers of claims management solutions, has applied to the Solicitors Regulation Authority to be licensed as an alternative business structure in England and Wales.

The firm already has 20 offices across the UK and will employ lawyers to provide an ‘end-to-end solution’ for motor, casualty and property claims.

Jason Spencer (pictured), a former partner at north-west firm Horwich Farrelly, will join Crawford as a director to set up the new structure. It will work alongside its third party administrator Broadspire.

‘There exists a growing need for innovation in the claims sector and a demand from many parts of the insurance market for an aligned end-to-end solution for motor, casualty and property claims,’ Spencer said. ‘We will not be afraid to break the mould in creating proactive solutions for the challenges ahead.’

Crawford & Company is based in Atlanta, Georgia and operates in more than 70 countries. It has previously worked in business process outsourcing, consulting services for claims management and legal settlement administration.

Stock exchange listed law firms have experienced mixed fortunes since the 2007 Legal Services Act liberalised the legal market.

Gateley, the first existing firm to float on the stock exchange, has enjoyed steady progress since going public last summer, while listed entities Fairpoint and Redde have absorbed law firms.

Australian firm Slater and Gordon, which trades on its domestic stock exchange, suffered a well-publicised drop in its share price value last year, although it secured its future through a new agreement with lenders.

The listed entity bought by Slater and Gordon last year, London-listed Quindell, experienced persistent financial and regulatory problems after buying up several legal businesses.

Crawford’s aim of providing an ‘end-to-end solution’ has echoes of Quindell’s publicity, which once said its insurance solutions and supply chains ‘address the full end-to-end cycle’.