The practice of 'third-party capture' by insurers came under sustained attack from claimant personal injury lawyers last week.


The chiefs of both the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) and Motor Accident Solicitors Society (MASS) spoke out strongly against the way in which liability insurers contact claimants in an effort to settle their claim without a solicitor.



Incoming chairman Tony Goff told MASS's annual conference in Manchester that 'it takes us back 100 years, when unscrupulous employers and mine owners settled claims for a fraction of the real value before that claimant could access legal advice'.



APIL president Richard Langton told delegates at the Forum of Insurance Lawyers' (FOIL) annual conference in London that defendant insurance lawyers should be under a duty to advise victims to seek independent legal advice - as they would if it were a member of their own family who were injured.



Mr Langton said FOIL members should be better regulated when they contact unrepresented third parties. Currently when they write to injured victims on behalf of insurance clients, their duty is to the client and the court, he said. Their only obligation to the victim is not to take 'unfair advantage'.



He added: 'You have absolutely no idea of their ability to understand the settlement proposals... If this practice continues it is bound to create miscarriages of justice.'



New FOIL president Lea Brocklebank said: 'FOIL would wish to see all claimants treated fairly, whether they have representation or not. Many solicitors give litigants the option of taking independent legal advice. If they want to make an offer, then they are entitled to do that. Claimants are quite sophisticated nowadays.'



Rachel Rothwell and Neil Rose