If there’s one thing guaranteed to raise the ire of both businesses and safety consultants its the mention of no win no fee.  The advent of the legislation has seen payouts to solicitors specialising in the field rise to over 150% of claims – so, what can you do to protect yourself?

Claimants are encouraged to sue businesses by a wide range of organisations advertising on TV and in all types of other media including within hospitals but the steps which you take following an accident or incident which may lead to a claim can be instrumental in defending yourself from liability.

A recent example sure to raise anger amongst all business owners is described below;

A contractor carrying out work on a residential property made an error which resulted in the home owner sustaining a minor injury.  A no win no fee case was taken against the contractor and the claimant received just £1,000 in damages.

However, the costs payable by the defendant were increased enormously by the legal costs which included a 50% success fee (the fee often charged by solicitors to cover the cost of some of their claims being unsuccessful).  The total costs were then increased to an astonishing £11,000!

Although moves are afoot to limit the referral fees, success fees and other ways which enable solicitors to squeeze every last penny from a claim the change in legislation doesn’t seem to happening with any sense of urgency – its been talked about since 2010.

So, what can you do?

Insurers are now fighting these types of claims more often but in order for them to be able to defend themselves, and your business, against these types of claims they need your help.

Following the advice below will ensure that you are in the best position to be able to limit the claim made against you.

1. Act quickly, as soon as a personal injury or other event occurs in which you feel a no win no fee claim may be issued start recording key facts including
2. The date of the incident
3. Witnesses to the incident and their contact details
4. Gather statements from witnesses (use the forms provided within our support documents)
5. Take photographs of the scene using measurements of other items to provide scale where appropriate (for example, a ruler to show the size of a hole or distance of a drop after a trip accident)
6. Gather supporting information on any equipment such as MoT certificates of certificates of thorough inspection and test
7. Gather training certificates and similar which prove competence amongst staff
8. Get the claimants contact details and a witness statement from them if at all possible
9. Get an estimate as to the value of the loss, if appropriate
10. Summarise your view as to who was responsible
11. Pass all of this information to your insurer, through your insurance broker, within 48 hours

• and, don’t forget to inform your safety consultant, we can react quickly to either get to site or, at the least, talk you through the process and ensure you have good advice and the latest copy of all forms and documents.  You must act quickly as you won’t get a second chance to gather this information, particularly witness statements.

Remember, some small steps can limit liability, show your concern, check how someone is a few days later if they have been injured.  Sending a bunch of flowers is an act of kindness not necessarily an admission of guilt and can go a long way to preventing a claim.