Simon Trott, Managing Director, National Accident Helpline.
The overhaul of the personal injury market continues today, with the announcement of a new joint venture between National Accident Helpline and one of our panel law firms, NewLaw.
Our new alternative business structure, which will trade under the name Your Law LLP, is the first step in our ambitious growth strategy. It reflects our confidence in the PI market in the face of regulatory change. And critically it brings a new ethical player to the market which will help drive out less scrupulous claims management companies, who have put profit over customers and continue to encourage vulnerable clients to make spurious claims.
Your Law will begin trading in July out of Bristol and Cardiff, offering trusted legal advice to approximately 1,000 consumers each month, with around 75 staff. Initially it will be focused on the PI market but in time we’ll be able to offer other legal services, such as wills and probate. We’ll also be offering more responsive and accessible ways for consumers to access justice, as we’ll be investing in a streamlined digital platform for clients to access our services.
So what does this mean for our existing panel law firms?
The change will be negligible. We remain 100% committed to our panel law firms and having a strong, stable panel of the UK’s leading PI firms remains central to our strategy, brand and consumer proposition. The ABS builds on our 20 year track record of providing an ethical, transparent and dedicated service to both consumers and high quality marketing services to our panel law firms – which has always been at the heart of what we do – and will remain so. We know that consumers value National Accident Helpline as a friendly and impartial intermediary that can help guide them through the first steps of the claims process and put them in touch with the best solicitor for their needs and claim.
So there won’t be any change to the breadth and quality of enquiries panel law firms receive. The advent of Your Law will be no different to adding another high quality panel law firm to our board and we’ll divide the cases fairly and transparently, as we’ve always done. And as a sign of this commitment to fairness and transparency, we’ll be inviting an independent auditor to monitor how cases are allocated to ensure they’re in line with our agreements with our panel law firms.
And in order to ensure that we can continue to reshape and professionalise the PI sector by squeezing out unethical players, we are calling on a new government to ensure that the civil justice system provides a better deal for individuals when they find themselves in need of it. That includes stamping out rogue practices, such as cold calling. Ultimately this means ensuring consumers are treated fairly by the justice system and have reliable access to expert legal advice through ethical and professional intermediaries.
