If you have legal expenses insurance cover, you may well have a policy with a company which insist on instructing their own panel solicitors. In a small claim, that is probably not necessarily a bad thing or a problem. In a complex or serious claim however, it may not be the right thing for you.

Most legal expenses insurers have panel solicitors based in the North or West of England, many hundreds of miles away. Consequently, generally speaking, they have to deal with everything by way of telephone, correspondence or questionnaires. Not the easiest way to get your difficult case understood. Also, they do not normally have specialist knowledge of local medical experts, and tend to use medical agencies. Again, this may not be the most appropriate way for your serious case to be presented.

As things stand, legal expenses insurers can insist on their own panel solicitors acting, but you have the right to insist on your own solicitor at the time of issue of proceedings, or before that in certain circumstances.

Our advice is that in any serious case, or one of complexity or subtlety, you should have your own local, specialist solicitor dealing with your personal injury claim. You will then have local easy access, and it is in fact our practice to visit clients in their home, to establish the difficulties faced on a daily basis, both for the injured person and family or carers. Complex cases cannot easily (or in our view properly) be dealt with long distance.

Therefore, if your legal expenses insurers will not instruct your own solicitor, how do you overcome this?

If a reasonably strong case, we would have no problems in dealing with the matter under a CFA or other arrangement, up to the stage to the issue or proceedings, if your legal expenses insurers will not appoint us. Then, at the stage of issue, we would expect them to take over the conduct of the case from that time on, but if they decline to do so, we would continue under the CFA already in place. Either way, it should cost you nothing, and you will have the benefit of your own specialist legal advisor.

You do not have to accept a solicitor you do not wish to act for you.