Treating Clients Fairly (TCF)

(a) We are committed to providing a high quality legal service to all of our clients. Treating Clients Fairly is a core principal of this Firm and we strive to fulfil this principal as the service provided to our clients is of paramount importance.

(b) We endeavour to be open and transparent in the way we deal with our clients to ensure that fair outcomes are delivered. We are committed to providing clear, concise and timely advice which is jargon free which enables us to provide our clients with the best service possible.

be confident that you are dealing with a firm where treating clients fairly is embedded in the corporate culture;
feel that the services that have been marketed and sold to you have been done taking your needs into consideration;
be provided with clear information and kept appropriately informed before, during and after the service provision;
feel that we have taken your individual circumstances in account when providing advice;
feel that the service we have provided is of an acceptable standard;
feel you are not faced with unreasonable barriers to make a complaint.

(d) We stand by these outcomes in the delivery of our legal services to our clients. The senior management at this Firm are fully committed to ensuring that our clients receive an excellent service backed by quality. We are always looking for ways of improving on the quality of our service and have systems and controls in place to assist to achieve this.

(e) Our aim is to treat our clients fairly and provide high quality legal services whilst ensuring we meet the expectations of our clients.

Service Levels

(f) We will:-

update you by telephone or in writing with progress on your matter regularly;
communicate with you in plain language;
explain to you the legal work required as your matter progresses;
update you on the cost of your matter at agreed events;
update you on whether the likely outcomes still justify the likely costs and risks associated with your matter whenever there is a material change in circumstances;
update you on the likely timescales for each stage of this matter and any important changes in those estimates;
continue to review whether there are alternative methods by which your matter can be funded.

Responsibilities

(g) Our responsibilities to you:
We will:-

review your matter regularly
advise you of any changes in the law
advise you of any circumstances and risks of which we are aware or consider to be
reasonably foreseeable that could affect the outcome of your matter

(h) Your responsibilities to us:-
You will:-

provide us with clear, timely, honest and accurate instructions
provide all documentation required to complete your matter in a timely manner
safeguard any documents that are likely to be required
communicate with us in a polite and communicative style
not act in a discriminatory or abusive manner to any of our staff or anyone involved with your matter

Call Recording

(i) All calls both into and out of Hattons Solicitors will be recorded for training purposes.

Claim Form

(j) You will be provided with a copy of our initial claim form (Form 1) for your consideration, which has been completed following receipt of your initial instructions. Please consider the completed questionnaire and if you are in agreement with the content, please sign and return to us as soon as possible. Please complete or add any missing information in full. Should you have any queries or concerns regarding the content of the completed questionnaire, please contact us immediately to enable us to address the same.

(k) We are required to submit details of your claim to the responsible party and to their insurance company. The (Form 1) questionnaire mirrors the information which it is mandatory for us to supply to them and therefore it is important that you return it to us as soon as possible to enable us to formally lodge your claim with the responsible party and their insurance company.

(l) Please therefore fully consider and return the Claim Form (Form 1) as soon as possible to enable us to progress your claim without delay.

Medical Examination

If you have suffered an injury as a result of this accident, we will arrange for you to undergo a medical examination by an appropriately qualified expert and will write to you separately regarding this part of the claim. A medical appointment will be arranged for you and you will be notified of this appointment by us in early course. It is imperative that you attend upon any appointment arranged or in the event that you are unable to attend the appointment that you notify us of this fact immediately.

Important – Please Note: Should you fail to attend upon your medical examination appointment without having provided the appropriate notice of your non-attendance to us, you will be responsible for the fee incurred by the medical expert for the cost of the missed appointment (the non-attendance fee). This fee is typically £150.00.

These monies will be payable by you, and may be deducted from any damages we recover on your behalf as part of this claim.

Your acceptance of our terms authorises us to deduct such sums from any damages we recover on your behalf as part of this claim, and to account to any expert or agency for any non-attendance fee as appropriate.

Your Vehicle

(m) In the event that you have instructed your own motor insurers to deal with any claim for vehicle damage, we confirm we shall write to them to confirm our interest. Please ensure you keep receipts / documentation in respect of any vehicle related losses incurred e.g. Insurance policy excess. At this time, if you wish to hire an alternative vehicle whilst your own vehicle is off the road, please contact the writer to discuss.

(n) In the event that you have instructed us to deal with a claim for vehicle damage, we will instruct an engineer to inspect your vehicle and will forward you a copy of their report with our detailed advice in due course. If you have not heard from the engineer within 4 working days of your initial instructions to us, please contact us directly to discuss the matter further.

Hire Of a Vehicle

(o) At this time, if you wish to hire an alternative vehicle because your own vehicle is off the road, please contact us to discuss. Please note that if you hire a vehicle, a copy of your engineer’s report will be sent to the hire company at the same time it is sent to you and we may also send the engineers report to the source or repairer who is involved in the case, who may have an interest in the engineer’s findings, as sometimes, for example, if the vehicle is in storage and has been declared a total loss, the source or intermediary may discuss taking the vehicle out of storage. This is for information purposes only. If you do not wish us to do this or object to the disclosure of the engineers report to a third party, please let us know.

Claims Process

(p) Enclosed within this document is “The Claims Process” which provides a useful summary of how your claim will progress and will hopefully answer some of your initial questions. Please ensure you read through the entire content of this document as soon as possible.

Insurance Details and Responsible Party

(q) In the event that you do not have the full insurance details of the person who you believe is at fault for this accident, or you suspect the information provided may not be genuine we would refer you to the next paragraph “Important Notice” concerning reporting the matter to the Police without delay.

(r) You may be contacted by the responsible party’s insurer and/or a representative on their behalf. We must advise that you are not obliged to speak to them regarding this claim and you should refer them to ourselves. If you have any queries regarding this please do not hesitate to contact us.

Important Notice

If you have been involved in a Road Traffic Accident you are by Law entitled to the name, address and full insurance details of the person who you believe has caused the accident. It is an offence pursuant to Section 154 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 to withhold this information.

If the person who has caused your accident is refusing to provide full insurance details or if you suspect the information provided may not be genuine we strongly advise you to report the matter to your local Police Station without any further delay.

Please note it is possible that the Police will attempt to refuse to take a report of the accident if you do not make the report within 24 hours of the accident taking place. Unfortunately this would appear to be their common approach due to resources. You should however insist that a report is taken and you should do so by asking to complete a ‘Self Allegation Form’ that is also known as a ‘Form 207’.

If in bringing your claim we later discover that the party at fault is uninsured or the details provided were false then we will have to advise you to make an application to the Motor Insurer’s Bureau (MIB). The MIB may reject your claim if you have failed to report the matter to the Police at the earliest opportunity. The Motor Insurer’s Bureau is a government body set up to compensate victims of Uninsured or Untraced Drivers but they do have strict qualification rules.

Information about your claim