PIAB and solicitor

defforirl

Hello,

Early last year my wife was envolved in an rta and suffered a minor back injury, The guy that crashed into her admitted responsability straight away. Neither of us had ever been envolved in an rta before this event so didn't even know the PIAB existed, My wife went to a local solicitor seeking advice as to how to go about claiming compensation.
The solictor in question then explained about the PIAB but did not tell my wife that the services of a solicitor are not required to persue a claim through the PIAB. My wife was not given a section 68 letter I believe its called and the matter of fees was never discussed. To be honest the solictors attitude towards my wife as a paying client was terrible, un-returned phone calls, a prearranged meeting my wife took time off work to attend only to find out the solictor had gone home early to go to a wedding etc.
The PIAB has rulled on my wifes claim and my wife was happy with the amount offered and was willing to accept. The solicitor however suggested that my wife doesnt accept and should ask for fee's to be included also. When my wife then enquired as to how much the fee's were the solicitor told her 'ahh about €3500'. My wife was shocked at this amount, considering the solicitor never even had to leave her office in dealing with my wifes claim.
My wife asked for an itemised bill and was sent a very vague invoice that stated €2600 + vat for 'PIAB administration process'. My wife then sent the solicitor a letter explaining that she considers this sum excessive considering the work put in, that she was not informed that a solicitors services are not required, that she was not informed of the fees before hand, bad communications etc and also that she was not happy with what was considered an itemised bill by her office. She recieved a reply that basicly was a polite way of saying F**K off.

My wife is adamant she is not paying that much for what is clearly a preset sum for PIAB claims. Sorry for the long explaination, Can anyone shed some light on how we should proceed from here?

Procrastastudy

About a bazillion threads on this forum so you could have a search through (top right hand corner I think). They might shed some light. I believe you can make a complaint to the Law Society.

Might I ask, and you are no where near the only person that does this, why you let someone carry out work for you without an inclining of what it was going to cost and why you carried on using them when they turned out to be crap. Honest and genuine question - there seems to be quite a few people that fall into this trap. I wonder if it's like the thing with Doctors?

kennM

defforirl wrote: »

Hello,

Early last year my wife was envolved in an rta and suffered a minor back injury, The guy that crashed into her admitted responsability straight away. Neither of us had ever been envolved in an rta before this event so didn't even know the PIAB existed, My wife went to a local solicitor seeking advice as to how to go about claiming compensation.
The solictor in question then explained about the PIAB but did not tell my wife that the services of a solicitor are not required to persue a claim through the PIAB. My wife was not given a section 68 letter I believe its called and the matter of fees was never discussed. To be honest the solictors attitude towards my wife as a paying client was terrible, un-returned phone calls, a prearranged meeting my wife took time off work to attend only to find out the solictor had gone home early to go to a wedding etc.
The PIAB has rulled on my wifes claim and my wife was happy with the amount offered and was willing to accept. The solicitor however suggested that my wife doesnt accept and should ask for fee's to be included also. When my wife then enquired as to how much the fee's were the solicitor told her 'ahh about €3500'. My wife was shocked at this amount, considering the solicitor never even had to leave her office in dealing with my wifes claim.
My wife asked for an itemised bill and was sent a very vague invoice that stated €2600 + vat for 'PIAB administration process'. My wife then sent the solicitor a letter explaining that she considers this sum excessive considering the work put in, that she was not informed that a solicitors services are not required, that she was not informed of the fees before hand, bad communications etc and also that she was not happy with what was considered an itemised bill by her office. She recieved a reply that basicly was a polite way of saying F**K off.

My wife is adamant she is not paying that much for what is clearly a preset sum for PIAB claims. Sorry for the long explaination, Can anyone shed some light on how we should proceed from here?

As already stated the route to appeal solicitor fees is through the law society. From reading this forum I understand the "typical" range for handling of a piab claim is circa €1500 - €2500 ex vat. So add vat and a report or two...

You can directly lodge your claim with piab, no need for a solicitor but in general people go through solicitor. I personally am. After the fact so not really relevant at this stage.... water under the bridge.

It sounds like the relationship with your solicitor has broken down at this point.... regarding rejecting the claim and looking for fees. Be careful.

If you reject the piab offer then they will issue an authorisation allowing you to take the case to court. PIAB will NOT reevaluate and include solicitor costs. There is risk in going to court. If the court awards LESS compensation that PIAB awarded you will likely be liable for your legal costs AND their legal costs out of your claim.

Hope this helps..... and naturally its going to take time between filing papers and getting heard in court.

defforirl

Thanks, my wife has no intention of going to court and wishes to settle the matter asap, she was just shocked by the sum the solicitor considers to be a fair rate as it will be a sizeable portion of the sum awarded.

defforirl

Procrastastudy wrote: »

About a bazillion threads on this forum so you could have a search through (top right hand corner I think). They might shed some light. I believe you can make a complaint to the Law Society.

Might I ask, and you are no where near the only person that does this, why you let someone carry out work for you without an inclining of what it was going to cost and why you carried on using them when they turned out to be crap. Honest and genuine question - there seems to be quite a few people that fall into this trap. I wonder if it's like the thing with Doctors?

Thats a fair point, my wifes thinking was that if she did cancel the services of the first solicitor she would still get a bill, have the fees to pay for another solicitor and possibly have to start the whole PIAB process all over again.

In general though the Irish psyche seems very reluctant to complain about 'professionals' Doctors, solicitors etc. Even when in cases like my wifes they act very unprofessionally, with an air of superiority and with the attitude that regardless of how badly they act towards their clients they will still get paid.

kennM

defforirl wrote: »

Thats a fair point, my wifes thinking was that if she did cancel the services of the first solicitor she would still get a bill, have the fees to pay for another solicitor and possibly have to start the whole PIAB process all over again.

In general though the Irish psyche seems very reluctant to complain about 'professionals' Doctors, solicitors etc. Even when in cases like my wifes they act very unprofessionally, with an air of superiority and with the attitude that regardless of how badly they act towards their clients they will still get paid.

I think over the past few years the Irish psyche is changing.... I'd have a dig through the law society website and see if there is anything on there. Nothing ventured nothing gained. I find it tricky to believe that a straight forward whiplash type claim (assumption on my behalf) where liability isn't disputed and its straight forward handling of piab process can result in a fee of €3500, seems on the steep side to me. I'd you'd said €2500 I'd have thought thats around the "typical" ball park.

nuac

"straightforward whiplash claim"

Dealt with many. Rarely "straightforward"

kennM

nuac wrote: »

"straightforward whiplash claim"

Dealt with many. Rarely "straightforward"

Hence the assumption on my behalf.... I doubt many injuries are straightforward. Plenty of variables in everyones life, treatments, impacts, costs etc.

josephharte

I am in the same boat as your wife. My solicitor is telling me it's between 2700 and three four for his fees but he can't tell me unless I sign. He has turned out to b a pxxxk. To make matters worse my partner is with him and he has not yet told her his fee for hers and hers is quite serious. After reading a lot of posts I wouldn't bother with solicitors in the future.

josephharte

defforirl wrote: »

Hello,

Early last year my wife was envolved in an rta and suffered a minor back injury, The guy that crashed into her admitted responsability straight away. Neither of us had ever been envolved in an rta before this event so didn't even know the PIAB existed, My wife went to a local solicitor seeking advice as to how to go about claiming compensation.
The solictor in question then explained about the PIAB but did not tell my wife that the services of a solicitor are not required to persue a claim through the PIAB. My wife was not given a section 68 letter I believe its called and the matter of fees was never discussed. To be honest the solictors attitude towards my wife as a paying client was terrible, un-returned phone calls, a prearranged meeting my wife took time off work to attend only to find out the solictor had gone home early to go to a wedding etc.
The PIAB has rulled on my wifes claim and my wife was happy with the amount offered and was willing to accept. The solicitor however suggested that my wife doesnt accept and should ask for fee's to be included also. When my wife then enquired as to how much the fee's were the solicitor told her 'ahh about €3500'. My wife was shocked at this amount, considering the solicitor never even had to leave her office in dealing with my wifes claim.
My wife asked for an itemised bill and was sent a very vague invoice that stated €2600 + vat for 'PIAB administration process'. My wife then sent the solicitor a letter explaining that she considers this sum excessive considering the work put in, that she was not informed that a solicitors services are not required, that she was not informed of the fees before hand, bad communications etc and also that she was not happy with what was considered an itemised bill by her office. She recieved a reply that basicly was a polite way of saying F**K off.

My wife is adamant she is not paying that much for what is clearly a preset sum for PIAB claims. Sorry for the long explaination, Can anyone shed some light on how we should proceed from here?

How did she get on. In the same boat at present.

chops018

I don't think you guys are familiar with the litigation involved in personal injury. As has been pointed out above, it is rarely straightforward.

Plus, Solicitors have a lot of clients.. these things take time, they can't be always concentrating on your case. Although they should have a good, organised case management system that should make them somewhat efficient.

littlemac1980

josephharte wrote: »

I am in the same boat as your wife. My solicitor is telling me it's between 2700 and three four for his fees but he can't tell me unless I sign. He has turned out to b a pxxxk. To make matters worse my partner is with him and he has not yet told her his fee for hers and hers is quite serious. After reading a lot of posts I wouldn't bother with solicitors in the future.

That's entirely your choice.

People engage solicitors because they are experts in legal matters, and are required to pay for their advice - their services are not free.

In relation to the OP's post, its utter non-sense to suggest that a Solicitor or any professional should advise that their services are not necessary, particularly after they have been engaged and the client has chosen to engage them.

If I go to a dentist because I have a bad tooth, and after it's been removed, and he issues me a bill - I can't very well turn around and say "I'm not paying because you never told me I could have removed it myself with some string and a door."

kennM

littlemac1980 wrote: »

That's entirely your choice.

People engage solicitors because they are experts in legal matters, and are required to pay for their advice - their services are not free.

In relation to the OP's post, its utter non-sense to suggest that a Solicitor or any professional should advise that their services are not necessary, particularly after they have been engaged and the client has chosen to engage them.

If I go to a dentist because I have a bad tooth, and after it's been removed, and he issues me a bill - I can't very well turn around and say "I'm not paying because you never told me I could have removed it myself with some string and a door."

I can see both sides of the coin here...

I've been on both sides of the fence myself from a thoughts perspective. Your solicitor is there to navigate you through/around the potholes on the legal road. And, when it comes to personal injury, to be in a position to advise you on what a fair valuation on your injuries are. Peoples expectations will vary wildly, partly down to personality, partly down to knowledge, etc. A solicitor is naturally going to have more knowledge in this area.

I feel where solicitors receive negative sentiment is partly down to the process itself. The process is a nightmare and can be incredibly frustrating to someone who has been injured through no fault of their own and the solicitor is fighting to put it right but the process can take an eternity. In the meantime the injured party has suffered pain, injury, treatment, out of pocket expenses, disruption to their life, disruption to their family, etc. etc. etc.

My case is ongoing so not in position to comment on legal fees as yet. Expect a full and detailed post regarding the nightmares experienced once its all settled.

josephharte

Tbh I asked at the outset if I could get a rough estimate which I didn't. I am the client the solicitor is acting on my behalf and if I asked him an honest question it should warrant an honest answer. Almost at the finish line and he can't give me a straight answer. Would I accept 3500 or 2700 in fees? Would you sign if he'll only disclose the answer afterwards? So why can't he give a straight answer a grand before tax folks? It's a huge sum from a small award