Your tricky legal questions answered

‘It’s likely that the solitictors will have used up the limited funds’

Q‘Why am I always having to chase my solicitor?’

I am not happy with the level of communication I get from the solicitors provided by my insurer following my accident. I am always having to chase them and each time I call no progress has been made, yet I always get an assurance that things will improve. I have had enough and want to know how I can go about changing solicitors. I am six months into the claim, which is for soft tissue injuries and out of pocket expenses as well as for the minor damage to the bike. Gareth P, Cwmbran

AI think you may have difficulty in persuading a new firm to take your case on. This is because in cases where the injuries are fairly minor, very limited legal costs are payable by the third party insurer and it is likely that your current firm will have exhausted the costs already. I often take over serious injury cases from other firms because there is not the same restriction on legal costs. You do have complete freedom of choice of which lawyers you instruct and you do not have to instruct the firm appointed by your insurer. Whilst it used to be the case in lower value cases that insurers could insist you use their solicitors until the point of issuing court proceedings, the courts have since clarified the law and confirmed injured bikers can instruct the firm of their choice from day one.