Jun/090
Accident Claims Compensation Tops £2.5m
Over £2.5 million in compensation was paid out relating to incidents on Edinburgh’s roads and pavements over the past decade.
Figures released on 8th June 2009 show that a pothole in Edinburgh is reported almost every 5 minutes which suggests that the council needs to drastically improve the condition of its surfaces or face losing much more in compensation claims long-term.
The breakdown for claims were 2.3m for accidents on unsafe pavements and £250,000 for claims relating to the the scottish capital’s roads.
Jun/090
Ombudsman warns firms for turning away genuine mis-selling cases
On May 31st 2009, The Sunday Times reported that consumers are being denied compensation over mis-sold financial products because they are being fobbed off by high-street banks — and the City regulator is failing to help them, a damning report revealed last week.
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) called for the law to be changed to allow lawsuits to help customers get redress, as its annual report revealed that nearly 60% of complaints were going in favour of consumers, compared with a normal level of 30% to 40%.
The consumer must complain to their bank before their case can be taken to the FOS, so the figures suggest firms are turning down genuine claims — and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) is failing to act.
The House of Lords economic affairs committee will suggest that the FSA focuses “more directly” on consumers this week.
Jun/090
Home Insurance Premiums on the Increase
Home insurance companies intend to increase rates by up to 20% but there are ways and means over reducing your premium.
One consumer said his annual premium from the Halifax for building and contents cover would be increased by 18% from £467 - £553. Additionally, they said they would be introducing an excess of £250 for water-related claims.
After years of falling home insurance premiums, the industry is now forcing through big price hikes, fearful of the impact burglaries and the recession will have on claims. But there is no reason to accept an insurer taking it out on your wallet even before you have been burgled.
Jun/090
Getting Compensation - It Pays to Complain
In 2008, statistics showed that over 50% of people who made a claim to the FSA watchdog received compensation.
The Financial Ombudsman Service suggest that claims and Complaints on a wide range financial services companies have reached record levels with the mediating body handling over 115,000 complaints last year, and has seen problems with savings account providers increase by 100%. As further evidence of increasing bad practice, complaints about credit card issuers and loan providers increased by 200%.
Jun/090
‘Sale and Rent Back’ - Regulation Paves Way for Claims
From 1st July, companies offering to buy people’s houses and rent them back to them will be regulated after an announcement that such ‘rogue’ companies will be partially controlled by the FSA.
The Financial Services Authority will implement regulations to crack down on problems for such customers. This means that people who unfairly suffer loss of money or of their homes through these controversial schemes will be able to take their cases to the Financial Ombudsman.
Jun/090
A Business League of Shame - It’s only a Matter of Time.
A mortgage endowment mis-selling complaint against Abbey was rejected six years ago and the consumer promised herself she would never buy another financial product or service from that same bank. She has been true to her word.
However, 3 years later the FSA insisted they review the case after the Abbey had initially thrown it out. They eventually gave the consumer 12,000 to cover the shortfall on her mortgage endowment as compensation.
Although this case had a happy ending after the Financial Services Authority intervened, the consumer is now more cautious than ever not least because the FSA eventually hit Abbey with an £800,000 fine for mishandling complaints and ordered them to review 50,000 cases.
Jun/090
Consumers’ Confusion over Endowment Policies
In the early to mid 80’s starting the climb on the property ladder was all the rage. It seemed everyone who could would try and take out a mortgage and would be strongly advised to take out a related endowment for long-term investment.
As per usual with these sorts of things loopholes and financial mis-selling accusations start flying around many years later and now that a precedent has been set you, the consumer, may indeed have cause to make a claim. The reason for this is because these policies were often forced upon them on the basis that when the time came, sufficient amounts would have been accumulated to pay-off their mortgages. As an additional teaser they were told that they would have an extra lump sum to play with - it was a no brainer!
20 years or so ago these endowment policies were proving fruitful to say the least as tax relief on premiums were an attraction for investors. However, this wasn’t to last and after tax relief came to an end, investment returns went downhill fast, and left an awful lot of people with the prospect of a shortfall.
If you believe you were misled on whether or not take take out an endowment policy, you CAN make a claim against the company that sold it to you. This does not necessarily need to be the company with whom you had/have the policy, but could be a financial advisor who you discussed your options with. If you want to make a claim we recommend using Gravitas Law who have plenty of experience in dealing with similar cases.
Jun/090
NHS ‘failing to learn lessons’ from medical staff’s errors
OUTMODED systems to deal with medical staff who make mistakes are hampering efforts to improve patient safety in the NHS, a leading doctor has warned.
Dr Robert Hendry, the Medical Protection Society’s (MPS) head of medical services in Scotland, said the long, drawn-out process inflicted on staff when something went wrong put others off coming forward to report errors for fear they would be put through the same experience. He said this meant that lessons could not be learnt from mistakes to stop them happening again.
Jun/090
Bid to fast track medical fault claims
Victims of medical negligence could soon make “quickie” compensation claims without having to prove the responsibility of individuals or organisations under a new scheme to be examined in Scotland.
Experts are to investigate whether NHS patients should be able to claim compensation even if negligence cannot be proved, the Scottish Government said yesterday.
The present “unpleasant and stressful” system of compensation depends on proving legal responsibility and clinical negligence and can lead to lengthy and expensive court cases, which in itself can put people off any attempt to claim redress.
Jun/090
Insurers ‘pressure’ car accident victims
Insurers are trying to force drivers to settle claims just hours after accidents, says a road safety charity.
Brake is concerned that people are being encouraged to take a pay-out before getting legal or medical advice.
Solicitor groups have called for tighter rules governing how companies treat so-called “third parties”.
But the insurance industry says such claimants should get compensation quickly without having to resort to lengthy and costly legal processes.
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