Beware of misleading no win, no fee compensation deals, warns Usdaw

Seriously injured retail workers are being warned by their union Usdaw that they could lose thousands of pounds in compensation because of hidden costs in ‘no win, no fee’ deals.

Solicitors charge no fees unless the case is won, but accident victims can find themselves paying unexpected court and expert witness fees as well as having to take out expensive insurance against losing and paying the other parties costs.

Shopworkers union Usdaw runs a completely free legal service for its 340,000 members which last year recovered more than £19 million in compensation for a wide range of workplace accidents.

Usdaw is urging its members to use their legal service which pays them full compensation for their injuries instead of being lured in by ‘no win, no fee’ firms and find themselves being short changed by the hidden extras.

A survey of compensation claims by the Citizens Advice Bureaux found that a woman who won a personal injury claim was left with less than one per cent of her payout.

“In contrast Usdaw offers a transparent claims system that makes sure our members get every penny we recover on their behalf,” said John Hannett, Usdaw General Secretary. “This means seriously injured members can rebuild their lives using their full compensation.”

Citizens Advice says there is no evidence of a ‘compensation culture’ with only one in three people with a right to compensation making a claim and those on low incomes find it hard to hire a lawyer to represent them if their damages are likely to be small.

John Hannett is concerned that unregulated claims firms using high pressure sales tactics could cost his members thousands of pounds.

“It’s clear that workers need the union’s free legal service more than ever,” he said. “You don’t need any money up front to be represented by us and our members can rest assured that any compensation we win for them will be delivered in full with no deductions.”

Notes to Editors:

• Contacts for newsdesks: Usdaw’s Media Officer, Paul Clarke, can be contacted on 0161 224 2804 or at paul.clarke@usdaw.org.uk.

• Usdaw (the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK’s fifth biggest trade union, with over 340,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.

• More information and news releases are available at our online Newsroom.

• Journalists can subscribe to receive Usdaw news releases via our online e-news service.

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© 2003 (USDAW) Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers
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