Lawyers attack CMCs

The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) told Lord Young to tighten regulation of claims management companies (CMCs) as part of his review of health and safety laws, The Law Society Gazette reports.

APIL said CMCs should have to have professional indemnity insurance.

And it wants more controls over personal injury advertising – it blamed CMCs for the “explosion” in TV and radio adverts that it said had “done so much to generate misconceptions about the law and how it operates”.

“Solicitors wishing to stay in business have often had little choice but to advertise themselves or to join together in their own marketing co-operatives,” it said.

No need for CMCs

APIL said that there was “no real need” for people to use CMCs. It said: “It seems anomalous that when commercial businesses are generally cutting costs by removing middle men, middle men have become an established feature of the personal injury landscape.”