SRA says enforcing referral fee ban will be tough

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has warned that the personal injury referral fee ban will be hard to enforce.

The fees will be banned under the legal aid, sentencing and punishment of offenders act, which comes into force in April 2013.

However, the SRA has predicted that referral fees could be disguised if companies were to set up alternative business structures (ABSs), making them harder to spot, according to The Telegraph.

This could work if an ABS were to combine the work of a claims management company and another firm such as an insurer, meaning no traditional referral fee would be paid.