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TAG collapse: 700 lawyers may be sued


18/12/2004

UP to 700 solicitors may be sued as part of a '70m legal wrangle after the collapse of personal injury firm The Accident Group, it has emerged.

Solicitors hired to check personal injury claims for TAG have received letters alleging they acted negligently.

Lawyers for Winterthur Swiss Insurance Co, parent company of a firm which underwrote TAG's cases, have written to solicitors alleging claims were not adequately vetted.

The company believes the solicitors hired to check authenticity of personal injury claims acted negligently.

TAG, whose head was Mark Langford, helped develop the "no-win, no-fee" system. It went into administration in May last year and was liquidated in January, with debts thought to be around '70m.

Commercial lawyers Barlow Lyde and Gilbert (BLG), who represent Winterthur, said they estimated more than 50 per cent of claims approved by solicitors vetting applications should have been rejected because they were either bogus or unwinnable.

Manchester-based solicitors Rowe Cohen acted for the now-defunct personal injury specialists to check claims were genuine.

They confirmed a protocol letter had been received from BLG warning of possible legal action. Senior partner Simon Cohen said: "We have referred the letter to our insurers. We contest the allegation most vigorously."

Winterthur accepted a '36m debt, but now believes arrears may rocket to '70m following the sale of a division of the firm, the National Insurance Guarantee Corporation.

Reports suggest around '13m is owed to the Inland Revenue.


| Submit CommentSubmit Comments | View CommentsView Comments(2)


Most recent 2 of 2 user comments

   I am a building surveyor and was employed by a private practisce in Manchester dealing with no win no fee housing disrepair cases and after seeing some of the papers from solicitors and the claims management companys it is highly likeley that the solicitors insurers will end up paying out. Ileft this side of the profession and feel that all parties involved the solicitors, surveyors and claims management companys their underwriters are all as bad as each other and deserve what hey get. Run over b the ambulances they are chasing
Dave, Westhoughton
20/12/2004 at 23:53

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   Oh, I do so hope that Winterthur win their case and that the money is clawed back from the solicitors involved.

I think it's become apparent over the past few years that solicitors have got to be amongst the most corrupt people on the planet - if the fall of the TAG Group helps put a nail in the coffin of "no win no fee" ambulance chasers, then I'm sure the whole country will applaud.

Don't let us down Winterthur!
Angela, Stretford
18/12/2004 at 16:31

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