Accident claim helpline services are a fantastic way to get immediate advice following a personal injury. However, you have to be careful which helplines you call: The helplines you should avoid are those operated by so-called claims management companies. The reputable claims helplines are operated by law firms with their own in-house lawyers and advisors.
Finding a reputable helpline
As previously touched upon, you should only call accident claim helplines that are operated by law firms. Those operated by claims management companies are only interested in capturing your personal details to sell on. Law firm helplines will provide with advice following an accident to help you become better informed about your legal rights, and they will do so for free and without obligation.
For example, the accident helpline for claim operated by Accident Advice Helpline is one that you can trust. A law firm, Accident Advice Helpline are the UK’s largest specialist personal injury law firm with experienced claims advisors who will help you get informed.
Making the most of your phone call
When you call an accident helpline, you need to have some basic information to hand so that the claims advisor can answer your claims-related questions.
Here’s the information that we recommend you should have to hand:
- The date your accident happened or an approximate date;
- An explanation as to how your accident happened to the best of your memory;
- Information about any evidence that you have captured.
With this information, a claims advisor will be able to help you establish:
- Whether you are eligible for compensation;
- How strong your claim for compensation is;
- How much compensation you may be able to claim;
- How long the claims process may take;
- Who your claim will probably be against;
- What factors may affect your claim’s strength;
- Your legal rights following your accident.
With this information, you should be in a strong position to make a decision regarding whether or not to proceed with a claim. If you have called a helpline operated by a law firm, then you can make a claim with them. It is important to note that you are under no obligation to do so, although because the helpline you called now understands your claim, they may be the best people to take your claim forward.
However, our advice is to research the law firm in question and review their customer service record. You should also ask to be put in touch with a lawyer who has a high success rate: The success rate is a measurement (percentage) of the amount of cases that a lawyer has won. Anything over 80 per cent is considered to be excellent for an injury lawyer.