Ireland’s Minister of State at the Department of Finance Eoghan Murphy has sought the help of the Law Society in efforts to clamp down on spurious claims costing small and medium-sized business a small fortune. The activity is feared to be the result of firms breaking the strict advertising rules and ‘harvesting’ claims – otherwise known as ‘ambulance-chasing’.
Targets for claims
The issue arose after a series of meetings Mr Murphy held with business groups that claimed a disproportionate number of claims were coming from a small number of legal firms. ‘Businesses feel they are targets for claims. We need the help of the Law Society, which can police it,’ Mr Murphy said. ‘Some solicitors are too willing to take cases without looking at the merits of the claim.’ Fraudulent claims are given as a reason by insurers for the huge spikes in the cost of motor insurance in the past three years. It is estimated the cost of fraud to all insurance companies is €200m.
Stringent enforcement
Law Society Director General Ken Murphy insisted the body was stringent against rules being flouted and was clamping down on claims-harvesting websites and lawyers breaking its rules on advertising. Up to 20 solicitors suspected of bulk-buying personal injuries actions from claims-harvesting websites were investigated by the society last year and in the past few years 13 such websites have been taken down. Penalties for lawyers connected with such sites include a range of sanctions, reprimands and a formal direction that all future advertising is approved by the society for three years. Referrals have also been made to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal on the grounds of professional misconduct.
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