In his typical no-nonsense style, Lord Sugar, business tycoon and star of hit BBC show The Apprentice, has attacked claims management companies and their introducers.
Branding them ‘vulture types’ in a debate on Lord Young of Graffham’s report, which pledges to reduce aggressive ‘no-win, no-fee’ advertising, he said: “They advertise on TV implying that they can get consumers substantial amounts of money.
“To add insult to injury, some of them are simply brokers who sell their inquiries on to solicitors; they are not solicitors themselves.”
The report – titled ‘Common Sense, Common Safety’ – focused mainly on personal injury claims; however Lord Young, the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Health and Safety Law and Practice, has questioned the UK’s perceived compensation culture.
His report calls for restrictions on the operations of referral brokers and agencies, as well as controlling the volume and type of advertising, echoing decisions being made by the Ministry of Justice in regulating the financial claims management sector and ending ‘misleading advertising’.
Earlier this year a number of high-profile claims handlers were closed down, including claims giant Cartel Client Review.
Additionally, adverts for claims management companies have come under scrutiny from the Ministry of Justice and the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA). Just last week, the ASA banned an advert for claims firm Belmont Thornton for calling their services ‘no-win no-fee’, when costs were incurred if a client decided not to pursue a case after 14 days.
Commenting on the report, Prime Minister David Cameron said: “A damaging compensation culture has arisen, as if people can absolve themselves from any personal responsibility for their own actions.”
Lord Sugar continued in the debate, saying: “The new breed of these – I am sorry to call them this – vulture-type lawyers knows…it is almost a licence to print money if you can convince a member of the public to make a claim.
“Something has to be done about these rogues.”
