Abbey Legal Protection has turned up the heat on so-called "ambulance chasers", such as Claims Direct, by relaunching its Accident Line product that is endorsed by the Law Society.
The revamped "no win, no fee" scheme for personal injury – Accident Line Protect – will be formally launched in October, offering customers immediate access to qualified solicitors.
Many no win, no fee personal injury companies offer access to a claims handler that may not be a qualified solicitor.
And in a veiled swipe at such firms Abbey Legal managing director Chris Ward said Accident Line would provide an "ethical" no win, no fee service.
"We will pass claimants directly to an experienced local PI solicitor, rather than obliging them to go through a claims representative who may not be legally qualified," he said.
Claims Direct has emerged as the front runner of companies that are taking advantage of the new no win, no fee legal system. Its aggressive advertising has fuelled explosive growth and the company now plans to float on the stock market for £300m.
Abbey will promote Accident Line Protect in a "seven-figure" advertising campaign that will span television, national radio and newspapers.
Under the new offering, Accident Line's network of 2,200 solicitors will be granted delegated authority while Accident Line Protect offers a funding scheme that finances payment of premiums and disbursements. Abbey marketing director Leo Gibbons said the pricing structure for the policies will be revealed later this month, but he promised it would be "extremely aggressive".
A Law Society spokesman said: "Our main aim was to ensure we matched the expectation of the claimant in terms of quality, experience and insurance cover as well as meeting the business objectives of member firms."
Since its creation in 1995, Abbey has written 80,000 insured PI policies through Accident Line Protect.
