Motoring Uninsured Loss Recoveries Association (MULRA) has called on the Lord Chancellor's Department to investigate unprofessional uninsured loss recovery (ULR) firms.
MULRA believes there are many parallels between the ULR industry and the loss assessor sector which the Lord Chancellor's Office is now investigating for unethical and unprofessional work.
The MULRA lobby comes hot on the heels of a similar call from legal expenses insurer DAS (Insurance Times August 5) and a recent survey of the small print of some ULR companies' contracts.
MULRA claims the results of the survey show that non-member firms are including contract clauses that are "unfair, unclear or unlawful".
MULRA found some contracts that illegally limited the customer's choice of solicitors; others, MULRA says, insisted on notification periods that were too prompt; and some contained insensitive exclusions in the event of the driver's death.
The association also warned that many brokers could be in breach of their professional obligations by recommending sub-standard ULR policies to customers.
David Haynes, vice-chairman of MULRA, said: "To offer inferior cover renders brokers liable to claims by aggrieved clients whose claim is unsuccessful because of the application of unfair or unlawful clauses."
MULRA will be sending a dossier to the Lord Chancellor's Department, urging it to look at companies whose ULR contracts include the following restrictions:
n No cover for court appearances below the Small Claims Court limit or where no claim for personal injury is involved
n No passenger cover
n No claims to the Motor Insurers' Bureau
n Use of panel solicitors only
n UK cover only
n Only 30 days to notify claim
n No cover following accidents that result in death.
Haynes said: "The market is now filled with companies, such as car hire firms, whose main function, and whose principal source of income, is ancillary to the recovery of damages and compensation on behalf of innocent drivers."
Motoring Uninsured Loss Recoveries Association (MULRA) has called on the Lord Chancellor's Department to investigate unprofessional uninsured loss recovery (ULR) firms.
MULRA believes there are many parallels between the ULR industry and the loss assessor sector which the Lord Chancellor's Office is now investigating for unethical and unprofessional work.
The MULRA lobby comes hot on the heels of a similar call from legal expenses insurer DAS (Insurance Times August 5) and a recent survey of the small print of some ULR companies' contracts.
MULRA claims the results of the survey show that non-member firms are including contract clauses that are "unfair, unclear or unlawful".
MULRA found some contracts that illegally limited the customer's choice of solicitors; others, MULRA says, insisted on notification periods that were too prompt; and some contained insensitive exclusions in the event of the driver's death.
The association also warned that many brokers could be in breach of their professional obligations by recommending sub-standard ULR policies to customers.
David Haynes, vice-chairman of MULRA, said: "To offer inferior cover renders brokers liable to claims by aggrieved clients whose claim is unsuccessful because of the application of unfair or unlawful clauses."
MULRA will be sending a dossier to the Lord Chancellor's Department, urging it to look at companies whose ULR contracts include the following restrictions:
n No cover for court appearances below the Small Claims Court limit or where no claim for personal injury is involved
- No passenger cover
- No claims to the Motor Insurers' Bureau
- Use of panel solicitors only
- UK cover only
- Only 30 days to notify claim
- No cover following accidents that result in death.
Haynes said: "The market is now filled with companies, such as car hire firms, whose main function, and whose principal source of income, is ancillary to the recovery of damages and compensation on behalf of innocent drivers."
