Personal Injury Lawsuit

HFC bank was fined £1.1 million by the FSA in January for failings in the way it sold cover. Law firm Clyde & Co is now planning to unite customers of the bank in a class action dispute on a no win, no fee basis.

Clyde & co say that the average person who was sold payment protection insurance (PPI) by the bank, paid £2000 in premiums. If the bank were forced to repay those premiums the compensation bill could cost over £300 million.

HFC is believed to have sold 163,000 policies without gathering sufficient information about the customers circumstances or taking into account whether a PPI was suitable.

Clyde & co hope to gather about 500 people to take part in action, which would be on a no win no fee basis.

A spokesperson from HFA denies knowledge of the claim and refuses to admit that PPIs were mis-sold saying that “so far we have not been contacted regarding any legal action and so we are unable to comment in any detail.

“The original fine by the FSA in January was for deficiencies in procedures in our branches from January 2005 to May 2007, but there were no findings of mis-selling and there was no evidence that consumers had been disadvantaged.

“However, we are working hand-in-hand with the FSA to ensure this is the case.”

Consumer group Which? recommend that if you have been mis sold a PPI that you should pursue the matter individually rather than through class action:

“While we want to see more people claim back mis-sold PPI, it’s hard to see the benefit of a class action as consumers can easily claim the money back themselves.

“Processing your own claim is simple. If you think you’ve been mis-sold PPI you should write to your lender to claim the money back.

“If you don’t get a satisfactory response then you should take the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which is free,” said Doug Taylor personal finance campaigns manager at Which?

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Repetitive strain injury or RSI is a condition resulting from overuse of a tool like a computer, guitar or anything that require repeated movements. The condition affects the muscles tendons and nerves of the hands, arms and upper back due to these being tense for long periods of time. RSI is not a recognized medical condition, but a term used to describe the range of injuries caused by repetitive movements or overuse.

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Peter Savage, a top Midlands personal injury solicitor may be struck off over a a previous conviction for assaulting a hotel manageress.

Mr Savage was convicted in August 2006 after a night out celebrating a win in court ended with him slapping Amanda Rymond in the face. In court Mr Savage pleaded guilty to the charges but went on to continue practising as a lawyer.

The assualt occurred on the evening of the 21st of April 2006  when Mr Savage, along with a group of friends entrered the Forest Hotel where Ms Rymond was duty manager.

After Mr Savage spilled a drink she asked him to leave. She recalls that “he had been drinking a lot and seemed very drunk to me. He was staggering about, falling into people. It’s a nice hotel and a lot of local people and business people go there for a relaxed drink after work.”

“I spoke to Mr Savage a couple of times during the evening. I’d been told he and some others were celebrating winning a big court case in London.”

“I offered to call him a taxi but he got angry. He raised his voice at some of the other customers and started shouting silly things.”

“I called him a taxi and went outside with him. He was very rude to me. But when the taxi came, just before he got in, he walked back over to me and slapped me hard across the face. It hurt but it was more a shock than anything.”

“I wasn’t expecting him to do something like that and I could hardly believe it. Nothing like that had ever happened to me before and thankfully nothing like it since.”

“He didn’t apologise and went to get into the taxi but myself and another customer managed to stop him and kept him there until the police arrived. He was then arrested and taken away.”

After the incident, Mr Savage pleaded guilty to assault in court, where he was fined £1,500 and ordered to pay £500 compensation and £50 court costs. The judge justified the large fine stating that “solicitors should know better than to behave in such a way”

The incident has now come to the attention of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and Mr Savage faces a Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.  He could be struck off and banned from practising and faces fines of up to £5000.

The SRA said that “in cases like this where someone has been convicted in court we wouldn’t have to make a case but the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal would decide the punishment.”

Geoffry Negus, a spokesman for the SRA explained why the charges were being looked into by the SRA, saying that “it is important that solicitors’ conduct outside the workplace does not bring the profession into disrepute.”

While the SRA do take violent offences very seriously, it is possible that Mr Savage will escape being struck off as he has no previous blots on his record. He is also a member of the Assosiation for Personal Injury Lawyers and is described as a very talented lawyer.

His area os expertise covers serious head and spinal injuries, fatal accidents and injuries to children. Mr Savage offered no comment on his curent situation.

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