Free Legal Advice: Receive Free Telephone / Online Legal Help From Personal Injury Solicitors
Many websites suggest that they provide free legal advice, but this is often misleading!! In this article – you will learn about two different types of legal website and how neither is likely to provide free legal advice.
In addition – you will discover how to get telephone and online help from specialist personal injury solicitors free of charge. You can have not only ask your own legal question, but also have your claim assessed.
Finally – we look at other bodies that may be able to help with legal issues, including the Citizens Advice Bureau.
Are a website’s claims about free legal advice likely to be true?
No – it is unlikely to be true that you will receive free legal advice from a website or business.
Important things to be look out for
The are some very important points you should be aware of:
Are you actually receiving advice?
It is unlikely that you will receive “advice“.
You may receive legal information or guidance.
If you are receiving legal advice – the website or individual must:
- State that it is legal advice.
- Be a qualified lawyer, such as a solicitor or barrister.
- Must accept responsibility for the accuracy of the advice given.
Is the help your receive really free?
The word “free” is often used loosely to mean “no initial cost”.
So what does that mean? Some lawyers or claims management companies may charge you for their time at a later stage. Often this might be after you decide to proceed with a claim.
Solicitor websites
Websites produced and written by qualified solicitors will typically have legal information you can trust.
However – when you make contact by phone or online, it is unlikely you will get any help from a solicitor, but only an unqualified call handler. Generally, the call handler is unable to assist you other than to attempt as best they can to take some information.
Once information is obtained from you – it may be further assessed by more senior unqualified individuals.
Thereafter – if an obvious compensation claim is deemed a viable option you would then be asked to commit to using the law firm. For example – by signing a funding arrangement, such as a no win no fee.
A Solicitor Can Only Act When A Funding Arrangement Is In Place
A solicitor can only act for you when a funding arrangement, such as a no win no fee, is in place.
Therefore, many law firms will not allow you to speak to a solicitor until such a funding arrangement has been signed.
Of course – there is nothing to stop a law firm from allowing you to speak to a solicitor to assess your claim and answer your questions. But as this costs teh law firm money – it is almost never the case that you will be able to do this.
Only after signed paperwork is received will you be put in contact with the person who is to run your claim. This might not be a solicitor as may law firms use paralegals (unqualified case workers) to run claims supervised by solicitors.
In summary – you have not been helped free, but only at no initial cost. In other words – later on down the claims process you will be charged.
Websites not produced by solicitors
Other types of websites may be produced by non-qualified solicitors, For example – claims management companies / CMC’s.
Information on such sites can often be misleading, outdated or inaccurate.
Typically, you will be induced to make contact and provide your details, so that the Claims Company can attempt to pass you to a solicitor and charge the solicitor a fee.
Claims Management Companies Cannot Provide Legal Advice
Beware – the sole reason for a CMC is to make money, not to help you.
As they are not solicitors – it is illegal for them to represent that they are able to provide you with any form of legal advice, free or otherwise.
In addition, a CMC can give you no meaningful legal help or assistance.
You will typically be promised the earth to induce you to provide details.
Citizens Advice Bureau
You can receive free legal advice form your local Citizens Advice Bureau (also known as the CAB). This cover all manner of legal issues – from criminal to family matters.
The CAB have an online advice service – whether it be about an accident claim or a family matter. You can select the country of the UK you wish advice in respect of – the options are England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cymru.
Speak To A Solicitor If Your Issue Relates To Personal Injury
Generally speaking the help that you receive from the Citizens Advice Bureau can be valuable. However – they are not solicitors and will tend to steer you in the right direction without necessarily answering all your legal questions.
If your issue related to personal injury then we recommend speaking to a solicitor direct.
Remember – at any time you can take advantage of our specialist personal injury solicitor free online / telephone help.
FREE legal help our solicitors provide
We are specialist personal injury solicitors – we provide free legal help and assistance, including answering personal injury compensation claim questions over the phone or online.
Speak direct with a specialist solicitor
When you contact us – you deal direct with a qualified solicitor. We are happy to help whether you wish to proceed with a claim or not.
We believe we are unique amongst solicitors and have provided this free service for many years.
See our specialist solicitor free online legal help to view and select from our free help options.
What people say about our free legal help
See our personal injury testimonials page to see comments that accident victims have made about using our personal injury website and the free legal help we provide.
Free Legal Help
See our free legal help article for a full explanation of the free help we provide.
Remember – for the reason set out in this article, the free legal information you receive should not be considered as legal advice.
SUMMARY – free legal advice
On this page you have discovered what is really meant by “free legal advice” on the internet and how our website is unique in providing you with legal information and online answers to legal questions at no cost to yourself.
