MOJ - Clams Regulation gripe!

**HotRobot** · 27-01-09

I am currently approaching a live date for my family of claims sites and having reviewed all of the documentation from the MOJ regarding claims management regulation i have to say that i see it as nothing more than a stealth tax.

Whilst i appreciate, having worked within insurance claims for several years the need for regulation and recognise that there are indeed many unscrupulous accident management companies and dubious introducers making unfounded claims of success, financial inducements etc I do not feel that the regulation goes far enough.

My main bugbear is that we have to cough up a £400 application fee and then a yearly fee on top of this, but for what? I have made sure that our sites are fully compliant with the regulations set out in the CMR documentation with relevant legal statements and adherance to marketing guidelines etc so now i have to shell out £600 and wait a couple of months just for the privilege of being registered despite the fact that i am complying with the regulation itself. The term 'regulation' is meant in the loosest sense since i have seen many supposedly regulated sites breaching many of the regulations!

I do understand why the fee is charged, it is used to pay for the cost of (supposedly) monitoring compliance...at least thats their line and they are sticking to it!

I don't know what other peoples thoughts are on this but i feel that for fairly small scale introducers (particulartly those that only operate via the web)it is unnecessary and i can see no real benefit beyond simply 'being regulated' and having the privilege of using their statement.

Next site is a DM site..do i need to be register tio be regulated to generate leads for DM? Might need to focus on that while i wait for the MOJ application to be processed!

**RobOxeva** · 28-01-09

The worst part, is that your expected to publish your MOJ reg number where relevant, but the moment an unregulated company 'borrows' your license number and you report it to the MOJ, they do roughly nothing about it, neither regulated, nor protected me thinks.

Keep your MOJ number close to your chest, you wont regret it.

:sneaky

**HotRobot** · 28-01-09

Exactly! The money generated from the registration and yearly fee is supposed to go towards 'monitoring compliance'. Using somebody elses licence number and passing it off as your own seems like a serious breach (more serious than not being regulated i feel) yet they seem either reluctant or more likely impotent to act.

I just feel that if our site and marketing comply fully with alll relevant regulation, data protection etc and act in a transparent and professional way can the MOJ really be justified to levy any sort of penalty simply because i objected to paying for something that i feel has very little value For the record I wouldn't object so much if those that were breaking the regulation were sanctioned effectively.

**perpetual** · 28-01-09

bloody shellfish if you ask me.....can someone pass my coat...?!

**RobOxeva** · 28-01-09

Your not going out in just a coat in this weather!!! (offers scarf and hat and gloves)

**jaybpool** · 30-01-09

To be honest i think it is a lot better since the regulations came into place. The main reason is to comply with the Solicitors Code rule 7 & 9 which states they can not take on claims that are cold called. Hence why you need to adhere to the advertising guidelines.

I see many company’s (people) on here offering to buy and sell PI leads that are not regulated they will all come unstuck as the Solicitor is supposed to check with the clients how they was contacted or they will have the SRA on there backs.

When you do go live let me know as we would be interested in working with you we will pay handsomely for good generated leads or even a profit share

Regards
Jay

**HotRobot** · 30-01-09

Hi Jay;

This is effectively the crux of the point i was making, I would have no objection with complying with the SRA regulations. Surely a written introducer agreement from a solicitors which stated the terms under which referrals to be submitted would be appropriate?

I guess the grey area comes from sites that generate leads which are sold on to other sites who then pass the claims to a legal professional, whereby the solicitor may not be certain that the lead was generated in a compliant way.

It is largely a moot point since I will stump up the fee, it's just disappointing that I will be kicking my heels waiting for the application to be approved when i know that all of our marketing is above board. Might have to launch the debt management site in the meantime!

Jay, I have a couple of provisional agreements in place with solicitors and an accident management company (for credit hires) and would only be looking to deal with solicitors directly but feel free to PM me with details.

**123debtsolutions** · 31-01-09

Right now debt management is far more lucrative....

And there are ways around not having to wait for MOJ licence number, not least piggy backing off others, such as a network like ourselves.

Good luck.

**HotRobot** · 20-03-09

Further to this, last week I decided to run a 'test campaign' on AdWords prior to registering with the MOJ. To be quite honest I didnt want to be spending around £600 to be regulated and then find that I didn't make any money! There was some confusion as to whether I could be exempt as at present I will be referring less than 25 cases in a calendar quarter. (It seems that now that I have had a good read this is only if it is INCIDENTAL to your main business)

I left a message with the MOJ to call me back since they don't seem too fond of answering the phone on a Friday afternoon. It seems that I had received a call from them last week almost as soon as the site was live on AdWords but only just got the message to call them back.

I suspect that I will be asked to register with them and I will have to bite the bullet and go with it.

What are peoples experience with the MOJ when registering for CMR? Will they ask me to take the site down whilst my application is being processed? I considered going down the authorised agent route (ie through somebody else who is regulated) but I want the freedom to choose who i submit the referrals to.

To be honest I would rather be regulated and be doing everything the correct way but since it is fairly small scale at the moment the application and subscription fees seem excessive.

Any thoughts? is it feasible to club together with a couple of other companies doing the same thing and create an 'umbrella' membership? How helpful or otherwise are the MOJ?

**tomshaw12** · 22-03-09

I suggest just getting the application in mate as they take so bloody long about it! Took my company a good 2-3 months to get registered - they said this was an exception but others I have spoken to have had similar experiences.

Also solicitors will be reluctant to touch you prior to registration purely for the reasons you have already mentioned.

But your right it is an excessive payment considering what you get back in return.

Word of advice with your referers - look for ways to increase your EL work as in Oct RTA recommendations are coming out and there is a strong feeling fixed solicitors costs will be placed on RTA work in an effort to clean up the market. If it is passed the referral fees will be slashed. This only applies to RTA work so EL fees will subsequently increase. However PL work will still remain on the back burner for now due to the difficulty in establishing liability.

Good luck mate

**Alfie786** · 23-03-09

hi can you please tell me what EL and PL stand for?
thank you

**tomshaw12** · 23-03-09

EL means employers liability aka accidents at work.

PL means public liability aka slips and trips etc

**rob.co.uk** · 23-03-09

Originally Posted by RobOxeva

Keep your MOJ number close to your chest, you wont regret it.

:sneaky

Going down this route shortly - and any tips such as the above are welcome - any reason for this?

cheers,
rob.

**HotRobot** · 25-03-09

I'm guessing it's because unscrupulous companies and individuals may try to use it without your consent to guve the appearance that they are regulated.

My form has been completed and will be on it's way to the MOJ shortly, I just hope it doesn't take months to be accepted. I like how even if you are rejected they keep your application fee! I will be calling them this week to ensure I submit everything correctly which should hopefully speed up the process.

**DebtDoc** · 26-03-09

By the way, YES they do ask you to take your site down or they will refuse to issue it.
Thats all we had on our site was a kind of glossary of terms and a contact form.