Solicitors set up 'snowline' as accident claims soar

11 January 2010

A group of solicitors have set up a ‘snowline’ to cope with a surge in accident claims as a result of the freezing weather.

QualitySolicitors.com, a referral service operated by 200 firms, says the snow has led to a 42 per cent increase in claims, including a man hit by a skidding dog.

Craig Holt, chief executive of the service, said the ‘snowline’ would be manned by legally trained staff who would connect them to personal injury solicitors if necessary.

Holt said there had been a “remarkable increase” in the number of people needing advice.

“The snow and ice has resulted in a huge increase in the number of people calling our case-handlers, ranging from more routine accidents such as people slipping or being involved in car accidents to more unusual cases such as one person who was hit by a large amount of snow that had settled on the roof of a building and another who was involved in a collision with a skidding dog. Fortunately, neither were seriously injured.”

Holt added that membership of QualitySolicitors.com was limited to firms which received at least 95 per cent positive feedback from their clients.