Claims management company first to buy law firm

Vamco, a claims management company based in Surrey, has become the first to buy a law firm. The firm now owns Kingsley Law, through its subsidiary and ABS, Kingsley Law Limited.

At the end of last year, Quindell Legal Services, which trades as Silverbeck Rymer, obtained an ABS license from the SRA. It is part of outsourcer Quindell Portfolio, which owns another law firm and a CMC.

Tony Rand, the managing director of Vamco, has become COFA of Kingsley Law Limited. Graham Cade, a director of Kingsley Law, is the COLP.

Rand said Vamco could now offer an integrated service covering every aspect of a claim from first contact to final settlement.

“Since 1997, we have recovered millions of pounds for our clients, through the successful management of thousands of car and motor-bike accident claims, but we hadn’t been happy with the quality of service provided by the conventional model of solicitor panels for some time,” Rand said.

“We thought that approach inefficient and time-consuming and delivered poor quality results to clients.

“When the Legal Services Act introduced the concept of ABS licences, allowing non-lawyers to own or invest in law firms - subject to approval - it was something we fully embraced.

“We soon realised that we had to adjust our strategic model, to benefit from ABS either by building our own legal capability, or acquiring that capability. The latter was clearly the best option as we had been sending all our legal work to Kingsley Law since its inception.

“From the moment we began using Kingsley Law, there was an immeasurable improvement in communication and efficiency, not least because it doesn’t give fee-earner responsibilities to inexperienced paralegals or overseas claim handlers, as many law firms do.”

Rand said Kingsley Law Limited had participated in the SRA’s pilot ABS approval process, which was “quite adventurous for a small firm”.

Vamco, based in Farnham, works with fleet management companies, bodyshops, dealers, rental companies and insurance companies. It is regulated as a CMC by the Ministry of Justice.