Have you had a road traffic accident in the last two years?

[Yellow Fang]

These people who phone you up and ask if you have had a road traffic accident in the past two years, or if not you then some one you know, are they proper qualified solicitors?

It must be really depressing after studying law for so long, perhaps having been inspired by TV shows like Rumpole of the Bailey or Judge John Deed, to find yourself having to do that.

 

[Dave Davenport]

The correct response is;
Why yes I did actually
You can get me compensation?
Wow, that would be great!
What happened?
I crashed into the back of a police car
How so?
Well I was very, very drunk at the time...............

 

[vernon]

These people who phone you up and ask if you have had a road traffic accident in the past two years, or if not you then some one you know, are they proper qualified solicitors?

It must be really depressing after studying law for so long, perhaps having been inspired by TV shows like Rumpole of the Bailey or Judge John Deed, to find yourself having to do that.

They probably aren't legally qualified people, they are probably canvassers employed by telesales/telecanvassing services who pass the positive responses onto the unscrupulous legal merchants who help to add to the cost of motor insurance premiums.

 

[vernon]

The correct response is;
Why yes I did actually
You can get me compensation?
Wow, that would be great!
What happened?
I crashed into the back of a police car
How so?
Well I was very, very drunk at the time...............

Embellish the incident with a few deaths too for good measure and a test of the legal qualifications/intelligence of the canvasser is whether or not they continue to march through the script.

 

[Levo-Lon]

As above...its a job i spose..

 

[Over The Hill]

Yes ....
and No.

It is a regulated profession so there needs to be a properly qualified solicitor there (somewhere). The bod on the phone probably is not though!

I work in property law. Traditionally in this area of law there would be a solicitor and their assistant working on your matter. So 50% qualified staff.
Many firms now have one qualified lawyer overseeing perhaps twenty unqualified staff who do most of the work and then at some point plonk the file in front of the qualified person. So it is then dealt with by a qualified person about 5% of the time.
But then people want cheap so they get cheap.

I did think legal work would be more interesting than it is! Trying to get out of it now as I spend most of my day chasing the above idiot firms who do not know what they are doing and ask for the building regs certificate on a 100 year old house!

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

The correct response is;
Why yes I did actually
You can get me compensation?
Wow, that would be great!
What happened?
I crashed into the back of a police car
How so?
Well I was very, very drunk at the time...............

There ought to be an ambulance chasing version too.
''I was following an ambulance on an emergency call when it suddenly braked hard.''

 

[Drago]

Chatting to the solicitors and run of the mill barristers I know - and I'm friends with quite a few - and none of them earn as much as I do, and I'm not noted for buying a new Bentley every year. It seems the unless you reach the very highest echelons of criminal practice you ain't likely to be retiring early to Barbados. I know two which moved across to commercial practice in recent years for more money and much less hours.

 

[Ian H]

I was once stopped by a street-canvasser asking me those questions. Bizarre!

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I was once stopped by a street-canvasser asking me those questions. Bizarre!

There was an insurance compensation gazebo in the high street this afternoon.

 

[Spinney]

Who should call just after I read this but someone saying I had an accident recently.

What was your accident?
- I ran into the back of a police car
It was not your fault?
- No - they stopped suddenly.
OK ma'am, we can get you compensation, blah, blah... just give me more details
- I was doing 50 mph in a 30 mph limit, and the police car stopped suddenly in front of me so I ran into the back of them.
What car were you in?
- I was in my Ferrari. It was a bit expensive to repair.
How many people... blah
- There were two policemen in the car...

when he asked for my registration number, I just said - have you listened to a word I've said - how can you possibly think that if I was speeding and hit a police car from behind, that you could get me compensation.

Then someone else came on the line...
- why are you lying to me

 

[Drago]

It's like home improvement salesman. I had one round a while selling cavity wall insulation. I invited him in, got him chatting, for him to spend time doing a quote. Only then did I finally ask, "tell me, how do you get the old stuff out?"

He wasn't best pleased.

 

[ufkacbln]

I love winding these people up

Point out you have had several, and ask which one they are interested in

Give more and more extravagant details

Then mention whiplash!

When they have got really excited point out that the Police suggested that being uninsured, three times over the drink drive limit, and testing positive for crack cocaine meant that compensation would be limited


They tend to hang up

 

[ufkacbln]

But no-one will beat this....

 

[TVC]

I was once stopped by a street-canvasser asking me those questions. Bizarre!

I was stopped by one in town too. As it happens it was about a week after I was knocked off my bike and I waswalking across town for a first meeting with my personal injury lawyer.
There was I , with many stitches in my face, no front teeth, arm in a sling and a good limp. This young woman with a clipboard bounces up to me, "Have you been involved in an accident recently?". "What do you think?". She looked at me again and I could spot the moment she actually noticed my injuries. Poor girl was on complete autopilot up to that point.