Lexcel is an accreditation scheme introduced by the Law Society of England and Wales to firms that have met certain criteria following rigorous independent assessment on a yearly basis. Accredited firms offer the highest standard of client care and practice management, so you can be sure you’re getting the best possible service.

Lexcel firms are committed to:

Protecting client confidentiality
Communicating with you clearly and honestly about your case
Being upfront with you about costs
Keeping you informed about how your case is going
Dealing with any complaints properly

We are pleased to announced that MRH Solicitors have been accredited with the Lexcel Quality Mark as of May 2013. If you want peace of mind and assurance that you will receive a quality service,, look for MRH Solicitors – the mark of excellence.

AMY LODDINGTON, Financial Reporter – Tuesday, 19 February 2013

The FSA has fined three Lloyds Banking Group firms a total of £4,315,000 for failings in their systems and controls that resulted in up to 140,000 customers receiving delayed payment protection insurance redress.

The three firms are Lloyds TSB Bank Plc, Lloyds TSB Scotland Plc and Bank of Scotland plc (together, LBG).

Between May 2011 and March 2012, LBG sent 582,206 decision letters to PPI complainants agreeing to pay redress to them.  FSA rules state that redress must be paid promptly and, in line with that, LBG aimed to make payment within 28 days of these decision letters.  However, a series of failures at LBG meant that not all customers were paid redress within that time frame.

Up to 140,209 customers – nearly a quarter – received payment after 28 days.  Around 87,000 customers had to wait over 45 days, 56,000 over 60 days, 29,000 over 90 days and 8,800 over 6 months.  Of the total, 24,589 payments inadvertently dropped out of the process and LBG had to take action to ensure the payments were made.  The payments were identified as a result of customers calling to chase payment and media attention.

Further, when customers telephoned LBG to enquire about the non-receipt of expected PPI redress payments, deficiencies in its process meant LBG was unable to fast-track the payment to the customer, inform them when payment would be made, or explain why it had been delayed.

Tracey McDermott, the FSA’s director of enforcement and financial crime, said:

“The industry let customers down badly in relation to the sale of PPI.  The significant volume of complaints is a product of LBG’s own failings and the least customers can now expect is that redress, when it is due, will be paid promptly.

“In short, LBG’s PPI redress payment systems fell well below the standard the FSA expects, and the size of this fine reflects how seriously we view these breaches. All regulated firms must treat those who complain fairly and that includes paying redress promptly when it is due.

“PPI is an area of continuing focus for the FSA and we continue to monitor how firms handle complaints and pay redress.”

LBG agreed to settle with the FSA at an early stage of the investigation and therefore qualified for a 30% discount. Without the discount LBG would have been fined £6,164,327.

BBC News, Tuesday, 5 March 2013

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21654732

The financial ombudsman service is taking on 2,000 new cases a day following payment protection insurance (PPI) complaints, with numbers rising at “unprecedented” rates.

The service received 211,885 new PPI complaints in the second half of 2012.

These made up nearly three-quarters of the 283,251 new complaints sent to the ombudsman during the six months.

The service rules on cases that remain unresolved between a customer and a financial institution.

‘No sign of slowing’

Payment protection insurance was designed to cover loan repayments for policyholders who became ill, had an accident or lost their job. Yet it was mis-sold on a massive scale to customers who did not want or need it.

Now, they are each receiving an average of nearly £3,000 in compensation, if their claim is successful. Refunding these customers has cost the UK banks a collective total of more than £15bn, following the latest provisions by the major banks.

Some claims are disputed by the banks and these often end up with the ombudsman.

Lloyds TSB Bank had the highest number of PPI cases referred to the ombudsman of any institution during the second half of the year, but the ombudsman found in the customers’ favour in 86% of the cases against the bank.

This was a higher level than all of the other major UK banks.

“The number of PPI complaints has continued to increase at unprecedented levels,” said Natalie Ceeney, chief financial ombudsman.

“As the complaint levels show no sign of slowing, consumers are increasingly having to wait longer to get their complaints sorted – with many businesses still continuing to cause unnecessary delays.

“Where businesses have shown a real commitment to better customer service and diligent complaints handling – including actively engaging with the ombudsman – cases are resolved more quickly and easily, to the benefit of everyone.”

Lloyds has said that it reviews all PPI claims in “an in-depth manner that produces fair outcomes for customers”.

The banking group said its complaints levels in general were falling.

“We are very disappointed with the number of PPI complaints that have been referred to the ombudsman service, and we are actively addressing this with the ombudsman,” said Martin Dodd, customer services director at Lloyds Banking Group.

“We are confident that we will see an improvement throughout the year.”

STEVE HAWKES, Business Editor. “Bank bill for PPI scandal soars to £10bn”, Published: 19th October 2012

Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4597781/PPI-bank-bill-soars-to-10bn.html#ixzz2I2GCYEaq

The bank bill for the PPI mis-selling scandal has soared to an eye-watering £10BILLION.

BARCLAYS last night said it needed to set aside another £700million to compensate customers for mis-selling Payment Protection Insurance.

That takes its total provision to £2billion and the bill for the whole banking industry to more than £10billion.

LLOYDS faces a £4.3billion bill and ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND £1.4billion.

Barclays said: “We have experienced higher than previously anticipated claim volumes.”

Insiders said they had been stunned by the surge in claims since July as “ambulance chasers” drum up business.

One source claimed that almost half were from claims management companies representing customers who had never even had a PPI policy with the bank.

But experts insist many claims are from real customers finally realising they may be able to get some money back off their bank.

Ralph Silva, banking analyst at SRN, said: “The banks brought this on themselves, they should never have pushed these policies onto customers in the first place.

“They have screwed up twice, in the first place by doing the wrong thing, then secondly by not assessing the cost of doing the wrong thing accurately.”

PPI was sold as an insurance policy to cover customer repayments if they lost their jobs or became ill. But many would never have been able to claim.

The Financial Ombudsman Service said the volume of PPI complaints doubled between January and June — and 1,500 new cases were arriving every day.

Lloyds retail chief Alison Brittain admitted to the Sun last month that hardly any of the bank’s branch staff took out PPI cover themselves.

Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4597781/PPI-bank-bill-soars-to-10bn.html#ixzz2I2FHnUCh

The Court of Appeal today confirmed that “general damages”, that is the compensation awarded for the injury part of a personal injury claim will increase by 10% for all cases settled after 1st April 2013.

The uplift on the injury compensation was a key element of Lord Justice Jackson’s recommendations for reform of the civil litigation system. But with the increase not included in government legislation to enact Jackson’s report, the judgment said it would be ‘a breach of faith’ for the judiciary not to ensure trial judges would apply it.

The uplift will apply to “general damages” for pain, suffering and loss of amenity in personal injury, nuisance, defamation and all other torts which cause suffering, inconvenience or distress to individuals.

APIL, The Association Of Personal Injury Lawyers today confirmed that plans for a support scheme for mesothelioma victims who cannot trace their former employers’ insurers were announced this week.

It is estimated that the £300m scheme, funded by employers’ insurers, will help 3,000 victims during the next 10 years. But it only helps people who were diagnosed on or after 25th July 2012 when the announcement was made. It also does not extend to sufferers of other asbestos-related diseases.

Hasan Qamruddin, a Director at MRH Solicitors has recently joined a number of local and national stroke charities to help raise awareness of stroke prevention and to inform stroke survivors of the extensive help that they can get locally to rebuild their lives following a stroke.

Every year 150,000 people in the U.K have a stroke and by becoming a volunteer with the Stroke Association and a Bolton based stroke charity, JIGSAW, Hasan Qamruddin hopes to learn more about the effects of strokes and he views it is an opportunity to put something back into the local community.

MRH Solicitors had an enjoyable, competitive and ultimately successful days cricket on Sunday 8th July 2012 when past and present employees of the firm re-united to play a Dalton Cricket Club select XI in a 45 over game at their ground in Skelmersdale, near Wigan in Lancashire to raise funds for the club.

The MRH Solicitors bowling attack was able to tame the Dalton Cricket Club batting after they got off to a flyer with notable contributions from Hasan Qamruddin, Arif Qadri, Shoaib Patel and Asif Vahaluwala. The target of 120 to win set by Dalton Cricket Club was passed after a loss of some early wickets with patient batting from Hanif Patel, Matt Charman and Gohar Zaman.

MRH Solicitors are the main sponsors of Dalton Cricket Club and have sponsored the 1st, 2nd and 3rd team cricket tops for the 2012 season.

Gemma Boardman, a member of the MRH Solicitors pre-litigation Road Traffic Accident team climbed Ben Nevis in the Scottish Highlands, the highest mountain in the British Isles standing at 4,409 ft above sea level, in aid of the Haematology Unit at Hope Hospital in Manchester where her friend was treated for leukemia.

The climb took Gemma a gruelling 7.5 hours to complete, but she was ecstatic at completing the challenge successfully and raising a significant sum of money for a worthy cause.

Victims of crime who suffer ‘minor’ injuries will no longer be able to claim compensation through the Government’s scheme, Ken Clarke the Minister of Justice announced this week.

In response to the ‘Getting It Right For Victims and Witnesses’ consultation, the justice secretary announced plans to reform the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme ‘so that it is focused on seriously injured victims of serious crime’. Mr. Clarke confirmed that the Government intends to remove injuries currently valued at less than £2,500 and significantly reduce payments for claims below £1,000 under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (CICA Scheme).

The new scheme has been placed before Parliament and will be assigned to a parliamentary committee for approval.