Winn solicitors saying we owe £13,000

[PinkBump2022]

4 years ago we were parked up eating lunch in the car in an Asda car park. All of a sudden we got crashed into from behind. We got out the car she took photos and the woman took off, we got a picture of her numberplate which is the only reason we Found out who she was. Both cars had some damage. Ours to the back hers to the front. We put a claim in at winns and they said we had a good case. The other party denied it all saying it was a tiny bump. I had whiplash and needed pain killers and physio. After 3 years of her disputing it and us sticking to the same story time and time again we got a court date! The day befoeo the trail we got a phone call from winns saying we would almost certainly loose the court case and should withdraw immediately before any further charges incur and we end up with the other party’s charges too!!!! We again took their advice as we had for 3 years. I didn’t understand why for 3 years they said we had a good case then suddenly we didn’t when obviously nothing had changed. So now we have both had letters my partner owes £8600 and I owe £5775……..
so my question is, does anyone know if we do actually owe this money? Is there a way out of it? Surly it’s no win no fee so how can they charge us?

Hello, I’m wondering whether you’ve had any progress with Winns? Have you hired another solicitor? They are scammers and the number of terrifying reviews left online proves that. They should not have anything to do with law as they’re the main ones breaking it. I hope you get the situation successfully completed very soon.

The fact they rate 4.8 on Trustpilot and 4.6 on Google rather undermines your argument.

This sounds like an absolute nightmare and I'm so sorry that you have experienced this, but am also so thankful to have seen your review. My mum just had a car accident last week where she was driving on a straight main road and the driver of a Miele owned van decided to ignore the stop lines (he was merging out of a side road) and proceeded to merge onto the main road, driving directly into the passenger side of my mum's car.

Impact was understandably substantial, so she has been signed off from work by the GP with whiplash, damage to her shoulder, arm, hip and back.

As soon as my mum contacted her insurance company to ask for a courtesy car (as her car obviously needs to be sent in for repair), they handed her straight over to Winn Solicitors to handle the entire matter. She is now being pushed into signing all of these agreements with Winn Solicitors before her car can be repaired or a courtesy car is released.

I don't drive, so have never been in an accident to really understand what the usual process should be, but surely this isn't the norm? Shouldn't the insurers be the ones who deal with this matter directly?

With regard to Winn Solicitors, I really don't think there's a reason for them to be involved in anything because we have not decided to take any legal action with them specifically (we are looking elsewhere for legal representation).

I've seen a few comments on here asking why you are dealing with the solicitor rather than your insurer and I think I understand your situation. The insurer makes it seem as though every aspect of the claim (from vehicle repair to legal representation) is run by the solicitors?

After the first call to report my mum's accident, the insurer very quickly removed themselves from the conversation entirely. It seems as though we now only should deal with Winn Solicitors to have anything (at all) done.

I've read a stream of awful reviews for Winn Solicitors, so I really would like to avoid them as much as possible but, again, I'm aware that I may not have the best understanding of how these things work. Hoping someone on here has some thoughts/advice - I don't want what is already a bad situation to get worse with Winn... 😐

I am not associated with Winn Solicitors. However, they still have a 4.8 rating on TrustPilot and a 4.6 rating on Google, so clearly the vast majority of reviews are positive.

Winn Solicitors are a claims management company used by a number of insurers. They are solicitors but they do much more than that. It is common for insurers to hand a claim over to a claims management company to deal with sorting out repairs, car hire, legal claims, etc. So yes, your insurers have handed over the claim to Winn Solicitors and they will handle every aspect of it on behalf of your insurers.

Without seeing the agreements your mother is being asked to sign it is impossible to say how normal they are, but it is not unusual to have to sign various agreements. If a hire car or courtesy car is provided, there will usually be paperwork to sign associated with that. There may be paperwork to sign for the actual repair. If your insurer is taking legal action on your behalf against the other driver to recover your losses, there will be paperwork to sign for that.

Since your insurer is clearly using Winn Solicitors' claims management services to handle your mother's claim, you have no choice. Your mother has to deal with them.

You say you are looking elsewhere for legal representation. Check with your mother's insurers first before doing anything. Her insurance may well include a clause requiring her to allow them to conduct any legal action on her behalf and requiring her to co-operate. If you engage separate legal representation, your mother may be in breach of the terms of her policy.

i have some Experience now, my english not well, they suggest me rent a car ,and follow the winn refer the onhire comPany to rent a car....i rent more day the invoice is more that buy a Tesla... i very worry about that...what can i do now? i am not so much money to pay.....

@Jamesgg you rented more days than your should of and rented a Tesla? What is your car that was being repaired?

If you rented longer than the repair dates your claim is very likely to be repudiated if you have greatly increased the costs to the insurance

yes, about 2 months.. this Onhire Company the total costs is the repair costs x 5....super expensive... I am very afarid that... and feeling helpless...
i don't want believe the insurance , Solicitor and the Hire car company... mark their Client have the opportunity to bear such a terrible cost....
How could it be so, I'd be disappointed to death...who can help me...

@Jamesgg I don't know what to tell you other than you could offer to pay for the additional 2 weeks hire that you didn't need before they investigate it further and then you're responsible for the full amount

I work in this area - the best thing you can do is fully comply with everything Winn Solicitors ask you to do. Even if it means attend court on their behalf. Just do as they ask and you will
Be fine. This will ensure that you are fully protected for the fees.

Hi I was wondering if this is an update in relation to this post.
As currently having similar issues with this solicitors and was no fault and Asda admitted liability