I think I have been mislead and entered into a contract with a ‘no win, no fee’ solicitor. Does anyone have advice?
I was involved in a road traffic accident where I was not at fault. It’s all gone through the other party’s insurance, they’re arranging for my vehicle to be fixed and I spoke with their insurance company and the garage doing the repairs. Later that day I was contacted by another department who wanted more details about the accident and requested photos of my driving license and damage to my vehicle. It seemed completely legit and I sent the information over. She then said I had an outstanding payment I hadn’t claimed and said she would send it over to me. At no point did she mention solicitors or putting a claim in or anything thing else. She then asked me to sign a document. At this point I grew suspicious and said I needed to read before signing and put the phone down. She then rang constantly before ringing my husband whose number she also had. My husband insisted it was a normal part of the insurance process so I foolishly gave in and signed it. I was then told a legal team would be contacting me in the next few minutes. By then I’m was fully convinced it was a scam and so ignored the calls. I’ve been bombarded with calls today but was working so ignored but my husband answered one and said it was the same pushy lady.
I feel absolutely stupid now and looking back all the signs are there, the pushiness, the fact that I can’t find information about the so called company she works for online etc. I never thought I would fool for anything but it all seemed so convincing.
Now to the legal part. I have read the document I have signed for which looks like a contract for a no win no fee personal injury claims company. I have emailed the company the contract is for (I have had no personal contact with them) and asked them to cancel the contract. It says I have 14 days to cancel but they have not replied to my email. The worrying thing is I have found in the contract I need to pay for any work they do in the 14 days. I’m worried now I am going to end up with a massive bill for work they will claim to have done.
What should I do next? I was going to send a letter to confirm cancellation if they don’t respond to my email. This legal company looks suspicious anyway, there’s only a couple of reviews about them, so I’m hoping I won’t hear from them again but I don’t want to be hit with a massive bill six months down the line! Or am I better just going through with a claim so it doesn’t cost me anything?