Claim council hits out at creation of rival body

8 September 2011 | By Natalie Holt

The Claims Standards Council has hit out at the creation of a rival trade body for claim management companies.

Last week, claims management company Brunel Franklin announced it has resigned from the Claims Standards Council before revealing it helped to set up a rival trade body to be called the Association of Professional Claims Managers.

The APCM has been founded by claim firms Brunel Franklin, Gladstone Brookes, We Claim U Gain, Financial Recovery Solutions and Synergy Financial Solutions.

Announcing the new trade body, Brunel Franklin managing director Sally Bowyer said: “We have drawn together what we consider to be some of the most professional and ethical players in the sector and can offer a new level of professional conduct and confidence to consumers.”

But CSC policy director Andrew Wigmore says the CSC and the Ministry of Justice, which regulates the claim sector, have spent the last year agreeing a set of protocols for claim companies to sign up to.

Wigmore says: “Some claim firms will not like what is being proposed, especially our position that companies should not take up-front fees from the consumer and that all claims should be at a fixed cost. We do not want firms as members of the council if they are unable to comply with our protocol.”

Brunel Franklin declined to comment on the issue.

Philip J Milton & Company managing director Philip Milton says: “The Ministry of Justice has set out its own criteria in terms of what these firms should and should not be doing and all claim firms should be forced to follow those.”

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