BClaims Terms of Use

BClaims is a free of charge information service, not an advice service, and is provided subject to the restrictions set out in these terms. Please note paragraphs 3.2, 3.3, 3.4 and 5.1 in particular. If we agree to act on your behalf in connection with any personal injury claim, the relationship between us will be governed by a separate written contract for the provision of legal services. If you use BClaims to access our personal injury claims extranet, your access to and use of that extranet will be governed by the separate terms of use which appear on that extranet.

"BClaims" is the brand name for the online personal injury claims information service offered by the Litigation department of Brodies LLP through the sub-site at http://bclaims.brodies.com (the "BClaims Site").

Brodies LLP is a limited liability partnership (incorporation no: SO300334) incorporated under the Limited Liability Partnership Act 2000 and having its registered office at 15 Atholl Crescent, Edinburgh EH3 8HA, Scotland, UK.

Brodies LLP is regulated by the Law Society of Scotland (www.lawscot.org.uk). A list of all members of Brodies LLP is available at its registered office at the address given above.

In these terms ("these Terms") Brodies LLP is referred to as "Brodies" or "we" or "us" and "our" has the corresponding meaning. Any individual using the BClaims Site is referred to as "you" and "your" has the corresponding meaning. If you are acting in the course of employment or engagement by another person, "you" also means your employer, other than in paragraph 8 which deals with our use of the individual user's personal information.

1 General

1.1 Use of the BClaims Site is subject to:

1.1.1 the general terms of use of Brodies' web site at www.brodies.com - please take this link to read those terms of use; and

1.1.2 the additional terms of use set out in these Terms,

together, the "BClaims Terms of Use".

1.2 If and to the extent that any conflict exists between the general terms of use of Brodies' web site referred to in paragraph 1.1.1 and these Terms, these Terms will take precedence.

1.3 If you do not agree to the BClaims Terms of Use you should not use or attempt to use the BClaims Site.

1.4 Where these Terms allow or require us to communicate with you "in writing", we are permitted (although not obliged) to use email for those purposes.

2 Making a Claim Enquiry

2.1 The BClaims Site allows you to make an initial enquiry about your right (if any) to claim compensation for any personal injury which you have suffered and whether we are willing to act on your behalf in the pursuit of any such claim (a "Claim Enquiry"). You can make a Claim Enquiry by:

2.1.1 calling us using the freephone number provided on the BClaims Site;

2.1.2 sending us your contact details through the BClaims Site and asking us to call you back;

2.1.3 emailing us; or

2.1.4 completing the claim enquiry form which is available on the BClaims Site.

2.2 If you make a Claim Enquiry we will contact you as soon as reasonably practicable, within normal working hours, to acknowledge receipt of your Claim Enquiry and to ask you for the additional information which we need in order to make an initial assessment of your right (if any) to claim compensation for personal injury and to decide whether we are willing to act on your behalf in the pursuit of any such claim. For these purposes our "normal working hours" are Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, excluding UK and Scottish public holidays.

3 Follow up to your Claim Enquiry

3.1 If, in light of the information provided to us by you, we believe you have reasonable prospects of successfully claiming compensation for personal injury, we may choose, at our discretion, to offer to act on your behalf in the pursuit of that claim. Any such offer will be made in writing, on and subject to our terms of business. That offer and your acceptance of that offer (if you choose to appoint us to act on your behalf) will form a separate contract between you and us for the provision of legal services.

3.2 If:

3.2.1 in light of the information provided to us by you, we do not believe you have reasonable prospects of successfully claiming compensation for personal injury; or

3.2.2 we for any other reason decide, at our discretion, not to offer to act on your behalf in the pursuit of that claim, including (by way of example only) because we have a conflict of interest, because the value of the claim makes it uneconomical to pursue or because we cannot trace the third party's insurer,
we will inform you to that effect in writing. You understand though that if we decide not to offer to act on your behalf in the circumstances in paragraph 3.2.1, that decision is not intended to be advice about your right to claim compensation (if any) and you should not rely on it as such. If you do so, to the fullest extent permitted by law we will not be liable for any loss or damage which arises from such reliance, whether in contract, in delict or otherwise in law.

3.3 As a general rule, you must raise and serve an action for compensation for personal injury by the end of the period of three years from the date of your accident. After the expiry of that period your case will be time-barred.

3.4 If we choose not to offer to act on your behalf for any reason, but you still wish to pursue a claim for compensation for personal injury, you should therefore consult other solicitors as soon as possible and in any event in good time to allow any action for such compensation to be commenced prior to the expiry of that three year period.

4 No win no fee

4.1 If we offer to act on your behalf in the pursuit of a claim for compensation for personal injury, the extent of your responsibility (if any) for our fees and expenses in connection with the conduct of that claim will be governed by the separate contract for the provision of legal services referred to in paragraph 3.1.

4.2 Without affecting the position in paragraph 4.1, if we offer to act on your behalf in the pursuit of such a claim on a "no win no fee" basis, this means that if your claim is not successful, you will not be responsible for our fees and expenses in connection with the conduct of that claim or for your opponent's costs, except if and to the extent set out in paragraphs 4.3 and 4.4.

4.3 If it becomes apparent to us, for whatever reason, during the course of your claim, that the prospects of success of your claim are, in our opinion, less than reasonable, we are entitled to (i) request that you meet some or all of the additional costs necessary to instruct expert reports or to take any other steps reasonably necessary to establish the merit of your claim; and / or (ii) cease acting on your behalf in connection with your claim. If you do not wish to meet any additional costs which we request you to pay under (i) above, you are entitled to instruct us to cease acting on your behalf and to abandon your claim. If you wish us to continue acting on your behalf in pursuit of your claim, notwithstanding our advice that the prospects of success of your claim are less than reasonable, and we agree, at our discretion, to do so, and your claim is not successful, you will be responsible for:

4.3.1 our fees and expenses in connection with the conduct of your claim, other than those incurred prior to our communicating that advice to you; and

4.3.2 your opponent's legal fees and expenses.

4.4 You will also be liable for our fees and expenses in connection with the conduct of your claim (including any client investigation fee or payment for services from another company that we may have paid in connection with your claim) if:

4.4.1 you fail to provide us with instructions at any stage of your claim; or

4.4.2 you instruct other solicitors to act on your behalf instead of us after we have accepted your claim and carried out work; or

4.4.3 it appears to us you are pursuing a fraudulent claim;

4.4.4 you accept payment directly from a third party in respect of any or all of your claim.

5 BClaims Materials

5.1 The guidance notes and any other materials which we make available on the BClaims Site about the law and our services in relation to personal injury claims (the "BClaims Materials") are not intended to address your particular requirements and do not constitute any form of advice or recommendation by us. They are provided free of charge, by way of general guidance and information only. As such you should not rely upon any of the BClaims Materials in making any decisions or taking (or not taking) any action. If you do so, to the fullest extent permitted by law we will not be liable for any loss or damage which arises from such reliance, whether in contract, in delict or otherwise in law.

5.2 Copyright in the BClaims Materials belongs to and will remain with us (or our licensors). You may download and print the BClaims Materials for your own reference purposes, but your right to use the BClaims Materials does not permit you to otherwise copy or adapt any of the BClaims Materials, or to commercially exploit them in any way, in whole or in part.

6 Your conduct in using the BClaimsSite

6.1 You will comply with any rules or instructions posted by us on the BClaims Site from time to time or which we otherwise communicate to you in writing.

6.2 You will ensure that any information, comments or other content which you send us through the BClaims Site (and/or its disclosure to us): (i) does not breach any applicable law or otherwise breach any obligation on your part; (ii) does not infringe any third party's rights, including but not limited to privacy rights, rights to keep information confidential and intellectual property rights; (iii) is not defamatory, obscene, offensive, pornographic, discriminatory or otherwise objectionable, whether by virtue of its subject matter, the opinions or ideas expressed or conveyed, the language used or otherwise; (iv) is not abusive, threatening or harassing; (v) is not fraudulent, misleading or false; and (vi) is free from software viruses and any other computer code, file or program designed to interrupt, damage, destroy or limit the functionality of any software, hardware or other information technology.

7 Personal injury claims extranet

If you use the link on the BClaims Site to access Brodies' personal injury claims extranet, your access to and use of that extranet will be governed by the separate terms of use which appear on it.

8 Privacy policy - collection and use of your personal information

8.1 Our collection and use of information about you through the BClaims Site (your "personal information") is governed by:

8.1.1 the Privacy Policy in section D of the general terms of use of Brodies' web site. Please take this link to read that Privacy Policy; and

8.1.2 the remaining provisions of this paragraph 8.

8.2 If you have submitted a Claim Enquiry, we will use your personal information for the purposes of dealing with that Claim Enquiry as described in paragraphs 2 and 3 of these Terms and for all related correspondence and administration. If you have submitted any other enquiry to us through the BClaims Site, including through the "Contact Us" section, we will use your personal information for the purposes of dealing with that enquiry and for all related correspondence and administration.

8.3 Please note that, if you have submitted a Claim Enquiry or any other enquiry to us through the BClaims Site, even if we do not subsequently offer to act on your behalf in the pursuit of a claim for compensation for personal injury, we will retain your personal information for so long as we reasonably require to do so for legal risk management purposes.

8.4 We will also use your personal information to send you information by email and/or by post about seminars and other events which Brodies is running from time to time and/or about the services which Brodies offers, which we believe may be of interest to you. If you do not wish to receive such information from us, please tell us by sending an email to info@brodies.com.

8.5 If you have any questions about the personal information which we have collected about you through the BClaims Site, please email info@brodies.com.

9 Further information and contact details

For further information from us on any of these Terms or for any queries on them, please contact Grant Campbell, Telephone: +44 (0)131 228 3777; Facsimile +44 (0)131 228 3878; or e-mail: grant.campbell@brodies.com.

10 General

10.1 Failure by us to enforce a right will not result in a waiver of such right.

10.2 If any of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable by any court having authority to determine such issues, the remaining provisions of these Terms will not be affected.

10.3 You may not assign or otherwise transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms, nor sub-license your rights, nor sub-contract your obligations.

11 Governing law and dispute resolution

Scots law will apply to these Terms, notwithstanding the jurisdiction where you are based. You irrevocably agree that the Scottish courts will have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute which may arise out of, under or in connection with these Terms and for those purposes irrevocably submit all disputes (including non-contractual disputes or claims) to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Scottish courts. The place of performance of the agreement made on the BClaims Terms of Use will be Scotland.