Can I sue my solicitor?

4 years ago I was injured when I came off on a diesel spill on a roundabout in London. It covered half a lane of the roundabout. The police told me that there was nothing they could do and my insurer gave me a solicitor. But, because they couldn’t find out who caused the spillage they dropped the case. I have done some research and came across the Motor Insurers Bureau. I called my solicitor to ask about this but he said it wouldn’t succeed and anyway I am out of time to make a claim. Am I able to claim compensation for incorrect legal advice?

Darius, Epping

Answer

Yours was clearly an accident “arising out of the negligent use of a motor vehicle on the road” and therefore you should have been advised to submit a claim to the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) under the Untraced Drivers’ Agreement. This is because an untraced road user was likely to blame in not properly securing the fuel cap or by overfilling the tank causing the diesel to spill onto the highway.

It is wrong to say that the MIB would not have paid up. However, you only have 3 years to claim from MIB. You could sue the solicitor’s firm for compensation for the lost chance of a successful claim to the MIB. You should obtain the highway authority records of the clean-up operation and the police report which should record the diesel spill.