He calls the representatives of compensation firms what they are: “hyenas”. In short, this is how Zbigniew Zawada – owner of Biuro Ronin in Bolesławiec – can be described.
Read the article in Gazeta Wyborcza about Biuro Ronin – Zbigniew Zawada
Record compensation of 2.7 million zlotys
Zbigniew Zawada has run Biuro Ronin for 18 years. Two pictures on the office wall draw attention: a photograph of a lion and a knight with a sword. Both are there for a reason. They symbolize struggle, courage and, above all, honest principles in representing injured clients before insurance companies. Zbigniew Zawada knows how to act effectively. Proof of his effectiveness is the sum of 2.7 million zlotys, which he won for a client whose child was injured in an accident. As a result of the accident, the child became paralyzed and must be fed parenterally. The child also has to undergo rehabilitation abroad (there is no such facility in Poland), which costs tens of thousands of euros per month. Previously, the insurer had offered her 4,000 zlotys.
“This case has not yet ended,” says Zbigniew Zawada. “The money is needed so the child can live, and the child will require constant care for the rest of their life. The insurer pays the child a monthly pension of 7,000 zlotys. Zbigniew Zawada has documents confirming that the pension should be twice as high. Proceedings in this case are still ongoing.”
Compensation not only after road accidents
People injured in accidents come to Biuro Ronin. In the past, these were mainly traffic accidents. Today, they include various unfortunate incidents. Among the firm's clients is the family of a serviceman who died while on duty. There is also a man whose dream house, under construction and flooded by torrential rain, was compensated by Hestia with 1,200 zlotys. Following the intervention of Zbigniew Zawada's office, Hestia ultimately paid an additional 36,000 zlotys, in accordance with an estimate prepared by a court-appointed expert. There is also the family of people who were shot dead by a deserter. Despite 18 years having passed since the tragedy, Biuro Ronin's lawyers secured a total of 910,000 zlotys for the family as compensation for the harm suffered.
Currently, Biuro Ronin is handling, among other matters, the case of a woman around 30 years old who fractured her spine in three places as a result of an accident. Her insurer paid a paltry 3,000 zlotys. The firm's lawyers filed a lawsuit seeking payment of 80,000 zlotys. The insurer rejected all proposals for a reasonable settlement. The case is ongoing.
The fight against insurance companies and “hyenas”
Biuro Ronin represents people injured in accidents before insurance companies and the Insurance Guarantee Fund. It helps both accident victims and their families. It cooperates with law firms and doctors treating injured people. The office fights not only insurance companies, but sometimes also the General Counsel to the Republic of Poland, which represents the State Treasury and defends every zloty.
Zbigniew Zawada says he began running Biuro Ronin after leaving the police and after he himself had an accident. At that time, he personally saw how insurance companies treat people injured in accidents. If someone wants to receive decent compensation, they have to fight for it themselves. In Zbigniew Zawada's view, about three years ago insurance companies jointly decided to change their policy on payments, especially under third-party liability policies. Since then, injured people have received low amounts or refusals to pay any compensation. This pays off for insurers because only one in ten people will take the matter to court. The rest accept the compensation offered. “I will put it modestly: sometimes I get the impression that it is not that we are so effective, but that insurance companies are so brazen that, in obvious cases, they refuse payment for any reason or drastically reduce the amounts due, hoping they will get away with it and that the injured person will not pursue their rights in court.”
There are also more and more compensation firms operating on the Polish market, competing to acquire people who have suffered misfortune in a scandalous manner. Compensation firms hire intermediaries (“hyenas”) who visit injured people in hospitals or even cemeteries. They also visit the families of accident victims at home. Perfectly informed about the circumstances of accidents and the addresses of victims and their families, these intermediaries approach them. Acting under the influence of a mistake caused by the “hyena’s” deceptive conduct, stress and pain, injured people unknowingly sign contracts unfavorable to them, in which commissions for the dishonest firm can amount to as much as 40% plus VAT. In Poland, pathological practices are becoming increasingly common, in which ambulance or police employees pass information about injured people directly to dishonest firms.
“An ambulance worker receives 100 zlotys for such information, and a police officer 200 zlotys,” says Zbigniew Zawada. This does not mean that every police officer or hospital or ambulance employee is dishonest. Nevertheless, it is a widespread practice. Zbigniew Zawada has maintained for years that human suffering is not a commodity and must not be traded. That is why Biuro Ronin does not use and will not use the services of any so-called “intermediaries”. In 2014, Zbigniew Zawada wrote to the then Office of the Insurance Ombudsman. In the letter, he proposed changes to the law: introducing an outright ban on canvassing by compensation firms, in an effort to curb the activities of so-called “hyenas”. Violating the ban would carry severe penalties, similar to those for canvassing for pension funds. Unfortunately, nothing has changed in this matter so far.
Payment only when the client receives the money
How does Biuro Ronin make money? The office earns money only when the funds reach the client's account. “The average fee is 15% gross,” explains Zbigniew Zawada. If the office contributes to the costs of the proceedings, the fee is negotiable. Cases are, of course, sometimes lost. Where wood is chopped, chips fly. Zbigniew Zawada says that after many years of work, it is possible to assess with a high degree of probability whether there is a chance of winning a given case, and that he does not give people false hope. Nevertheless, there is always a risk of losing.
Zbigniew Zawada: “Court judgments are, as a rule, fair. Judgments are not debated; they are implemented. It is only a pity that in most cases court proceedings are entirely unnecessary.”
Biuro Ronin – Zbigniew Zawada
ul. Mickiewicza 12, Bolesławiec
tel. 75 732 19 05
tel. 505 111 231
tel. 502 378 958
e-mail: biuro.ronin@vp.pl
www.biuroronin.pl
www.facebook.com/biuroronin.odszkodowania