What profession do you practice, and since when?
I have been a compensation adviser since September 1, 1997. The profession officially existed from 2011, when it was added to the list of professions by the Minister of Labour.
What does your work involve?
My work primarily involves helping people seeking payment of benefits under all types of social insurance and voluntary insurance contracts. This assistance focuses primarily on:
- a preliminary assessment of the validity of claims
- analysing documentation and helping to complete it
- organising medical care and medical assessments when necessary
- collecting technical assessments from specialists demonstrating the actual amount of losses
- submitting claims on behalf of the Client to insurance companies, the Insurance Guarantee Fund, the Polish Motor Insurers’ Bureau and the Social Insurance Institution
- monitoring the claim-settlement process in terms of the timeliness and amount of benefits received
- conducting out-of-court appeal proceedings
- preparing documents for possible court proceedings
I would also like to add that one of the largest and most influential nationwide television news channels has been using my assistance for some time in matters concerning compensation and insurance.
And what happens in the event of court proceedings?
In that case, the bureau’s Client can use the services of our lawyers. This does not involve any additional inconvenience. The Client signs the appropriate power of attorney at the bureau, we establish the terms of financing the proceedings, and that is all.
Do clients incur any additional costs in such a case?
No. The total costs are settled after the case has concluded. The Client receives all amounts due directly from the insurer into their account, including all litigation costs and interest. I often contribute to the costs of the proceedings. In that case, in addition to the commission, the Client reimburses the litigation costs I incurred. Thus, the Client effectively incurs no additional costs, and all amounts are transferred directly to the Client’s bank account, not to my bureau’s account. This has been the rule for 16 years.
What is the commission rate?
The final amount of the fee depends on three factors: the amount obtained, the complexity of the case, and whether I contribute to the costs of possible proceedings.
Is there an office in Bolesławiec similar to yours?
I do not know. However, the Bolesławiec market is being actively canvassed by so-called representatives, intermediaries and agents of compensation firms from Legnica, Wrocław, Jelenia Góra and even Częstochowa. They are ordinary canvassers whose sole aim is to identify someone who has been involved in an accident, most often a road accident, and persuade that person to sign a contract with such a firm to obtain compensation.
How does such a representative obtain the personal data of someone who was involved in an accident?
Exactly. That is a good question. Unfortunately, information I receive from people who increasingly visit my office after signing a contract with such a firm indicates that information about accident victims’ personal data most often comes from employees of services handling accidents, as well as from roadside assistance workers and funeral-home employees. Last week, a woman visited me who learned about her husband’s death in an accident from such a “representative”, who arrived before the police and hospital. Terrifying, isn’t it? This practice is nationwide. Many public prosecutor’s offices across the country, most probably including the one in Bolesławiec, are conducting proceedings concerning the trade in personal data. I recommend the website www.odszkodowania.info.pl, where you can learn a great deal, including about the “professionalism” of some compensation firms. Because of their organisational structure—so-called MLM network marketing, like companies selling cleaning products, cosmetics, vacuum cleaners, etc.—and the way they provide services, most firms treat human suffering as a commodity and the injured person very impersonally. As a result, such a firm does not provide assistance but becomes another link in the process of obtaining compensation. It is also worth noting that such a firm’s commission is often 30% plus VAT, which is almost half of the benefits due to the Client. According to the information I have, one of the canvassers was also a paramedic at the emergency medical station in Bolesławiec. By virtue of his profession, he had access to accident victims’ personal data and used this fact to obtain additional financial benefits. I leave these facts as a warning, without comment.
What is the way to eliminate such abuses?
Very simple. The same as in the case of canvassing for open pension funds. A statutory ban on any such canvassing should be introduced, with very severe penalties for violating the ban. Such regulation would cause dishonest firms charging exorbitant commissions to disappear from the market, and their canvassers would stop routinely committing crimes. Such a canvasser cannot operate without committing a crime. While, for example, an insurance agent may assume that each of us could be a potential client because we have lives and property that should be insured, accident victims are anonymous, and in order to reach such a person, the canvasser must obtain that person’s data from someone. This is obvious.
It is also embarrassing that on the most popular social-media platforms, canvassers from such firms, without any embarrassment or decency, post photographs of themselves against cars worth several hundred thousand złotys, in boastful, controversial poses, openly declaring that they made their fortunes by “helping” injured people. Looking at these people’s photographs online, the conclusions about their intentions are self-evident.
So what do you advise in this situation?
First: After an accident, focus on treatment, recovery and caring for those closest to you.
Second: Collect medical documentation and invoices relating to treatment. In the event of death, collect invoices for the funeral, wake, mourning clothes and the erection of a monument at the burial site.
Third: Remember: we have between 3 and 20 years from the accident to submit claims.
Fourth: If we receive a decision granting or refusing compensation and have doubts, we should have it verified. In that case, please call, email or visit my office in person.
Fifth: If unknown people visit us at home or in hospital and urge us to sign contracts for pursuing compensation, despite not having been invited, immediately notify the police or public prosecutor’s office.
Sixth: Any contract signed at home or in hospital can be terminated within 10 days of the date it was signed, without any consequences. Contracts from dishonest firms most often contain prohibited clauses and can be invalidated in any court.
Seventh: If the contract has already been signed and we have doubts, it is best to visit a legal counsel’s or attorney’s office to verify the legal effects of the signed contract.
You can also always use the free consultations available at my office.
You are welcome
Zbigniew ZAWADA
Compensation Adviser
Biuro RONIN Founded: 1997
Zbigniew ZAWADA
ul. Mickiewicza 6
59-700 BOLESŁAWIEC
www.biuroronin.pl
Email: biuro.ronin@vp.pl
Tel/fax. +48 75 732 19 05
Mobile: +48 505 111 231
Open Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
(commissioned information)