Found yourself a nice road defect to trip over? Got the water ready to spill on the supermarket floor? You'll need to find a firm that you know will take your case on and keep pushing no matter how sketchy the details get. Whilst some firms may seem nice and dodgy to begin with, many do chicken out when confronted by the party you are suing. You can't always count on a firm to remain ethic-less but here a few things to watch for to help you on your way.

1. Sites providing "Online Injury Calculators". In the spirit of 'never have an original idea' marketing that seems to flourish in the claims industry, this little gem has been lifted directly from the mortgage market and their online repayment calculators. But unlike finance companies, (which are heavily regulated and therefore try to provide accurate information by asking as much information from you as possible), injury calculators are generally vague, inefficient and misleading. Most of them are not even "calculators", they just state random amounts. What they do indicate, however, is that the firm touting them are trying to appeal to people who are more interested in the financial value of their injuries. An extreme example would be ClaimFree.co.uk who use hugely speculative amounts to get your financial glands salivating. Here's a snapshot of their current website (taken 24/05/08) stating possible awards of £3,000 to £1,000,000+ for upper limb injuries. The information is completely unhelpful, non-specific to anyone's particular situation and varying hugely in the amounts that could be won. Such can therefore be interpreted as to exist solely to persuade the less motivated of you to jump in! One can probably assume that with such apparently shameless marketing that they are less likely to worry about ethics in other areas of claiming too.

Possible High Street Equivalents? Lottery tickets. If they said "14 million to 1 chance of winning" sales would plummet. Say "you could win over £10million for just £1!" and suddenly everyone wants to play.

2. Companies that advertise on TV. If you have had an accident and been inconvenienced both physically and financially it is unlikely that you will not be aware of your rights to compensation. Such legal information is as shocking to the general consumer as divorce or will making. It can therefore be interpreted that companies using television advertising are not marketing to those who are unaware they can claim, but those that thought their claim was lacking in merit. Such is emphasised when the majority of claims adverts tend to focus on just two aspects:

a) that you could get thousands of pounds
b) that attempting to claim is completely free

Such tactics lend to the idea that TV advertising claims companies are actually targeting your type of claim. Yay!

Possible High Street Equivalents? Mortgages. Just as if your mortgage does not go through you don't have to pay the hundreds of pounds for an "application fee", if your claim is unsuccessful you similarly don't have to pay the hundreds of pounds for the legal protection insurance. Expect to see more similarities as desperation kicks in and compensation adverts start including the phrase "even if you have been turned down elsewhere".

3. Companies using celebrities to market their products. If Michael Owen endorses football boots, it makes sense. Anything else generally looks tacky. Predominantly, though, hiring a celebrity to endorse professional services shows poor judgement as not only do endorsements tie you to that celebrity's actions, but most of the recent research such as tests by the University of Bath (UK) and University of St Gallen (Switzerland) in 2007 showed that these days people prefer to see individuals like themselves in adverts rather than celebs. One up on that would be to use a celebrity associated with nefarious roles to promote a product already associated with negative publicity - such as InjuryLawyers4U's acquisition of Billy Murray (pictured below). After being voted as having the most annoying advert of 2006 you might find IL4U's hiring of a celebrity who generally plays the role of gangster or other criminal as being a little curious. Such steps seem to indicate, not only that they are willing to do anything to try and get you to use their services, but also that they have a bunch of spare cash to blow on such attempts. This would tend to imply that they are willing to give anything a go at any cost. Great news for your less-than-perfect claim!

Possible High Street Equivalents? A children's playground is the first thought that springs to mind. "Someone cool uses this, if you do this then you'll be cool too".

4. Companies with less-than-professional names. Companies and websites such as "Ouch", "What's my Claim Worth", "Not2Blame" and "Sell your Injury" are most likely not the brainchild of any great legal genius. Marketing genius possibly, but certainly poking the ethical bear. This approach speaks directly to those with the mindset - "I have an injury, can I get any cash for it?" as opposed to the "Help, someone else has ruined my life". Not happy with just the name itself, sometimes the logos can push the limits of professionalism even further (see our favourites below). These are normally marketing companies set up for the sole purpose of selling your claims elsewhere. Unlike solicitors who will generally make money whether your case wins or loses, most of the time marketing firms need your claim to win for them to get paid. A motivation you need them to have.

Possible High Street Equivalents? None really. Claims management companies seem to be the only ones that can still get business even with a ridiculous name. Could you imagine a life insurance company called "Death Divas" or "What's my life worth?".

5. Companies that advertise on Google. Pay per click advertising is the largest revenue generator for Google. With the big G earning up to £50 per click you make on one of their Sponsored Links (yes, you read right, per click) it's no wonder they are worth billions and still growing. You can use this competitiveness to your advantage by contacting the top three advertising firms for the most popular searches such as "no win no fee" and "injury claim". If a firm is willing to pay £20-£50 per click just to get you to look at their website they must be really desperate for claimers. Even if we take a generous conversion rate of 10% (i.e. one in every ten clickers actually contacts them) then they are paying out £200-£500 for each inquiry. At that level one must assume that they will run with anything!

Possible High Street Equivalents? Only insurance companies rival claims management companies in the amount they will pay vs the initial money they will make from you.