There is an expression in law that if you represent yourself, you have a fool as a lawyer.  Basically, it is a stupid thing to do!  I am reminded of this on a weekly basis when we receive e-mails from people who have handed their own claims with the Road Accident Fund.  I have received e-mails from people who don’t want to do claims, who have told us that they have lost interest in the process because previously they settled a serious case themselves with the Road Accident Fund directly for very little money and so it makes no sense.  That ignores the fact that an attorney of course would not have settled the case for as little as they did.  

Another very common e-mail that we receive is from people who have given their claim to the Road Accident Fund a few years previously, but have not managed to finalise it, often because there is so much paperwork involved and have now discovered that the Road Accident Fund says that their case has prescribed because they never issued a summons against the Road Accident Fund in time!  The Road Accident Fund is simply advising the client as to what the law is, but I hardly think that you can appeal to members of the public to approach you directly to do claims, and then not assist them in issuing summonses against your own business.  That does sound ridiculous, but perhaps that is exactly the problem – it is ridiculous to have the Road Accident Fund representing you in a case and expect them to help you sue them properly and issue a summons against themselves!