Legal Services
The Fire Brigades Union is proud to be able to offer its members the best possible legal protection in their work and lives through its unique partnership with Thompsons – the UK’s largest and longest established firm of specialist personal injury and trade union lawyers.
The firm has offices in major cities throughout the UK.
Thompsons is the only law firm to have lawyers in all three UK legal jurisdictions and is committed to offering a national legal service wherever a union’s membership may be in the UK.
FBU Legal Services
A Total Package of Benefits
Work-Related Accidents and Diseases
Non Work-Related Accidents and Diseases
Property and Conveyancing
Free Wills and Independent Financial Advice
Family Law
Criminal Law
Benefits and Consumer Law
The Legal Assistance Network
Quality Assurance
Useful Leaflets
FBU Legal Services
FBU members can receive advice and in some cases support and representation on the whole range of legal issues that they may encounter in their day-to-day lives. These include personal injury, employment rights (including equal rights, human rights and pensions), criminal law, family law, Wills and Conveyancing. Details of these services and how they are accessed are set out below. Some of these services also apply to family members where indicated.
Thompsons regional office structure means that, where representation is available and where a personal consultation is required, you will be seen as near as possible to your place of work or local union office.
Our commitment is to total access to Thompsons for our members. Technology is key to this and Thompsons has developed information technology systems that enable FBU members being represented to call the Thompsons office handling the case and quickly and easily obtain any information relating to their case.
You can also visit the Thompsons’ website which includes advice and briefings online.
Using e-mail the FBU telephone access service has been made more efficient and enables swift reporting to Thompsons of requests for legal advice
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A Total Package Of Benefits
The legal services FBU can provide to members include:
- Work-related accidents and diseases – free representation
- Non work-related accidents and diseases – free representation
- Employment disputes – free representation
- Family law – free half hour telephone advice
- Benefits and consumer advice – free half hour telephone advice
- Criminal law – representation where Legal Aid applies
- Property and conveyancing – discount rates
- Wills – free where applicable
There are many other legal issues that you may need advice on which our legal service may be able to provide by way of free half hour telephone advice.
Where employment disputes arise including discipline cases, allegations of harassment etc, contact your Branch Secretary as direct representation by FBU officials will often be more appropriate in such cases. Your FBU official will notify you if legal advice and representation is required and provide the appropriate form to be submitted to Head Office.
Except for employment disputes, access to the service is by calling 0808 100 6061. Separate numbers apply for the 24 hour criminal service – see below.
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Work-Related Accidents and Diseases
FBU members regularly risk injury, their health and even their lives in the course of their duty.
Our free personal injury service means that you will have access to immediate advice and representation in seeking compensation for your injuries or for the suffering caused through a disease contracted through your work. Thompsons is the biggest and most experienced personal injury law firm in the UK and your case will be handled by highly experienced lawyers.
If you are injured at work and fault can be proven you will be entitled to compensation for the pain and suffering caused and for loss of earnings.
Fault can be proven in a number of ways. For example:
- Defective equipment
- Inadequate safety precautions
- Insufficient training or instructions
- Operational command and control failures
- Unsafe working practices
These are only a few examples. There are many others and even if you doubt whether the Brigade or anyone else was at fault you should still contact Legal Aid Network. By way of illustration:
- Members injured at operational incidents may have a claim against the occupier’s insurers where the cause of fire was the occupier’s negligence.
- In road traffic cases involving the rescue of a member of the public, there may be a claim against the insurers of the driver responsible for the RTA.
- Where injury is sustained at an operational incident, there may be a criminal injuries claim if the cause of fire was arson and the member concerned was taking an exceptional risk at the relevant time.
There are time limits so delays should be avoided. Call 0808 100 6061.
Where you are unable to return to work and this is due to the injury, the level of compensation that you will be entitled to will be calculated based upon the salary that you would have been paid until retirement.
The families of FBU members can also use the service to seek compensation where a member is killed in the course of duty.
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Non Work-Related Accidents and Diseases
Members who are the victim of an injury or disease outside work can also take advantage of the free legal advice service. A member may be injured whilst playing sport, as a result of a defective product, whilst shopping or on property belonging to someone else.
People who are injured in this way are often unsure about what rights they have to claim compensation, and from whom. Our legal services mean you never need to feel alone in these circumstances Thompsons will be able to advise and represent you.
FBU legal services offers legal cover for members injured travelling to and from work.
FBU members’ dependant children, husbands, wives, partners and parents can also use the free legal service if they suffer a non-work related accident.
As with all personal injury cases, time is of the essence. You should call the advice line as soon as possible after the accident on 0808 100 6061 in order to maximise the chances of winning compensation.
Limited exceptions apply to this service such as clinical negligence claims, group actions and some other claims. Ring 0808 100 6061 to find out if your case is covered.
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Property and Conveyancing
FBU’s legal services do not just cover injury and employment matters.
Thompsons conveyancing and property lawyers are able to provide FBU members a first class service at a highly competitive rate. There is complete financial transparency in that members will be notified in advance of the applicable charge.
Call 0808 100 6061 to access this service.
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Free Wills and Independent Financial Advice
Everyone should make a Will, and the FBU recommends that you take advantage of our free Wills service. If you do not make a Will there is a danger that those people you would have wanted to look after your affairs and to benefit from your estate will not do so.
While no one likes to think about death, making a Will should at least ensure that there are no legal complications for your loved-ones to have to deal with should you die suddenly.
Making a free Will using Thompsons’ specialist service could not be easier. You will be sent a form to fill in which will give Thompsons all the information they need to draw up your Will. A lawyer may need to interview you if your estate or instructions are complex.
Members’ single and joint Wills are free and the service also covers FBU members’ families at the extremely competitive cost of £35.25 for a single Will or £52.88 for a joint Will.
Probate, trust and executry can also be arranged through FBU approved lawyers at advantageous rates.
It may also be possible to arrange independent financial advice for FBU members.
Call 0808 100 6061 to access this service.
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Family Law
The FBU legal helpline gets more calls requesting advice on family law matters than almost any other area of the law.
Personal relationship difficulties can lead to complex legal problems. Separation and divorce can be among the most stressful things to happen in a person’s life, especially where children and property are involved.
While expert legal advice cannot ease the pain of a relationship break-down, it will ensure that the split is as fair to all sides as is possible.
Our telephone helpline gives 30 minutes confidential and sensitive advice on a whole range of issues to do with family law, e.g. custody rights, the Child Support Agency, property rights, pension rights, separation and divorce.
Family law advice is free in the first instance. Where ongoing assistance is required Thompsons may be able to refer you to specialist lawyers in the field able to arrange legal representation, prepare pension calculations, negotiate settlement arrangements and provide the full range of family law services.
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Criminal Law
Few people anticipate that they will ever be accused of committing a crime, or that a crime they may have committed in the past could jeopardise their employment prospects.
Nevertheless FBU members have experienced being accused of criminal acts and have found themselves in urgent need of expert legal advice.
The FBU’s law firm Thompsons has an expert criminal law unit and access to expert criminal lawyers. The legal advice line is available 24 hours a day for members in urgent need of help. Call this number to find out if you are eligible for advice and representation funded by Legal Aid.
If you have been arrested and need representation, Legal Aid is often available in which case the service can ensure you have a lawyer on your side as soon as possible.
We can always get a lawyer to a police station if you are arrested, at no cost to you if Legal Aid is available or at Legal Aid rates if it is not.
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Benefits and Consumer Law
Losing your job or being unable to work due to injury or illness can mean a sudden drop in income that leaves you and your family in financial difficulties. The FBU’s free legal advice service is on hand to provide 30 minutes telephone advice on claiming benefits – for you and for family members in your household.
It is also available for advice on consumer law problems, such as holiday nightmares or being conned into buying defective goods.
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The Legal Assistance Network
The FBU free legal advice line is run by Thompsons’ fully unionised call centre.
Thompsons established a call centre over five years ago. Now, known as Trade Union Call Handling (TUCH), it handles over 33,000 calls each year giving telephone advice on everything from the consequences of relationship breakdown, neighbour disputes, consumer and family law problems.
TUCH will ask for your FBU membership number when you call in.
The call centre uses the latest information technology to ensure that the calls coming in can be answered quickly and efficiently. The call is initially answered by an operator who can identify what kind of advice is required and arrange a half hour appointment with an advice worker to listen and help. All Thompsons advisers have access to both on line advice sources and a full legal library if they need it.
Sometimes a query may be one that regularly gets raised with TUCH and if it is there are a series of fact sheets that are available to send out to members.
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Quality Assurance
Thompsons and the FBU have worked together for many years to ensure members receive a first class legal service. That commitment remains paramount and, to that end, we constantly monitor and quality control the service.
Members using the service will be contacted to seek their views on the service. This process allows us to develop and improve the service to meet the needs of members and their families.
Where a member is not satisfied with the service, Liz Wood at TUCH may be contacted on 0808 100 6061.
Beyond that, complaints may be directed to:
Doug Christie at Thompsons Solicitors, Congress House, Great Russell St, London WC1B 3LW.
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Useful Leaflets
The list of leaflets is always being added to but it currently includes:
- Age Discrimination
- Asbestos Related Diseases - Claiming Compensation
- Claiming Compensation for Injuries At Work
- Clinical Negligence
- Disability Discrimination and Employment
- Equal Pay
- Part-Time Workers - A Guide to the Law
- Pregnancy and Employment
- Race Discrimination and Employment
- Redundancy & Unfair Dismissal
- Religion, Belief and Employment
- Road Traffic Accidents
- Serious Injuries
- Sex Discrimination & Employment
- Sexual Orientation & Employment
- Smokefree UK
- Stress at Work
- Work-related Upper Limb Disorder
- Working Time & Holiday - Your Rights as a Worker
Please access Thompsons website for the up to date list of available leaflets and for your free copy of any available leaflet call 0808 100 6061.
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Useful telephone numbers
Free legal helpline
0808 100 6061
Free legal helpline for Scotland (http://www.fbu4u.org.uk/)
08000 328 529
Union Head Office
020 8541 1765
Free confidential stress and support hotline:
0800 783 4778
24 hour criminal helpline for Northern Ireland, Wales and England
0800 587 7530
24 hour criminal helpline for Scotland:
0141 950 1441
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