Just to point out this was written on 5th may 2012 which is pre Jackson reforms.
Solicitors are no longer able to claim there extortionate costs back from the Third Party's insurer which means no solicitors give you 100% compensation any more. The majority take 25% but you can usually negotiate with them to bring it down.
The point he makes on legal cover with insurance companies is a bit daft too.
"Many large panel firms employ non-legally qualified staff known as claims advisers, litigation assistants or litigation executives who uses a computer system to progress the claim."
I'd be very surprised if as a solicitor he doesn't employ people to do admin work and I'm pretty sure that all low value claims (below £10k) have to be submit through the insurance claims portal anyway. I very much doubt that as a fully qualified solicitor he is sat there keying in data to the portal, but i suppose you never know.
I no longer work in insurance, but I would still always take out BTE (Before The Event / Legal Cover) insurance which usually allows you to keep 100% of your compensation.
In most situations, and if you can, you are best going directly to the Third Party insurance company. Providing liability is admit you will get all the services you can claim through a solicitor yet there are no fees and you'll get 100% compensation.
The fact that in this case he thinks the third party wouldn't admit liability straight away is something I also find dubious.
If in my previous job I ever took a call where one of our policy holders had done this they would be told they are at fault. Everyone who I spoke to who did this always said "well they must have been coming at some speed, they weren't there one second and the next they were" which usually summs up they weren't looking properly or didn't look hard enough.
Plus, Its impossible to accurately prove the speed unless there is something recording it at the time of the accident. most insurance companies know thye are not going to win so in a situation like this would tell there PH they are at fault and offer services to the TP.
Of course the above doesn't apply to all situations.
On a final note, if you do decide to use a solicitors or accident management company, do not rely on them to report it to your insurance company. If the claim is disputed or falls out of the portal (claims that are not responded to within 21{I think} days) you can end up liable for costs. For example your insurance company only have to pay storage costs on a vehicle from the date they have been instructed. If you claim with and accident management company and a month later the vehicle is still in storage and your insurance company don't know, your insurers aren't going to pay that bill.
His information on how to react in an accident is spot on though. I'm not sure how easy it would be to do that after and accident but it is pretty much the right thing to do.