No Win No Fee
Are you looking for a 'No win no fee' agreement for your claim?
If you are then simply call us on 0800 192939, e-mail us or you can going directly to one of our specialist solicitors via our postcode search. Accident Line is The Law Society's personal injury insurance and referral service. We were formed with the simple remit to provide the public with a profession and ethical service they can trust.
What is meant by the term ‘No win no fee’?
In recent years the term No win No fee has become a household phrase. It is commonly used in television advertising encouraging people to claim for their personal injuries.
Most people would say they have heard or even used the term, but what does it really mean?
All too often with these “agreements” the devil is in the detail. A more accurate phrase would be, “No win, No Fee - subject to terms and conditions”.
This type of agreement, when used in conjunction with personal injury advertising is referring to a contract between you and your appointed solicitor (who would be acting on your behalf in bringing your claim against the responsible party).
No win no fee agreements are known to solicitors as Conditional Fee Agreements or CFA’s. These agreements set out the solicitor's terms of business. In broad terms they explain that you will only be liable for their costs (i.e. their time and expertise in pursuing your claim), if they are successful in recovering damages (compensation) from the person/s that were responsible for your injury.
There will always be Terms and Conditions attached to these agreements, which your solicitor will explain.
How does a CFA agreement work?
When you contact a solicitor with a potential claim for compensation, they will conduct a risk assessment of your case. This means they assess the likelihood of your claim being successful. If, after the risk assessment, the solicitor feels there are good prospects of winning your case, they may offer to pursue it under a CFA agreement. So provided you agree to abide by their terms and conditions, they will represent you and only charge a fee if your claim is successful.
Any solicitor acting under a CFA after 1st April 2013 will be limited to charging you 25% of your damages awarded, if they successfully conclude your case. If you lose and have complied with the terms of the CFA, your solicitor will not charge you for their services.
What is a success fee?
A success fee is the mechanism that makes a CFA agreements viable for solicitors.
In basic terms it is a percentage based risk fee the solicitor can charge in addition to their base costs incurred throughout the case. The base costs are recovered from your opponent, but the success fee element is payable by you, only if you win your case and is capped at 25% of your damages.
What costs are involved in running a claim for compensation?
There will always be costs involved in running litigation and care should be taken whenever considering legal action, even if you are have the benefit of a no win no fee agreement.
Ultimately, if you are pursuing a claim for compensation you are liable for all of the costs involved. The reason for this is because you can only recover, from the party to blame, the costs that you would have paid in order to bring the claim.
Costs involved in litigation are:
· Your solicitor's costs (their time)
· Your disbursements (if you lose – for medical reports etc)
· The other sides costs if you fail to beat an offer made by them
No win no fee agreements do not cover you for your disbursements (e.g. medical reports, police reports etc) or for the other sides legal costs in the event of you losing your claim.
These costs are generally covered by an insurance policy. If you do not have any insurance cover, your solicitor will be able to recommend one for you. Accident Line offer an insurance solution with the premiums payable on a conditional basis. This means the premium only becomes payable if you win your case.
Your no win, no fee agreement will be invalid if you are found to be fundamentally dishonest or fraudulent during the course of a claim and you will be liable for your solicitor’s costs, your disbursements and the other side’s legal costs.