No Win No Fee explained simply

Most of us have heard of a No Win No Fee personal injury claim; however until the worst happens you may not have thought about what this actually means and how this works in practice.

A No Win No Fee, also known as a conditional fee arrangement (CFA), is basically an agreement you make with your solicitor so that you can claim compensation without worrying about upfront legal fees.
Whilst not all personal injury cases are funded in this way, such agreements are very common. Other funding options include:

• funding your claim privately; or
• via a membership of a trade union or other organisation that includes funding for a claim; or
• via a legal expense insurance cover you may already have in place, (for example, your household insurance or credit cards).

Our dedicated new claims team can help you to understand your funding options and help you choose one best suited to your circumstances.

If you wish for us to consider acting for you on a No win No Fee basis, one of our experienced personal injury solicitors will assess your case carefully free of charge during an initial consultation. If they feel you have a strong case we’ll be happy to talk to you about claiming on a No Win No Fee basis.

If we both agree a No Win No Fee agreement is best for you, our promise is that:

• You won’t have to pay any upfront legal costs
• We will discuss our costs with you in advance so you’ll know what to expect when your claim is successful
• There are no hidden costs
• We’ll do everything we can to recover the maximum amount of compensation available
• We’ll work to keep your legal costs to a minimum by recovering as much as possible from your opponent

If your claim is successful

If you win your case your opponent will contribute to your legal costs, but some may be outstanding. These can include some of your basic legal costs not recovered and a ‘success fee’.

This is the fee that a solicitor becomes entitled to under a CFA if your case is successful. When a solicitor takes on a personal injury claim there is a significant degree of risk that the claim may be unsuccessful.

If this was to happen they would be left to cover their own legal costs, assuming they are acting on a No Win No Fee basis, so to mitigate this risk solicitors are entitled to charge a success fee. There is currently a cap on the recoverable success fee in personal injury cases of 25% (inclusive of VAT). Before we begin work on your case we will make sure you know what deduction to expect when your claim is successful.

If your claim is unsuccessful

Unfortunately, in all personal injury cases there is an element of risk, and your claim may not be successful.

If we have a No Win No Fee (CFA) agreement in place we will not charge you for the work we have done on your behalf. Under the terms of our agreement you will not be charged for the disbursements we have incurred on your behalf.

There are limited circumstances in which you may be liable to pay the costs of your opponent if you lose, which will be clearly explained at the outset of your case, both verbally and in writing. We will also always keep you fully informed if you are at risk of any such costs.

Our team can also provide guidance on whether an After the Event Insurance (ATE) policy, which would cover the costs of your opponent if you become liable to pay them, would be of benefit before you enter your agreement with us.

For more details please feel free to call us on 0161 399 1231.