The implications of a ‘no win, no fee’ arrangement.
In the great majority of cases, Legal Aid (now replaced by The Legal Services Commission) is not available for personal injury claims. However, in many cases, people cannot afford to contemplate the cost of making a claim. In response to this, the personal injury claims community of specialists and solicitors has developed the practice of claiming on your behalf on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis. This is sometimes known as a ‘Conditional Fee Arrangement’.
A ‘no win, no fee’ arrangement is by far the most common. A solicitor, whether appointed directly or through a personal injury claims specialist, will only take on your case if he thinks there is a reasonable chance of success. Under the CFA agreement, he will make no charge for his services until the claim is settled. If you win the case he will negotiate a success fee which is usually recovered from the defendant’s insurers.
While this is by far the most common arrangement, some will only proceed with the proviso that there is some ‘retention’ from your award compensation to cover things like ‘administration’ charges and other costs.
In addition, it is possible you may be asked to take out insurance to cover the eventuality that your claim fails in court and you are required to pay the other side's legal costs. Usually, you will not have to contribute towards the cost of the premiums as it will have been arranged that this will be paid by your solicitor. However, some solicitors require you to pay all or part of the insurance premiums and other expenses.
There are any number of companies seeking to profit out of your accident claim by offering 'no win, no fee' agreements but that actually take a part of your compensation award, rather than their fees and costs being funded entirely from the defendant or his insurers.
10 key questions for your no win no fee claim specialist from Claims Guide >
Related Pages | Home Page |
No win no fee claim | No win no fee compensation claim | No win no fee solicitors | 
Directory 
