You have heard the term “no win no fee” but what does it mean?
Since the abolition of legal aid for the vast majority of personal injury claims, some years ago, a system of conditional fee agreements, or what are more commonly known as no win no fee agreements have replaced legal aid.
How a no win no fee agreement works
If you have been injured in an accident and consider someone else is to blame, a solicitor may act for you using such an agreement if he or she agrees to take on the claim for you.
What does the agreement cover and how does it work?
A no win no fee agreement is usually entered into at the commencement of the claim. Rather than ask you to pay legal charges, your solicitor, if they consider that your claim has merit, will enter into a no win no fee agreement with you. Your solicitor will only be paid if the claim is successful and will also be entitled to charge what is known as a success fee; both his charges and the success fee will be paid by your opponent, who will usually be an insurance company. If you are not successful then your solicitor will not be able to charge you his costs under the terms of the agreement. Obviously it is an agreement between you and your solicitor and you will also be expected to bide by its terms and cooperate with your solicitor when asked.
Other costs
There are usually a number of other costs incurred during the progress of a claim which can include medical report fees, medical record fees and if the claim is not settled by negotiation, then there will also be court fees. These costs also known as disbursements are not covered by the terms of a conditional fee agreement and if you are not successful, you will be liable for these. You may also be liable for your opponent’s legal costs and as neither the disbursements nor your opponents costs are covered under the no win no fee agreement, you could find that you have a considerable bill at the end of an unsuccessful claim. Your solicitor will also arrange for you to take out what is called an after the event insurance policy at the outset of the case.
If you do not have insurance of your own to cover legal costs, then the after event policy taken out by your solicitor will cover you instead. You may have to pay the insurance premium but in the vast majority of cases, your solicitor will plan for the contingency, the payment for the premium is made at the end of the case and generally speaking, if you are unsuccessful in your claim, the insurance policy will cover all of the outstanding disbursements and your opponent’s costs.
Obviously if you are successful, then all of those costs and disbursements will be met by the opponent and their insurers.
AccidentClaims.net retain a panel of expert solicitors who will be prepared to take on a case on a no win no fee arrangement and also arrange any necessary after the event insurance for you. This means that you will receive any compensation in full.