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Wherever you look these days, you’re likely to see an advertisement for ‘no win, no fee’ Personal Injury claims. You can see these adverts on the television, in newspapers and magazines: they really are ubiquitous. Most people would like to think they have a grasp on what no win no fee personal injury claims actually mean, but the sad truth of the matter is that they don’t: at best they might have a limited understanding of what conditional fee arrangements are, but in practise they are often taken aback when they discover that even if they win their case, they won’t necessarily receive 100 percent of the compensation as they are obliged to pay for disbursements that they hadn’t previously been made aware of. So, if you’ve recently had an accident and are considering hiring the services of a lawyer or claims company, here are some points you might wish to consider before making a personal injury claim.
Conditional fee agreements, commonly referred to as ‘no win no fee’ agreements, were introduced in the UK in 1995. Legal aid, a type of funding for people unable to afford legal representation, was abolished for personal injury cases in 2000, and the no win no fee system was extended to fill the gap. ‘No win no fee’ means is that if the claimant does not win their case (‘no win’) they will not need to pay (‘no fee’).
In a ‘no win no fee’ compensation claim, a lawyer will not charge their regular fee, but will instead accept part of any money that you receive as their payment for service should the case be successful. In many cases this can be a fairly large amount so you will need to keep that in mind. The advantage of this type of arrangement is obviously that it means that you only pay if you actually win your claim.
In general lawyers are only going to agree to a no win no fee arrangement if they are reasonably sure that they can win. After all lawyers are not going to want to waste time on cases that they are not going to get paid for. Therefore a lawyer will review any potential case in order to determine how likely it is that it will be successful. If the lawyer determines that there is a good chance then they will agree to take the case on a no win no fee basis. In many cases the percentage of any settlement that the lawyer takes can be anything from a third to a half of the final settlement, so it’s important that any client establishes all the details before committing to the case.
With the no win no fee system, all costs in personal injury cases must be covered by the losing side. If the client wins their case, either the courts or the losing side’s insurers will pay damages to the client. On top of this, the insurer will need to pay legal costs and expenses. With most no win no fee arrangements, the client will not have to pay anything at all, and will be able to claim 100% of any compensation they have been awarded.
It is important to keep in mind that no win no fee does not necessarily mean that a client won’t incur any expenses at all. A lawyer will waive his fee, but it is quite likely that he will incur expenses and disbursements in preparing the case, like Police accident reports, medical reports, court fees, Counsel’s fees and expert witness fees. Under normal circumstances, a client would expect to be charged for these.
It’s important for anyone considering pursuing a no win no fee personal injury claim to discuss the arrangements for these disbursements and additional fees with the lawyer before committing to the claim. Some personal injury law firms will require that a client pays for disbursements up front, which often means that claimants have no choice but to take out a loan in order to cover these costs, running up huge debts. However, when you make a claim through a reputable and experienced solicitor, they will advise you to take out insurance policies, such as Benchmark 3, to cover such costs so that claimants will not have to pay a penny towards any costs or fees, no matter what the outcome of the compensation claim. These insurance policies cover personal injury claims, and professional negligence claims arising out of personal injury actions.
So, why should you choose an experienced personal injury solicitor, rather than an advertised or online compensation claims company? Online claims companies make money by taking on as many claims as possible, and therefore are not able to offer their clients the personal touch which is afforded by a local experienced solicitor: to them a case is simply a claim number. Personal injury solicitors, on the other hand, deal with these cases on a daily basis; they can tell clients upfront which claims are likely to succeed and which aren’t, and discuss fees and disbursements so there will be no misunderstandings when the case finally concludes. They are also able to give clients personal guidance and frequent updates about the progression of the case.