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No Win No Fee Agreements Explained
By Stephen Hudson. Last Updated 10th October 2024. Welcome to our guide exploring how you could hire a solicitor under a No Win No Fee agreement to represent you for your claim.
You may have questions such as, “do I need to choose a No Win No Fee Solicitor near me?” or “Are there any No Win No Fee dangers that I should be aware of?” We provide answers to these questions and more, including how compensation payouts are calculated in personal injury claims.
Towards the end of the guide is an in-depth look at the No Win No Fee contract our expert solicitors can offer potential claimants, with a particular focus on how this benefits you.
If you have any questions after reading our guide, please don’t hesitate to contact a member of our team. You can use the following details to get in touch:
- Call 0800 073 8804
- Fill in a contact form for us to get back to you
- Use the live chat box on your screen
Please read on to learn the benefits of using our No Win No Fee solicitors.
Choose A Section Below To Find Out More
- What Does No Win No Fee Mean?
- What Are The Benefits Of Using A No Win No Fee Solicitor?
- Different Claims For Which You Could Use No Win No Fee
- How Much Compensation Could A No Win No Fee Solicitor Help Me Claim?
- No Win No Fee Accident Claims With Legal Expert
- Additional Resources
What Does No Win No Fee Mean?
So, what does No Win No Fee mean?
A No Win No Fee agreement can be used to fund legal representation for various types of claims. For example, accidents at work, road traffic accidents, public place accidents and medical negligence claims.
The agreement is a contract that sets out the terms a solicitor needs to meet before they get paid. It stipulates the work they will carry out on your case and the fee that you may be required to pay if the claim is successful.
When you employ a solicitor under a No Win No Fee agreement, they will aim to collect all the details of your accident and injury.
They will use these facts to analyse your case and determine whether you have a valid claim and a good chance of successfully claiming compensation. If they feel you do, then they will formally offer to represent you on this basis.
For a claim to be valid, you need to demonstrate that negligence occurred. Negligence may have occurred if:
- Someone owed you a duty of care
- They breached their duty of care
- You sustained harm as a result
Whether you choose to find a solicitor by searching “No Win No Fee solicitors near me” or use a lawyer that is more specialised in the relevant field, they would all attempt to establish that negligence occurred. For more information about whether you’re eligible to claim, please get in touch with our team on the number above.
How Much Do Solicitors Take Under A No Win No Fee Agreement?
In the past, when personal injury cases were won by a No Win No Fee solicitor, the claimant would often keep the total sum of their compensation. The reason being, the defendant would pay both the claimant’s compensation as well as their solicitor’s legal costs and success fee.
However, the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 made changes to the way these agreements worked. According to Section 44 of this act, it was no longer the defendant’s responsibility to pay the claimant’s solicitor success fee.
However, in order for it to be financially viable for solicitors to continue to represent claimants on a No Win No Fee basis, it meant that changes were needed. Now, the claimant pays a success fee from their compensation award to cover the shortfall in solicitor’s fees.
In 2013, the Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013 capped the success fee at 25% in personal injury claims.
Furthermore, your solicitor may offer you insurance to help cover any fees. For more information about using No Win No Fee solicitors, please get in touch with our team on the number above.
What Are The Benefits Of Using A No Win No Fee Solicitor?
There are various benefits that come withing claiming with a solicitor on a No Win No Fee basis. By agreeing to a No Win No Fee contract with one of our highly experienced solicitors, you will protect yourself from substantial fees during the claims process. Signing the Conditional Fee Agreement offered by our solicitors means:
- No upfront service costs at the start of your claim.
- No ongoing service fees to pay during this claim.
- Nothing to pay for their work if the claim fails.
- A clear, concise and upfront discussion of any fees outside of the claim, such as for an independent medical assessment.
- You will benefit from the years of knowledge and experience in legal practice our highly-rated solicitors have accumulated.
If you are still wondering, ‘Is a No Win No Fee worth it?’, you can contact one of our friendly advisors.
Are There Any Hidden Costs With No Win No Fee?
You might be wondering, “Are there any hidden costs with No Win No Fee agreements?” This can depend on the service you use, but our No Win No Fee solicitors do not take a fee for their work unless your claim succeeds. This means there are no service fees to pay upfront, and no fees to pay to retain your solicitor’s services.
There may be some fees to pay outside of this, such as the cost of an independent medical assessment. But these costs will always be discussed with you in a clear, upfront manner, and there will be nothing to pay for their work unless your claim succeeds.
To find out if you could be eligible to work with one of our solicitors under a No Win No Fee agreement, contact our team today. One of our advisors can evaluate your claim for free, and if they find it valid, they may be able to connect you with one of our solicitors.
Different Claims For Which You Could Use No Win No Fee
There are numerous types of claims which can be potentially supported by a No Win No Fee solicitor. The types of claims which we are able to provide assistance with on a No Win No Fee basis include the following:
Personal Injury Claims
Our solicitors can help out with making a No Win No Fee personal injury claim if you have valid grounds to start this type of case. There are various scenarios where you may be owed a duty of care by another party. Certain pieces of legislation set out the duty of care you are owed in some specific circumstances:
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 – This act establishes that when you are at work, your employer owes you a duty of care to take reasonable steps to ensure your safety.
- Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 – This act establishes that a party responsible for controlling a public space, such as a shop or park, owes a duty of care to those that visit it. They should take action to ensure each visitors’ reasonable safety.
- Road Traffic Act 1988 – This legislation is something road users should comply with as part of the duty of care they owe to other road users to prevent causing them harm. Each road user should also follow the rules set out in the Highway Code as part of this duty.
If you are at work, a public space or using the roads and you’re harmed because another party breached the duty of care they owed you, then you may be eligible to claim compensation.
Medical Negligence
If a medical professional provides a treatment of some kind to you, then they automatically owe you a duty of care. To meet this duty of care, any medical professional treating you has a duty to provide the correct standard of care and prevent causing avoidable harm to you.
You may be eligible to make a medical negligence claim with a No Win No Fee lawyer if a medical professional has failed to provide you the correct of standard care in some way and you’ve suffered avoidable harm as a result.
Data Breach
Personal data may be held by data controllers, which are normally organisations which decide how and why to use your personal data, and data processors, who process personal data on behalf of a controller. Data controllers and data processors should comply with certain rules regarding the handling of personal data. These rules are established in certain legislation including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. Failure to comply with these legislations is known as wrongful conduct.
A data breach can result in financial and psychological harm. You may have valid grounds to make a No Win No Fee claim if:
- Your personal information has been affected by a data breach.
- The breach occurred because of wrongful conduct by a data controller or data processor.
You suffered financial or psychological harm because of the breach.
Criminal Injury
If you have valid grounds to claim for a criminal injury, then our No Win No Fee solicitors can assist with this type of case. Many criminal injury claims are submitted to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). This is a government organisation that can pay out compensation to people who have been injured in a violent crime, such as an assault or sexual assault.
If you would like to speak to our advisors about making a criminal injury claim on a No Win No Fee basis, please contact our team today. They can answer other related questions you may have such as what is a No Win No Fee claim or how the process for this type of claim works.
What Could You Claim In Compensation For Personal Injury Claims?
If your personal injury claim succeeds, your compensation could contain up to two heads. The first of these heads is general damages, which covers the pain and suffering caused by your injuries.
Those who value this head of claim may refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to help. This is because the JCG contains guideline compensation brackets for a number of physical and psychological injuries and illnesses. You can find some examples of these in the table below, but please note that these are only guidelines, and the top entry is not taken from the JCG.
| Injury | Severity | Guideline Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Very Serious Injuries with Additional Special Damages | Very Severe | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Paralysis | (a) Tetraplegia | £396,140 to £493,000 |
| Brain Damage | Very Severe (a) | £344,150 to £493,000 |
| Amputation of Arms | Loss of Both Arms | £293,850 to £366,100 |
| General psychiatric damage | Severe (a) | £66,920 to £141,240 |
| Post-traumatic stress disorder | Severe (a) | £73,050 to £122,850 |
| Severe Leg Injuries | Very Serious (b)(ii) | £66,920 to £109,290 |
| Knee Injuries | Severe (a)(ii) | £63,610 to £85,100 |
| Less Serious Leg Injuries | Fractures from which Incomplete Recovery is Made (c)(i) | £21,920 to £33,880 |
| Foot Injuries | Moderate (f) | £16,770 to £30,500 |
Your compensation could also include special damages, which address the financial effects of your injuries. For example, this could cover the cost of:
- Home adjustments
- Lost earnings from taking time off work
- Mobility aids
- Prescriptions
However, you will need to provide proof of these losses to claim them back, such as payslips and receipts.
For more guidance on how much you may be able to claim, or to ask questions such as “What does No Win No Fee mean?” contact our advisors today.
No Win No Fee Accident Claims With Legal Expert
At Legal Expert, we have a team of solicitors who have years of experience dealing with personal injury, medical negligence, criminal injury and data breach claims. Our solicitors can offer you a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), which is a type of No Win No Fee agreement.
Our expert solicitors can help you with your case by:
- Collecting evidence to support your claim.
- Take witness statements to help prove your case.
- Inviting you for an independent medical assessment so that a report about your symptoms and prognosis can be produced.
- Advising you accurately about the value of your claim.
- Negotiating with the other side.
- Preparing court documents and correspondence.
- Progressing your case in a timely manner.
By providing these services under a CFA it means you can secure the legal advice you need without worrying about paying solicitors fees upfront or as the case progresses.
If your case is won, a legally capped percentage of the compensation awarded to you is deducted as a success fee by your solicitor. This is at the end of the case.
Hopefully, after considering this guide, you will better understand No Win No Fee, meaning you will feel more comfortable bringing a claim. To work with one of our solicitors, you can check if you are eligible by:
- Calling us on 0800 073 8804
- Contacting us online
- Using the live chat box
Our advisors can also answer questions such as ‘Are there any No Win No Fee dangers?’
Additional Resources
Below, we’ve included some more of our guides and external resources you may find useful.
- Learn more about how to claim compensation
- How Much Compensation For An Accident In A Caravan Park Site Or A Holiday Camp?
- How Much Compensation Can Be Recovered In Jet Ski Accident Claims?
- Food Allergy Claims Solicitors Guide
- Glasgow Personal Injury Solicitors
- Is There A Limitation Period For Personal Injury Claims?
- £5,000 Compensation Recovered For A Burn Blister From Laser Hair Removal
- Personal Injury Claims Guide
- Compensation Calculator
Thank you for reading our No Win No Fee claims guide where we discussed queries including No Win No Fee solicitors near me. If you have further queries about potential No Win No Fee dangers or would like to know if you can use our No Win No Fee solicitors, please contact us for free legal advice using the above details.
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