No Win No Fee

“No Win No Fee” is used loosely in advertising, which is exactly why it is worth setting out properly. The formal name is a Conditional Fee Agreement, and this is how one works.

If the claim does not succeed

You pay us nothing. No hourly charges, no bill at the end, nothing for the work we have done.

In most personal injury claims you are also protected against the other side’s costs by a rule called Qualified One-Way Costs Shifting. It means that if your claim fails, you are generally not required to pay the defendant’s legal costs. That protection can be lost in limited circumstances, most importantly where a claim is found to be fundamentally dishonest.

Where there are disbursements to cover, such as expert fees, medical records and court fees, we will normally arrange insurance so those are protected too. We will tell you exactly what is covered before your claim begins.

If the claim succeeds

The bulk of our costs is paid by the defendant’s insurer, not by you. A success fee is then deducted from your compensation.

In personal injury claims that deduction is capped by law. It cannot exceed 25% of the damages awarded for your injury and for your past losses, and it cannot be taken at all from damages awarded for future losses such as future care or future loss of earnings.

We will tell you the percentage in writing, before you sign anything, and we will show you what it means in cash terms once the claim has a realistic value.

What you pay while the claim is running

Nothing. There is no payment on account, no monthly invoice and no charge for the phone calls.

The first conversation is free either way

The initial consultation costs nothing and carries no obligation. If we do not think there is a claim worth running, we will tell you. You will not be signed up to an agreement for a case that is going nowhere.

Questions worth asking any firm

• What percentage is your success fee, and is it capped?
• Can the success fee be taken from my future losses?
• What insurance is being arranged, who pays for it, and what does it cover?
• What happens if I want to stop the claim part-way through?
• Who will actually be handling my file, and can I speak to them?

You should get straight answers to all five. If you do not, that in itself is an answer.

A word about your right to cancel

You have a right to cancel a Conditional Fee Agreement within 14 days of signing it. After that period, the position depends on the circumstances and is set out in full in the agreement itself, which we will go through with you rather than leaving you to find it in the small print.