No Win No Fee - Conditional Fee Agreements

At the start of your claim, your solicitor may ask you to check if you have legal protection policy that has appropriate cover in place through your home or motor insurance policy or is provided as a credit card benefit.

If this is not the case, your solicitor will ask you to take out a legal protection insurance policy known as the After the Event policy (ATE Policy). This pays the costs if your claim were to fail and therefore your solicitors must always require legal protection insurance be in place just in case that happens. 

Your solicitors will provide you with the cost of the ATE policy at the start of your claim.

If you win your claim, you are liable to pay:

• your solicitors' basic charges
• expenses and disbursements
• a success fee (up to 25% of the amount recovered as personal injury claim compensation as a contribution towards legal fees)
• the premium for any insurance (including ATE policy) you take out

You are entitled to seek recovery from your opponent for part of or all of your solicitors' basic charges and expenses and disbursements, but NOT the success fee or any insurance premium.

Your solicitors' 25% success fee will NOT be applicable to vehicle damage claims, loss of income claims or cost of care claims.

If your compensation claim is unsuccessful, the no win no fee agreement states that you do NOT need to pay your solicitor any money.

This works because if you lose you will normally have the benefit of Qualified One-Way Cost Shifting (QOCS) so the court will not usually enforce an order for costs against you, unless:

· the proceedings have been struck out; or

· the claim is fundamentally dishonest; or

· the claim includes a claim for the financial benefit of someone else.

If you lose, you do not pay your solicitors' charges but the solicitors may require you to pay their expenses and disbursements.

You have the right to cancel this contract within 14 days without giving any reason under The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

If you end this agreement after the 14 days cancellation period, and before you win or lose, you are required to pay the solicitors' basic charges, expenses and disbursements.

Your solicitors will be able to provide you with further information and explanation of these terms and conditions and can answer any questions you may have.