What is a no win no fee personal injury claim?
Personal injury claims are typically taken on by solicitors using a ‘no win no fee agreement’.No win no fee agreements are a type of contract that were set up to help people worried about upfront costs and expensive legal fees to pursue their personal injury claims.
If you don’t win your personal injury claim, you don’t have any legal costs to pay. It’s a completely risk-free way of pursuing justice where you will never be left out of pocket.
Your solicitor will make sure that your claim is risk-free by providing you with a special type of legal protection insurance. They will buy this insurance for you if you don’t have it already. The insurance comes into effect if your case fails, meaning that any legal costs will be covered by your insurance.
In practice, no win no fee personal injury claims have a high chance of success. This is because your solicitor – who’s taking no upfront payment to fight your claim - will only take your case on if you have a good chance of winning. So, you will need to have a strong personal injury case to get a solicitor to offer you a no win no fee arrangement.
How much does a no win no fee agreement cost?
Solicitor fees and court costs can be incredibly expensive. And there’s no guarantee that you will win your case. This means that many people with solid personal injury claims may be reluctant to seek justice.The most important thing to stress with no win no fee personal injury claims is that you won’t pay anything if your claim is unsuccessful – your legal protection insurance will cover you if this happens.
So, it doesn’t cost anything to make a no win no fee personal injury claim. If your claim is unsuccessful, you will have no charges to pay to anyone.
It’s only if your claim is successful that your solicitor will pay themselves by deducting a certain amount from the compensation that you are awarded.
Typically, you can expect your solicitor to make the following deductions from your compensation:
- A ‘success fee’ for winning your personal injury claim
- The cost of any legal protection insurance needed to keep your claim risk-free. However, it’s possible that you have the appropriate legal insurance already as part of an insurance package, such as for your house or car. In this case, you will keep even more of your compensation.
Finally, you may need to cover the costs of your legal fees that the other side is unable to pay. However, the other side is required to make a payment towards your legal costs if you win, so any shortfall that you may need to cover is likely to be small.
Don’t worry about being hit with hidden fees if you win your case. Your solicitor will explain their terms to you before you start your claim as part of an initial consultation.
Your solicitor will ask for a percentage of the total amount of your compensation if you win. If you are unhappy with their offer, you can take your claim to another solicitor who asks for a lower percentage.
Nevertheless, you will pay nothing if you lose your case and you will always keep most of your compensation if you win.
Which accidents are covered by a no win no fee agreement?
Most accidents are covered by no win no fee agreements. This is because they were introduced by the UK government in 1995 to replace the legal aid system as way of helping people to pursue justice for their injuries.No win no fee agreements allow anyone to make a personal injury claim, regardless of their ability to pay upfront costs and expensive legal fees.
At the Law Superstore, we can help you to make a no win no fee personal injury claim if you were involved in an accident that wasn’t your fault. We can get you quotes for:
- Road traffic accidents
- Accidents at work
- Accidents in a public place
- Injuries caused by medical negligence
- Industrial diseases
Can I make a no win no fee personal injury claim?
In general, you have up to three years to make a no win no fee personal injury claim if you or a loved one were injured in an accident, so long as:- The injury made you suffer both physically and financially
- The accident was caused at least partly by someone else
- For claims involving medical negligence or industrial disease, the three-year time limit applies from the time you first noticed your symptoms. This could be from when you first visited your doctor about the issue.
- For accidents involving children, you can make a claim on their behalf at any time up to their 18th birthday. They then have three years up to their 21st birthday to make a personal injury claim themselves.
- Victims who lack the mental capacity to make a claim themselves can have a personal injury claim made on their behalf at any time. This is the case whether their incapacity is a result of their injuries from the accident in question or a pre-existing condition.
How long does a no win no fee personal injury claim take?
There’s no way of saying exactly how long your no win no fee personal injury claim might take without knowing the details of your case.The length of your case will depend upon the circumstances of your accident, the severity of your injuries and how they’ve impacted your life, as well whether the other side admits, disputes or denies responsibility for causing the accident.
A good rule of thumb is that the more complex your case is, the longer it will take to be resolved.
If you think you might have a personal injury case, find personal injury solicitors on The Law Superstore to help you make a no win no fee personal injury claim.