No Win No Fee Claims

A No Win No Fee agreement is a well-established means of funding a personal injury or medical negligence claim which minimises any financial risk the claimant may face should they lose their case. That’s unlikely to happen, since we would not have recommended you pursue a compensation claim on a No Win No Fee basis unless we were convinced it stood a good chance of success.

Alongside this Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) it is advisable to take out a special insurance policy called ‘After the Event’ insurance (ATE). In the event that your claim is unsuccessful, this insurance would provide you with an indemnity for any legal expenses that you have incurred and for any of your opponent’s legal costs you are required to pay. The cost of this insurance is deferred until the end of the claim. No up-front-payment of a premium is required.

Compliance with the terms of the Conditional Fee Agreement and the ATE policy is essential. If you provide false or misleading information the protection provided by the CFA and ATE may be lost, meaning you would have to pay all your own and possibly your opponent’s costs too.

Although there are technical and procedural differences in the way No Win No Fee works in personal injury and medical negligence cases, the common aim is to remove the worry and minimise any financial risk you face should you lose your case. You will only have to make a contribution towards your legal costs from any compensation awarded if you win your claim and, even then only at the end of the process.

How does a No Win No Fee agreement work?

Personal injury claims

If your solicitor takes a personal injury case on a No Win No Fee basis, they also take on board all the associated risk. They will not be paid if the claim is unsuccessful so they are entitled to claim what is known as a 'success fee' in personal injury cases The 'success fee' is not paid unless the claim is successful and then not until the end of the case but is deducted from the compensation award.

Medical negligence claims

In these cases, your solicitor does not charge a success fee. Instead, they charge their full costs and any shortfall that cannot be recovered from the defendant, including counsel’s costs and any insurance premium (although part may be recoverable) is deducted from the total compensation award. Shoosmiths aims to keep this sum as low as possible to minimise any deductions from your compensation.

Mesothelioma claims

Proposals to bring these claims into line with all other personal injury claims have so far been rejected or abandoned after judicial review. Therefore, if a No Win No Fee mesothelioma claim is successful, no costs are deducted and the client retains 100% of their compensation award.