No Win No Fee Claims/Conditional Fee Agreement

What is “No Win No Fee”?

Essentially, a “no win no fee” agreement (otherwise known as a Conditional Fee Agreement) is an agreement which allows you to make a compensation claim and only pay for your solicitor’s work if the case is won.  This has two major benefits – there is minimal financial risk to you and no need to pay any legal costs upfront thus allowing you to make a claim that you may not be able to afford to do otherwise.

Are all cases suitable for a No Win, No Fee?

When you first consult us, we will obtain as much information as possible about the case and then carry out a risk assessment to determine how likely the claim is to be successful.  If the prospects of success are good, you will be offered a no win, no fee agreement.

What can I use a No Win No Fee agreement for?

Some of the most common types of injury we can help you claim for include:

• Accidents at work
• Road traffic accidents
• Medical negligence claims
• Holiday sickness claims
• Accidents in public places
• Slips, trips and falls
• MIB claims
• Claims to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority

How much will I pay if I win my case?

If you win your case, your opponent will be liable to pay all or most of your legal costs and any disbursements incurred. Disbursements are payments we have to make to third parties as part of your claim such as court fees and medical report fees.

Your share of the costs is usually limited to paying what is known as a “success fee” which is a small percentage taken from the compensation you receive.   That fee is usually not more than 25% of your compensation no matter how much work we have had to do on your behalf.

What happens if I lose my case?

All claims carry a litigation risk which means that despite our best efforts, claims are not always successful.  In this event, you will not be charged for our legal fees for the work we have carried out.

In most cases, you will not have to pay your opponent’s costs either even if you lose.

Is a No Win, No Fee completely risk free?

As we just mentioned, if the claim is not successful, we will not charge you for our work, however you would still be liable for any disbursements we have incurred on your behalf.   To protect you against this risk, we may recommend that you take out legal expenses insurance which we can arrange for you.  This is known as After The Event insurance (“ATE”).   The premium charged by the insurance company is only payable at the end of the claim and only if your claim is successful.  If the claim is lost, then no premium is payable.

If you already have legal expenses cover, for example as part of an existing motor or home insurance policy, you may be able to use that policy rather than take out ATE if your insurance provider agrees to cover the claim.  We always recommend that you check all your existing policies for legal expenses cover.

At Axiom DWFM, the vast majority of our personal injury claims are run on a “no win, no fee” basis and we are always happy to talk to you and let you know if we can offer this type of funding for your case.