History of "No Win No Fee"

The world of personal injury is saturated with buzz words and phrases the latest being the phrase "no win, no fee"

What is no win no fee and more importantly, what are the benefits of appointing a no win no fee claim solicitor to act on your behalf?

Origins

The treasury facing ever increasing and spiralling costs from legal aid cases decided to act, and the UK Government decided that it was time to introduce a new method by which compensation solicitors could get paid for accident claims , thereby reducing the burden on them. The solution was put into operation in 1998, and no win no fee claim was born.

What Does This Mean For Me and my claim?

Simply, that a no win no fee compensation claim is available to anyone who believes that they have sufficient grounds to make a personal injury claim for compensation. Under this arrangement a conditional fee arrangement, an injury claim solicitor that represents you in your personal injury claim is only entitled to his fees if he actually wins the case.

Why Do Compensation Solicitors agree to the Arrangement?

Under the law, your compensation solicitor is entitled to claim his fees and expenses from your opponent if they win the case. The outcome of this is that if your solicitor believes that your case has merit, then they'll be willing to work for you for free, safe in the knowledge that they will be paid for their work by your opponent once they win the case.

What you need to be aware of!

On rare occasions "no win no fee solicitor's" have been known to make you agree to pay fees upfront on the premise that you will be reimbursed these fees by your opponent once the case has been settled.

However its worth noting that courts will only reimburse you the plaintiff for what is termed 'reasonable fee costs' of your solicitor - If you agree to such an arrangement there is a chance that you will not be getting the 100% compensation of which you are entitled to.

You need to keep in mind that if you lose the personal injury claim, although you will not be responsible for your own solicitor's fees, you may accountable for the fees off your opponent and, possibly even court's fees.

So, if you are going to use the services of a no win no fee compensation solicitor you should make sure that you ask him who'll pay if you do happen to lose the case.

In this regard, a good accident solicitor will tell you that they have taken out insurance to cover this scenario. If, however, your solicitor has not taken out insurance, you should urge him to do so - as solicitors' and court fees are expensive and can easily be covered with a minimal premium paid to an insurance company.

What Are The Benefits Of Appointing A No Win No Fee Claim Solicitor?

Beside the obvious benefit of not having to pay for your solicitor's services - whether you win or lose - the biggest benefit of appointing a no win no fee solicitor is the fact that you'll receive 100% of the personal injury compensation you are entitled to.

In other words, none of the compensation you'll be paid from your no win no fee accident claim, will be eaten up in solicitors' fees and costs. In turn this means that the compensation you are paid can be put to good use that it was intended for - compensating you for the personal injury YOU suffered.

In addition to the above, because no win no fee are only paid on the basis that they win the personal injury case they are working on, they tend to be very good at what they do and are experts in personal injury law.

As a result, they'll most probably be able to give you the best advice on whether or not your personal injury compensation claim has a chance of winning.