In recent years you may have heard the term ‘no win, no fee’ mentioned a lot in the newspapers and on television but are you 100% you know what it means? There is a lot of confusion surrounding the term, a lot of which has led to misunderstandings and people losing out on money they were entitled to.
Doesn’t mean no cost
The first thing you need to understand is that it does not mean no win, no cost. This is something that many people have had trouble understanding and the source of much confusion. You need to go into any case with your eyes open and in full possession of all the facts.
At its most basic, no win no fee is an easy way of referring to a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). These were introduced in 1995 when the legal aid system stopped applying to personal injury cases. Without CFAs, personal injury cases would only have been available to those who could afford to make them. That essentially meant that better off people could receive compensation when they had been affected but the rest of us had little choice.
Thanks to no win no fee, justice has been done for thousands who otherwise would have been unfairly punished by the system. It has levelled the playing field and given the little guy a voice.
A no win no fee or CFA is an agreement made between client and solicitor that means if the client does not win, they are not charged. If you win, the solicitor earns his fee as usual but it comes from the opposing party. You keep the compensation awarded, the solicitor receives payment from the insurance company or other party involved.
If you lose you may be liable to pay these costs but your solicitor should have arranged an insurance policy to cover these costs. You need to be aware of this before you start any case. This ‘After Event’ insurance covers you against a loss.
It is not in any solicitor’s interest to take you case if they don’t think you can win. If they do not think there is a case to answer they won’t give you a CFA in the first instance. However, this does not mean you shouldn’t make yourself aware of the facts first.
If you feel you do have a personal injury case, then why not contact a specialist in the field like for more information?