Please Note:

This accident at work site has been devised to provide mere guidance on various personal injury topics. It is always recommended to seek professional legal advice from an experienced solicitor.

The previous posting (How to Find a Solicitor) provided a few tips for those looking to find legal assistance for a work accident compensation claim, whether chased up by the individual involved in the accident or if it happens to be a more severe accident then naturally a family member would make the enquiry. The requirement of finding a no win, no fee solicitor was introduced in that post and today this will be discussed further. You will tend to find in the world of personal injury that most UK legal teams will provide a no win, no fee service; many have had to adapt and add this concept as without it they would struggle to attract clients in this ever competitive legal industry. The concept will be explained here, but if more information is required then it is recommended that you should speak to a solicitor who has professional and valued experience in the field.

The term “no win, no fee” actually refers to a conditional fee arrangement. This concept arrived in the UK back in 1995 and is still very much active today. Before this time, there was a system in place provided by the government, but otherwise you would be expected to pay the expensive legal fees that are common in law. To explain just what is the no win no fee term, an agreement will be made between the client and their solicitor that if the case is lost then no fee will be paid to the solicitor. If the solicitor wins the case (barrister will carry forward the case in court) then the compensation will be awarded to the client and a fee will also be granted to the solicitor, but this will not come out of the pocket of the client yet it will be recovered from the losing side. And so does this mean that whether the case is won or lost it won’t cost the client a thing right?

Well, this is not exactly the case when court comes into the equation. If the case is lost then although the solicitor will not be paid a fee, the client will be required to pay all of the other side’s legal costs and the disbursements for the claimant (such as medical reports). The way to get around this would be to take out after-the-event insurance (ATE insurance) that a dedicated solicitor will inform the client about before hand. If a case is won then ATE insurance costs will usually be recovered from the other side, but if the case is lost then you may have to pay this premium. A 100% no win, no win solicitor would provide 100% of the compensation awarded and they should also take the cost of the ATE insurance premium if you should lose. A solicitor with experience knows just what cases are likely to win and they will proceed with these alone.

To summarise, if the case is won, compensation is granted and the solicitor is paid by the losing side. If the case is lost then no compensation is paid and the solicitor doesn’t get paid, but the other side’s costs and all disbursements will have to paid by the client. ATE insurance covers this and this premium should be the only expense to the client, although many solicitors will offer this premium for free. There are further exceptions, being that the client would be liable to pay the solicitor any costs that the losing party is not ordered to pay. The 100% compensation can also not be fully delivered in specific types of legal areas, but this isn’t specific to UK workplace accident claims. It is worth noting that most accident claims at work will not go to court. If there is blame then the insurance company on the other side will not appreciate expensive legal proceedings.

Just to confuse you some more, the 100% no win, no fee system may not be around for too long after a recent announcement made in the past few months from the Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke that a change is likely with the no win, no fee concept. The premise seems to be that any lawyer/solicitor costs will not be recovered from the other side, but will be taken as a cut of the awarded compensation. This is moving towards the setup in the United States where their lawyers take a percentage of the compensation. Their system is called a contingency fee agreement rather than a conditional fee arrangement (England and Wales). You have to remember that there is also a limitation period on the accident (The Accident Limitation Period). As noted in the initial passage, professional legal advice will help to cover any further concerns that you may have.