A number of firms offer their clients a no win no fee service. Unfortunately, not all of these are really honest about the processes involved, meaning some get hit by hidden charges after being awarded the compensation that they need to help make a difference to their lives.
No win no fee is known in the legal industry as a ‘conditional fee agreement’. These were introduced in the late 90’s, and used more commonly from the early 2000’s, after the government decided to scrap the legal aid system for personal injury victims.
Although no win no fee lawyers have come under criticism by many, there are a number of genuine firms who are dedicated to helping people through the process of making a compensation claim when they have been injured unfairly.
These firms will also be the ones who let you use their services completely free of charge, meaning you pay absolutely nothing up front, or lose anything from your final compensation settlement.
They are able to do this by charging the losing side their legal costs, which is only fair considering they will be the ones that caused your accident and subsequent injuries in the first place.
Even if the event that your claim is not successful, your solicitor will not charge you any costs as they will be covered by an insurance policy known as After the Event (ATE) insurance, that they take are required to take out prior to the commencement of any legal proceeding.
In short, if the case is covered by no win no fee and it ends up in a loss, your solicitor is not entitled to claim a legal fee against either party.
