No win no fee vs contingency fee

Whenever you make a claim for compensation here in the UK you need to be clear about whether you are making a genuine no win no fee claim, or whether you are agreeing to a contingency fee.

It is important, because the difference will become very apparent when you come to receive your compensation cheque at the end of the claim.

A no win no fee compensation claim means that you don’t pay a penny to your solicitor if you don’t win the case. It also means that your personal injury lawyer claims their fees back from the person who is responsible for the accident that caused your injuries in the first place. Usually of course this means claiming the money back from their insurance company, rather than the guilty party direct.

A contingency fee is different however. As with a no win no fee case, you don’t pay anything up front. Where contingency is different from a no win no fee is that under a contingency agreement, your personal injury lawyer will take a percentage of the compensation claim that you earn. This means that you will not get 100% of the compensation money that is paid out.

Contingency compensation agreements aren’t as common in the UK as they are in the USA, but you still need to be careful that when you make a claim for compensation you are using a no win no fee lawyer and that you will receive 100% of the compensation payout.

No win no fee vs contingency fee

How to claim compensation when you have an accident abroad

When you have an accident here in the UK and it wasn’t your fault, claiming compensation through a no win no fee personal injury solicitor is fairly straightforward. However, when you have an accident abroad the rules are more complicated in claiming compensation for your injuries.

First of all, a no win no fee personal injury lawyer in the UK would have to make the claim for compensation on your behalf against the company from which you booked the holiday in the first place. This can only be done if the travel agent used was from the UK, and if the accident that you suffered was as a result of their negligence and they were to blame.

Hotel staff or holiday reps would also be considered as part of the travel agency, so should your accident be as a result of hotel staff not drying the floor of the hotel lobby, and you slipped and fell, then you might be able to claim compensation against the travel agent.

Illness is also classed as personal injury, so if you contracted food poisoning and sickness through eating food provided by the travel agent’s hotel, you would be to make a no win no fee claim for compensation against the travel agent.

The travel agent would not be responsible however for the state of pavements or roads outside their hotel, so if you were to fall on the street in the local town, you could not claim compensation for your injuries.

How to claim compensation when you have an accident abroad

Most common winter compensation claims

The winter often brings with it icy roads, wet and icy pavements and treacherous conditions underfoot. This understandably leads to more accidents on the roads and more falls than are experienced in the summer months, accidents that the victims of are still able to claim compensation for.

One of the most common forms of compensation claim is the no win no fee claim for injuries sustained in a fall. During summer months falls such as this are often down to badly maintained pavements, damaged roads and store owners failing to clear up spillages. In winter however these falls are even more common and are usually down to icy conditions caused by the weather and a lack of care from the local council.

The roads are equally hazardous during the winter months, as cars and even larger vehicles find it difficult to manoeuvre. A failure to grit the roads sufficiently often results in cars being unable to stop, losing control and crashing into other cars. These accidents often cause damage to vehicles and result in injury to the drivers, ranging from whiplash to serious injuries.

Compensation can be sought for injuries and vehicle damage sustained in accidents such as these by employing the services of a no win no fee personal injury lawyer. Whether your claim is against the council for inadequately gritting the roads, of against the driver of the other vehicle for not showing care and attention in treacherous conditions, a no win no fee solicitor will be able to guide you through the process.

Most common winter compensation claims