We offer an initial interview to discuss your potential Personal Injury or Medical Negligence matter with you and to advise you whether you have a potential claim. If you have, then we will of course discuss in full with you the costs options available at that stage.
We will consider all available and appropriate methods of funding your claim with you including Legal Expenses Insurance, private funding etc. We also offer a “No Win No Fee” service (a Conditional Fee Agreement) for Personal Injury and Medical Negligence Claims, and if we conclude that this is the best method for you of funding your claim, we will proceed on this basis.
No Win No Fee for Personal Injury and Medical Negligence Claims
What does it cost? Well, if we’re not successful in your claim – nothing. That’s guaranteed! In order to be able to guarantee this, we need to take out an “After The Event” (ATE) Insurance on your behalf. This provides insurance cover for you against any liability for any other parties’ costs should the claim be unsuccessful (other than our costs, which would be written off in that case). For example, if we are unsuccessful in your claim, the insurance will make payment in respect of any medical report fees, court costs, the defendant’s costs etc., meaning that you are free to proceed with your claim without the fear of being landed with a large liability for costs at the end, should you lose. The Insurance will be invalidated, however, if you breach the terms of the Policy with the ATE provider.
Payment for the insurance is deferred to the end of the claim and, the good news is, it is only payable in the event that the claim is successful! So if we don’t win your case, you don’t even have to pay for your insurance. If we win, then there are some changes which came into force on 1st April 2013 which mean that we are no longer able to confirm that you would keep 100% of the compensation. The change in the rules means that the defendant’s insurers are no longer responsible for paying the “success fee” or the “after the event” insurance premium due in a successful claim, and these sums must now come from the compensation recovered upon your behalf.
The success fee is a percentage of our costs set out at the beginning of the claim and is agreed with you when we enter the “No Win No Fee” agreement. The good news is that the success fee is capped at being no more than 25% of the compensation, so that even in the worst case scenario, you will receive at least 75% of the compensation (less the premium). Further, as a result of the changes referred to above, the government have confirmed that the amount of those damages is increased by 10%.