Personal Injury Solicitors

No win no fee is a common type of agreement between a solicitor and their client. Simply put – you will not be required to pay any upfront fees, and will not be charged if your case is unsuccessful.

If your case is successful, the “other side” pays our costs but we may also have to retain some of your winnings to cover the work we have put into your case. This is up to 25% + VAT (the current rate of VAT is 20%), but is capped there. This gives you certainty that if your claim is successful, you will receive the vast majority of any compensation.

If your case is unsuccessful, then you could be liable to pay certain fees that are not covered under no win, no fee – such as court costs. To cover this possibility, we always recommend that our clients take out After The Event insurance. This works in a similar way to no win, no fee, and only gets paid when your claim is successful.

You can find a full breakdown of no win, no fee agreements here. If you still have questions, we are always happy to talk it over with you on the phone.

Generally speaking – the more severe your injury, the more your claim will be worth. To get a full answer to this, we will refer your case to a relevant expert who takes a specialist view of your injury, and provides us with a detailed report. We can then advise how much your claim might be worth.

The amount of time it takes the expert to build their report can vary. With less severe injuries, a simple medical consultation will be enough. More severe claims may require scans, treatment, and repeat examination. You will never be charged upfront for this.

You can also claim “special damages” for any earnings you have lost out on as a result of your injury, or any travel expenses you have taken to attend relevant medical appointments. Obviously, this is specific to your exact circumstances.

The exact percentage varies from case to case – and sometimes we don’t retain anything from our clients at all! As we work on your case, we record the amount of time we have spent working on it. If your claim is successful, we are able to recover some of the costs for our time from the other side. However, we usually cannot recover all of our costs this way.

What we cannot recover from them, we will retain from your winnings. However – this is up to 25% + VAT (the current rate of VAT is 20%) and never any more. We strictly cap what we retain so that you can be confident you will receive the majority of your compensation.

Whilst it is entirely optional – we also heavily encourage our clients to take out After The Event Insurance to cover themselves just in case their claim is unsuccessful. This often works out to a very small extra percentage retained if you win, but gives you peace of mind that you won’t be left out of pocket if you lose. We think it’s worth it, but the choice is ultimately yours.

It is also worth noting that some injuries have big implications for your future. When this happens – you can also receive compensation for your future needs and losses. We will never take any percentage of this.

Starting the claims process is incredibly easy. Simply fill out the form here on our website and enter all of the requested information. If we need anything else from you to begin the claim process, we will reach out using the contact details you provided.

We will assess your details, and determine whether or not we can represent your claim. If we are happy to take your case on, you will sign a no win, no fee agreement with us, and we will begin our negotiations with the other side. There are three steps to this:

1. Getting the “liability response”. We submit a letter of claim to the other side, where we explain who you are, how the accident happened, and our allegations of why it was their fault. They have a maximum of three months to respond to this – so this step involves a lot of waiting.
2. We prove causation. We have to demonstrate how your symptoms were directly caused by the accident. This is done via a medical examination with a specialist, who will produce a detailed report for us.
3. Negotiation / settlement. We negotiate with the other side. Sometimes this is quick, and they accept liability and settle the claim immediately. Sometimes we cannot reach an agreement, and the case is argued out in court.

Personal Injury falls very broadly under “Tort” law. The concept of Tort law was first introduced to the British legal system by the invading Normans, and is law covering civil wrongs where one person’s action (or lack of action) causes another person to suffer harm. In fact, the word “Tort” still means “wrong” in modern day French.

For a claim to be successful, we will have to demonstrate that somebody had a duty of care towards you, which was breached, and subsequently caused you harm. For example – if you were injured at work, then your employer had a duty of care over you that they failed to uphold.

In Personal Injury, there are strict “limitation” timeframes that dictate exactly when someone can make a claim, as laid out in the Limitation Act 1980. Generally speaking, you can make a claim up to three years after the accident – or when you were first made aware of your injury. For claims relating to children, the limitation date is three years after they turn 18.

If you are ever curious about the specific legalities of the claims process, your solicitor will be able to advise you.