What is a No Win No Fee Claim?
The standard cost of instructing a personal injury Solicitor can be very expensive and many people simply cannot afford to pay for the services they need. The No Win, No Fee service offered by most personal injury specialist Solicitors can be a perfect solution. Solicitors will basically risk assess a personal injury claim and if they believe the claim has merit they will accept the matter on a no win, no fee basis. This means that as long as you have been honest and cooperated fully with the solicitor, you will pay nothing if you do not win the case.
How is the claim risk assessed?
When a No Win, No Fee Solicitor reviews a personal injury enquiry, they will be trying to determine if the claim has at least more than 50% chance of being successful. In most cases the accident must have happened within the last 3 years and the injured party must have sought some kind of medical attention for the injury suffered. The solicitor will also be looking for supportive evidence to help prove another party were to blame for the accident. This may be photographic evidence or details of witnesses to the incident.
If the solicitor is not confident they can win the claim, they will not accept it. However it is important to be aware that this risk assessment is carried out by individual solicitors and their staff with varying experience and so a case that one solicitor may reject, another may well accept! So it may well be worth getting another opinion if your enquiry is rejected.
Is there anything I need to be aware of?
Many people make the mistake of thinking No Win, No Fee means they are getting a totally cost free service and so win or lose you pay nothing. This is not the case. It is very important to understand that the term No Win, No Fee ONLY means if you do not win, you do not pay ! Many personal injury Solicitors offer No Win, No Fee BUT they will take a percentage out of any compensation received. In Scotland the law caps this success fee at 20% (including VAT) of the first £100,000 of damages, and many firms charge the full amount. Scotland Claims Injury Lawyers cap our success fee at 18% including VAT, below the statutory maximum, with no hidden extras. We agree the percentage in writing before your claim starts, and it will not be increased later if the claim turns out to be more complex than expected.
What do I actually pay if I win?
When a Solicitor settles a personal injury claim, they recover their reasonable legal costs from the at fault insurance company. On top of that, most Scottish firms charge the client a success fee, taken as a percentage of the compensation. At Scotland Claims, our success fee is capped at 18% including VAT. There are no hidden extras, our legal costs are recovered from the other side, and if your claim does not succeed you pay nothing.
How will I get the most compensation?
Two things matter: the size of the award, and how much of it you keep. The amount of compensation awarded to you will be calculated from your independent medical reports and any evidence of uninsured losses such as loss of earnings and expenses such as private medical fees etc. The at fault insurers will NEVER pay you more compensation because of the percentage your solicitor charges, so a lower, clearly capped success fee means more of your award stays with you. Always ask a solicitor to confirm their success fee percentage in writing before you instruct them.
No Win No Fee Example Compensation Payouts
At Scotland Claims our success fee is capped at 18% including VAT, below the Scottish statutory maximum of 20%. The percentage is agreed before your claim starts and is never increased later.
For a Moderate Whiplash Injury compensation claim settled at £12,000, the most we would deduct is £2,160, leaving you with at least £9,840. Our legal costs are recovered from the at fault insurer, not from you, and there are no hidden extras.