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 PLUS VAT out of any compensation received. They will usually set this percentage when they accept the case and will base it on the complexity of the claim. It is also important to be aware that this percentage could be increased, at a later stage, if the claim becomes more complex than the acting solicitor had expected.
Is there a totally cost free solution?
When a Solicitor settles a personal injury claim, they will always be able to recover reasonable costs and a success fee from the at fault insurance company. Unfortunately many personal injury Solicitors are not satisfied with this and this is why they then take a percentage of the compensation, as mentioned above. All Scotland Claims Solicitors are simply happy to recover their costs and so the person who has been injured will receive ALL the compensation awarded, and so in effect they have a total cost and risk free service.
How will I get the most compensation?
The only way to get all the compensation awarded to you, is to instruct a solicitor offering (*)100% compensation! Be aware of solicitors that take percentages off you and then tell you they work harder because they take money out of your compensation. This is complete nonsense! 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 your solicitors takes a percentage plus VAT from your award!
No Win No Fee Example Compensation Payouts
As mentioned above, the only way to get all the compensation awarded to you, is to instruct a solicitor offering (*)100% compensation! At Scotland Claims, we offer you the entire compensation settlement that is awarded to you. Many big brand solicitors in Scotland even after being awarded a success fee can charge you upto 25% + VAT from your compensation settlement amount.
For a Moderate Whiplash Injury compensation claim that was awarded £12,000 as settlement, using a (*)100% Compensation Solicitor like Scotland Claims, you would receive £12,000. Using some of the other big brand Solicitors that charge you 25% of your compensation on top of their success fee, you would receive just £8,400. That's £3,600 LESS!! That's a decent new used car you've just given away for absolutely no reason. (£12,000 - 25% = £3,000 * VAT = £3,600).
(*) For straight forward claims, you will receive 100% Compensation. For Complex claims, you will incur a maximum fee of 15% + VAT. This will be discussed with you.