Last Updated on 15th November 2024. This article discusses how it could benefit you to seek assistance from No Win No Fee solicitors when beginning a claim. We will provide information about the types of claims that you could carry out with the help of No Win No Fee solicitors.
Later in the article, we’ll also explain how payouts are calculated for certain types of claims. We’ll show examples of the compensation brackets found within the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), a document solicitors usually refer to when assessing certain aspects of a claim. You can use the figures found below as a guide for how much your claim could be worth.
Read on for more information about the benefits of working with a solicitor who offers this type of arrangement. Additionally, contact Accident Claims UK using several different methods. During a free consultation, our advisers can answer your questions about the claims process. To get started:
- Complete our ‘Contact Us’ form to request a callback
- Phone 0800 073 8801
- Talk to our team in the live chat tab below
Browse Our Guide
- What Cases Do No Win No Fee Agreements Apply To?
- How Does No Win No Fee Work?
- Do I Have To Work With No Win No Fee Solicitors In My Area?
- How Is Compensation Awarded?
- Connect With No Win No Fee Solicitors Today
- Further Information About Compensation Claims
What Cases Do No Win No Fee Agreements Apply To?
In general, solicitors can offer their services under a No Win No Fee – agreement for several types of compensation claims. For instance, they may choose to work under this type of agreement for:
- Personal injury cases, which include road traffic accident claims, public liability claims, and accident-at-work compensation claims such as manual handling claims.
- Medical negligence claims, which involve a medical professional breaching the duty of care they owed to their patient, causing avoidable or unnecessary harm.
For the purposes of this article, we’ll provide more information about how solicitors could assist with the types of claims mentioned above. However, it’s important to note they could provide this agreement for:
- Personal data breach claims, which can be pursued when certain entities fail to uphold their legal responsibilities when processing personal data
- Criminal injury claims a way of claiming compensation as the victim of a violent crime.
It should be noted that data breach claims and criminal injury claims have different eligibility requirements. Therefore, the information we provide in the rest of this article does not necessarily apply to these types of claims.
Claim Time Limits
A key element that affects your eligibility to begin a claim is to ensure you file it within the legal time limits. The Limitation Act 1980, a piece of legislation, determines that personal injury and medical negligence claims must begin within:
- 3 years of the incident date.
- 3 years of the date you realised the harm you experienced occurred due to negligence. This is known as your date of knowledge. In general, this is mostly relevant to medical negligence cases.
There are exceptions to these time limits. If you’d like more information, contact our advisers to ask how long after being injured you could start a claim.
How Does No Win No Fee Work?
If you have a claim like any of the ones we mentioned above, you could be looking for a trained professional to help you get the compensation you deserve. You may have seen the term No Win No Fee before and wondered what it means exactly.
It works just as the name suggests. When No Win No Fee solicitors take on claims, they agree that they will not charge a fee for their work if the claim does not succeed.
Our solicitors go a step further. Under the Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) they offer, a client won’t pay a fee upfront or as the claim goes on.
This means that the solicitor only takes a payment if they help you win your case and get compensation.
How Much Do No Win No Fee Solicitors Take?
If you agree to No Win No Fee terms and win your case, your solicitor will collect a success fee, which is a percentage of the compensation you get.
Different No Win No Fee lawyers could mention various figures to you. As our solicitors work under a CFA, their success fee is capped because of legislation called The Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013. They will not take more than 25% of the compensation awarded.
Some people may assume that there’s some sort of hidden catch with a No Win No Fee agreement, but we are very transparent and open about discussing the terms and the benefits of working with our solicitors. You can ask us any questions you have right now by using our live chat option or calling the number above.
What Happens If You Lose A No Win No Fee Claim?
If your claim is unsuccessful, your solicitor will not take a success fee. You generally don’t have to pay for the services of a No Win No Fee solicitor if your claim fails.
Different law firms and different solicitors will have their own take on a No Win No Fee Agreement. Not one size fits all. So it is vital that you always read any agreement given to you by your solicitor before you sign it. Make sure to understand what you are signing.
Do I Have To Work With No Win No Fee Solicitors In My Area?
Due to technological advances, you are no longer restricted to just working with local solicitors. This is good news because you cannot guarantee the lawyers nearest you have the expertise you require for your claim.
Instead, you can now use the Internet and phones to locate the solicitors best suited to work on your case. For instance, if you have been injured by a faulty automatic door, you could consult with a solicitor who lives on the other side of the country and yet specialises in claims made for accidents in a public place.
Contact our team of advisers for more information. If they feel your claim is valid, our team may be able to put you in touch with one of our solicitors.
How Is Compensation Awarded?
Compensation for personal injury claims and medical negligence claims can include a single payment that combines up to two heads of claim. These two heads are called general damages, intended to compensate you for the physical or psychological suffering you experience, and special damages, which can be a method of reclaiming financial losses caused by your injuries.
When assessing a claim, solicitors will usually refer to a document known as the JCG, which contains compensation brackets for types of injury. We’ve provided some of these figures in the table below. However, please remember these are only guidelines. Your real-life circumstances may vary from the descriptions given in the JCG. Additionally, the figure in the top row was not taken from the JCG.
| Harm or Injury | Severity | Compensation Guidelines | More Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple Injuries And Financial Loss | Severe Injuries and Significant Losses | Up to £1 million or more | A payout secured by a No Win No Fee solicitor that accounts for physical pain, mental suffering, and financial damage like lost earnings. |
| (b) Brain Damage | Moderately Severe | £267,340 to £344,150 | Individual experiences serious disability that may be physical or cognitive in nature. |
| (a) Leg Injury | Amputation (ii) | £245,900 to £329,620 | Injury that involves below-knee amputation of both legs. |
| (a) Female Reproductive System | Infertility | £140,210 to £207,260 | Injury or disease that causes infertility, severe depression, and other symptoms. For example, the failure to diagnose ectopic pregnancy in a young person. |
| (a) Back Injury | Severe (i) | £111,150 to £196,450 | Cases of the most severe injuries involving spinal cord and nerves, leading to consequences such as severe pain and disability. |
| (a) Arm Injury | Severe | £117,360 to £159,770 | These injuries fall short of amputation but leave the person little better off than if the limb had been lost. |
| (b) Chest Injury | Traumatic | £80,240 to £122,850 | Injury to chest, heart or lungs, causing impairment of function, damage that is permanent, and reduction of life expentancy. |
| (b) Hand Injury | Serious (Both Hands) | £68,070 to £103,200 | Injuries that cause significant loss of function and cosmetic disability that is permanent. |
| (a) Ankle Injury | Very Severe | £61,090 to £85,070 | Cases such as bilateral ankle fractures that cause joint degeneration at a young age, requiring arthrodesis. |
| (a) Shoulder | Severe | £23,430 to £58,610 | Serious injury to the brachcial plexus and injuries to the neck area. |
Additionally, your claim could benefit from another head of claim known as special damages. This is intended as a means to help you recoup financial losses caused by the negligent harm you experienced, including:
- Lost wages, past and future
- Prescription medications
- Specific medical treatments required for rehabilitation
This list isn’t comprehensive, so contact our advisers to ask about special damages.
Connect With No Win No Fee Solicitors Today
Our solicitors specialise in all areas of personal injury, medical negligence, data breach claims and criminal injury cases and have the knowledge and experience to ensure your case is filed correctly and completely. Our No Win No Fee solicitors can work with you under the terms of a CFA, meaning that you could avoid paying for their services if your claim fails.
Contact Us
Our team of advisors can tell you more about how a No Win No Fee agreement could benefit you. Furthermore, they may be able to put you in touch with one of our solicitors, but only if you want to proceed. So either:
- Complete our ‘Contact Us’ form to request a callback
- Phone 0800 073 8801
- Talk to our team in the chat box below
Further Information About Compensation Claims
Additional claims guides that may help:
A Guide To Making A Racking Or Shelving Accident Claim
How To Start A Claim For An Accident On A One-Way Road
Medical Negligence Claim Guidance
Related topics:
Employer’s Responsibilities – Information from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) about responsibilities that employers owe to their employees
The Highway Code – UK Government resource with road safety guidance, some of which is backed up by law
Good Medical Practice – General Medical Council (GMC) ethical guidance for doctors
Thank you for reading about the benefits of using No Win No Fee solicitors. If you’d like more information, contact us using one of the methods described above.
