No Win, No Fee

[JohnnyUK]

Hi All

My daughter is considering taking legal action in an admitted case of negligence causing her severe physical trauma (no details can be shared, sorry).

Any experience of the No Win, No Fee set of lawyers - one that she's contacted would be 25% of the settlement, plus VAT.

Any GOOD experiences of going down this route?

Thanks!

[E-bmw]

I suspect you will find in the world of "no win, no fee" that will be standard, if not generous.

[Miserablegit]

Does your daughter not have legal cover with her house insurance? Some policies include personal legal cover - if you can get an insurer to pay then your daughter keeps 100% of any award.

[JohnnyUK]

Miserablegit said:

Does your daughter not have legal cover with her house insurance? Some policies include personal legal cover - if you can get an insurer to pay then your daughter keeps 100% of any award.

Thanks - will check

[alscar]

Most negligence cases ( I think around 80% was the last figure I saw ) don’t get as far as court apparently for obvious reasons.
If negligence has already been admitted do you even need a solicitor and if you do is it not worthwhile in talking with a paying one first if only to get clarity ?
25% to 30% is pretty standard for nwnf.

[skyebear]

A relative broke her ankle in a pothole in the car park of a well-known fast food chain. As a result she was unable to work.

She appointed a no win, no fee firm who pursued the case resulting in a mid five figure sum of compensation. Took a couple of years but was eventually settled before it reached court.

Whether that sum was pre or post solicitors' cut and what their % was I can't recall.

I suppose you'd need to check with any solicitors that even if it started out as no win, no fee - do they reserve the right to levy charges?

[kestral]

JohnnyUK said:

Hi All

My daughter is considering taking legal action in an admitted case of negligence causing her severe physical trauma (no details can be shared, sorry).

Any experience of the No Win, No Fee set of lawyers - one that she's contacted would be 25% of the settlement, plus VAT.

Any GOOD experiences of going down this route?

Thanks!

https://www.hudgellsolicitors.co.uk

They have a good reputation.

[KungFuPanda]

alscar said:

Most negligence cases ( I think around 80% was the last figure I saw ) don’t get as far as court apparently for obvious reasons.
If negligence has already been admitted do you even need a solicitor and if you do is it not worthwhile in talking with a paying one first if only to get clarity ?
25% to 30% is pretty standard for nwnf.

Even if liability is admitted, you’d still need to arrange a medical report and have advice on the level of general damages and compiling special damages such as loss of earnings and the potential for future losses. A solicitor would still be required in my view.

[bergclimber34]

My mother went through this with a road accident that damaged her foot while she was on a pushbike, is was fairly traumatic and she nearly quit the process a couple of times, notably the medical which was horrendous and painful for no real reason.

But the end result was positive, both in terms of payout and the then benefits she was able to access from it, that enabled her to have a better quality of life for the remaining years of her life.

So be prepared fro pain aswell as disappointment but also potential victory!!

[Pro Bono]

JohnnyUK said:

Hi All

My daughter is considering taking legal action in an admitted case of negligence causing her severe physical trauma (no details can be shared, sorry).

Any experience of the No Win, No Fee set of lawyers - one that she's contacted would be 25% of the settlement, plus VAT.

Any GOOD experiences of going down this route?

Thanks!

The 25% deduction is the maximum allowed (and by the way the 25% must include VAT) but because personal injury lawyers tend to be greedier than most the maximum has now become the standard.

However, there are several firms that do not charge the 25% - or, indeed, make any deduction - so I would always choose one of them.

Whilst I can't recommend any particular firm just Google "personal injury claim no deduction" and you'll find several firms.

[chazd]

I run a firm and we specialise in abuse and negligence.

The success fee deduction from damages is capped at 25% of past losses and general damages and must include VAT.

So if for instance she received a £100k settlement there is not a £25k deduction plus VAT, if this offer was made up of £40k future losses. In this instance the deduction would be £15k inclusive of VAT, however the firm would also have to have incurred WIP up to the value of the deduction if they were to be running on a 100% success fee basis.

Apologies if this doesn’t make any sense, however, it is a tad complex.

You may find firms running no deduction ie no success fee will have heavily inflated hourly rates and the NWNF agreement does allow for solicitor to recover unrecovered costs from damages and this is not limited. So it could in theory be more than 25% of the FULL award.

Edited by chazd on Saturday 18th January 21:10

Edited by chazd on Saturday 18th January 21:11

[Chrisgr31]

If a firm was appointed on a standard hourly basis would the at fault party pay the fees?

If negligence is already admitted the claimant merely needs advice about the level of the claim and details of comparable settlements to know whats reasonable.

[RoadToad84]

I'm going through a case at the moment after I was knocked off my bike. Using a firm called Fletchers k now rebranded was Serious Injury Law) they're a pretty standard ambulance chaser type outfit, and their fee is also the standard 25%+

Feel free to drop me a message if you have any questions.

[theboss]

chazd said:

I run a firm and we specialise in abuse and negligence.

The success fee deduction from damages is capped at 25% of past losses and general damages and must include VAT.

So if for instance she received a £100k settlement there is not a £25k deduction plus VAT, if this offer was made up of £40k future losses. In this instance the deduction would be £15k inclusive of VAT, however the firm would also have to have incurred WIP up to the value of the deduction if they were to be running on a 100% success fee basis.

Apologies if this doesn’t make any sense, however, it is a tad complex.

You may find firms running no deduction ie no success fee will have heavily inflated hourly rates and the NWNF agreement does allow for solicitor to recover unrecovered costs from damages and this is not limited. So it could in theory be more than 25% of the FULL award.

As above. The fact that success fee can only be deducted from general damages / past losses deserves emphasis.

Awards of special damages i.e. compensation for future losses don't count, which is usually relevant where somebody has sustained a severe injury and is seeking redress for e.g. loss of future earnings, home adaptations, future medical / rehab needs and so on.

In my case the success fee was less than 5% of the overall award. Nobody self-funds high value personal damages claims and most domestic legal cover is capped with a raft of exclusions.

[chazd]

RoadToad84 said:

I'm going through a case at the moment after I was knocked off my bike. Using a firm called Fletchers k now rebranded was Serious Injury Law) they're a pretty standard ambulance chaser type outfit, and their fee is also the standard 25%+

Feel free to drop me a message if you have any questions.

If they have you on a no win fee agreement, there is no standard 25% deduction. It is of PAST losses and general damages only so make sure they don’t take a flat figure of an overall award This would be a damages based agreement not a no win no fee if there is an agreement for a flat deduction. DBA’s are usually reserved for matters whereby fees are not recoverable from the paying part (criminal injuries compensation for example)

Edited by chazd on Wednesday 22 January 11:26