No Win No Fee Cases - What You Need To Know

CFA's - (Otherwise known as "No Win No Fee Agreements”)

What are they and what do they mean?

CFA's are agreements by which payment of your legal costs is contingent or conditional upon the successful outcome of the matter.

There are basically two types and although they are similar there are some important differences.

A) Conditional Fee Agreement  - frequently used in accident compensation claims  (please refer to accident claims section)

B) Contingency Fee Agreement  - these agreements are used in "non contentious” matters - such as employment cases in the Employment Tribunal.

i)  If you lose your case

If you lose your case you should not have to pay your solicitor's costs.   However, again there are exceptions to this and you should read the Contingency Fee Agreement your solicitor sends to you and ask for clarification is there is something you uncertain of.

ii) If you win your case

If you win your case your solicitor will take payment of his or her costs from your compensation (commonly 35%).  This is because there is a general "no costs” rule in the Employment Tribunal.  So, whether you win or lose your case you will be responsible for your own costs.  

Not all solicitors will take No Win No Fee employment cases and those that do will want to carry out a risk assessment to ensure that the case meets their own criteria.   For example, they may want to be satisfied not only that the case has good to very good prospects of success (to justify taking the litigation risk), but also that the claim has sufficient value to ensure that the costs recovered by the solicitor (ie say 35% of the damages) are a fair return for the time and resources put In by the firm.    

Legal Expenses Insurance (LEI)

Your solicitor's first port of call should always be to check whether you have an existing legal expenses insurance policy which would provide cover for your legal fees.  

If you do have LEI which will cover you then it may be that that would be the most appropriate method of funding your case - this is particularly so in Employment Tribunal cases where Contingency Fee Agreements apply.   

It is sometimes the case that Claimants are completely unaware of the existence of LEI as it is often included in an already existing insurance policy, such as household contents insurance. 

If you have LEI which you think may cover your legal costs do take independent legal advice from a specialist employment law solicitor who has solid experience of LEI and CFA's. 

Often an application to your insurance company which has been drafted by a specialist employment solicitor (rather than you approaching the LEI directly) can make the difference between your application for funding being accepted or rejected.  Ask your solicitor if he or she will do this for you free of charge.   

Privately funded claims

If none of the above options is suitable or available you could consider paying your solicitor privately.  In some cases this may be the best option for you.  Your solicitor has a professional duty to give you the best information on costs that he or she can and to advise on what would be the most appropriate method of funding your case.

If you decide that paying privately is the best option for you ask if your solicitor will agree a fixed fee for the work or would consider accepting payment by instalments.  

Although these options are perhaps the most common, there are others which may be appropriate in your particular circumstances. 

If you need legal advice as to which is the best option for you please call us now on 0845 009 0863