What To Expect from A No Win, No Fee Agreement

A no win, no fee agreement, formally known as a conditional fee agreement (CFA), is designed to make legal support accessible without a client having to pay solicitors’ fees if their claim doesn’t succeed. This short blog will outline what you can realistically expect when entering into one.

Conditional fee agreements

A conditional fee agreement is an arrangement where a solicitor’s firm or lawyer agrees not to charge the client for their time spent working on the case unless or until it succeeds. Under that type of agreement, if a claim does not succeed, then (provided that the client has abided by the terms of the agreement) the lawyers’ fees would generally not be payable. However, if the claim did succeed, then the lawyers would be entitled to charge a ‘success fee’, payable by the client, calculated as a percentage of their fees for time spent working on the case to conclusion. This could be deducted from the compensation obtained, but the success fee cannot be more than 25% of the amount recovered by the injured person for their pain and suffering and for financial losses up to the date of a trial. In other words, any compensation they receive for any future loss will not be affected.

After the event insurance

Many solicitors also recommend that when they act under a conditional fee agreement, the client should take out after-the-event insurance to fund the disbursements (other costs such as expert report fees and court fees) that will be incurred in the case. This type of insurance can also protect the client against the risk of being ordered to pay some of the defendants’ costs, which can happen in certain circumstances. This type of insurance is generally available in clinical negligence claims on the basis that a client will only be liable to pay a premium if the claim succeeds, and only at the end of the case, provided the terms of the insurance policy have been met.