What Are No Win No Fee Compensation Claims?

People often believe those catchphrases such as 'no win no fee' and '100% compensation' are too good to be true. This is because they are readily overused in the media, however this is not necessarily the case.

At the end of the day, when we use any professional we do expect to incur a bill. In the same way, if we are asking them to get hold of someone else and get them to pay their dues, we would expect to pay them a percentage of the proceeds.

So is 'no win, no fee' and '100 per cent compensation' just too good to be true? On the up side this type of legal promise is founded on common sense.

Such agreements, commonly known as Conditional Fee Agreements, provide for your solicitor's fees in accident compensation claims and cases of medical negligence allowing you to make an accident compensation claim without having to incur any further cost. This is particularly good to know as your suffering may already have hit you in the pocket.

The rule of thumb is this: if you win your case, your solicitor's fees will be paid out by the person or organisation you have issued your compensation claim against. If your solicitor advises you that you have a good compensation claim but, through no fault of your own this proves unsuccessful, your solicitor will have worked for nothing. This should give you some faith in them telling you that you have a promising case, as essentially they are putting their own neck on the block financially.

Due to the fact your solicitor is considered to be taking a risk they will receive more money in the form of a success fee as well as their basis fee as laid out by the County Court. Both these things can be got from the other party. As your solicitor is being paid for his or her good work, they are then able to promise that 100 per cent of your compensation winnings go to you.

You should also note that should your injury compensation claim go to law, you will be advised to take out 'after the event insurance'. This is protection for you against incurring additional costs by paying the other side's fees if your claim fails.

'No win, no fee' and '100 per cent compensation' mean exactly that - they ensure that justice is seen to be done.


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Tim Bishop is senior partner at Bonallack & Bishop, a firm of personal injury solicitors specialising in compensation claims on a no win no fee basis. Tim is responsible for all major strategic decisions, seeing himself as a businessman who owns a law firm. He has expanded the firm by 1000% in 12 years and has plans for its continued development.