What is no win no fee?
A no-win, No-fee arrangement ensures you don’t pay any legal or associated costs unless your case is successful. If you win, most of your legal costs are paid by the Defendant. A small portion of your compensation may be used to cover legal costs not paid by the Defendant. The majority of our clients choose this option for peace of mind and affordability.
How do no win no fee claims work?
Most of our claims are funded using our funding package, which means if you lose your case, it should not cost you a penny. Â The package includes a conditional Fee Agreement, a loan facility and after the event insurance. The package will ensure that you do not have to pay our costs, or any third-party costs, as your case progresses. If you win your case, we will recover most of the costs from the defendants and we will deduct a success fee, the insurance premium, the loan facility fee and any unrecovered costs from your compensation.
Making a no win no fee claim
The first step is to give us a call. We have a team of friendly lawyers who will listen to you and advise you on the next steps.  It’s free to talk to us and we will advise you about the different ways the case can be funded, including no win no fee, legal aid, legal expenses insurance and any other available options.  We will give you detailed information about how the funding works and everything will have been explained carefully. We make sure that people who have experienced injury and damage because of medical negligence can access legal advice.
With Tees you can make a no win no fee claim for a very wide range of medical negligence situations including the following:
- Accident and emergency claims
- amputation claims
- birth injury claims (baby)
- birth injury claims (mother)
- cancer misdiagnosis claims
- cerebral palsy claims
- child injury claims
- cosmetic surgery claims
- ear, nose and throat claims
- eye claims
- fertility claims
- gall bladder claims
- gynaecology claims
- GP claims
- hernia claims
- medical consent claims
- orthopaedic claims
- sepsis claims
- spinal injury claims
- surgery claims
What are conditional fee agreements?
Conditional Fee Agreements (CFAs) are contracts agreed between a client and a solicitor when starting a claim for compensation. They set out how the solicitor’s fees, or a part of them, will be paid. This payment will be only on the condition of certain circumstances – which is most often if the case is won. A conditional Fee Agreement is the formal name for the agreement that is commonly referred to as No Win, No fee. It’s often linked to legal advice such as medical negligence or personal injury where compensation could be awarded.
How does a conditional fee agreement work?
If you lose the case, you do not pay. The legal fees are written off. We are able to arrange insurance for you which provides full cover for any third party expenses, e.g. medico-legal expert fees, court fees, if the case is unsuccessful. The insurance premium is deferred and self-insured, which means that if the case is unsuccessful, you do not have to pay a penny.
If you win the case and receive compensation, the defendant will pay the majority of your legal fees and expenses. You do pay your solicitor a ‘success fee’ from your compensation to reflect the fact that in running your case, the law firm has taken the financial risk and in most cases, will not be paid for many years for the work that they have undertaken. If there is insurance in place, you will need to pay part of the Insurance premium. You may also need to pay for any other associated costs with funding the case, such as loan fees or costs that are not recovered from the Defendant.
In a no win no fee case, it is the solicitor that is taking the main financial risk because if they don’t win the case for you, they won’t be paid. We spend a lot of time reviewing the facts and considering the medical and legal position at the outset as it is in no-one’s interest to run a case that is never going to succeed. At Tees, this initial assessment is free. We will not advise you to proceed unless we are confident you have a good chance of winning the case.
Is there any risk in no win no fee?
As long as you take out insurance to cover any third party expenses and any costs you may be ordered to pay the defendant throughout the case, you can pursue the case without carrying any financial risk.
We always recommend that a client takes out insurance and can arrange this for you. That way, you can pursue your case with absolute peace of mind, provided that you keep your responsibilities under the agreement. These include co-operating throughout the case, attending any necessary expert examinations and/or court hearings, and giving instructions that allow us to do our work properly.
One important exception to the rule is that if you are found to be fundamentally dishonest by the Court, the no win no fee Agreement will be invalidated and the Insurance Policy will be void. This means that you will become liable for the full costs of the litigation.
If you’re thinking of starting a no win no fee claim, it’s important that you work with a solicitor who will take the time to discuss all the implications and options.
 How to cancel a no win no fee claim
In certain circumstances, you have the right to cancel the Agreement within 14 days of signature.
After that time, if you wish to cancel the agreement, you need to talk to the solicitor working on your case. They will be able to advise what options are available to you.
