No Win No Fee Accident Claims

No Win No Fee Accident Claims
When someone has an accident where the cause was another's fault and there is negligence involved, there is the question, should I try and sue for damages?

Thousands of people every year have accidents that were no their fault of their own and don’t claim for compensation. Often we don't like to sue another person ... but we might if we discovered it was an insurance company that would pay up if the case was proven.

The accident may have been quite minor, like a slip on a wet floor which caused you to fall and injure your leg. The wound may have healed and all is well in the end. Accident compensation isn't just about the injury, you could have lost a lot of earnings whilst being unable to work, you might have missed out on a special occasion or even had to cancel an holiday or event and suffered financial losses. What about if your accident was a lot more serious, like being run over by a car and having your leg so badly damaged it had to be amputated. Either way you do have a moral and legal right to claim compensation. The trouble with all legal wrangles is that they can be very stressful, long lived, expensive and not always successful.

Up until the late 90’s Legal Aid was available for personal injury claims. If you had had an accident you could go to a solicitor and they could claim their fees and expenses by applying for Legal aid. The claimant would end up paying nothing or very little fees. Because of the amount of cases for personal injury the government abandoned this and withdrew its funding. It was replaced with conditional fees agreements or “no win no fee” agreements which is putting the risk onto the solicitor. Now solicitors will work for free under the agreement that if they don’t win the case they wont get paid. This makes solicitors only take on cases they know they have a good chance of winning. None of the winning compensation goes to the solicitor, the total award goes to the victim and the solicitor gets his fees and expenses from the insurance company of the losing party.

As much as this sounds great, there is still the issue of the trauma of a possible court case. It is a decision you have to take early on, are you prepared to go to court? What if I loose? How will I pay my solicitor if we do lose? You can obtain insurance in case you loose the case and you should find this out from the start. A good solicitor will tell you all the possible outcomes and how to be prepared for them.

Things to remember are not all “no win no fee” agreements are all the same. You need to be sure you understand the contract you are signing. Legal jargon can be quite baffling but you should not be put off. Find a solicitor who can explain everything to you in simple English.

If you can find a company that offers a consultation free of charge then make an appointment, if you not happy and don’t understand what was said, visit another. Keep looking until you are happy with your solicitor. Find one with experience in dealing with personal injury claims and maybe even a similar accident to your own. Finding a good solicitor will make the whole process less traumatic and stressful and give you some piece of mind that everything is getting taking care of and your best interests are foremost in the solicitors mind. A company that offers no win no fee is a must but you must make sure there are no hidden costs. The last thing you want to spend months going through the procedures only to loose and be stumped with a bill. Make sure you completely understand what the no win no fee agreement means.

If you are really to put in a no win no fee compensation claim then accident consult may be able to help you. There are experts dealing in compensation claims and will give you free impartial advice.

Author:
Carolyn Clayton: