No Win No Fee Claim Solicitor - Benefits Of Appointing One?

If you were not already aware of it, the world of personal injury is awash with a new buzz-phrase: the no win no fee claim. However, what is no win no fee and more importantly, what are the benefits of appointing a no win no fee claim solicitor?

Origins

With the spiralling costs of Legal Aid swamping the UK treasury, the UK Government decided that the time has come to introduce a new method by which compensation solicitors could be paid for personal injury claims, thereby reducing the burden on them. The alternative agreed upon and put into operation in 1998, the no win no fee claim.

What Does It Mean?

Basically, a no win no fee compensation claim is available to anyone who believes they have grounds to make a personal injury claim for compensation. Under this conditional fee arrangement, an accident solicitor representing you in a personal injury claim is only entitled to be paid his fees if he actually wins the case.

Why Would A Compensation Solicitor Agree To Such An Arrangement?

Under the law, if you win your personal injury compensation claim, your compensation solicitor is entitled to claim his fees and expenses from your opponent. As a result, if your solicitor believes your case has merit, he'll be willing to work for you for free, safe in the knowledge that he'll be paid for his work by your opponent once he wins the case.

Is There Anything I Need To Be Aware Of?

Yes; sometimes a no win no fee solicitor will try to make you agree to pay his fees on the grounds that you can be reimbursed by your opponent once you win the case. However, you should keep in mind that the courts will only reimburse you for the reasonable fee costs of your solicitor – so if you agree to such an arrangement there is a chance that you will not be getting 100% compensation you are rightfully entitled to.

Also, you need to keep in mind that if you lose your personal injury claim, although you will not be responsible for your own solicitor's fees, you may be held accountable for fees off your opponent and even, possibly, the court's fees. So, if you are going to use the services of a no win no fee compensation solicitor you should make sure that you ask him who'll pay if you do happen to lose the case.

In this regard, a good accident solicitor will tell you that they have taken out insurance to cover this scenario. If, however, your solicitor has not taken out insurance, you should urge him to do so – as solicitors' and court fees are expensive and can easily be covered with a minimal premium paid to an insurance company.

What Are The Benefits Of Appointing A No Win No Fee Claim Solicitor?

Beside the obvious benefit of not having to pay for your solicitor's services – whether you win or lose - the biggest benefit of appointing a no win no fee solicitor is the fact that you'll receive 100% of the personal injury compensation you are entitled to.

In other words, none of the compensation you'll be paid from your no win no fee accident claim, will be eaten up in solicitors' fees and costs. In turn this means that the compensation you are paid can be put to good use that it was intended for – compensating you for the personal injury YOU suffered.

In addition to the above, because no win no fee solicitors are only paid on the basis that they win the personal injury case they are working on, they tend to be very good at what they do and are experts in personal injury law.

As a result, they'll most probably be able to give you the best advice on whether or not your personal injury compensation claim has a chance of winning.

How To Make A Criminal Injury Compensation Claim

If you have been a recent victim of a crime, then there is a very good chance that you'll be entitled to make a criminal injury compensation claim under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.


CICA – Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority

Great Britain has in place the oldest compensation scheme for people who suffer criminal injuries as victims of crimes, with the first version having been introduced in 1964. Based along the lines of personal injury compensation claims, the CICA compensates victims of violent crime who have suffered any:

• injury, whether that be physical or mental, as a result of being the victim of a violent crime

• possible loss of earnings that the victim may endure as a result of such criminal injury

• bereavement suffered as a result of a loved one having died as the victim of a violent crime.

Since 1996 the CICA has adopted a fixed tariff criminal injury compensation scheme as set out by parliament in the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act 1995 for those who are entitled to make a criminal injury claim.


Making A Compensation Claim

If you plan to make a claim to the CICA for criminal injury compensation, then you'll need to show that you have suffered either physical or mental harm as a result of having been the victim of the violent crime in question.

Note that you need to show that a crime took place, you do not need to show that a conviction resulted from the crime you are claiming took place.

If you have grounds to believe that you have a criminal injury claim, you can obtain a compensation form from a personal injury solicitor, which you then need to compete and return.

The CICA then acknowledges receipt of your form and should process the claim. Keep in mind that this can be a lengthy process and can take anywhere up to 18 months after you have submitted the criminal injury compensation claim.

Also, as the scheme is for victims of violent crimes, the minimum compensation payable under the scheme is £1,000 and the maximum amount of compensation is £250,000.

Moreover, keep in mind that if you have made a claim for compensation under the scheme and are not satisfied with the initial compensation awarded for the criminal injury you suffered, you are entitled to submit a request to have a review of your criminal injury claim within 90 days of your original award being made.

If you still don’t like the award after this review process has been completed, then you can appeal your criminal injury compensation claim to the Panel of the CICA within 30 days of the outcome of the appeal process. If the Panel of the CICA award still does not satisfy you, you then have the right to appeal your claim to the High Court.


Are There Any Alternatives?

If you have been the unfortunate victim of a crime, you should speak to a criminal injury solicitor as soon as you can following the event. In part this is because the criminal injury compensation scheme is only for those who are the victims of a violent crime.

On the other part, you need to make sure you do this so that you can get the advice from your criminal injury solicitor as to any alterative compensation you may want to seek.

Any alternative compensation claim you do instigate will be based on a civil action for personal injury. As a personal injury claim can be expensive, if you believe you may have a case for personal injury compensation but do not have the funds to pay a costly solicitor, you should talk with a no win no fee solicitor to see if there is any chance they will represent you in your claim.


And Finally…

Finally, as well as being the oldest criminal injury compensation authority in the world, with over 80,000 cases a year paying £200 million in compensation, the CICA is also one of the highest rewarding criminal injury claim boards in the world.