“No Win, No Fee” Agreements
Posted by admin in accident claims. on 12-01-2012
If you suffered an accident you may file a personal injury claim. Personal injury refers toany injury suffered by mind, body and even emotion. There are several types of personal injury claims and the most frequent are traffic accidents. You may also be the victim of a home, holiday or work accident. Personal injury covers even medical accidents, as aresult of medical negligence.
In each case, you must find a well-trained specialist in order to represent your case. Youmay say that you have not enough money to pay for his or her services. You don’t need toworry. Thanks to a no win no fee agreement youdon’t have to pay the lawyer if he does not win the case. There are only a few fees thatyou need to pay. “No win no fee” represents a special clause stipulated in the agreementsigned between you and the law firm. The great majority of injury solicitors agree to such type of agreement.
Usually if the lawyer successfully represents you and wins you will have to pay astandard fee according to the agreement plus a success fee that cannot overrun 100% ofthe standard one. But once the case is won, you don’t have to worry about money anymore. All these amounts must be specified in the “no win no fee” agreement.
According to a “no win no fee” arrangement, if you do not win the case you must pay thecosts for the other party involved. This could be really expensive, so you must take out an “after the event” policy in order to be sure you can cover all expenses. If the insurancecompany thinks that you have minimal chances to win the case, you might not get such apolicy. Another important thing is that you have to pay for this insurance. So, if you are not 100% sure that your claim will be successful, think twice before you decide to goahead.
Not all types of personal injury claims can be subject of a “no win no fee” arrangement.Medical, work or road and traffic accidents, for instance, may constitute the basis of suchan agreement. The first step is to contact an injury solicitor and discuss all theopportunities you have, including the type of agreement. Talk about your case withseveral lawyers and choose the best offer. You will surely find a solicitor that will offeryou a “no win no fee” arrangement. You must know that compensations are establishedby a specialist, who will analyse the injury you suffered. He or she is able to determine a correct amount of money you may get if the solicitor wins your case.
Presently a British insurance broker asks the authorities to revise the “no win no fee” typeof arrangements. New regulations intend to forbid lawyers from purchasing informationabout the drivers involved in traffic accidents, for accident claims. According to Jonathan Willet, manager ofan insurance company, this will not solve the problem of motor insurance expenses,which dramatically increases. He agrees that the “no win no fee” arrangements encourage people with no financial possibilities to file a personal injury claim. But in these cases,sometimes, the insurance companies have to pay higher compensations. Jonathan Willet thinks that this situation must be changed.