Legal Questions and Answers by
Jonathan Stones of John Barkers
Question :-
Could I ask you to clarify the situation concerning no-win-no-fee-cases. I see solicitors advertising that they take cases on this basis. 'Win or lose, it will not cost you a penny.' However, you then hear that people do in fact have to pay out for expensive insurance policies.
If a solicitor takes a case on a no-win-no-fee basis, why should it be necessary to take out an insurance policy?
Answer :-
The position varies from law firm to law firm and, indeed, in some instances even from case to case.
The main purpose of an insurance policy is not to ensure that your solicitor gets paid even if the case is lost, but to cover the possibility that the court may award the other side's costs against you in that situation. These could be substantial and it would be unrealistic to expect your lawyers to have to cover those.
Another issue to take into account is that the preparation of a case may involve not only your lawyers' own time and costs but that of medical specialists and other expert witnesses, who are going to be expensive.
Without an insurance policy you could find that solicitors would simply not be prepared to take lengthy or difficult cases on a no-win-no-fee basis, even though such cases do bring them enhanced fees in the event of successful outcomes.
That said, there are some law firms which in some situations are prepared to absorb the cost of the insurance premium and so they can therefore advertise that 'win or lose, it will not cost you a penny'.
It is simply a case of checking with individual solicitors . . . or the claim firm . . . to discover on what basis they are prepared to take your case. If you have to pay the one-off insurance premium, how much it is going to be? Don't be afraid to shop around.
Depending on the complexity of the case, premiums can be as little as £100-£150, although I have heard of instances involving national accident groups where people have had to pay very large premiums.
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