No Win No Fee - What's the reality?

sukstr

A couple of months ago my wife injured her leg. Nothing I would class a major, a cut and some bruising which clearly hurt but nothing worthy of time of work.

This was as a result of a broken and exposed stopcock access point. This was on the "public highway". She contacted the local water authority who sent a claim form which proved pretty much useless as it was oriented to claiming for property damage (I guess that's the most common claim).

She has subsequently contacted a no-win no-fee company that have referred her onto a solicitor. This is where I get confused.
Their hourly charges are around £200; they recommend ATE Insurance from Allianz which is around £950 but is deferred to post settlement.

I assume that in the event of a win, the costs would probably also be award in my wife's favour and the £200/hour + £950 would be charged to the Water Authority.
I am guessing, but if the claim is unsuccessful the solicitor fees are claimed against the policy; but we are stuck with the bill for the ATE Insurance policy.

Is this how it works?

-S-

maginot

I would be careful what you sign, no win no fee, should be just that e.g. There is no loss to you at all if you lose. So don't know what £950 is for unless the solicitors just want to make some money off you.
Also as the injuries are small, I would be surprised if solicitors want to take this on as I wouldn't think the payout would be large.
Remember in cases of compensation there has to be a fault! Did the water company know this stopcock was exposed, how was she injured etc.
I am no expert, so definitely take legal advice, but perhaps it may be better to see if you have any insurance for this on your house cover or see a solicitor free for half an hour session to see what they think.

Quentin

sukstr wrote: »

.....Is this how it works?....

Go back to the solicitor and get them to explain how this works.

Seeking advice on a forum when you have a query that needs answering by your solicitor isn't the way to understand what is going on!

sukstr

I have every intention of checking with the solicitor, but assumed somebody here would have gone through a similar experience and would be able to comment on the general process they wnet through.

Crazy_Jamie

sukstr wrote: »

I am guessing, but if the claim is unsuccessful the solicitor fees are claimed against the policy; but we are stuck with the bill for the ATE Insurance policy.

Is this how it works?

-S-

No. The ATE premium should be self insuring, effectively insuring you against the cost of the premium as well as the litigation as a whole. So if you lose you shouldn't have to pay anything at all.

Sooz00

I had a no-win no-fee claim a few years ago now and it was exactly as the previous poster said, the insurance policy would pay out if we lost and the other side would be paying costs if we won (though in court, the judge said the solicitor's costs were extreme and capped them) so whether the insurance policy paid the difference I don't know.

To be honest, in your wife's circumstance and with no time off work, I'm not sure the payout would be worth the stress of doing it all. Mine was a nasty back injury which I'm stuck with, it took 3 years to get to court and the stress was a nightmare.