No win No fee

groanie

I was knocked over by a van , just coming up to three years ago, and sustained serious injuries.
I have only recently had the courage to make a claim.

The solicitors have told me that they will take on my case, but I have had to pay an'issue fee' of £300 up front as it is so near the cut off date.
I understand the terminology for a 'no win , no fee' case is a conditional fee agreement, but there is so much jargon in their document about the fees I will be responsible for, I'm wondering if the whole thing is worth it?


I would appreciate some advice.

DUTR

When you mature you will understand health is more important than wealth. I don't understand 'courage to make a claim', why was this not actioned nearer the time of incident?
Anyways the size of claim is dependent upon the amount of injury sustained at the time. But the guy that got £50k is probably still in a wheelchair and will remain so for the rest of his life.

AdrianC

Basically, you're buying an insurance policy on top of your contract for legal services. If you lose, the insurer pays the solicitor for their work.

That policy is going to have a lot of restrictions and caveats - for example, if you lose because you've not done everything you can to win, then you're going to be paying. If there's any specific bits, then quote them here, and we'll help to translate them to English.

There's two aspects to any claim:
1. Loss of earnings and costs directly arising. They're easy to document and prove - and you'll just be left in the financial position you were if the collision hadn't happened.
2. Compensation for injuries, mental and physical. They're the hard bit to quantify. You're going to need medical documentation. As DUTR says, the amount will depend on how bad and how long-lasting. The amounts aren't made up on the spot, there's basic standard ball-parks for what's worth what. Can we ask how serious your injuries were? And if there's any lasting effects?

Aylesbury_Duck

groanie wrote: »

I was knocked over by a van , just coming up to three years ago, and sustained serious injuries.
I have only recently had the courage to make a claim.

What's different from your position three years ago when you tried to claim but couldn't? Has the driver been found liable?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5594653/legal-cover-for-personal-injury-with-house-insurance-will-not-take-my-claim

groanie

I broke my leg (had a plate inserted) amongst other injuries and I am still under the hospital for pain.
Being knocked over is traumatic and I have been reluctant to drag it all up again.
I am already feeling that there are more cons to pursuing this.

AdrianC

From that thread..,

I was knocked down by a van and sustained broken limbs.
Driver is denying responsibility and police are not charging him.

I have 'legal cover for personal injury' with my house insurance. Contacted the insurance company who was quite rude and said that because of the above I did not have a case.

The charging is irrelevant.

The big problem you're going to have is that there was no liability established at the time. Three years later, is there any way you can produce any proof that wasn't available back then? It's going to be your word against the van driver's. There is certainly no way his insurer is going to roll over, and I doubt you could find a solicitor to take the case on with such a poor chance of success - especially if your legal cover didn't think there was a realistic chance at the time.

"But his vehicle hit me" is not good enough on its own. There are a myriad of circumstances where a vehicle could hit a pedestrian and the driver not be culpable.

groanie

I broke my leg and had a plate inserted, among other injuries. I am still under the hospital for pain relating to the leg.
I didn't want to rake up the event again as I was traumatised after being knocked over.
I am wondering if this is all worth it?

Aylesbury_Duck

groanie wrote: »

I broke my leg and had a plate inserted, among other injuries. I am still under the hospital for pain relating to the leg.
I didn't want to rake up the event again as I was traumatised after being knocked over.
I am wondering if this is all worth it?

No one's going to be able to make that decision for you.

Davy_Jones_II

Only you can decide if it’s worth it, but you need to factor in the time, effort, potential cost, and probability of both winning compensation and then enforcing the judgement.

Is liability absolutely clear-cut, or arguable either way?

groanie

It's not clear cut as I don't remember the impact and the witness knew the driver.
Police didn't remark upon this fact.
I never saw the driver/ witness statements.

Aylesbury_Duck

groanie wrote: »

It's not clear cut as I don't remember the impact and the witness knew the driver.
Police didn't remark upon this fact.
I never saw the driver/ witness statements.

Not a lot to go on then. IANAL but that doesn't look like a strong case.

Can you get an hour's free legal consultation with a local solicitor to see if they think it's worth pursuing?