Personal injury claim, no win no fee but court costs?

Roundpurse

I was injured in a rta, I have a claim going through on a no win no fee basis. The company dealing with my claim have sent me a ‘help with court fees’ form to fill in. I won’t be eligible to get court fees paid. I told them this but they said I still need to fill it in as if I’m eligible then the court refund them the fee. And if not then they claim it from the other side (should I win my claim). 

I looked on the companies website and it says that if I win my claim then the court fees are taken from my awarded amount. I googled this and found instances of people with huge bills as the court fees were higher then the amount they were awarded.

So I feel like the details on this form ie income amount and how much in savings etc are like a green light to them to show I have to pay and will not get any help with fees, I feel worried about sending this information to them. Any advice please? 

Roundpurse

Also, at the end of the form it says in the declaration, I believe that my financial circumstances mean that I may be entitled to help with fees.. and I need to sign that, but I’m not saying that, I told the company that I’m not going to be entitled to help with fees. So signing this will be a lie.

DullGreyGuy

Generally speaking court fees are paid initially by the claimant and then refunded by the defendant if you win your case. Therefore your award would be increased to cover the court fees and then paid out of the award and so end up in a neutral position. Only if there is abuse of process or a Part 36 offer etc would the claimant normally end up not being awarded the fees

If you lose your case then your solicitor's ATE insurance may or may not cover the court fees, exactly what disbursements they cover do vary between policies.

Raise your concerns with your solicitors in writing and ask for them to respond in kind about the fact you should sign it against the truth of the statement. You wont have any problems, the courts are just trying to avoid having to process no chance cases but there is no penalty for making them do so. In the rarest of circumstances that it does cause a problem you then have a legitimate claim against your solicitors (or their Professional Indemnity insurance) for the wrong advice.