FAQs

FAQs:

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FAQs on Funding of litigation

“Why am I having to lose up to a quarter of my damages?”

The insurance industry persuaded the Government that successful Claimants should have to pay their own success fees when instructing solicitors on a no win no fee basis, capped at 25% of damages. We on the Claimant side lobbied hard against these proposals, believing that the losing insurers should continue to pay the success fee themselves, but the Government ignored our arguments and the applicable change to the law came into effect from April 1st 2013. What this means in practical terms is that, as your success fee and unrecovered base costs will almost always exceed 25% of damages, then this is the amount that will have to be deducted from recovered damages to go towards your legal fees at the successful conclusion of your case.

“The Insurers seem to be doing very well from the rule changes, do they contain any good news for me as an innocent claimant?”

General damages for Personal Injury are being increased by 10% to offset the loss to you. You are still able to instruct an experienced Personal Injury specialist litigator from our firm to fight the insurers upon your behalf, and advise you upon the appropriate level of settlement, as well as paying upon your behalf for the disbursements that you will inevitably incur when pursuing your claim, such as Medical report and Court fees.

“Do I have to pay any legal costs if I lose, and can I take out insurance against that risk?”

If you instruct us on a no win no fee agreement then as long as you follow our advice and don't mislead or misinform us, you don't have to pay anything towards our own fees if you lose the case at trial. You can be held liable for the other side's legal fees however, up to a maximum of the level of damages you are awarded (which would leave you with nothing) if you refuse an offer in settlement of your claim, and that offer is the same as or more than the sum ultimately allowed by the judge at court. We strongly recommend that you take out ATE (After The Event) legal expense insurance against this risk, in the event that you don't already have full legal expense cover. The premiums tend to be reasonable if taken out at the point of instruction and are deferred to the conclusion of your claim, so there's no payment up front just a deduction from your damages.

“Are there alternative methods of funding my claim?”

FAQs on After the event insurance

“Why do I need ATE insurance?”

“Don’t I benefit from QOCS protection?”

You will benefit from QOCS protection providing the third party are prepared to accept that they are responsible for your injury. However, even if they do accept they are responsible, they may not accept that your injuries are as severe as you say they are. If they don't they will not settle the case and so we will need to go trial to prove your claim. If this happens the judge will need to make a decision and you could lose your case. You may lose the QOCS protection meaning that you will need to pay for the other sides costs.

QOCS protection doesn't apply if there is dispute over the costs of repairs to your vehicle or credit car hire, so should we need to go to court to recover the costs, should we lose, the ATE policy will cover the costs of the other side.

“What will happen if the other side make an offer and it’s not acceptable?”

“Am I still liable for the ATE premium if my case is lost or if you decide to drop the case at some stage because you don’t think I have a reasonable case?”

“My claim is for clinical negligence, so isn’t the premium recoverable from the other side?”

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Registration Office. Thorneycroft Solicitors Ltd, Bridge Street Mills, Bridge Street, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK11 6QA. Registered in England No. 4932249 The term `director`, denotes a shareholder or director of the company or an employee or consultant who is a lawyer with equivalent standing and qualifications. Authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, SRA ID: 406439. Calls may be recorded for security & training purposes.