Conditional Fee Agreements
Introduction
Conditional fee agreements provide a new way to pay for the services of solicitors. Under a conditional fee agreement, Ashfords will not charge you for its services if you do not win your case. This is sometimes referred to as the "no win - no fee" scheme.
If you then win your case, then Ashfords will charge you a supplementary fee over and above our costs, this is called the "success fee". The success fee is charged as a percentage of Ashfords' costs(not a percentage of your compensation award).
In the event of a successful outcome, we will make a claim against your opponent for the cost of pursuing your claim.
How much is the success fee?
This will depend on the type of case but will never exceed 100% of our costs.
Case type | cases settled before trial | case concludes at trial |
Road Accidents | 12.5% | 100% |
Accidents at work | 27.5% (if funded by a trade union) | 100% |
Stress at work claims (psychiatric injury) | 100% | 100% |
Work related upper limb disorder claims | ... | 100% |
Asbestos Claims | 30% (if funded by a trade union) | 100% |
Other industrial disease claims | 70% (if funded by a trade union) | 100% |
All other claims (tripping, medical negligence etc.) | In all other cases Your success fee is calculated by reference to the following key elements: (a) Delay – the fact that if you win we will not be paid until the conclusion of the claim (b) Paying your disbursements - if we pay, we go into "overdraft" on your account (c ) Risk – the fact that if you lose we do not get paid. That part of the success fee set out at (c ) can be claimed from your opponent in addition to your basic costs. As with claiming the basic costs, your opponent is entitled to challenge the reasonableness of the success fee and seek to reduce it. That part of the success fee set out at (a) and (b) cannot be recovered from the losing party if you win. We confirm, however, that the unrecovered part of the success fee will never be more than 25 % of your compensation monies. | |
These figures are based on Civil Procedure Rule 45 in 2007 and these rules are subject to amendment from time to time.
If your case is unsuccessful you would probably be ordered to pay the majority of your opponent's basic costs and disbursements. Insurance may be available to protect you against this risk. This is known as "after the event" insurance cover. The premium for this is often only payable at the end of the case. Ashfords can recommend an insurer to suit your type of claim (we do not get commission for any referral). Further details will be provided upon request.
Example
It may be helpful to have an example of how the success fee works. In this example the recoverable success fee is 25%.
If your claim is successful we will submit details of the total amount of costs incurred in connection with your claim. For the purpose of this example, these are called our 'basic costs' and the success fee is applied to the basic costs.
Assuming our basic costs were £1000.00 and the success fee was 25%, the value of the success fee would be £250.00 plus VAT. The amount you recover by way of compensation monies does not in any way dictate the value of the success fee. This is entirely linked to the value of our basic costs.
Finally, we must make it clear that the success fee can only be applied to those basic costs that have been incurred after the date the Conditional Fee Agreement is signed. And costs incurred before that date are not subject to any success fee.
Ashfords is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The information in this article is intended to be general information about English law only and not comprehensive. It is not to be relied on as legal advice nor as an alternative to taking professional advice relating to specific circumstances.
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