What Percentage Do Solicitors Take For No Win No Fee Claims In The UK?
By Stephen Moreau. Last Updated 16th February 2024. As the victim of an accident that was not your fault, you may be considering starting a case for compensation against the person or company that caused it. Serious injuries can create financial loss and injuries that require expensive health care. All manner of other demands on your money could arise at a time when you are least able to meet them. Even so, suing someone may feel like a daunting step. Many people have reservations about how much it might cost to hire a lawyer to help them. You may have questions such as ‘is it expensive? How does it work? And what percentage do solicitors take? This article will answer those questions for you.
You may be ready to start a claim right now. This guide will provide advice and information. It will explain how a Conditional Fee Agreement can provide a way to fund a No Win No Fee solicitor. Our team are ready to help you when you get in touch. You can get in touch for free, with absolutely no obligation to continue with any further steps until you’re ready to take them. You can:
- Call us on 020 3870 4868, we’re available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
- Email or write to us at UK Law
- Use the ‘live support’ option, bottom right of this screen
What percentage do solicitors take in No Win No Fee claims?
Services And Information
- What Are Conditional Fee And Damages Based Agreements?
- What Percentage Do Solicitors Take Under A No Win No Fee Agreement?
- No Win No Fee Compensation Calculator
- How To Make A No Win No Fee Claim
- Related Guides
What Are Conditional Fee And Damages Based Agreements?
A Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) and a Damages Based Agreement (DBA) are two types of No Win No Fee agreements. A solicitor may offer to support a personal injury claim you have grounds to make under one of these agreements. Here at UK Law, our panel of solicitors can support personal injury claims under a Conditional Fee Agreement.
Usually, the terms of a CFA mean that you won’t need to pay your solicitor for their work either upfront or while your claim is being processed. You also won’t need to pay your solicitor if the claim fails.
If your claim succeeds, then your solicitor will take what’s called a success fee. This usually means they take a small and legally capped percentage of the compensation awarded to you. The amount the solicitor takes should reflect the amount of work they contributed to their case. The claimant will always receive the majority of their settlement.
There are some differences with claiming under a Damages Based Agreement. Usually, the success fee is capped at 25% of the compensation awarded for your personal injury claim. Also, the success fee is a set fee that applies regardless of the amount of work the solicitor contributes to the case.
To ask questions about aspects of No Win No Fee agreements, such as “what percentage do solicitors take?”, contact our advisors for free either online or on the phone.
What Percentage Do Solicitors Take Under A No Win No Fee Agreement?
Ahead of discussing the benefits of working with No Win No Fee solicitors, you might be wondering, ‘if a solicitor works on the basis of No Win No Fee, how much do they take?’.
Before the introduction of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LAPSO), you would typically keep 100% of your personal injury compensation. However, after the LAPSO was legislated, in a No Win No Fee, the percentage you keep is no longer 100%.
If your claim is successful, your solicitor takes a success fee from your compensation. However, under the Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013, the success fee is capped at 25%. In some instances, they could potentially offer a lower percentage than this, but 25% Is the typical success fee rate.
We hope this section has answered the question, ‘what percentage do No Win No Fee solicitors take?’. If you have any additional questions about the percentage, you can contact our advisors at any time and they’ll answer your queries free of charge. Additionally, they can connect you with an expert injury lawyer from our panel.
How And When Are Success Fees Charged?
A success fee may be charged by a personal injury solicitor to cover their services if your claim is successful. The success fee they deduct from your settlement can depend on how much work your solicitor thinks your case will require. However, if they offer you a Conditional Fee Agreement, which is a type of No Win No Fee, the percentage they take can never exceed more than 25% of your personal injury compensation.
When working on the basis of No Win No Fee, a success fee is only taken by your solicitor if your claim has succeeded. If your claim fails, they won’t receive a payment from you.
If you have any questions about a Conditional Fee Agreement, we’ll be happy to help you. We’re available to talk to 24/7 and could put you in touch with our expert panel of solicitors.
No Win No Fee Compensation Calculator
Compensation is calculated in two distinct ways in personal injury cases. The first calculation that your lawyer will assess uses a publication called the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This is a publication that lists a head to toe catalogue of injuries. It suggests an award bracket to acknowledge the pain and suffering they could cause.
General Damages
It’s important to note that these amounts are meant as guide figures. Any compensation you receive may differ and will depend on the individual circumstances of your case. For an accurate idea of what it could be possible to receive in personal injury compensation, contact our team for guidance. Please also note that the first entry in this table is an estimated figure that is not taken from the JCG.
| Injury | How severe? | Compensation bracket | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple Serious Injuries With Special Damages | Serious | Up to £1,000,000+ | If you are making a No Win No Fee claim for multiple serious injuries, then your payout may cover all of these as well as related special damages, such as loss of earnings. |
| Head/Brain Injury | Very Severe | £282,010 to £403,990 | Life expectancy and the extent of behavioural problems influence the award in this bracket. |
| Head/Brain Injury | Moderately Severe | £219,070 to £282,010 | The injuries will have left the injured party very seriously disabled. Constant professional care will be required. |
| Neck Injury | Severe (i) | In the region of £148,330 |
Injuries may result in incomplete paraplegia. |
| Neck Injury | Moderate (i) | £24,990 to £38,490 | Injuries covered by this bracket may include fractures or dislocations which cause severe and immediate symptoms. Spinal fusion may be necessary. |
| Arm Injury | Severe Injuries | £96,160 to £130,930 | Injuries covered by this bracket fall short of amputation but they are still very serious and leave the injured party little better off than if the arm was amputated. |
| Arm Injury | Less Severe | £19,200 to £39,170 | A disability has been sustained but the prognosis for recovery is good |
| Back Injury | Moderate (i) | £27,760 to £38,780 | Compression fractures with future risk of osteoarthritis. |
| Knee Injury | Moderate (i) | £14,840 to £26,190 | Soft tissue injuries, dislocations, torn meniscus can all come under this heading. |
| Multiple Fractures of Facial Bones | Serious (b) | £14,900 to £23,950 | Resulting in deformity and permanent facial disfigurement |
Special Damages
The second category of damages that your No Win No Fee lawyer could help get incorporated into your claim are any that involve financial loss. By collecting together paper documentation that proves outgoings forced upon, you could use receipts, bills and statements to demonstrate your monetary losses. Your lawyer could help you seek reimbursement for:
- Missed ways or opportunities to earn money
- Child care costs
- Medications or medical equipment
- Adaptations to your home
- Physiotherapy or counselling
- Negative impact on pension contributions or attendance bonuses
- Pet care, gardening or hobbies
- Help with domestic needs
- Anything that you need to pay someone else to do because of your injuries
Special damages cover a wide area. It’s possible that there are expenses that you needed to pay and you’re not aware that the defendant could be liable for them. Contact our team and we can help clarify what is eligible.
How To Make A No Win No Fee Claim
If you have valid grounds to start a personal injury claim, then you can contact our advisors for free and they could review your case. If they determine you have a strong case, then they could arrange for you to get support from one of the No Win No Fee solicitors on our panel. Our advisors will be happy to answer any questions you may have about how this process works.
Our panel of solicitors can support personal injury claims under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). Therefore, you won’t need to pay your solicitor for their services either before your claim starts or while it’s being processed.
Also, if your claim proves unsuccessful, you usually still don’t need to pay your solicitor for their services. If your claim succeeds, then your solicitor will take a small, legally capped percentage which should reflect the amount of work they contributed to your case as their success fee.
You can get in touch with our team today to learn more about No Win No Fee claims or to ask what percentage do solicitors take. To reach us, you can:
- Call 020 3870 4868
- Write to us using our claim online form.
- Or you can use our 24/7 live chat service.
Learn More About What Percentage Solicitors Take
Thank you for reading this guide. If you were wondering what percentage do solicitors take in personal injury claims, we hope that it has helped. At UK Law we can assist with all other types of questions that may arise around this topic. If you suffered a slip, trip or fall in a public place, we can help. Also, we offer guidance on accidents in the workplace and how you could claim in a cycle injury incident.
Other guides that may help you include the following:
- If you’ve been injured at work because of your employer’s negligence, then you can read our guide on whether you could start an accident at work claim.
- Our guide on car accident claims discusses the requirements for starting this type of case and how much compensation may be awarded.
- For those looking for advice on making a medical negligence claim, we also have a guide covering the process behind this type of case.
