Everyone is becoming more and more aware of the new and increasingly popular phrase of ‘no win no fee’, in fact we hear it on a daily basis and for those of us out there with an employment claim it sounds like a great idea, but what is it all about? And what makes a no win no fee solicitor the right choice for you.
How the No Win No Fee Solicitor service came about
The no win no fee claim all started in 1998 due to the ever increasing costs of Legal Aid draining the UK treasury. The UK Government decided it was time to find a new way which compensation solicitors could be paid for employment claims to reduce the burden placed upon them.
What is No Win No Fee all about?
It is a pretty simple arrangement really, any person who believes that they have been treated unfairly within the work place, including discrimination, harassment, dismissal or have had an accident at work which could and should have been avoided, can employ a no win no fee solicitor. The reason this is becoming so popular now is due to the fact that you only need pay the solicitors fees if they actually win the case.
Why would a compensation solicitor wish to take on a no win no fee arrangement?
The law states that if your case is successful and you win your employment claim then your compensation solicitor is allowed to claim his or her fees and other expenses from your opponent. Therefore if your solicitor decides to take your case on it is on the understanding the he or she will be working for you for free with the safety net of knowing that if he or she wins the case he will be paid for his work by the opponent once the case has been successful.
You need to remember that if you unfortunately lose your employment claim, you may very well be expected to pay for your opponent’s fees and even the court fees as well. If you wish to go ahead with a no win no fee solicitor then you must ask him or her who will pay if you do lose the case.
Is there anything I should take into account?
As with most things, yes there is. Sometimes a no win no fee solicitor may try and sway you to agree to pay his fees with the understanding that you will be reimbursed by your opponent as soon as you have won the case. You must remember that the court will only pay you back for the reasonable fees of your solicitor, agreeing to this will mean that there is a large chance that you won’t be reimbursed with the 100% compensation which you deserve.
Good solicitors will of course have taken out insurance policies against such things happening, but some do not. If you discover that your solicitor hasn’t taken out the appropriate insurance then you should definitely urge him or her to do so. Court fees as well as your solicitors feel are very expensive and can be covered with a small premium paid to an insurance company. Do not attempt to go along with a solicitor who does not do this.
What are the positives of having a no win no fee employment solicitor?
Obviously the most obvious benefit of using a no win no fee solicitor for your employment claim would be the fact that you do not have to pay for your own solicitor’s fees, but apart from that the other definite positive is that you receive 100% of the compensation if you win the employment claim.
What this means is that none of your compensation money you have been awarded will get used to pay the court and solicitors fees, which is always disheartening after winning a case only to discover that you have actually gained not all that much once everything has been accounted for. So every penny of the money won goes to you to compensate you for the unfair dismissal, discrimination, harassment or other incident which you have suffered from within your workplace.
As well as what has already been mentioned above because these solicitors work on basis that they only get paid by winning the case they tend to all be very good at what they do so your chances of winning your case are very high.