By Jo Anderson. Last Updated 19th December 2023. Welcome to this guide, which answers the question of ‘what percentage do No Win No Fee solicitors take in personal injury claims?’
Below, we investigate solicitors fees for personal injury claims, explain whether there are any No Win No Fee disadvantages, and offer guidance on how to work out the conditional fee percentage you’re being charged.
If you are interested in claiming for a car accident, medical negligence, an accident at work or any other type of personal injury, we could help. Our specialists will review your case and advise you about your options for free.
If there is a reasonable chance of winning your case, we could appoint one of our solicitors to it. Again, if they do agree to work for you, it will be on a No Win No Fee basis.
If you would like to know more about how the claims process works, please continue reading. Alternatively, call our team today on 0800 073 8801 if you’d like to discuss your claim right away.
What percentage do No Win No Fee solicitors take?
Select A Section
- A Guide On What Percentage Do Solicitors Take?
- What Is A Conditional Fee Agreement?
- What Is A Damages Based Agreement?
- Success Fees – What Percentage Do Solicitors Take?
- Calculating Success Fees
- Changes To The Law
- The Advantages And Disadvantages Of This Type Of Claim
- What Are The Solicitor Fees For Personal Injury Claims?
- What Percentage Does Accident Claims UK Take?
- How Much Do No win No Fee Lawyers Take If My Claim Doesn’t Succeed?
- No Win No Fee Compensation Claims Calculator
- How Do Solicitors Calculate Special Damages?
- Find No Win No Fee Injury Claim Solicitors – Contact Accident Claims UK
- Why Choose Accident Claims UK?
- Talk To Us About What Percentage Solicitors Take
- What To Read Next After Learning More About What Percentage Do Solicitors Take?
- Frequently Asked Questions About What Percentage Solicitors Take
A Guide On What Percentage Do Solicitors Take?
As we continue through this article, our main aim is to answer the question, “What percentage do solicitors take?” However, before we do, it’s important to look at whether it’s possible for you to claim on a No Win No Fee basis. To be entitled to claim, a solicitor will probably want evidence that:
- The defendant owed you a legal or professional duty of care; and
- They breached that duty of care causing an incident or accident; and
- You were injured or suffered illness as consequence.
Something else they’ll check is that you are starting your claim within the relevant time limit. For personal injury claims involving adults, this is usually a 3-year time frame. Cases involving children or adults without the mental capacity to claim won’t be subject to this limitation period though. Why not check in touch with our advisors to check which time limits could apply?
The Jackson Reforms – What Percentage Do Solicitors Take And Why?
Something that’s important to mention is that, in April 2013, the rules for funding litigation changed. As a result of the Jackson Review, it is no longer possible for a solicitor to recover their success fee from the defendant. This is why you now need to pay a success fee if your claim is won and you might need After The Event (ATE) insurance to cover your solicitor’s expenses. We’ll look at this in more detail later on.
During the rest of this guide, we’ll look at the types of agreements that can be used to fund compensation claims, how we’ve got to where we are today in terms of success fees and we’ll also show you how much compensation you could be entitled to claim.
After you have completed our guide, why not call our team if you have any questions or if you’d like to start a claim?
What Is A Conditional Fee Agreement?
A Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) is the formal name for No Win No Fee agreements. If your case is won, a success fee is deducted from your compensation. If the case is lost, you don’t have to pay the success fee i.e. the success fee is conditional on your case being won. These fees are capped by law at 25% of your compensation.
This is the type of agreement our solicitors use when they take on injury claims. If you incur costs that the agreement does not cover, i.e. if you have to pay the defendant’s legal costs, an ATE insurance policy could be required before you can proceed with your case. This is something your solicitor should discuss with you when reviewing your case.
What Is A Damages Based Agreement?
Another type of agreement that was introduced by the new laws introduced in 2013 were Damages Based Agreements (DBA). They’re also known as contingency fee agreements. However, they have not flourished and are not as common as CFAs.
As with CFAs, DBA success fees are capped at 25% for personal injury cases. However, unlike CFAs, the success fee can be up to 35% in employment tribunals or 50% in other claims. You would agree to pay a set percentage to your solicitor if they achieve a set amount of compensation.
The fee you’d agree upon would be based on how much work your solicitor thinks is involved. Therefore, if they settle your claim quickly, it could be financially beneficial for them. Conversely, if your case drags on because the defendant denies liability, you could benefit as the solicitor won’t be able to charge you for their extra work.
Success Fees – What Percentage Do Solicitors Take?
Success fees are the agreed percentage of the compensation you’ll pay if your case is won. In personal injury claims, these fees are lawfully capped at 25%. If your case is won, 100% of the compensation will be sent to your solicitor. At this point, they will deduct the success fee to cover their work. This means that you’re not paying the success fee before any compensation comes through.
Depending on the outcome of your case, other fees may also be deducted which we’ll look at later on.
Calculating Success Fees – Do All Solicitors Take 25%?
In this section, we’ll look at how success fees are calculated. If you were awarded £100,000 in total compensation, and you’d agreed upon a 25% success fee, your solicitor will deduct £25,000 from your compensation. This would leave you with £75,000 in compensation.
Do you have to pay No Win No Fee solicitors if your claim fails?
On top of their success fee, solicitors can charge for certain disbursements such as court fees. If your case is won, these fees should be paid by the defendant. However, if they can’t pay, they could be deducted from your settlement on top of the success fee. Then again, if you use the services of a No Win No Fee solicitor, they might accept that they’ll cover these costs.
It is therefore vital that you check the terms of any No Win No Fee agreement to make sure you fully understand how much you might need to pay if your case is won or lost.
Changes To The Law
Changes in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 mean that it is no longer possible to get legal aid for many types of litigation including personal injury claims.
Furthermore, changes introduced after the Jackson Review mean that solicitors now claim a success fee from you if your case is won rather than claiming it from the defendant.
One idea was that the changes to the rules would make personal injury solicitors more competitive so you wouldn’t always have to pay the full 25% success fee.
The Advantages And Disadvantages Of This Type Of Claim
To help you understand why you might want to use a No Win No Fee service, we’ve listed some possible advantages and disadvantages below.
Advantages Of No Win No Fee Agreements
A No Win No Fee agreement doesn’t require you to pay anything up-front to your solicitor. You only pay a success fee to your lawyer if your claim wins which your solicitor will deduct from your settlement. If the case doesn’t win, you don’t pay this. This may help you to feel more financially secure about hiring legal help.
Disadvantages of No Win No Fee solicitor fees for a personal injury claim
- If you cancel a claim after your solicitor has started working on it, you may have to pay their fees.
- Where your claim is false, fraudulent or you don’t cooperate with your solicitor you may also have to cover the cost of your solicitor’s work.
- In unsuccessful claims, the defendant may ask you to pay their legal costs. However, After The Event insurance can cover you for this. We look at this in a later section.
Our solicitors offer No Win No Fee agreements for personal injury claims. If you have a free consultation with one of our advisors, they can assess the validity of your case and potentially connect you with one of our solicitors.
What Are The Solicitor Fees For Personal Injury Claims?
There is an important piece of legislation regarding Conditional Fee arrangements. The Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013 sets out the law regarding the percentage taken as a success fee in successful claims.
The order specifies that in a successful No Win No Fee personal injury claim, the percentage is capped at 25%. This excludes damages that are awarded for future loss and future care. Effectively, this puts a cap on the No Win No Fee percentage a solicitor can ask for under such an agreement.
Are all solicitor fees for personal injury claims the same?
The fees for a solicitor’s services may differ depending on your specific case.
If you have further questions about the No Win No Fee percentage and how it could affect your payout, please call our team.
What Percentage Does Accident Claims UK Take?
All of the expert solicitors on our panel operate on No Win No Fee basis. This is also sometimes known as a Conditional Fee Agreement. It will be discussed ahead of the claims process just what percentage will be taken from your settlement in the event of a successful claim.
However, whilst this percentage is legally capped at 25%, the percentage can vary on a case-by-case basis, as long as it is 25% or below. The circumstances of a claim can have an effect on how much this percentage is. So, if you’re still wondering “do all solicitors take 25 percent?”, we can only tell you that solicitors who operate on a No Win No Fee basis can only take a maximum of 25%, by law.
Get in touch with our team today. We can value your claim for free, and discuss an estimate for the percentage your No Win No Fee lawyer could take following a successful claim.
How Much Do No win No Fee Lawyers Take If My Claim Doesn’t Succeed?
If you’re wondering whether there are any disadvantages of No Win No Fee claims, you may be looking into what happens to the No Win No Fee percentage if a claim fails. If the claim fails, you won’t be charged a success fee.
For claims that succeed, you will pay the success fee from your compensation. For more information on what percentage solicitors take if your No Win No Fee claim fails, call our team.
After The Event Insurance
After The Event insurance is taken out at the start of the claim if Before The Event Insurance hasn’t been taken out. Essentially, it covers you in the event that your claim is unsuccessful and the defendant asks you to pay their legal costs.
Remember, when you start the claim, your solicitor will believe there is a good chance of winning it. ATE insurance is less necessary if the claim has a favourable chance of winning.
ATE is a safeguard to cover you if the claim doesn’t win. Having ATE insurance means you won’t need to cover the cost of the other side’s legal expenses if they ask you to pay this.
It is worth checking whether you have to pay the cost of the ATE insurance premium if your case is lost when signing your CFA.
If your case is accepted, we’ll make sure you’re fully informed about your CFA before you sign it. Why not call today to find out more?
No Win No Fee Compensation Claims Calculator
Now that we’ve answered the question, “What percentage do solicitors take?”, let’s move on to potential compensation figures.
General damages compensate you for any physical or psychological injury you suffer due to the incident that wasn’t your fault.
While we couldn’t possibly list every injury here, we have included the below table detailing some compensation ranges. The data we have used is from the Judicial College Guidelines. This is a publication solicitors turn to when estimating settlement amounts.
| Part of Body Affected | Severity | Settlement Range | Extra Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Face | Fractures (b) | £14,900 to £23,950 | This bracket covers multiple fractures of facial bones and where there is some form of permanent deformity. |
| Neck | Severe (iii) | £45,470 to £55,990 | In this bracket, the victim will have suffered a fracture or dislocation that causes a permanent disability and chronic suffering. |
| Back | Minor (ii) | £2,450 to £4,350 | Claims in this range cover injures of the back where full recovery has happened, without surgery, in less than 2 years. |
| Hips/Pelvis | Moderate (i) | £26,590 to £39,170 | This range covers significant injuries but where there will be little future risk and any disability will not be major. |
| Arms | Loss of one arm (ii) | £109,650 to £130,930 | An above the elbow arm amputation. |
| Severe Leg Injuries | Moderate (iv) | £27,760 to £39,200 | Cases in this compensation range are for when one limb suffers multiple or complicated fractures. |
| Toe | Amputation (b) | In the region of £31,310 | This category covers cases where the great toe is amputated. |
How is compensation calculated?
The severity of your injuries is an important factor in determining how much you could be awarded. Therefore, as part of any claim, a medical assessment is needed. Our solicitors can arrange these locally so you won’t have to travel too far.
During your appointment, an independent doctor or another medical expert will review your medical notes. They’ll also discuss your injuries and examine you. After that, they’ll document their findings and your prognosis in a report and send it to your solicitor.
The solicitor can use this report to:
- Prove that your injuries were caused or worsened by the incident. (However, if the report shows no link between the incident and your injuries, you could find it difficult to claim.)
- Prove the severity of your injuries.
- Value your claim.
For a free, accurate estimate of what you could claim, why not contact our advisors?
How Do Solicitors Calculate Special Damages?
Another element to your claim might be for any costs, expenses or monetary losses you’ve incurred because of your injuries. This element is called special damages. As before, every case is unique so it’s not possible to say how much you might be able to claim. However, we can provide some examples of what could be included. Special damages might include:
- Medical expenses. If you need to pay for non-NHS treatment or incur prescription fees, you could add these costs to your claim.
- Care costs. In some cases, you might need assistance with daily chores and activities while you recover. Therefore, you could claim for a professional carer’s fees or the time a loved one spent supporting you.
- Travel costs. Trips for medical appointments could result in public transport fares, parking fees or fuel costs. As a result, they could be added to the value of your claim.
- Modifications to your vehicle or home. If you are left with a disability following your accident, changes to your car or home might make coping a little easier. Therefore, the cost of the work to make the changes might be claimable.
- Loss of earnings. Where you miss out on some or all of your earnings as a result of your injuries, they could be claimed back.
- Future lost earnings. In some instances, injuries might prevent you from working at the same level as you could prior to your accident. If that’s true, any future loss of earnings might also be considered.
To help prove the costs you’re claiming, it is vital to retain any evidence. For instance, receipts, bank statements or benefits statements could all prove useful.
Find No Win No Fee Injury Claim Solicitors – Contact Accident Claims UK
The process of making a personal injury claim may seem daunting. However, whether you’ve been injured in a car accident, a public place or an accident at work, a No Win No Fee solicitor could help you with your personal injury claim, provided you have a valid case.
Our solicitors offer their services on a No Win No Fee basis. If one of them agrees to take on your claim, they may offer you a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) which is a type of No Win No Fee arrangement.
As previously stated, if your claim is successful, you will pay a success fee to the solicitor you are working under the basis of a No Win No Fee. The percentage they can take as a success fee is legally capped at 25% under a CFA.
Additionally, under this arrangement, you will not have to pay your solicitor any upfront or ongoing fees for their services. You will also not be expected to pay them for the work they have done on your case if the claim fails.
Furthermore, one of our solicitors could help you with gathering evidence, arranging an independent medical assessment and guiding you through the personal injury claims process.
To find out if you could be eligible to work with one of our solicitors, you can contact our advisors.
Talk To Us About What Percentage Solicitors Take
If you’d like to know more about how we can help and what percentage our solicitors take as a success fee, please get in touch. We offer free legal advice and a no-obligation review. To arrange yours, you can:
- Call our team on 0800 073 8801 to discuss your claim.
- Send an email to office@accidentclaims.co.uk with details of your claim.
- Ask us to call back by completing our online enquiry form.
- Use the live chat to ask an online advisor about how to start your claim.
We operate our claims line 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so please feel free to call when it’s most convenient for you.
What To Read Next After Learning More About What Percentage Do Solicitors Take?
Hopefully, we’ve gone some way to answering the question, “What percentage do solicitors take?” Therefore, in this section, we have added some resources that you might appreciate if you do decide to claim.
The Solicitors Register – You can use this online service to check that a solicitor is registered.
Whiplash Reforms – Government advice on low-value road traffic accident claims.
NHS Services – Information on how to locate NHS services. This can help if you need to lookup an address to request medical records.
Public Place Accidents – This article shows you when you could claim against a business or the local authority if you’re injured in a public place.
Accident Claims Solicitors – A guide about how personal injury solicitors can help if you’re injured in an accident that wasn’t your fault.
Accident At Work – Information on how to take legal action if your employer’s negligence causes an accident at work.
Frequently Asked Questions About What Percentage Solicitors Take
In this section, we have answered a few common questions that help explain how No Win No Fee agreements work.
What happens if I lose my No Win No Fee claim?
When you read a No Win No Fee agreement, it will explain when you have to pay a success fee to your solicitor. Essentially, where a claim is unsuccessful, the claimant will not need to pay the solicitor’s fees.
What percentage do solicitors take?
If your claim is represented by a solicitor under a Conditional Fee Agreement, the success fee they take is a legally capped percentage of 25%. Solicitors can’t take more than this.
Are No Win No Fee solicitors a con?
Solicitors in England and Wales must be registered with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). They must adhere to the SRA’s professional standards when working on a No Win No Fee basis as they would if they were charging for their services hourly.
What percentage do solicitors take in No Win No Fee claims?
The conditional fee agreement percentage is capped at 25%. Some solicitors could charge less than this but some charge 25% as standard. You may be surprised at the amount of work it could take a solicitor to achieve a settlement for you.
What are some No Win No Fee disadvantages?
Some might say that one of the No Win No Fee disadvantages is that some of the compensation settlement you achieve goes to your No Win No Fee solicitor. However, this negates the need for any upfront fees. It could also reduce your risk of being out of pocket should your claim fail.
Could the conditional fee agreement percentage ever be higher than 25%?
If you are sent a No Win No Fee agreement with a success fee percentage higher than 25% you should query this. By law, a success fee for a case cannot be any higher than 25%.
What percentage do solicitors take when they aren’t working on a No Win No Fee basis?
This would depend on the individual lawyer or firm.
Where can I find out more about No Win No Fee claims?
You can speak to our team at any time to ask us about No Win No Fee claims. We are happy to answer questions about what percentage solicitors take. Our team could also advise how our solicitors could assist you on a No Win No Fee basis.
What percentage do solicitors take if you don’t win your case?
Solicitors don’t take a percentage as a success fee if you don’t win your case. However, you may have to cover some legal costs in some cases. Please call us to find out more about this.
Do you have to pay No Win No Fee solicitors upfront?
No, you do not have to pay No Win No Fee solicitors upfront. There is no retainer you have to pay if you work with a solicitor on a No Win No Fee basis. Instead, you would pay them their success fee at the end of a successful claim. This would come out of your compensation payout.
Why do lawyers do No Win No Fee?
Some lawyers do No Win No Fee because they want to give claimants access to professional legal assistance no matter their financial circumstances. It may not seem fair for someone with a genuine claim not to be able to afford legal assistance if they want it. No Win No Fee solicitors could help to remove this barrier for low-income claimants to get the legal help they want.
Do all solicitors take 25 percent of your compensation?
All solicitors may not take 25 percent of your compensation. It would be up to the individual solicitor to set the success fee. The legal cap on this is 25 percent.
Should I shop around for solicitors?
It is entirely your choice as to which solicitor you use for your claim. However, we could provide you with solicitors on a No Win No Fee basis who can offer quality legal support when making your claim.
What percentage do No Win No Fee solicitors take for Criminal Injury Claims?
If you’re considering making a claim via the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority you might want to know what percentage No Win No Fee solicitors take in these cases.
Under a Conditional Fee Agreement, you will pay a success fee from your compensation. The fee is subject to a legal cap that stands at 25%. However, if the claim fails, no success fee will be paid to your solicitor.
What could affect solicitor fees for a personal injury claim?
The fees you are required to pay will depend on the way in which your solicitor is representing you. If you choose to hire a solicitor to work on your claim under a Conditional Fee Agreement, there will be no upfront fees or ongoing costs to pay. Additionally, if your claim is unsuccessful, there will be no requirement to pay a success fee to your solicitor.
For more information about how much solicitors take from compensation, get in touch on the number above.
We hope that this article has answered the question, “what percentage do solicitors take?” If you have any further questions, such as ‘do you have to pay No Win No Fee solicitors when your case fails?’ or ‘Do all solicitors take 25 percent?’please get in touch.