Making and Funding a Professional Negligence Claim
HOW IS MY CLAIM FOR PROFESSIONAL NEGLIGENCE GOING TO BE PAID FOR?
Conditional Fee Agreement / After the Event Insurance
One of the major concerns for anyone wishing to bring a claim is how they are going to pay for it.
Provided we are satisfied that your claim has sufficient prospects of success, we are willing to act for you under a “No Win, No Fee” Arrangement. This is known as a Conditional Fee Agreement and means that unless we succeed in securing you some compensation whether this is achieved in Court or by settlement out of court - we do not get paid!
We will also arrange insurance for you to protect you against the risk of having to pay your opponents legal costs in the event that you do not receive any compensation.
It will be necessary for you to pay your medical experts, court fees and for other expenses (if there are any) although sometimes we can arrange for these fees to be deferred and these will be recovered at the end of the case, win or lose. You will be advised at the outset of your claim as to what these are likely to be.
How it works
- We will give you honest and realistic advice at the very outset as to whether your case is likely to win or lose.
- If we are satisfied that your claim has reasonable prospects of success we may agree to act for you unless and until you win, or partly win, your claim.
- If you win or partly win (what constitutes a “win” will be agreed and set out in the agreement) we charge our basic costs and, as compensation for the risk we have taken that we will not get paid and the delay in us being paid, we are entitled to charge a percentage success fee. Again, this percentage is agreed at the outset and is based on the amount of the basic costs not on the amount of compensation recovered.
- The basic costs are payable by your opponent if you win
- The success fee is payable by you at the conclusion of the matter and only if we are successful. Again, this will be agreed at the outset of the matter based on the value and complexity of the claim.
- To make sure there is no risk of you having to pay anything to the opponent if you lose we will arrange 'After The Event insurance' to protect you. The premium for this policy is again payable by you but only if you are successful and only at the conclusion of the matter.
- A formal 'Conditional Fee Agreement' is prepared and signed by you and us to record all the details.
It is always our intention that our clients receive the maximum benefit from their compensation.
Before the Event Insurance Policy
You may have an insurance policy which will cover your legal costs should you wish to pursue a claim. Many people do not even realise that they have this insurance. If you are thinking of bringing a claim against a professional, we would recommend that you look at the following which often include Legal Expenses Insurance:-
- Home insurance or home contents policies
- Car insurance policies
- Credit card insurance
- Employer's insurance policies
- Private healthcare insurance policies
- Personal accident insurance policies
It is important to identify whether you do have cover under an existing Insurance Policy. If you are unsure as to whether the claim that you want to bring is covered, please do not hesitate to contact us and we shall make the necessary enquiries on your behalf.
Private Paying
It is of course open to you to pay us privately to pursue your claim on your behalf. In the event that you do instruct us on this basis, we shall provide you with details of our hourly charging rates.
Should you decide to instruct us to act for you on a private paying basis, we will require regular payments on account.
