Problems with Legal Aid that led to the introduction
of no win, no fee

On 1st of April 2000, Legal Aid was withdrawn as the principal means of funding for most personal injury claims and the no win, no fee agreement took its place. There were multiple reasons for this change which had come to a head during the 1990s and the situation was untenable.

Legal Aid worked on the basis that only those who needed funding would have money made available for their personal injury case. A potential claimant would have the reasonableness of the claim and their disposable income assessed through the dual system of merits and means testing. If they did not pass these tests, they did not qualify for Legal Aid.

Problems with Legal Aid
However, even if a person did qualify for Legal Aid, it did not necessarily mean that their personal injury claim would be totally cost-free for them. Some contributions towards the claim may have been applicable in some cases and these may have prevented the very poor from getting access to justice.

Another real problem for Legal Aid was that by the 1990s, only 40% of the population could qualify for it. Those people who did not meet the requirements for means testing but still could not afford to fund a personal injury claim out of their own pocket would be unable to get justice. It has long been recognised that the system did not take account of these people. It only took account of the least well-off only the least well-off, which was seen as unfair by many.

However, the biggest reason that Legal Aid needed to be changed was because of the money it cost to run. The system was funded by the government and the yearly bill was simply too large to handle and was growing out of control. In a period of 7 years, the cost of Legal Aid to the country tripled, reaching figures of 671 million.

Despite this, many firms of personal injury solicitors faced with quickly rising costs found that the provision of Legal Aid for each case was inadequate and they would simply not be able to keep their business afloat by taking on just Legal Aid cases. Many turned to private work, leaving those who wanted to make a personal injury claim under Legal Aid without a local service.

No win, no fee
The no win, no fee agreement system, also known as the Conditional Fee Agreement system, provides access to justice for everyone without costing the government millions of pounds each year. Read more about what no win, no fee is.

The no win, no fee system basically means that you will not have to pay for your solicitor’s fees in the event that you do not win your claim. However, our panel of solicitors has a fantastic success rate so success is more than likely. Also, when you claim through us you will not have to pay a penny towards costs or fees at any point, no matter what the outcome of your case.

The no win, no fee system guarantees that making a personal injury claim will be free and, at the same time, it provides firms of solicitors the ability to offer a cost-free service to their customers.

Making a compensation claim through YouClaim
Our solicitors have helped thousands of people to get personal injury compensation under the no win, no fee system following negligent accidents without charging them a penny. You will not have to pay anything towards your compensation claim if you make it through YouClaim, whether it is successful or not. Read more about the outcome of your claim.

Our personal injury solicitors are first rate and are very experienced in dealing with compensation claims of all types, from road traffic accidents to holiday accidents, and from industrial diseases to dog bites.

If you wish to find out more about making a personal injury claim with YouClaim, please get in contact with our claims advisors via e-chat, leave us a message to call you back at the time that is most convenient for you, call 0800 10 757 95 for free or fill in an online claim form with details of your accident and personal injury.

We are the no win, no fee claim experts and we guarantee that all successful claimants will receive 100% compensation.