Opening up the "no win no fee compensation claim" promise
The Advertising Standards Authority, which watches over the honesty and legality of adverts in the UK, offers guidance to personal injury solicitors' firms who want to advertise their no win, no fee compensation claim services.
This is because people understand the phrase "no win, no fee" in different ways. Some use it to mean that a compensation claim will be entirely free to the person making the claim; others simply use it to mean that the solicitor's fee is conditional upon a win, but other costs may still be charged to the claimant. (The phrase 'Conditional Fee Arrangement' may also be used by firms of personal injury solicitors in these situations.)
Under this guidance, such firms are encouraged to be clear in the wording of their adverts, depending on the level to which the no win, no fee offer applies. The ASA's guidance suggests the following:
If the firm always absolves the client from the need to pay further costs, and covers the cost of after-the-event insurance, no qualification is needed;
If the firm covers the insurance premiums, but not disbursements, its adverts should state that "Other costs may be payable";
If the firm agrees to pay disbursements but will ask the client to pay for indemnity insurance, its adverts should state that the conditional fee agreement is "Subject to insurance cost";
If the firm insists on insurance, but will not cover the premium nor the cost of disbursements, its adverts should state "Subject to insurance. Other costs may be payable";
If the firm does not insist on insurance, but does not cover disbursements, it should state that "Other costs may be payable"
These statements need not be directly next to the "no win, no fee" claim, but should be clearly signaled with asterisks or fully explained elsewhere within the publicity materials.
No win, no fee compensation claims and YouClaim
YouClaim is fully open about its no win, no fee claim - in almost all cases, our promise guarantees that there is no fee to you if you are making a claim. Our only exception is in medical negligence cases, where the complex methodology of handling this claim requires us to ask you to cover a disbursement, and this is refunded to you in a successful case.
If you have suffered an accident or injury that was not your fault, you may well be able to make a no win, no fee claim for compensation to cover your medical costs, lost earnings and distress. If you want to pursue this possibility, YouClaim will help you find the right personal injury solicitor for your needs.
Our no win, no fee claim is clear, and our 100% compensation guarantee means that, if you are successful, we will take no cut of the damages awarded. Furthermore, in most cases we undertake to charge no fee in a won case either.
Every lawyer that we work with is drawn from a firm governed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, meaning that you can rely on their professionalism and excellence.
It is easy to reach a YouClaim advisor - our claim form will let you book a call-back from one of our team, our e-chat service will let you chat with a representative online, or you can call our free phone number, 0800 10 757 95. We'll help you get your no win, no fee compensation claim underway today.
