How the Indemnity Principle affected no win, no fee lawyers

Although the 1998 decision to abolish all forms of legal aid for most personal injury claims meant that agreements with no win, no fee lawyers became the main method of funding for this kind of case, in some ways it can be said that the no win, no fee system as we know it today did not come into existence until 2003.

This is because 2003 was the year when the government decided to effectively overrule the Indemnity Principle by introducing new regulations for Conditional Fee Agreements (CFAs).

Up until this point, losers had often escaped having to pay legal fees in a personal injury case if the action had been brought by a claimant using the services of a no win, no fee lawyer. The principle became a major bugbear for successful claimants facing belligerent insurers looking to opt out of paying legal costs.

This meant, for example, that a person who had successfully pursued a road traffic accident compensation claim in the UK might find his or her damages award eaten into by solicitor's fees, effectively denying the claimant 100% compensation.

Baroness Scotland, Parliamentary Secretary at the Lord Chancellor's department in 2003, explained the rationale behind the government's regulations, "The indemnity principle prevents clarity and transparency in no win, no fee agreements. This new legislation will enable solicitors to openly contract with their clients on a true 'no win, no fee basis and to do so with simpler contract and consumer protection requirements which will be easier for the client to understand".

SRA-governed no win, no fee lawyers of distinction
In all but claims involving cases of medical negligence, the personal injury solicitors on our panel firms never charge a single penny in legal costs. In addition, we guarantee 100% compensation to all winning claimants and protect the small minority of unsuccessful ones from the opposing side's costs.

In short, whether you win or lose, we ensure you are not charged any legal costs or fees.

Whether you live in London, Manchester, Glasgow or Cardiff, wherever you are in the UK, you can rest assured that all the no win, no fee lawyers on our panel firms are governed by the professional benchmark standards of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (a regulatory body of the Law Society).

Many specialisms are represented on the panel, including claims for asbestos cancers, motorbike accidents and holiday injury compensation.

Getting in touch with us is easy. Our skilled and friendly legal advisors can be reached online, by claim form, or over the telephone, by dialling 0800 10 757 95.