A person who is injured as a result of the negligence of another party is entitled to some form of financial compensation for the actual injury and loss of income.
These are called “general damages.” “Special Damages” cover other financial losses suffered as a result of the injury. Lawyers use the Judicial College Guidelines to determine “general damages” as there is no set amount for these types of injuries given all the variables.
The maximum for “general damages” under the Judicial College Guidelines is £337,700 and includes things like a severe brain injury.
With a “no win, no fee” arrangement, the solicitor’s legal fees are waived should you lose in court. If you are successful in court, what happens is your solicitor takes their fee directly out of the funds that are paid out to the client by the losing party. This is called a “success fee,” and it typically averages about 25%.
If you lose your injury claim, the solicitor’s fees are waived. That being said, depending on the type of arrangement you have signed with your solicitor, you may still have to pay for any court costs incurred, expert charges, and any other miscellaneous charges.
This is why many people take out “legal insurance” at the beginning of their claim so that if they lose and they have to pay any court costs or other payments, these payments will be covered under your insurance policy.
This policy is often added to an existing policy that you already have for things like your car or motorcycle.
Can you represent yourself when making an injury claim? By all means, however, some certain protocols and procedures must be followed before a case reaches the trial phase.
You must first send a letter to the party you claim caused the injury. They can then reply to you and accept what was in your letter or demand further evidence.
Then you may need to hire experts like engineers to validate your claims, and then you must decide before trial if you want to represent yourself in court or hire a Barrister. So you can see that the process can be cumbersome, and that’s why we suggest hiring a solicitor under a “no win, no fee arrangement.”
Find out more about the questions to ask your insurer.