No Win No Fee Professional Negligence Claims, Explained

What no win no fee actually is

No win no fee is the everyday name for a conditional fee agreement, usually shortened to CFA. Under a CFA, your solicitor's fees are conditional on the claim succeeding. If the claim fails, you do not pay those fees. If it succeeds, the solicitor charges their base costs plus a success fee, which is normally deducted from your compensation.

The arrangement exists for a simple reason: most people cannot afford to fund a negligence claim out of their own pocket, and without CFAs, negligent professionals and their insurers would effectively be beyond challenge.

What you will pay if you win

Two deductions are typical from a successful claim. First, the success fee — an uplift on the solicitor's base costs, capped by law at 25% of certain heads of damages in most consumer cases. Second, any unrecovered costs or the premium of an after-the-event insurance policy, if one was taken out.

Every one of these figures must be set out in writing before you sign anything. If a firm will not tell you, in pounds and on one page, what a win at a given value would leave you with, walk away.

• Success fee: capped at 25% of relevant damages in most consumer claims
• After-the-event insurance premium, where a policy is taken out
• Any costs not recovered from the losing side

What you pay if you lose

On a genuine CFA, you do not pay your own solicitor's fees if the claim fails. The two things to check before signing are the other side's costs — which can become relevant if court proceedings are issued and defended — and disbursements such as expert report fees. After-the-event insurance exists specifically to cover the first of these risks, and a regulated firm must explain both points clearly.

Why honest firms assess first

Because the firm is only paid on success, a reputable practice will review your documents and give you a straight view on prospects before offering a CFA. That assessment should be free and carry no obligation.

Be cautious of any outfit that offers no win no fee instantly, without reading a single document — it usually means the business model depends on volume sign-ups rather than winning cases. Equally, if a firm declines your case, that honesty is worth something: it has saved you months of wasted effort.

What to check before you sign

Before entering any agreement, confirm five things in writing.

• The firm is authorised and regulated — check the SRA register at sra.org.uk
• The success fee percentage and exactly what it is calculated on
• Who pays the other side's costs if the claim fails, and whether insurance is in place
• Which disbursements you might ever be asked to fund
• A worked example showing what you would receive from a realistic settlement figure

Common questions