How Can I Fund My Personal Injury Claim?

We appreciate that one of your concerns around pursuing a personal injury claim will be how to pay for it. Your solicitor can advise you on the best funding option for your claim. If you are thinking about making a claim, there are several funding options available:

• Conditional Fee Agreements
• After The Event Insurance
• Legal Expense Insurance
• Trade union membership
• Private Funding
• Legal Aid

Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA)

A conditional fee agreement, commonly known as ‘No Win, No Fee’ is a legal funding arrangement between you and your solicitor whereby you’ll typically only be required to pay for your solicitor’s services if your case is successful, and you’re awarded compensation. As such, you have nothing to lose financially if your claim is not successful.

Most of the personal injury claims we handle here at HJA are funded on a ‘No Win No Fee’ basis. However, a CFA is not appropriate for all personal injury claims. Your solicitor will evaluate the merits of your claim to establish your prospects of winning before taking on a claim on a CFA basis.

After the Event Insurance

In order to protect you from suffering financial harm, your solicitor may recommend that you take out an ‘After The Event’ insurance (an ATE policy) with a CFA agreement. This will cover you against any costs claimed by the defendant and any unrecovered disbursements.

An ATE insurance is purchased from your solicitor at the start of legal proceedings. You only need to pay the premium of an ATE policy if your claim is successful. If your claim is unsuccessful, you won’t need to pay anything for your ATE cover. So, you’re still protected from every angle when you make a claim with a CFA.

Legal Expenses Insurance

You may have legal expenses insurance as part of your travel, motor, or household insurance. Therefore, it is always wise to check your insurance policies to see if you are covered.

These policies may be able to assist you with bringing a claim by covering the expense of paying for a solicitor and their services. However, it is worth noting that such insurance policies may only provide for payment of legal costs up to a certain sum, which can often be insufficient for more severe personal injury cases.

We’ll be happy to assist you in checking whether your existing policies include legal expenses for personal injury claims.

Trade union membership

If you are a member of a Trade Union, they may be able to assist you with legal matters and are likely to cover all legal fees.

Private Funding: Can I fund my own personal injury claim?

You are entitled to fund your own personal injury claim, but your solicitor will usually advise against this. Clients frequently cannot afford to fund their claims; thus, this is not a popular option.

Is Legal Aid available for my injury claim?

Unfortunately, the vast majority of personal injury claims no longer qualify for Legal Aid. For medical negligence claims, Legal Aid is only available to children who have suffered a neurological injury that has resulted in severe disability, and such an injury incurred either during pregnancy, childbirth, or the first eight weeks of the child’s life.

A CFA is usually the best way to fund your claim because it poses the least risk to the client. We would therefore advise that if you are looking to pursue a claim, that you do this under the same.

If you would like to pursue a personal injury claim and are concerned about your funding options, please contact our experienced Personal Injury Team on 0330 822 3451 who will be happy to guide you through the most appropriate method of funding.

A blog written by Gurina Kaur who is a Legal Assistant in the Personal Injury team.