Costs of bringing an accident claim

Legal Aid is not available for accident claims.

Litigation can be very expensive.
The costs can include your solicitor's fees, barrister's fees, court fees, fees for experts etc. If your opponent agrees to pay your costs or is ordered to pay by the court you may not have to repay your legal costs.

However, there may still be some "Unrecovered costs", i.e. costs that your opponent has not paid. You will have to repay this shortfall to your solicitor.

You may be able to get other people to help pay for your case, such as your union if you are a member. Also if you have legal expenses insurance find out if this will cover the cost of your case.

Some solicitors offer what is known as "Conditional Fee Agreements - No Win No Fee". This means that you do not have to pay for your case as it goes along. However, if at the end of your case you receive compensation then your solicitor can recover the legal costs plus a success fee from your compensation. The total amount which your solicitor can recover in costs can be as much as an extra 100% of their usual charges.

If you lose your case then you do not have to pay your own costs, but you may still have to pay your opponent's costs.

However, you can take out insurance to protect you against paying your opponent's costs if you lose. The premium is one payment only. Your solicitor can arrange this insurance for you. You may be able to recover the cost of this premium and the success fee from your opponent if you win the case.

Settling your accident claim case

Accident Claims