Ask us, or any solicitor you consult, what you are likely to have to pay, bottom line. The solicitor should be able to quote you a figure. If you think it is too much, ring another solicitor for a quote.

Most cases we take on are successful, and most of our clients receive their compensation in full. Most of the time, we recover all of our charges and expenses from the other side and not from our clients.

There are now two main ways of bringing a case: legal expenses insurance, or a conditional fee agreement. We will discuss all possible ways of funding a case with you.

If you already have legal expenses insurance, we will find out whether it covers you for this case. If we think you have a good case, and you want us to do the case, we will ask your legal expenses insurers to agree that we do the case for you. Sometimes, legal expenses insurers will not allow you to choose your own solicitor. If this happens, we can still do the case for you using a conditional fee agreement.

This explanation of conditional fee agreements in this compensation guide is in general terms. It is not part of the terms of our conditional fee agreements with our clients.

Under a Conditional Fee Agreement, your solicitors do not charge you for the work if you lose or have to give up your case on legal advice. Your solicitor gets paid by the other side on your behalf if you win. This is the meaning of "no win, no fee."

If you win or settle your case, you are responsible for your own solicitor's charges and expenses. If you were not responsible for them, your solicitor could not get them from the other side. But if you win or settle your case, your solicitor gets most and frequently all of the charges and expenses back from the other side on top of your compensation, so you do not end up paying your solicitor. If we win or settle your case, there may be a shortfall between the real cost of the work done on your behalf, and the charges and expenses we are able to recover from the other side. If this happens, we may ask you to pay the difference, but only if you agree to do this.

Before starting a court action, your solicitor arranges insurance for you, which protects you from the cost of giving up or losing the case. If your case is successful, you should get all or most of this insurance premium back from your opponent at the end of the case. If you lose or give up the case on legal advice, you will be ordered to pay the other side's legal charges, but you will not have to pay, because you will be covered by the insurance policy. The insurance policy also covers money spent on your behalf on court fees, medical or other expert opinions, and all other money paid to others during the case.

After signing a conditional fee agreement, your solicitor takes the risk of losing the case and not getting paid. If you lose or have to give up the case on legal advice, you are not liable to pay your solicitor for the work done under the conditional fee agreement. In return for taking the risk of losing the case and not being paid, your solicitor may charge your opponents a success fee at the end, if you win or settle the case. The success fee is a percentage increase on the solicitor's hourly rate. Your solicitor will tell you what the success fee is. Your employer's insurance company will have to pay this, so long as your solicitor can show them that it was a reasonable success fee for taking the risk.