No Win No Fee Accident at Work Claims: How It Works

A no win no fee arrangement means you can pursue an accident at work claim without paying your solicitor anything upfront, and you pay nothing at all if the claim is unsuccessful. If you win, your solicitor’s fees are recovered largely from the defendant, with a capped success fee deducted from your compensation.

What Does “No Win No Fee” Actually Mean?

“No win no fee” is the everyday name for a Conditional Fee Agreement, or CFA. CFAs are permitted under section 58 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990, as amended, and are the standard funding method for accident at work claims in England and Wales. Under a CFA, your solicitor agrees to represent you without charging their usual fees as the case progresses. If the claim fails, you do not pay your solicitor’s professional fees. If the claim succeeds, your solicitor recovers their base costs, and a success fee, from your compensation and, where applicable, from the losing defendant’s insurer.

This funding model exists because legal aid is no longer generally available for personal injury and accident at work claims. Without it, most people would be unable to afford specialist legal representation to take on an employer or their insurer, who typically have far greater resources. A CFA shifts that financial risk onto the solicitor, who is only paid if the claim succeeds.

How the Success Fee Works

If your claim succeeds, your solicitor is entitled to charge a success fee on top of their base costs, to reflect the fact that they took on the financial risk of the case without being paid at any point along the way. This is not an arbitrary add-on. It is tightly regulated.

Under the Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013, the success fee is capped at 100% of your solicitor’s base costs. More importantly for you as a claimant, the amount that can actually be deducted from your compensation is separately capped, under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO), at 25% of your general damages and past financial losses, net of any recoverable state benefits. Compensation for future losses, such as future loss of earnings or the future cost of care, falls outside that cap and cannot be reduced by the success fee.

In practice, this means:

• You will never lose more than 25% of your general damages and past losses to your solicitor’s success fee
• The precise percentage should be set out clearly in your CFA before you sign it
• Straightforward accident at work claims often attract a lower success fee than the maximum 25%, reflecting the lower risk involved
• Your solicitor should explain, in plain terms, how the success fee is calculated and what it is likely to amount to at each stage

What Happens If I Lose My Claim?

One of the main reasons people are reluctant to pursue a legitimate accident at work claim is the fear of ending up out of pocket if it does not succeed. A properly structured CFA is designed to prevent that.

If your claim is unsuccessful, you will not be charged your own solicitor’s professional fees. However, litigation in England and Wales generally operates on a “loser pays” basis, meaning an unsuccessful claimant could, in principle, be ordered to pay the defendant’s legal costs. For personal injury claims, including accident at work claims, this risk is substantially reduced by a protection known as Qualified One Way Costs Shifting (QOCS), set out in Part 44 of the Civil Procedure Rules. QOCS generally protects a genuine claimant from having to pay the defendant’s costs if the claim fails, provided the claim was not fundamentally dishonest, exaggerated, or struck out for an abuse of process.

QOCS does not cover every possible cost risk, which is why many solicitors also recommend After the Event (ATE) insurance. This is a policy taken out after the accident has happened, which covers disbursements such as medical report fees and, where relevant, any costs risk that falls outside QOCS protection. The premium is usually only payable if your claim succeeds, and is factored into the overall costs discussion at the outset.

What Costs Might Still Apply?

While the core principle of no win no fee is that you should not be left financially worse off for having tried to claim, it is worth understanding the moving parts rather than assuming every cost is automatically covered.

• Disbursements: costs such as medical reports and court fees are usually covered by ATE insurance if the claim is unsuccessful, and recovered from the defendant if it succeeds
• Success fee: capped at 25% of general damages and past losses, only payable if you win
• ATE premium: typically only payable if the claim succeeds, and usually deducted from your compensation alongside the success fee
• Adverse costs: your exposure to the other side’s costs if you lose is significantly limited by QOCS, subject to the exceptions noted above

A reputable solicitor will set all of this out clearly in writing before you sign a CFA, so there are no surprises later in the process.

Why This Matters for Accident at Work Claims Specifically

Accident at work claims often involve taking on an employer directly, or more accurately their employers’ liability insurer, which can feel intimidating, particularly if you are still working for that employer. No win no fee funding removes the financial barrier to getting specialist advice and levels the playing field somewhat, since your employer’s insurer will have experienced legal representation regardless of the size of the claim.

It is worth remembering that bringing a claim under a CFA does not affect your employment rights. Employers are legally required to hold employers’ liability insurance, and any compensation is paid by that insurer rather than out of the employer’s own pocket, which is one reason dismissing or penalising a worker for bringing a genuine claim is unlawful.

What to Do Next

If you have been injured at work and are considering a claim, the practical first step is a no obligation conversation with a specialist solicitor about whether you have valid grounds to claim and what a CFA would look like in your specific case. From there, your solicitor should:

1. Assess the merits of your claim and explain, honestly, the likelihood of success
2. Set out the terms of the CFA in writing, including the success fee percentage
3. Advise on whether ATE insurance is appropriate for your case
4. Begin gathering evidence, including medical records, witness accounts, and details of your employer’s health and safety practices

At Satchell Moran Solicitors, we act for accident at work claimants on a no win, no fee basis as standard, with clear, upfront explanations of how our fees work before you commit to anything. We hold dual Lexcel accreditation, reflecting the rigour we apply to how we run every case, including how transparently we handle costs. If you have been injured at work, get in touch for a free, no obligation discussion about your options.