How can I make a claim?
You normally need expert help to make a claim, and your claim may have to be decided by a court. You should normally ask a solicitor who specialises in your sort of claim: see How to find a solicitor and useful contacts.
Many solicitors who specialise in compensation claims will give you free initial advice about your chances of receiving compensation for your injury or loss. Ask your solicitor about this when you first contact them. If they advise you that it is worth making a claim, they should talk to you about the costs of making a claim, and your options for paying them. If the solicitor you see does not do this or explain it clearly enough to you, consider finding another solicitor.
How do I pay for my case?
Any legal case can be expensive. You must pay for your solicitor's fees and other expenses (called 'disbursements'). But if you lose your case, you may also have to pay the costs of the person or organisation you have claimed against. You must therefore think carefully about how you will pay for your case. If you don't, instead of receiving compensation, you might end up with a big bill.
If you only have a small claim, for example, for £1,000 or less for a personal injury and some housing disrepair claims, no costs will be awarded and so even if you win you will have to pay your own costs. You could end up paying more in legal costs than you receive in compensation. (see Jed's story).
You can get legal aid (financial help) for some compensation claims. But you can't get legal aid for most personal injury claims, which are the most common type of compensation claims. However, ask your solicitor whether you can apply for legal aid before considering other options.
If you can't get legal aid, there are four main ways to pay for your case:
- pay yourself out of your own money
- through legal expenses insurance (called before-the-event insurance), if you have it
with help from your trade union - under a 'no win, no fee' agreement (officially called a 'conditional fee agreement' or CFA).
Pay yourself
You may be able to pay for your case out of your own money. You will need enough money to pay your solicitor's costs and 'disbursements' while the case progresses and before you receive any compensation. If you win your case, you should get most of this money back from your opponent. But if you lose your case, you will have to pay your opponent's costs as well as your own. This could run into many thousands of pounds which makes it too risky an option for most people.
Legal expenses insurance
You may already have insurance that could be used to pay the cost of a compensation claim.
Before-the-event insurance (also known as legal expenses insurance) is often added to car insurance and household contents insurance at little or no cost.
It is worth checking your policies to find out whether they include any legal expenses cover.
Your employer, trade union, credit card company or another organisation you belong to (such as a sports club) may also have an insurance policy that will cover you.
If you are seeing a solicitor about a compensation claim, take these insurance documents with you to your first meeting, so the solicitor can see whether the insurance will cover you for the type of claim you want to make.
If you are able to use your before-the-event insurance, the insurance company will normally choose a solicitor for you. If you would prefer to use another solicitor talk to the insurance company about this. If your case is going to end up going to court, your insurance company should allow you to use a solicitor of your choice from when court proceedings start.
Trade union help
You may not know that many trade unions offer either an in-house claims service or will refer members to specialist compensation solicitors. If you're a member of a trade union see if they can help you with a claim before trying other options.
