What does "No Win No Fee" mean?

Personal injury victims often look for "no win no fee" or "pay only if claim is successful" accident compensation solicitors.  This is what you see in the Yellow Pages, TV, the newspaper and even movies about court cases.  That cannot apply to every enquiry that the public make though.

What does it mean?
Depending on the type of case, the amount of money that is at stake and even where you live in Australia the solicitor may offer you a 'conditional fee arrangement'.
These agreements did not exist formally until 1994 but even before that lawyers would not expect injured people to pay up front because the first thing an injured person experiences is trouble paying bills.  That is basically what it means when you hear about No Win No Fee.  

'Conditional fee arrangements' are made where you the client are not expected to pay up front for the legal fees of lawyers and often the expenses involved with the case such as medical reports and court filing fees.  For undertaking the case on that basis and the delay involved in your lawyer getting paid you may have to agree to an extra charge of up to 25% uplift on the legal fees that you incur. E.g. if the normal hourly rate is $400 you are charged a further $100. Some expenses such as medical reports are sometimes payable upfront by you but not always. Your solicitor may not be able to proceed with the case though unless you have an injury that is costing at least loss of work with significant treatment and home care expenses. A conditional fee arrangement may release you from all liability to your legal advisers to pay any money should the case lose, but it will require you to pay your lawyer’s bill should the case be a success. Your solicitor will explain what a win or success means because most cases settle before they go to court so a win just does not mean that a judge has to make an award. The phrases 'no win, no fee' only applies to your own lawyers.

A solicitor's decision to offer no win no fee depends on the quality of the case against wh oever harmed you.

If the course of the case changes for the worst due to unexpected events most solicitors will not charge you  for the legal fees incurred up to the date if they decide that the case cannot proceed. It all depends on when your solicitor finds out.  A good but very rare example of where that would not apply is when a claimant tells his solicitor that he or she was injured in accident caused by another person or at work but in reality it happened at home.  If you have withheld information from your lawyer because you thought it did not matter or that it would harm your case then you should bear the costs.

At all times solicitors must always make you aware of the terms and conditions of their arrangement with you. They are obliged to do this by law but also it is because they have a lot to lose should you argue with the terms and conditions later.

If you lose your case then you may have to pay some of the other sides costs. You can be sure that in most cases your solicitor has already checked carefully if the case will succeed or not before you get to court but there are no guarantees in a trial. Your solicitor will explain how the costs work. It is recommended that you speak to the solicitor and ask clearly whether there will be a fee if you lose, or if there will be a fee if you win.  Stay informed and it will be ok. 

 
Since the accident I can't pay bills.  Where can I get help

 Financial counsellors help you to work out how you are going to deal with your inability to pay the debts you incur while you have no or reduced income.

They help you taking into account:

    * income
    * total basic living costs
    * options for possible expenditure reductions
    * possible debt repayments strategies

Often you or your counselor can approach creditors seeking a moratorium on payments together with a freezing of interest to stabilise the financial situation, while preparing a repayment scheme for the creditor's consideration.

If a creditor has commenced legal action, then you can get help in defending the case (if it can be defended) or trying to settle the claim by working out a scheme for repayments.  Often creditors want to work something out.  If you have assets and the claim is small then it can cost creditors a lot more to sell these.  

If you have items on finance then you may have to surrender these eventually.  Note that it is common when you are in employment to finance things you want like televisions and cars.  It can be a huge shock to realise that the income you relied upon has dwindled.

You will need help with counseling and a fair amount of self-help.

Counsellors’ aims are to help you

•    Resolve financial problems
•    Increase the ability of clients to manage their own financial situations in the future
•    Relieve stress and anxiety
•    Ensure families stay together
•    Avoid suicide
•    Avoid bankruptcies
•    Educate
•    Ensure the continuation of small businesses
•    Reduce business and government costs

Financial Counsellors can be found in all states.  If there is no-one listed near you still call as the operators can help you on the phone or refer you to a service nearer to you.