No Win No Fee – Accident Line

What is Accident Line?

Geoffrey Leaver Solicitors is an approved member of Accident Line, the only personal injury scheme endorsed by the Law Society of England & Wales, and backed by an insurance company who underwrite the cost of you making a claim under the No Win No Fee scheme. The Accident Line scheme, "No Win No Fee” means exactly what it says; if you lose, you will not have to pay anything, therefore providing risk-free access to justice.

Membership of Accident Line is recognition of excellence in the specialist Personal Injury field and therefore reflects our commitment to the highest standards of client care.

How does the 'No Win No Fee' scheme work?

Legal aid is now rarely available for injury claims. Unless you are a member of a trade union or other organisation who will pay the cost of bringing your claim, or you have existing legal expenses insurance cover to meet those legal costs, some other way of funding the claim has to be found.

The solution we offer is a Conditional Fee Agreement, popularly known as a 'No Win No Fee' agreement. This is an agreement between you and us as your solicitor that frees you from the risk of paying legal fees if you lose the case. In return for taking the risk that we will not be paid for our work if you lose the case, our agreement will allow us to charge a success fee if you win.

There are strict rules about how much this success fee can be, and we will explain these in detail. The success fee is agreed and fixed when our agreement is signed by you at an early stage in the case.

Although we do not charge for our work if you lose, there are still expenses (such as medical examinations, police reports etc) which have to be paid for. Also, if you lose your opponent is entitled to recover their legal costs from you. The solution to this is Accident Line Protect, an after-the-event insurance policy, purchased after the accident has occurred, which provides all the protection you need. If you lose the case, this policy will pay all your opponent's costs you are responsible to pay and the expenses (or 'disbursements') we have incurred as your solicitors.

An insurance premium is payable for the 'Accident Line Protect' policy, which is issued at the same time as the Conditional Fee Agreement is signed. However, there are funding schemes to pay this premium for you. The policy pays the cost of the premium for you if you lose, so it is truly a 'No Win No Fee' scheme. What's more, if you win the case the insurance premium can be recovered from your defeated opponent if it is reasonable.

It sounds almost too good to be true?

Not at all. The Accident Line scheme is the only 'No Win No Fee' scheme backed by the Law Society which is the professional body that governs 80,000 solicitors in England & Wales. It is a scheme run by lawyers specialising in personal injury work who have to adhere to the highest professional standards.

There are no middle-men, no unregulated claims companies, no disguised charges, and everything is made clear and easy to understand. You do not have to hand over any money to set this all in operation. If you lose you are protected by your agreement with us and your Accident Line Protect insurance policy. If you win most, if not all, of our charges, the success fee and the insurance premium should be recovered from the other side.

What we will do for you

• We will give you a free initial consultation to establish a precise and clear understanding of your compensation claim
• We will investigate the claim on your behalf
• We will support and guide you through the process
• We will keep you informed
• We will arrive, with your approval, at the best possible outcome

What To Do Next

Call our Personal Injury Department on 01908 692769

We are Members of the Law Society’s Personal Injury Panel and the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers.