Why are solicitors deducting 25 per cent of compensation?

[Owlman51]

that makes a lot more sense now, cheers

[donuticus]

"Claims Direct’s solicitors are experts at obtaining the maximum amount of compensation for your personal injury and, since they work on a no win no fee basis, you are guaranteed to keep 100% of your compensation award."

 

http://www.claimsdirect.co.uk/injury-claims

 

Do they still get you to sign the credit agreement in advance of you cas so thy will always get paid no matter what?

 

That way you also keep 100% of your claim but still have to pay the credit agreement.

 

That my not have been claims direct but I'm sure one of the big no win no fee companies did that.

[MrVerity]

Solicitors unfortunately do not fully understand the 25% deduction. A high percentage are getting it totally wrong. With respect to some postings here..... they too do not understand it.

 

If you google model CFA you will find a PDF link.

 

Page 4 is important. It is the success fee. This reflects the risk the solicitor is taking. Passenger in a rear shunt case is going to win. At the time of taking instructions the success fee should be no more that 15% in a rear shunt case. The solicitor should use the CFA ready reckoner that works out the success fee PLUS 10% they can charge for delayed costs and waiting to be paid for disbursements.... medical reports for example.

 

At the conclusion of the case (above scenario) you get £4,000 for example. The solicitor automatically deducts 25% = £1000.00 on top of the £500 in legal costs he received.

 

The solicitor SHOULD have added 15% plus vat to his COSTS, meaning you should have been charged £90.00 only and not £1,000.

 

The success fee recovered in money should never be MORE than 25% of what you recover. In this case, the amount that should have been taken comes to around 9%. This is what solicitors are getting wholly wrong.

 

Hope that makes sense. I could go on for ever, but that is the most basic example I can give.

[Lockdoctor]

My wife is considering making a claim for personal injury following a shunt which wasn't her fault. Our insurance company passed the matter on to a solicitor who said they will charge 25 per cent of any compensation awarded.

 

I've seen a few adverts from injury lawyers who say you can "still keep 100 per cent of compensation" on a "no win no fee basis"...

 

Does anyone understand/know why some solicitors charge 25 per cent and others don't?

You could go to a 'no win no fees basis' solicitor who could wait nearly three years and then decide they are no longer interested in representing you. 75% of something is much better than 100% of nothing as a consequence of a dodge pot outfit.

[MrVerity]

I'd much rather prefer an arrangement whereby my solicitor get's a % chunk of any money I am awarded, rather than them claiming costs from the other party. With that kind of arrangement, I would suspect my solicitor has less vested interest in getting me a good deal, and would be more concerned with how big their own pay-out is.

 

At least if they get a % cut of what I get, they have a vested interest in making sure it's as big a pie as possible, before they take a % cut of it.

 

 

Section 74(3) of the Solicitors Act 1974 forbids this unless the client has expressly agreed to it. IN any event, this would be regarded as poor advice if the solicitor has not provided details of alternative funding and what is i their best interest/s.