A few tips and general pointers

[pt2537]

The same questions arise over and over again, and quite a few clients when making initial enquiries point out that the answers to their questions are hard to find. Hopefully this will clarify matters
Q: Is no win no fee free?
No, no win no fee or as it is correctly called Conditional Fee Agreement is not free representation. Free means pro bono.
No win no fee is exactly what it says on the tin, if i dont win you dont pay me, if i do win then you do. Of course if you do win then you should be able to ask the Court to order the losing party to pay some if not all of your costs.
Q: If you take my case on a no win no fee will i have to pay anything?
Possibly, if you have to make an application then yes you will have to pay the Court fee, this is a fee that we have to pay to the Court and therefore it is the clients responsibility.


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[Sparkie1723]

Re: A few tips and general pointers

PT..Excellent post...........advice and explanation.

Sparkie

[FlamingParrot]

Re: A few tips and general pointers

The bit below also applies to those who post up on here after receiving a claim. All that info is required. The only trouble is, so many people don't seem to remember anything at all!

Q: so what do you need from me?
Ok well there is no one size fits all answer here, but to give some pointers, firstly a good detailed chronology of events which would be ideal if you could have this ready to email over so i can look over it on the phone.
I will also need to know things like

1. What type of agreement was it?
2. What was the date of the last payment
3. did you receive a default notice?
4. did you sign a credit agreement? if not how did you get the credit card or loan?
5. is there any dispute over the account? if so, what?
6. Has the dispute been communicated to the claimant? if so what was their reply?
7. How much is the Claim for?
8. When is your defence due?
9. have you made a request for a copy of the agreement under s78 (1) Consumer Credit Act ( this is the request which is accompanied by a fee of £1.00)
10. Do you have any statements of account? if so when was the last statement sent to you
11. Has the account been sold to a* third party debt collector?
12. Are there solicitors involved? if so what firm and do you have copies of the previous correspondences from the solicitors?
13. Have you been contacted by the creditor excessively? calls to your work place? mobile phone? doorstep visits? have you asked for these to stop? what was the reply? do you have records???

[pt2537]

Re: A few tips and general pointers

my biggest headache, i am more than happy to look at any case on a CFA, but i need a little more than "can you take my case on" i do need to know more about the case to make a decision about funding, thats the biggest problem.

[seduraed]

Re: A few tips and general pointers

Thank you for that an excellent post. May add that for people with very low incomes an application can be made to waive the court fee.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: A few tips and general pointers

Form ex160a explains fee remission. It can be a little complicated because there's also a disposable capital test.

[pt2537]

Re: A few tips and general pointers

Thank you for that an excellent post. May add that for people with very low incomes an application can be made to waive the court fee.

of course, i always explain the remission system to new clients where needed, the trouble is there is often an expectation that the lawyer will pay the fees of the client, which is something i have never been able to fully understand.