01/10/2004
Fixed success fees brought in for work accidents cases
Fixed success fees are to be brought in for annual claims brought for accidents at work starting from today.
The new rules of court will fix the success fee paid by a defendant's insurer to the claimant's solicitor or barrister where they are funded by a conditional fee agreement.
Insurers will pay solicitors their normal costs plus a success fee of 25% of these costs if they win cases that settle prior to court and a 100% success fee for the riskier cases that go to trial.
The new rules implement an agreement facilitated by the Civil Justice Council and DCA between representatives of the legal professions and the liability insurance industry designed to make recoverable legal costs more predictable, to speed up the settlement of cases and to reduce claims costs.
Civil Justice Minister David Lammy said today that the move would provide further stability, certainty and transparency to the estimated 48,000 cases which are brought every year.
Mr Lammy said: "Workers who are injured at work as a result of someone's negligence deserve to be able to get appropriate redress quickly. The introduction of fixed success fees will help ensure that legal and insurance professionals deal with claims more efficiently, effectively and economically and justice is delivered at a reasonable and proportionate cost."
(gmcg)
The new rules of court will fix the success fee paid by a defendant's insurer to the claimant's solicitor or barrister where they are funded by a conditional fee agreement.
Insurers will pay solicitors their normal costs plus a success fee of 25% of these costs if they win cases that settle prior to court and a 100% success fee for the riskier cases that go to trial.
The new rules implement an agreement facilitated by the Civil Justice Council and DCA between representatives of the legal professions and the liability insurance industry designed to make recoverable legal costs more predictable, to speed up the settlement of cases and to reduce claims costs.
Civil Justice Minister David Lammy said today that the move would provide further stability, certainty and transparency to the estimated 48,000 cases which are brought every year.
Mr Lammy said: "Workers who are injured at work as a result of someone's negligence deserve to be able to get appropriate redress quickly. The introduction of fixed success fees will help ensure that legal and insurance professionals deal with claims more efficiently, effectively and economically and justice is delivered at a reasonable and proportionate cost."
(gmcg)
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