No win no fee arrangements were introduced in 1995 with the hope that it would bring about fairness by mostly favouring the poor. Claimants who were not entitled to legal aid and were unable to meet legal costs could access the justice system without difficulty using this agreement. Under the 1999 Access to Justice Act, judges were allowed to make the losing side pay the extra costs associated with this type of legal action. The reforms encouraged solicitors to charge extra to cover for any potential defeat and therefore no fee using what was known as “uplift” fees. Data shows that lawyers handling family and criminal cases are on legal aid rates of around £65 an hour while a no win, no fee can earn a lawyer £375 an hour from the NHS in addition to an “uplift” on a successful case of up to 100%. Payouts in Scotland compared to Englandmedical negligence settlements on a no win no fee basis have significantly increased and this has been particularly encouraged by the government’s decision to cut legal aid budget. Statistics show that the NHS’s potential liability in outstanding clinical negligence claims is almost £12 billion. Reports suggest that even a win on half of these claims, could attract potential legal fees of up to £3 billion. Recently, the NHS was advised to consider allowing for the claimants’ costs under no win no fee arrangements to be four times more than those of the defence team. In Scotland, the number of claims has dropped and the rise in total expenditure is blamed on what is seen as a handful of very serious cases, mostly children with cerebral palsy and requiring lifelong round-the-clock care. It is thought that compensation payouts in Scotland are relatively modest with 90% of successful claims receiving less than £50,000. Scotland’s biggest ever NHS compensation payment totalled £5. 25m. Concern over rising litigation numbersThe Medical Defence Union (MDU), which represents GPs in litigation, said it had seen cases where the legal costs claimed were 10 times more than the damages. Insurers for West Middlesex University Hospital reportedly paid out almost £600,000 in legal fees during 2007/8, more than the sum awarded to claimants. The “no-win, no-fee” lawyers can charge the NHS £750 an hour in successful claims for patient compensation following a medical negligence claim. Official figures show that an estimated £37. 5m has been paid out in the last two financial years following an increase in compensation claims. It is still not clear whether the rise in the number of cases has been fuelled by more people pursuing legal action, or higher payments in individual cases. However, taxpayers continue to bear the brunt, with latest figures showing that £400m was spent on NHS-related legal claims. Lawyers have been blamed for ‘cherry-picking’ their cases and almost doubling their rates. Under the National Health Service Litigation Authority,NHSLA’s main scheme, the clinical negligence scheme for trusts, nearly 50p in every £1 is being used to cover legal costs. It paid damages of £264m in 2007-8 and legal costs for the defence team and claimants of about £134m. In cases where a no-fee lawyer loses a case, claimants who do not have an insurance policy to meet NHS costs can face a bill that could total tens of thousands of pounds. Those wishing to take out the policy can expect to pay from £2,500 in premiums although this could potentially rise to £40,000.
If you have been a victim of medical negligence you could make a no win no fee claim at no cost to yourself whether you win or lose.
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