Can You Really Remove The Fear Of Financial Disaster If Your Legal Claim Fails?

For many ordinary members of the public, the motivation for going to law is a burning quest for justice and a genuine need for compensation.

What tends to put many people off the idea of seeking satisfaction in the courts - no matter how 'wronged' they may feel - is a fear that should the judge's decision not go in their favour, a bad situation may be made even worse as a result of being found liable to pay the other side's heavy legal costs. Their solicitor may have been happy to do the case on a "no win no fee" basis, so at least they're not getting a bill from him if they lose, but that is not much comfort when they get handed a bill for tens of thousands of pounds from their victorious opponents!

So they tend to stick with the first law of holes, as interpreted by the former Labour Minister, Denis Healey: "If you're in one the first thing you do is stop digging."

In some cases that may indeed be the most sensible course of action - just as long as they can live with the consequences of not being compensated for someone else's negligence or carelessness.

This is why some solicitors have decided to look around for some sort of insurance package which can be offered to clients, and which would take away the risks of losing a court action. At last, there is an insurance company which can provide clients with ATE (After The Event) insurance, an ideal arrangement for the vast majority of litigants who have limited funds but nevertheless are left with no alternative but to seek justice in the courts.

If the client has this sort of ATE arrangement, the solicitor will not only handle the case on a no win no fee basis, but will also take out an insurance policy for the client which pays the legal costs should the subsequent court case not be successful. In the scheme we know about, the premium will only be around 200 - 300. The client doesn't have to pay it until the end of the case, and only then if he has been successful, which of course means there is no loss to him at all if the case is unsuccessful. Outlays incurred during the case are also refunded if the result is unfavourable, so effectively any client with an ATE arrangement can pursue a court action in a completely safe place.

ATE insurance is not, of course, appropriate to every person and to every case. Insurance companies are in business to make money and they will not issue policies for cases which do not appear to have a potential success rate of at least 51 per cent. Most personal injury claims can be insured, but there are some which the insurance company may regard as too tricky to take the risk. Also, the insurance will only be available through solicitors that have a proven track record of success in court cases.

Even when a case seems, on paper, to be "open and shut", taking out insurance might still be advisable as most lawyers agree that "expecting the unexpected" is a fact of life when decisions are being handed down in the civil courts.

So someone really can now make a claim without any fear of disaster if the claim is not successful.

by: Richard Godden

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