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For most people, the motivation for going to court is a burning quest for justice and a genuine need for compensation. But no matter how wronged they feel, the fear that they may be found liable to pay the other side’s heavy legal costs if they lose tends to put many of them off. Their solicitor may have been happy to do the case on a “no win no fee” basis, so at least they are 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 we at McKay Norwell decided to research the possibility of offering an insurance package to our clients which would address the financial risk of losing a court action. We approached one of the UK's major insurers, which was willing to provide insurance cover to us due to our proven track record of success in court cases. Consequently we can now provide our clients, in certain cases, 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 an ATE arrangement, McKay Norwell will not only handle the case on a no win no fee basis, but will also take out an insurance policy for you which pays the legal costs should the subsequent court case not be successful. In our scheme the premium will only be around £200 - £300. You don’t have to pay it until the end of the case, and only then if you have been successful, which of course means there is no loss to you 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. We cannot 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 issuing our policies will regard as too tricky to take the risk.
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.
To find out more, or to make a free claim enquiry, call Richard Godden, Ann Scott, or Douglas Peters now on 0131 222 8000, or email to
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