News

How Does a No Win No Fee Agreement Work When I Make an Accident at Work Claim?

Conditional Fee Agreements (CFAs) Explained

A Conditional Fee Agreement or CFA and it is a legal contract between a solicitor and you. Having signed a CFA, it means that you can file an accident at work claim against an employer without having to worry about the following:

Having to pay an upfront fee or ongoing payments as your case progresses. In short, you would be able to file a personal injury claim against an employer without any financial risk to yourself
You would not have to pay for the legal representation a No Win No Fee lawyer provided should your claim not be successful
You only have to pay the agreed “percentage” as set out in the Conditional Fee Agreement when you are awarded compensation for the injuries you sustained. This is known as a “success fee” and the amount is deducted from the amount of personal injury compensation you receive by the solicitor who represented you

Conditional Fee Agreements were introduced as a way to help people who are injured in the workplace or elsewhere seek compensation from a third party when Legal Aid was withdrawn. A CFA lays out the Terms and Conditions of what a No Win No Fee lawyer would do and the percentage that would only be payable on a successful personal injury claim.

What is the Maximum I Would Pay a No Win No Fee Solicitor?

The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) capped the percentage a No Win No Fee lawyer can charge you at 25% of the total personal injury compensation you may be awarded in a successful claim. However, there may exceptions to the amount a solicitor may charge for the legal representation they provide which are as follows:

The Conditional Fee Agreement you sign states otherwise
You agree to contribute to the legal costs involved

As such, it is extremely important that you read the Conditional Fee Agreement very carefully before you sign it.

What is After The Event Insurance (ATE)?

As previously mentioned, you would only have to pay a No Win No Fee lawyer the agreed percentage if you win your accident at work claim. If your claim is unsuccessful, you would not have to pay for the legal representation provided. The solicitor’s fees in an unsuccessful personal injury claim would be paid by an insurance policy that is set in place at the outset of your case which is known as an “after the event” insurance otherwise known as an ATE.

This “after the event” insurance covers the costs that are incurred by the Defendant too and should this insurance not be in place, it would mean you would have to pay the Defendant’s legal costs should you lose your accident at work claim. In short, “after the event” insurance underwrites a No Win No Fee agreement and as such, protects you from having to pay any legal costs should you lose your case.

If your accident at work claim is upheld, the cost of the ATE policy is paid by your employer’s insurers (Defendant) and if you lose your claim, you would not incur any costs.

How No Win No Fee Compensation Works

Working with a No Win No Fee solicitor is straightforward. The solicitor you contact would initially assess your claim and once satisfied that you have a strong claim and that your employer could be held liable for the injuries you sustained through no fault of your own, they would ask you to do the following:

Sign a No Win No Fee agreement which sets out the Terms and Conditions and the percentage you would only have to pay on a successful accident at work claim

Once you have signed the No Win No Fee agreement, the solicitor would then be able to start working on your claim by doing the following:

Gather evidence to support your accident at work claim against your employer
Write to your employer’s liability insurance provider – the Defendant – notifying them of your intentions to seek compensation for injuries sustained by making an accident at work claim

The solicitor would follow the necessary pre-action protocols when communicating with an insurance provider who would then consider all the evidence they were provided with which supports your accident at work claim against your employer. This would include all the medical evidence relating to your injuries. If your claim is undisputed, the insurance company would enter into negotiations with your solicitor, bearing in mind that 95% of personal injury claims are settled without the need of going to court.

What Damages and Losses Would I Be Awarded if I Win a No Win No Fee Claim?

If your accident at work claim is successful, you would be awarded both “general damages” which would compensate you for the pain, suffering and loss of amenity, and “special damages” to compensate you for all the financial losses you incurred due to having been injured in the workplace through no fault of your own.

General damages and special damages you are awarded would be paid by your employer’s liability insurance provider who would also be liable for all your legal costs.

Your No Win No Fee solicitor’s “success fee” would be directly deducted from the personal injury compensation you are awarded in a successful accident at work claim against a negligent employer.

What If My Accident at Work Claim is Unsuccessful?

Should you lose your accident at work claim against an employer, you would not have to pay for the legal representation provided by a No Win No Fee lawyer and there would be no legal costs to pay either.

However, some Conditional Fee Agreements only provide cover for a solicitor’s fees and may not cover the following:

A barrister’s fee
Medical expert fees
A Defendant’s legal fees

As previously mentioned, this is why it is extremely important that you read a No Win No Fee agreement very carefully before signing it and to only sign the contract once you are happy with the Terms and Conditions as well as the “success fee” you would have to pay on a successful personal injury claim.

What Is a “Success Fee” in a Conditional Fee Agreement?

A “success fee” is the percentage you would have to pay a No Win No Fee lawyer which is only payable if you win your accident at work claim against a negligent employer. If your case does not succeed, you would have nothing to pay for the legal representation you received. With this said, the maximum percentage a No Win No Fee solicitor can charge is 25% of the total amount of accident at work compensation you receive.

You can sometimes negotiate the percentage payable with the solicitor you contact so it is always worth discussing this before you agree to enter into a Conditional Fee Agreement with them.

Would a No Win No Fee Solicitor Work on My Accident at Work Claim?

A No Win No Fee lawyer would need to assess your accident and work claim to establish whether an employer could be held liable for the workplace injuries you sustained. For a personal injury claim to be valid, it would need to meet the criteria below:

That the workplace accident occurred in the last 3 years
That you were not responsible for the injuries you sustained or that you were partly liable with your employer also being partly responsible

When you contact a No Win No Fee solicitor, they would typically assess your claim against an employer in a no obligation, initial consultation which is free of charge. The consultation can be done over the phone but should your accident at work claim be complex, you may have to attend a face-to-face meeting with the solicitor. Either way, there is no charge attached to the consultation and should you choose not to file an accident at work claim, you have the right not to continue with your case.

Should the solicitor believe that your employer could be held liable for the injuries you sustained in an accident at work and that you have a strong case, they would then offer to represent you on a No Win No Fee basis. This takes all the worry of finding the funds to pay for legal representation off the table leaving you to place your focus on your recovery.

The solicitor would also arrange for you to be examined by a specialist who would provide a medical report detailing the extent of your injuries and how they might negatively impact your future well-being and ability to work.

What are My Workers Rights If I Am Injured in an Accident at Work?

If you are injured in the workplace through no fault of your own or because you were partly responsible for the accident occurring, you have the right to do the following:

To seek compensation for workplace injuries you sustained whether minor or more severe
To file a personal injury claim against an employer without the worry of being sacked from your job because you do

What Are My Employer’s Responsibilities in the Workplace?

Worker’s rights are protected in the United Kingdom. An employer must ensure that an environment is as safe as possible for you to work in whether onsite or offsite. Employers must set in place all “reasonable” measures to ensure the risk of a workplace accident happening is kept to a minimum and if they fail to do so, an employer could be held liable for any injuries an employee or other person sustains in the workplace.

Your employer must abide by all the regulations that are set out by the Health and Safety Executive and other government legislation and this means they must do the following:

To make sure that you are given adequate and ongoing training so that you can do the jobs you are tasked to do in the workplace safely
That you are made aware of all working practices and procedures
That you are provided with the correct personal protective equipment so that you can carry out a job safely
That all the machinery, tools and other equipment you use in the workplace is kept in good working order and regularly serviced to a manufacturer’s recommendations
That risk assessments of a working environment are regularly carried out to identify hazards and dangers
To set in place all “reasonable” measure to reduce the risk of harm and injury to employees

If you are injured at work because your employer failed in any of the above which resulted in an accident, you could sue them and be awarded compensation for the injuries you sustained.

What is the Time Limit to Making an Accident at Work Claim?

There is a strict time limit that must be respected if you want to file an accident at work claim against an employer and the sooner you contact a solicitor the better the chance there is that they would agree to represent you on a No Win No Fee basis. With this said, the 3 year time limit to filing an accident at work claim starts at different times depending on the circumstances surrounding the incident that left you injured. This is explained as follows:

3 years from the date you were injured in the workplace
3 years from your 18^th birthday if the accident at work that left you with an injury have occurred before you turned 18
3 years from the date you were diagnosed as suffering from a health issue that can be linked to the workplace accident that resulted in you being injured

Could I Lose My Job If I Seek Compensation for a Workplace Injury?

The law is very clear when it comes to whether you can be sacked from a job because you file for compensation for the injuries you sustained in the workplace and it states that your employer would be acting unlawfully if they fired you for no other “good reason” than because you chose to make a personal injury claim against them.

If you are treated unfairly or detrimentally, you should seek legal advice as soon as possible and this is true if your employer threatens to make you redundant or fire you because you seek compensation for workplace injuries against them. The chances are that you would be entitled to file more legal action against your employer for acting in this way towards you.

Should I Sue My Employer If I Am Injured in a Workplace Accident?

As previously mentioned, your worker’s rights are “protected” in the United Kingdom and this includes when you suffer any sort of workplace injury or develop a medical condition because of the work you do. With this said, for an accident at work claim to be valid, it must meet specific criteria which are as follows:

That the workplace accident occurred in the last 3 years
That you were not responsible for the injuries you sustained or that you were partly responsible

An employer must hold valid liability insurance which must meet the legally required cover of £5 million. The policy must be issued by a recognised insurance provider and an employer should ensure that the policy is clearly displayed in the workplace. When you are injured in the workplace and you file a personal injury claim against your employer, it would be their liability insurance provider who handles the case.

The personal injury compensation you would be awarded in a successful claim would be paid by the insurance company with the majority being settled before they even go to court providing an employer does not deny liability for the workplace injuries you sustained.

What Are The Benefits of Working With a No Win No Fee Solicitor on an Accident at Work Claim?

Work-related personal injury claims can be complex legal procedures and you need to abide by specific pre-action protocols to ensure that you get things right from the outset. An experienced accident at work lawyer has all the know-how of dealing with insurance companies and understands what evidence is needed to validate a claim against a negligent employer.

But there many other benefits and advantages of working with a No Win No Fee lawyer when making an accident at work claim and this includes the following:

Your case would be assessed by a No Win No Fee lawyer in an initial, no obligation consultation which can be done either over the phone if your claim is straightforward or in a meeting should your case be more complicated. This consultation is free of charge which means you would not have to worry about paying for legal advice when you need it the most
Lawyers can access legal libraries which they can base your claim on when necessary
Working with a No Win No Fee lawyer on an accident at work claim means you can focus on your recovery rather than worrying about how to pay for the legal representation you need as there would be no upfront or ongoing fees to find as your personal injury claim against an employer progresses
Solicitors have vast experience when it comes to communicating with an employer’s liability insurance provider
The amount of compensation you would be awarded in a successful personal injury claim would be expertly negotiated by the No Win No Fee solicitor who represents you and should your case be more complicated and therefore it takes longer to reach a final settlement, the solicitor would ensure that you receive interim payments in the meantime

A major benefit of having a No Win No Fee lawyer work on your personal injury claim, is that they would arrange for you to be seen by a specialist or consultant who would provide an all-important medical report detailing the injuries you sustained in an accident at work. An accident at work solicitor would also ensure that you receive ongoing medical care should your injuries be such that you require long-term treatment.

Informative Links

To find out more about No Win No Fee agreements, please follow the link below:

How Conditional Fee Agreements (CFAs) work

If you would like more information on your worker’s rights, the following link provides essential reading:

Your worker’s rights in the UK

I Suffered a Building Site Injury, Can I Claim Compensation? – Advice And Help Guide

Building Sites Are High-Risk Working Environments

Building sites are considered to be high-risk working environments and as such there are many Health and Safety Executive regulations that have been set in place to reduce the risk of injury to workers and other people. These regulations and in particular the laws that cover the construction sector, are there to help reduce the risk of anyone suffering an injury while working on a building site but accidents do still happen.

Should an employer fail to adhere to the regulations and you suffer any sort of building site injury whether your injuries are minor or more severe, the employer could be deemed negligent in their duty which is to keep you safe while you are in their employment and carrying out the jobs you were tasked you to do.

Safety On Building Sites, Who is Liable?

When it comes to safety on a building or construction site, there may be several people who are responsible. Should you be injured on a building site, any one of these people could be held liable if health and safety and other regulations were ignored. Building site managers, constructions regulations coordinators, construction designers and construction companies can all be held liable for any injuries you sustain if you are involved in a building site accident. As such, establishing who could be held responsible is of paramount importance.

If you were injured in a building site accident, discussing the circumstances leading up to the incident with an experienced accident at work lawyer would help determine who may be held to blame for the injuries you sustained. A solicitor has vast experience when it comes to representing building site workers who suffered injuries and know how to investigate the circumstances leading up to the incident. Below are various scenarios that show how liability may fall to different individuals who control workers on a building site:

A site manager did not follow safety guidelines that were provided by a client. This could mean the site manage could be held liable for the injuries you sustained
A construction regulations coordinator did not respect essential health and safety regulations and standards which means they could be held liable for the building site accident that left you injured
The project designer ignored health and safety standards as laid out by a client which means the designer could be deemed liable for your building site injuries
The construction company/client overlooked or ignored the safety recommendations that a constructions regulations coordinator provided which means the construction company company/client could be held liable for the building site injuries you sustained

What To Do Following a Building Site Accident That Left You Injured

As with any workplace accident, there is a specific procedure that you must follow if you are involved in a building site accident that leaves you injured. This is as follows:

Seek medical attention as soon as possible even if you think the injuries you suffered are relatively minor
Make sure the incident is officially recorded and reported to RIDDOR if is was a reportable building site accident
Gather witness statements and their contact details
Take photographs of where the building site accident occurred and if you are unable to do this, ask a trusted work colleague to do this for you
Get CCTV footage of the incident if available. An employer must provide the footage in a timely manner once you request it
Gather evidence of employer negligence – this could be that you were not given sufficient training to carry out a specific job on a building site or that the necessary risk assessments were not carried out which are just two examples that could prove your employer was negligent in their duty to keep you safe at work
Get a medical report detailing the injuries you sustained making sure that even minor symptoms are recorded

The more evidence you can provide, the stronger your building site injury claim would be and it increases the chance of a solicitor representing you on a No Win No Fee basis.

Would My Building Site Injury Claim be Valid?

For your building site injury claim to be valid, you would need to provide evidence that the accident occurred through no fault of your own and that the incident happened in the last three years. Your employer has a legal duty to keep you safe while you are in their employment and working on a building or construction site. There are many specific laws in place that cover the construction sector which is deemed one of the more dangerous working environments to work in.

An employer could be deemed negligent in their duty to keep you safe while working on a building site if they failed to do the following:

Provide you with sufficient and adequate training to carry out a job or to work equipment, machinery and/or tools
To ensure that equipment, machinery and tools are kept in good working order
Allowing the use of faulty equipment, machinery and tools on a building site
Refusing to allow you to take regular breaks on a building site
Having unsafe working practices/procedures in place
Letting someone who is not fully qualified to work on a building site putting your safety at risk
Not carrying out necessary risk assessments before allowing a building site job to be carried out
A failure to respect and act on the results of any risk assessments that were carried out on the building site

What Are the Most Common Building Site Injuries and Accidents?

You can suffer an injury in a building site accident in many different ways which includes the following:

Having to work in harsher weather conditions
Not being allowed to take sufficient breaks
When machinery, tools and equipment malfunctions because it has not been correctly maintained in good working order
Insufficient training to use machinery, tools and equipment commonly used on a building site
Accidents involving vehicles commonly used on construction and building sites
Materials falling from a height
Slip, trip and fall accidents which are extremely common on construction and building sites

What Can Be Included in a Building Site Injury Claim?

If you decide to file a building site injury claim against an employer, there are specific things that can be included which not only covers the pain, suffering and loss of amenity you may have to endure, but also the out of pocket expenses you incurred. Personal injury compensation is divided into two categories.

General Damages

General damages are awarded as a way to compensate you not only for your injuries which caused you pain, suffering but also for the loss of amenity you had to endure having been injured in a building site accident. The amount you could be awarded would depend on the severity of your injuries and how your future life may be negatively impacted. As such, it is more challenging to calculate how much building site injury compensation you may receive in a successful claim, bearing in mind that all claims are treated as unique.

With this said, the Judicial College Guidelines provides an idea of how much you may be awarded for specific injuries you may have sustained in a building site accident, but the amounts provided in The Judicial College Guidelines, do not include the “special damages” you may receive should your building site injury claim be upheld.

Special Damages

You would be awarded special damages in a successful building site injury claim which are easier to calculate. The reason being that special damages are calculated on the exact expenses you incurred because you sustained injuries on a building site. The sort of expenses that you can include in your claim against a negligent employer include the following:

All your medical expenses which includes the amount you paid for prescriptions, treatments/therapies and other medical costs you had to pay out
All your travel expenses which covers the cost of getting to and from a medical facility whether a hospital or other type of clinic. You can claim travel costs whether you go by car, train, taxi, bus or other means
Care costs if you need help with daily chores around the home during your recovery and this includes if you are being cared for by friends or family members that you do not pay
Home adaptations should your building site injuries be such that your home needs to be adapted to make it easier for you to move around
The extra money you had to pay for heating, electricity and gas because you had to stay at home during your recovery
The cost of any medical aids and equipment
Your loss of earnings
Any loss of future earnings should you not be able to work again
The cost of specialist treatment which includes physiotherapy
The cost of damage to clothing, personal belongings which includes things like spectacles

Because the special damages you may be awarded are based on actual expenditure, you have to provide evidence of your expenses which means keeping all records and receipts which an accident at work lawyer would need to strengthen your claim against a negligent employer and to establish how much building site injury compensation you could receive in special damages.

Is It Right to Sue An Employer For a Building Site Injury I Sustained?

As previously mentioned, a construction or building site is deemed one of the most hazardous working environments. As such, many accidents occur every year even though there are many health and safety regulations and other laws in place to protect you. If you are injured on a building site, you may find that you are unable to work whether this is for a shorter period, much longer or ever again should your injuries be catastrophic.

All workers in the UK have rights which are very protected and this includes when they are involved in any sort of workplace accident. Should you have sustained an injury on a construction or building site, you have the right to claim compensation from an employer. If you think you are partly responsible for your injuries, you should still discuss your case with an accident at work lawyer who may find that “contributory liability” on the part of your employer. Should this be the case the amount of building site injury compensation awarded would take into account your level of responsibility.

Should the accident have been caused by a workmate, your employer could still be held responsible for the injuries you sustained which is referred to as “vicarious liability”. Vicarious liability means that employers can be held liable for the actions of other employees should you have been injured in a workplace accident. As such, you could be entitled to file a building site injury claim against an employer even if a work colleague cause the accident.

Employers throughout the UK are required to hold valid insurance which must meet the legally required cover of £5 million. The policy must be issued by an insurance company that is recognised as a provider and an employer should display it in a prominent place within a working environment. As such, when you file any sort of accident at work claim against an employer, it is the insurance provider who deals with your case and it is the insurance company that pays out the compensation you may be awarded should your building site injury claim be upheld with 95% of all undisputed personal injury claims being settled before they go before a judge.

Do I Have the Right to Sue My Employer For a Building Site Injury?

If you were injured on a building or construction site in the last three years and you believe it was due to either employer negligence or because of an error on the part of a work colleague, the law entitles you to seek compensation. As such, you have the right to file a building site injury claim against the party responsible for your injuries. You have the right therefore, to do the following:

To file an accident at work claim and to seek compensation for the injuries you sustained without fear of being treated detrimentally or unfairly
To know that your job is safe if you make a personal injury claim

If an employer objects to you filing for compensation, if they sack you or threaten you with redundancy, you may be able to take further legal action out against them. As such, you should discuss your case with an experienced lawyer who would provide you with essential legal information on how best you should proceed.

Is There a Time Limit Associated With Building Site Injury Claims?

If you are considering filing for compensation because you were injured on a construction or building site, you would have 3 years to do so. However, because this type of work-related personal injury claim can be challenging and gathering all the proof and information that is required to validate a claim can take a lot of time and effort, it is far better to begin the process sooner rather than later.

With this said, the 3 year time limit would begin as follows:

From the date you were injured on a building site
From the date of your 18^th birthday if you were injured prior to this
From the date you were diagnosed as suffering from a medical condition that can be linked to the injury you sustained while working on the building site

Can I Lose My Job For Filing a Building Site Injury Claim Against an Employer?

You cannot be fired just because you file an accident at work claim for being injured while working on a building site. Your employer would need to provide another reason for sacking you and it would have to be a “good and valid” reason for doing so. If they cannot provide a good reason for firing you, it could mean that you would be entitled to file an unfair dismissal claim against them on top of your building site injury claim.

Would a No Win No Fee Solicitor Work on My Building Site Injury Claim and What Are The Benefits?

Once a lawyer is happy that your building site injury claim is valid and that your employer could be held responsible for the injuries you sustained because they were negligent in their duty to keep you safe while in their employment, they would typically offer to work on your case on a No Win No Fee basis. Having legal representation from the outset of making an accident at work claim against an employer offers many benefits and advantages which includes the following:

You would not have to pay the solicitor an upfront fee or ongoing fees as your case progresses when you enter into a CFA. This allows you to place all your focus on recovering from the injury you sustained on a construction or building site
All communication and negotiations would be handled on your behalf by an experienced accident at work lawyer
You would be informed on how much you may expect to receive in compensation for the injuries you sustained
You would have access to an independent medical specialist who would provide a detailed report on the injuries you sustained and how they impact your overall health, well-being and future life. This report would be used as a basis for the amount of damages you may be awarded
All pre-action protocols and statutory time limits associated with accident at work claims would be respected
Should your injuries require that you receive ongoing treatment, you would be provided with long-term medical care that would be arranged by the solicitor who represents you
You would receive a level of compensation to suit the injuries you sustained
You would receive interim payments which the solicitor would negotiate for you should a final settlement take longer to reach

Because personal injury claims can be complex, it is important to get things right from the outset to avoid any delays or having your case turned down before you have a chance for it to be heard. Working with an accident at work lawyer sooner rather than later would ensure that you do not fall foul of the statutory time limit and would ensure that the evidence and other information that is required to prove your case and your employer’s liability is gathered in a timely fashion. This in turn, ensures that you receive the level of building site injury compensation you rightly deserve.

Informative Links

If you would like more information on the Health and Safety Executive regulations that govern construction and building sites as well as other laws relating to protecting you while you are onsite, please follow the link below:

More about Health and Safety on construction and building sites

To learn more about your worker’s rights, please click on the link below:

Your worker’s rights