No Win No Fee Housing Disrepair Claims: What It Actually Costs

What "no win no fee" actually means

The formal name is a Conditional Fee Agreement, or CFA. It is a contract between you and your solicitor which says their fee is conditional on your claim succeeding.

Three things follow from that.

1. You pay nothing to start. No deposit, no hourly rate, and nothing to pay upfront for surveyors or court fees.

2. If your claim does not succeed, you pay your solicitor nothing. Their fee simply never becomes payable.

3. If your claim succeeds, a success fee comes out of your compensation. Ours is capped at 25% of the compensation you are awarded. An After the Event insurance premium normally comes out of it as well.

That 25% cap is our own charge. It is not a figure the government sets for housing disrepair, and other firms set their own. What matters is that you are told the number before you sign, that you get it in writing, and that it does not move afterwards.

What you pay if you win

Most of the cost of running a housing disrepair claim is not yours to carry. If the claim succeeds, your landlord pays the bulk of it.

A worked example

Say a claim settles for £6,000. The figures below illustrate how the deductions work. They are not a prediction of what any claim is worth.

• Success fee at the 25% cap: £1,500

• After the Event insurance premium, say £250

• You receive: £4,250

Your landlord separately pays your solicitor's basic costs, the surveyor and the court fees. Those never come out of your money.

Premiums vary with the policy and the claim, so the figure above is only an example. Yours will be confirmed in writing before anything is signed. How the compensation itself is worked out is covered in our guide to housing disrepair compensation.

What you pay if you lose

Nothing to your solicitor. A success fee is only ever payable on a claim that succeeds.

The cost people worry about is the other side's. If a claim fails, a tenant can in principle be ordered to pay the landlord's legal costs. That is what After the Event insurance is for. It is a policy taken out at the start of the claim, designed to cover your landlord's costs and your own expenses if the claim does not succeed.

Two things are worth being straight about.

• The premium is normally arranged so that it is only payable if you win, out of your compensation. If the claim fails, the policy covers its own premium.

• It is an insurance policy, so it has conditions. The usual ones are that you are honest with your solicitor and that you stay engaged with your claim. Cover can be lost where a claim is found to be fundamentally dishonest or where a tenant simply stops responding. Read the policy summary you are given.

Where a claim includes a personal injury element, a rule called qualified one way costs shifting usually applies on top. In broad terms it stops a landlord recovering their costs from a tenant whose claim fails, with limited exceptions such as a claim found to be fundamentally dishonest.

So for the great majority of tenants a properly set up no win no fee claim carries no real financial risk. It would not be honest to promise that nobody could ever pay anything in any circumstances, and be wary of a firm that does.

Everything is put in writing before you sign

Before your claim starts you will be given a funding agreement that sets out the success fee as a percentage, the insurance premium, everything that comes out of your compensation, and what happens if you end the agreement early. Nothing is deducted that was not in that document. Take your time over it, and ask about anything you do not follow.

If a firm will not put its charges in writing before you sign, do not sign.

Is legal aid available for housing disrepair?

Only in limited circumstances. Legal aid for housing disrepair is generally available where there is a serious risk of harm to the health or safety of someone in your household, and you also have to pass a means test on income and savings. Even then it usually covers getting an order that your landlord does the repairs, rather than the compensation side.

That is why most council and housing association tenants are better served by a no win no fee agreement. It pursues the repairs and the compensation together, and there is no means test to pass.

What to ask before you sign

Five questions. A good firm will answer all of them in plain English without you having to push.

1. What is your success fee, as a percentage? Ours is capped at 25% of your compensation. Firms set their own, so ask for the number and get it in writing.

2. Is the insurance premium payable if I lose? It should not be. Ask them to show you where the policy says so.

3. What comes out of my compensation in total? Ask for the full list of deductions, not just the success fee.

4. Are you a regulated solicitor or a claims management company? You can check any firm on the public register of regulated solicitors. A claims company will pass your case to a solicitor and take a cut on the way through.

5. Who will handle my case day to day, and how often will I hear from you? You are entitled to a name and a realistic answer about updates.

On that last point, it helps to know roughly how long a housing disrepair claim takes before you start, so you can judge whether the updates you are getting are reasonable.

Warning signs

Housing disrepair attracts sharp practice. Walk away if you see any of this.

• Cold calls, doorstep visits or unsolicited texts about a claim you never enquired about

• Anyone asking you for an upfront payment or an administration fee

• No written agreement setting out the deductions

• Pressure to sign on the spot

• A firm that will not tell you its success fee percentage before you sign

• Vague answers about who actually holds your case

• Anyone promising you a specific sum of compensation before a surveyor has been near your home

Can you switch solicitors part way through a claim?

Yes. You are not locked in. If your solicitor has gone quiet, or you have lost confidence, you can move your claim to another firm.

Depending on your agreement there may be a cost consequence to leaving, so read your CFA and speak to the new firm first. Many firms handle the transfer at no cost to you.

Where funding fits into the claim

Funding is settled at the very start, before any letter goes to your landlord. Your solicitor confirms you have a claim, explains the agreement, arranges the insurance, and only then writes to your council or housing association. If you are still working out whether you have a case at all, start with our guide to housing disrepair claims or read what is involved in suing your landlord.

Frequently asked questions

Do I really pay nothing if my claim does not succeed?

You pay your solicitor nothing. Their success fee is only payable on a claim that succeeds. After the Event insurance is arranged to cover your landlord's costs and your own expenses if the claim fails, and it is set up so that the premium is only payable if you win. The policy does carry conditions, which will be explained to you, but a tenant who brings an honest claim and stays in touch with their solicitor should not be left with a bill.

How much is the success fee for housing disrepair?

Our success fee is capped at 25% of the compensation you are awarded and is payable only if your claim succeeds. An After the Event insurance premium is normally deducted as well, so those two together are what comes out of your money. That cap is our own charge rather than a figure fixed by law for housing disrepair. Other firms set their own, so ask for the number before you sign.

Do I have to pay anything upfront?

No. A genuine no win no fee agreement asks you for no payment at any stage before your claim concludes. Anyone asking you for money to start a disrepair claim should be treated with caution.

Can I get legal aid for housing disrepair instead?

Only where there is a serious risk to health or safety and you pass the means test, and it usually covers getting the repairs done rather than the compensation.

Will my landlord know I have a solicitor?

Yes. Your solicitor sends a formal letter of claim to your council or housing association. In practice this is often the point at which a landlord that has ignored you for months finally starts engaging.

Can my landlord evict me for making a claim?

Making a disrepair claim is not a ground for possession. As a council or housing association tenant you will normally hold a secure or assured tenancy, which means your landlord can only seek possession on one of the specific grounds set out in law, and a court has to agree. Being annoyed that you complained is not one of them.