Welcome to 100% Compensation

Back in the "good old days" (good for claims management firms anyway) with companies like Claims Direct and The Accident Group selling ATE insurance policies for £1500 or £2000 to unwary clients, the rich got richer and the victims got poorer. With such over-priced ATE (after-the-event) insurance policies things were bound to go wrong.

These days, you have to actually pay for ATE insurance (normally only around £200-£400 depending on the case) but if the case loses you have no more to pay, even if your lawyer's bills are in the tens of thousands. If the case wins, the losing third party will pay for the ATE insurance as a legal cost.

This is where the trouble started. A Claims Direct ATE insurance policy of £1500 only gave as much cover as the regular £200 ones around at the time ... so third parties refused to pay for it as a legal cost. Many judges upheld the claim that the ATE insurance was over-priced so Claims Direct took the money from their own clients!

With most of those clients quite poor themselves, the money had to come out of their compensation and many were left with nothing or huge bills.

These days, the words "no win, no fee" are often accompanied by "receive 100% of your compensation". This is important, as it means that, should things go wrong, the solicitor does not plan on chasing you for any costs that the losing third party refuses to pay.