No win no fee gets mentioned a lot. It sounds reassuring but people are often not entirely sure what it means in practice, what it covers, and what they might still be responsible for. Here is a plain language explanation of how it works for professional negligence claims handled through Sold Short.
What no win no fee actually means
A no win no fee arrangement is a formal legal agreement, known as a conditional fee agreement, between you and the solicitor taking on your case. Under it, the solicitor agrees not to charge their professional fees unless the case is successful. If the case is lost or does not proceed to a successful outcome, you do not pay the solicitor's fees. That is the core of it.
It exists because professional negligence claims can be complex and take time to resolve. Requiring people who have already been let down by one solicitor to take on significant personal financial risk to pursue a second would be unjust. The no win no fee model removes that barrier and makes it possible for people with genuine claims to pursue them without upfront cost.
What is covered and what is not
No win no fee covers the solicitor's professional fees. It does not automatically cover all other costs associated with bringing a claim. In practice, most cases arranged through Sold Short also involve an after the event insurance policy, taken out at the start of the case, which covers liability for the other side's legal costs if the case is ultimately lost. Your solicitor will explain what is and is not covered before the case begins, and nothing should proceed without that being made clear to you.
If the case succeeds, the solicitor takes a success fee. This is an agreed percentage of their standard fees, capped by law, and it is the mechanism through which the solicitor is compensated for the risk they take on by working without payment until success. The percentage is agreed in writing at the outset. There are no surprises and no additions after the fact.
How the process works with Sold Short
The starting point is a free review. You contact Sold Short and explain what happened. We look at the key facts: who the original solicitor was, what they were instructed to do, what went wrong, what the loss was, and whether the circumstances suggest the conduct fell below the required professional standard.
If the review indicates there is a viable claim, we refer you to a specialist professional negligence solicitor from our panel. They carry out their own independent assessment before formally taking the case on. That assessment is also free and also carries no obligation. If they agree the case has merit and decide to proceed, the conditional fee agreement is put in place and the work begins.
What happens during the case
Once underway, the process involves gathering and reviewing evidence, setting out the case against the original solicitor formally, and pursuing settlement through negotiation or, if necessary, through the courts. Professional negligence cases often settle without reaching trial. Where a settlement offer is received, your solicitor will advise you on it and the decision to accept or reject it is yours.
Throughout the process your solicitor is required to keep you properly informed, explain significant developments, and advise you on your options at each stage. This is not simply a service you hand over to someone else. You are an active party and your instructions matter.
The goal
The goal is straightforward: to recover the financial loss you suffered because a professional failed to do their job properly. Whether that is money you lost directly, an opportunity you were denied, or a claim that was destroyed through negligence, the purpose of the process is to put you in the position you would have been in had the original advice been competent.
If you have been let down by a solicitor and are wondering whether anything can be done about it, the answer starts with a conversation. It costs nothing to find out.
Sold Short connects people who have been let down by their solicitors with specialist professional negligence lawyers. Free review. No win no fee.
