Litigation Funding – A little goes a long way

No person ever wants to be involved in litigation. The need to litigate can arise in many situations, such as when a customer hasn’t paid, you are having issues in the workplace, you are involved in a dispute with your neighbour or you have instructed a tradesperson to carry out work to your home and the work has been of a poor standard. You may not be at fault in any of these situations.

It may be the case in these scenarios that you have a strong case against the other party.  If this is the case, then you should ensure that you are not priced out of litigation and your rights in law simply because of the costs involved.

The starting point for retaining any litigator would usually be a retainer on a private paying basis.  The litigator undertakes work and charges for the work done according to their hourly rate.  The litigation process is inherently expensive. Unfortunately, it is sometimes the case that the costs involved in some cases may be disproportionate to the value of the claim.

The perfect solution to the litigation funding issue is obtaining legal expenses insurance.  When obtaining an insurance policy for your car or home insurance, there will often be an additional option to opt-in for legal expenses insurance, sometimes known as legal cover.  This additional option often costs between £15 to £30 per year.  Whilst we appreciate that it is desirable to keep insurance premiums as low as possible, spending this additional sum of money can save thousands if not tens of thousand pounds in legal fees incurred in litigation in the future.  Often, these indemnity policies will provide up to £100,000 worth of legal cover, meaning that you will have peace of mind to pursue your case whilst not having to worry about the financial burden of litigation.

These policies often also cover your opponent’s costs in the unfortunate event that you are not successful in your case.

In certain cases, such as employment tribunal cases, there is limited scope for the recovery of your legal costs which often means that people are priced out of litigation despite having a strong case.  With the benefit of legal expenses insurance, people can pursue claims in the County Court and the Employment Tribunal whilst not having to worry about the costs of engaging in litigation.

Other methods of funding litigation are available, such as third party funding or even “no win, no fee” agreements such as conditional fee agreements or damages based agreements.  These may be preferable alternatives to a private paying retainer in some cases, but they can still involve you having to spend money in the event of successful litigation.

The perfect option for ensuring that you are able to comfortably pursue litigation should the need arise in the future without having to spend excess sums on legal fees is to take out legal expenses insurance for as little as £15 per year.

Should you have any further questions about litigation funding arrangements, or if you wish to take further advice about pursuing a claim against a third party, then please do not hesitate to contact George Mushahwar by email at gmushahwar@dphlaw.co.uk or by telephone on 01695 574 201 and he will be happy to discuss this further with you.