Success fees: understand the scope before using a percentage

Separate the uplift from the damages measure

A CFA success fee is an additional fee linked to the solicitor’s underlying charges. A limit expressed as a proportion of specified damages is a separate constraint on that fee, not a substitute definition for every contract. Ask the solicitor to show the underlying fee, any uplift and the applicable restriction as separate steps. That makes it easier to see which amount each percentage actually multiplies.

A DBA has a different payment mechanism. Do not move a CFA explanation onto a DBA simply because both are described as no win no fee. Likewise, do not take a personal injury example and use it as the rule for employment or another dispute. Start with the named agreement, the legal jurisdiction and the work covered.

Read the 25% provision with its boundaries

Articles 4 and 5 of the Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013 identify personal injury claims and prescribe a 25% figure for the success-fee restriction in proceedings at first instance. The specified damages are general damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity, and damages for pecuniary loss other than future pecuniary loss, net of sums recoverable by the Compensation Recovery Unit of the Department for Work and Pensions.

That description is narrower than all compensation in every claim. Article 5 distinguishes first-instance proceedings from other proceedings. This guide does not calculate a cap for you or decide which parts of an award belong in the calculation. Ask a solicitor to explain the applicable provision and the treatment of VAT within the proposed success fee. Do not assume an advertised percentage answers either question.

• Which proceeding and agreement does this example concern?
• Which damages categories are included or excluded?
• How are applicable VAT and recoverable sums treated?

Do not mistake one cap for the whole account

A success-fee restriction is not automatically a ceiling on insurance premiums, expenses and every other possible deduction. The SRA warns that disbursement repayment may be additional to a provider’s fee. The Law Society also lists several cost categories. Ask for the total proposed deductions under an explicit scenario, with each line labelled and no unexplained balancing amount.

Ask whether unrecovered basic charges could fall to you under the agreement and how any recovered costs are credited. A simple percentage comparison is especially unreliable if one proposal includes an item and another excludes it. Request a second illustration where the outcome changes rather than assuming the first example covers all possibilities.

Use arithmetic without turning it into advice

The homepage tool deliberately accepts a user-entered percentage base separately from an illustrative total. It multiplies that base by your all-in rate and adds separate costs. It does not classify damages, infer a lawful fee or choose the correct percentage. Entering 25 does not make an example legally applicable, and a tidy remainder is not a compensation prediction.

If you cannot identify the base from the documents, leave it unknown and ask for a written explanation. Keep that response with the dated draft. Independent advice may be needed before signing; this information site does not review documents, assess merits or provide representation.