If you are considering issuing a claim to the Employment Tribunal, the chances are you have already encountered significant stress at work and so the added pressure of working out how you are going to fund representation for your claim can simply create more anxiety for you. The good news is that there are affordable options of funding your representation, and on occasions, you may actually find that pursuing your claim does not cost you anything.
What Is The Best Way To Fund Representation For Your Employment Tribunal Claim?
Legal Expenses Insurance
The best way to fund representation for your Employment Tribunal claim is by way of Legal Expenses Insurance. This can be entailed on your house insurance, car insurance etc and your first point of call should be to see whether you benefit from Legal Expenses Insurance. If you do benefit from Legal Expenses Insurance, they could potentially cover all of your legal fees so long as they consider your claim has over 51% prospects of success, i.e. it is more likely your claim will succeed than fail.
I regularly assist my clients in obtaining Legal Expenses Insurance through their insurer. A great benefit is that my client can instruct me to represent them but their Legal Expenses Insurer pay Lincs Law directly, meaning my client’s claim is free for them.
What Are Your Other Funding Options?
Conditional Fee Agreement
If you do not have the benefit of Legal Expenses Insurance, it may be that we could offer you a Conditional Fee Agreement for your Employment Tribunal representation. Under this type of funding, you pay a significantly reduced rate in terms of our hourly fees. Essentially, we ‘split the risk’ with you in terms of fees. In the event you successfully achieve a settlement or you win your claim, then we would charge a pre-agreed success fee. If your claim was not successful, then no success fee would be applied. In order for us to offer a Conditional Fee Agreement it will be necessary for us carry out a full assessment of your case first.
Damages Based Agreement (No Win No Fee)
Many people have heard of a “No Win No Fee”‘ agreement and it is something we can offer to clients for Employment Tribunal representation, in certain circumstances. However, we would firstly need to carry out a full assessment of your case.
Legal Aid
It may be you are eligible for legal aid for Employment Tribunal representation. We cannot not offer legal aid at Lincs Law Employment Solicitors but you should check your eligibility at https://www.gov.uk/check-legal-aid
Privately Paying
It is always possible to fund representation for your claim on a privately paying basis. This may include:
- fixed fees for particular items of work, for example, drafting an Employment Tribunal Claim Form. As the name suggests, the fee is fixed no matter how long the work takes.
- capped fees where there are some variables as to how much time the work might take, for example, negotiating during ACAS Early Conciliation. With a capped fee, you might pay less, but will never pay more, than the agreed cap.
- Full estimates for work where where clients simply want to “pay as they go”.
Represent Yourself
You are able to represent yourself in the Employment Tribunal and it is free to do so.
Lincs Law Employment Solicitors Can Help You
If you are contemplating an Employment Tribunal Claim, it is recommended you obtain independent legal advice as soon as possible. If you would like to have a free, no obligation, telephone consultation with one of our Specialist Employment Law Solicitors please telephone 01522 440512 or email contactus@lincslaw.com. You can also visit the following page to learn more of how to fund your Employment Tribunal Claim; Solicitor Fees For Employees – LincsLaw Employment Law Solicitors
Lucy Stones
Employment Law Solicitor
Lincs Law Employment Solicitors
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