Funding An Employment Law Claim

If you have been dismissed or suffered discrimination, you may be entitled to bring a claim. The immediate concern of people in your sitation is usually how they will go about funding an employment law claim.

The good news is that because we specialise only in acting for employees, we have a number of options that can take such worries away.

We have several options that we can discuss with you regarding funding an employment law claim meaning we can take the stress out of making such a decision. Our initial call to discuss your options is completely free of charge.

During the first call we will review your situation, advise you of your legal rights and then explain all funding options to you. There is no charge for this part of our service, so please do call us now on 0808 1687288 or complete our Free Online Enquiry on the right hand side of this page.

Funding An Employment Law Claim Options

Some of the options available for funding an employment law claim are as follows:

Legal Expenses Insurance

Many people are unaware that legal expenses are often covered by household home insurance policies . If you have such a policy, we will speak directly with the insurer on your behalf to see whether your costs can be covered by the policy.

Generally, insurers do not provide cover until the internal grievance procedure has been concluded therefore you may be required to submit a grievance first but we will be able to assist you with that. Please be aware that your insurer may try to tell you that you are only entitled to instruct their choice of solicitor but this is simply not the case. You are legally entitled to choose your own solicitor and should always aim to instruct an expert like us.

No Win No Fee Agreements

If you do not have legal expenses insurance, in some cases, we may be able to act for you under a Damages Based Agreement (commonly referred to as “No Win, No Fee”). This means that you will only pay our fees if your case is won. If the case is lost, you will owe us nothing.

Fixed Fee

If neither Legal Expenses Insurance nor a No Win, No Fee Agreement is suitable, other options are available. We understand that the traditional method of paying solicitors by the hour can be daunting particularly when you are unsure as to how long it is likely to take to bring your case to a conclusion. For this reason we are able to offer a number of fixed fee packages some of which include:

  • Face to Face Meeting
  • Case Assessment with Letter of Advice
  • Letter to employer proposing settlement 

We are able to offer further fixed fee packages if appropriate and tailor these to suit your needs.

Hourly Rate

We can, of course, also help with your case on the usual hourly rate basis. We ensure that all time is carefully recorded so that you only pay for the work actually done. We will also supply you with regular invoices so that you can keep on top of the costs that have been incurred to date.

The cost of your case will depend on a number of factors including the type of case and the work done.

When taken to a final hearing, wrongful dismissal claims can cost between £4,000 – £7,000, unfair dismissal claims between £6,000 – £10,000 and discrimination claims between £8,000 – £20,000. These figures are estimates only and include VAT.

The final bill could be higher or lower depending on a range of factors. The costs are likely to be less if we can help you obtain an early settlement. Most Tribunal claims are settled before a full hearing. The earlier the claim settles, the lower your costs will be. The costs could be higher than the estimates if the matter is particularly complex, there are large numbers of witnesses or you need to speak with your solicitor more often than is usual.

The costs incurred will include taking instructions from you and any witnesses you have, drafting the claim form and considering the response, attending preliminary hearings, preparing your disclosure and considering that received from the other side, preparing witness statements, schedules of loss and attendance at Tribunal for hearings. All of this work will be billed at an hourly rate of between £140 – £360 per hour including VAT. The rate paid will depend on the qualifications and experience of the person who carries out the specific task on the case. You can find details of the people who would work on your case here.

Additional Costs

If your case is particularly complex, or if the final hearing is listed for more than one day, we may also be required to instruct a barrister. You would be required to pay these costs, even on a “no-win, no-fee” basis. Barristers costs are generally between £750 – £2000 inc. VAT per day depending on experience.

Other costs you may be required to pay could be medical reports, particularly in discrimination cases, or expert reports if there is something technical arising in your case that we need to explain to the Tribunal.

We will not incur any additional costs without your prior agreement.

Time Scales

It generally takes between 12 and 18 months to obtain an Employment Tribunal decision after a claim has been issued However, some regions are experiencing huge backlogs with hearings taking more than two years to be listed. We will advise as to timescales as we obtain further information. The time to conclusion may also be shorter if we are able to negotiate a settlement.

Make an Enquiry Now

To make a free enquiry based on any of the issues raised on this page please contact us on 0808 168 7288, or complete the online contact form at the top right of this page.

We can often combine the funding method discussed above so do not delay calling because of a fear of the costs.

Call us today and we will quickly assess the best option for you.

Legal Expenses Insurance

About Us

Employment Law Solicitors Belfast & Newcastle
Paul Doran Law - The Solicitors For
Employees In Belfast And Newcastle

Employment Law Solicitors Belfast & Newcastle
Paul Doran Law - The Solicitors For Employees In Belfast And Newcastle

Paul Doran Law are employment law specialists who only act for employees and claimants who find themselves in dispute with their employees. we specialise in assisting employees to ensure that we can obtain the best results for you.

Our solicitors are admitted to the roll in England and Wales and we can act for clients in the Employment Tribunals in Northern Ireland and Scotland.