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It is a conditional costs agreement. Our professional fees become payable only if your claim succeeds. You pay nothing up front, nothing month to month, and nothing for the initial assessment of whether you have a claim at all.
What it does not mean is that a claim costs nothing. It means the cost is deferred, and paid out of the settlement rather than out of your pocket while you are injured and probably not working.
Queensland law limits what a law practice may charge on a speculative personal injury claim. The total of legal costs and any uplift charged to the client cannot exceed fifty per cent of the amount recovered, calculated after statutory refunds are paid. In practice, on most CTP claims the actual figure sits well below that cap. The cap exists so it cannot sit above it.
A conditional costs agreement in Queensland may include an uplift, an additional percentage on the professional fees, to reflect the risk of running the claim without payment. The maximum is twenty five per cent of the legal costs, and it must be disclosed in the agreement you sign.
Outlays are what we pay to other people on your behalf: orthopaedic and psychiatric reports, occupational therapy assessments, hospital and GP records, police reports, court filing fees, counsel's fees. On a contested CTP claim these commonly total several thousand dollars. Ask any firm how outlays are funded, whether they are charged interest, and what happens to them if the claim fails.
| 1. Statutory refunds | Medicare, Centrelink, and any WorkCover or private health fund refund. Paid first, by law |
|---|---|
| 2. Outlays | Medical reports, records, filing fees, counsel |
| 3. Legal costs and uplift | Subject to the 50/50 cap on the amount recovered after refunds |
| 4. The balance | Paid to you. Personal injury compensation is not taxable income in Australia |
The two risks a costs agreement must state plainly. First, adverse costs: if a matter goes to court and loses, a court can order you to pay the other side's costs, and no win no fee does not by itself protect you from that. Second, mandatory final offers: rejecting a reasonable offer at the compulsory conference and doing worse in court carries a costs consequence. If a firm will not explain both of these to you before you sign, ask a second firm.
Under our no win no fee agreement you do not pay our professional fees if the claim is unsuccessful. Outlays and any adverse costs order are dealt with separately and we explain exactly how before you sign, because a firm that will not put that in writing is telling you something.
A Queensland rule that caps what a law practice can take from a speculative personal injury claim. The total of legal costs and any uplift charged to you cannot exceed fifty per cent of the amount recovered, after statutory refunds such as Medicare and Centrelink are paid.
An additional percentage a firm may charge on its professional fees for carrying the risk of a no win no fee claim. In Queensland a conditional costs agreement can provide for an uplift of up to twenty five per cent of the legal costs, and it must be disclosed in the agreement.
Money paid out to third parties to run the claim: specialist medical reports, court filing fees, police and hospital records, barristers' fees, investigator costs. On a CTP claim these routinely run to several thousand dollars, and how they are funded and recovered should be written into the agreement.
In order: statutory refunds such as Medicare, Centrelink and any WorkCover or private health refund, then outlays, then legal costs subject to the 50/50 cap. The balance is paid to you and personal injury compensation is not taxed in Australia.
Want the numbers for your own claim? Call 07 3924 9544 or use the free claim check. No cost, and no obligation to proceed.