Before You Sign a No Win No Fee Agreement: What the SRA Found Inside 25 Firms
By Chris Carter, Managing Solicitor at Carter and Carter Solicitors. May 2026.
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Is no win no fee actually free? What’s the catch?
There can be a catch — and the regulator has just confirmed it. The Solicitors Regulation Authority inspected 25 no win no fee firms and found that less than half could prove they had told clients what their case would actually cost. The SRA now has 109 active investigations across 76 firms.
If you have searched for “no win no fee” in England and Wales before deciding to make a personal injury claim, you are not alone. The phrase is everywhere. The catch is that the term itself is unregulated. What one firm means by it can be very different from what another firm means by it.
On 28 January 2026, the Solicitors Regulation Authority issued a formal warning notice to law firms about exactly that problem. The notice followed a thematic review of how high-volume claims firms run their no win no fee work day-to-day. The findings were not flattering.
By 30 April 2026, the SRA had 109 open investigations into 76 firms operating in this market. Just four months earlier, in December 2025, that figure stood at 83 investigations across 72 firms. The regulator’s concerns are not abstract. They are about real claimants signing contracts that did not say what they thought they said.
What did the SRA actually find when it visited those firms?
The SRA’s thematic review of high-volume consumer claims firms, published in August 2025, examined how 25 firms were running their day-to-day claims work. It looked specifically at how clients were told about fees, costs, and what would happen if a case did not succeed.
Of the 25 firms inspected, less than half kept evidence that fee information had been properly explained to claimants before they signed. At some firms, no record of any fee disclosure existed at all. The 28 January 2026 warning notice formalised those findings into a regulatory standard. Firms that fail to meet it now face enforcement action that includes financial penalties, conditions on practising certificates, urgent intervention into the firm, and referral to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
BY THE NUMBERS
| Firms inspected in SRA thematic review | 25 |
| Firms that could prove full fee disclosure | 12 |
| Open SRA investigations (30 April 2026) | 109 |
| Firms under investigation | 76 |
| Increase in investigations since December 2025 | +31% |
Source: SRA Warning Notice 28 January 2026 and Hot Topics page updated 1 May 2026, sra.org.uk
The five things the SRA says firms aren’t telling clients
The warning notice names five specific concerns. Each is taken directly from the SRA’s own document published on 28 January 2026.
CONCERN 1
Lack of transparency about success fees
Many clients sign up without clear or complete information about the deductions that come out of any compensation if their claim succeeds. This includes the firm’s own fee, referrer fees, and payments to third-party litigation funders.
CONCERN 2
Lack of transparency about costs if the case fails
The SRA notes that no win no fee agreements can leave a client owing real money even when a case is lost — insurance premiums, barrister fees, charges for medical or expert reports, and a firm’s own administrative costs. The regulator found many firms were not setting these potential liabilities out clearly upfront.
CONCERN 3
Client interests being compromised
Some firms structure agreements to serve their own commercial interests rather than the client’s. The SRA gives examples of funding or referral arrangements designed to benefit the firm or third parties more than the claimant.
CONCERN 4
Weak diligence on third-party referrers
Some firms accept client referrals from claims management companies and lead generators without checking how those clients were acquired. The firm remains responsible for the accuracy of any third-party advertising the client saw before being referred.
CONCERN 5
Poor management of NWNF safeguards
After-the-event insurance and similar protections are designed to shield clients from financial harm if a claim fails. The SRA found these arrangements are sometimes poorly managed, leaving clients exposed to costs they thought they were protected from.
What this means if you’re about to sign
A no win no fee agreement is a legal contract. Most often it is a Conditional Fee Agreement, sometimes a Damages-Based Agreement. Either way, the regulator’s expectation is now clearly set out in writing. A claimant must receive complete information about every potential cost before signing, in language they are likely to understand, and the firm must check the client has actually understood it.
In practice that means a clear figure for the success fee. A clear explanation of what after-the-event insurance is and whether it is being arranged. An explanation of any termination charges if the agreement is ended early. And an explanation of the referral or funding arrangements behind the claim. Small print buried in terms and conditions does not satisfy this duty. The information must be presented openly, before the client signs, in a way the client is reasonably able to follow.
SRA Chief Executive Sarah Rapson said firms are “not fulfilling their obligations to always act in their clients’ best interests” and that the regulator is using every tool available to take action.
Sarah Rapson, SRA Chief Executive · Statement of 28 January 2026
Five questions to ask before you sign anything
PROTECT YOURSELF BEFORE YOU SIGN
Take this list with you to any first conversation with a personal injury solicitor. Ask each question. Ask for the answer in writing.
- What percentage of my compensation will you keep if my claim succeeds? A clear figure, not a range, with the without-court-proceedings position separated from the proceedings-issued position.
- What will I owe if the claim fails? Including any insurance premium, expert report cost, or counsel’s fee.
- Will I have to pay anything if I decide to discontinue the claim halfway through? If yes, on what basis is the figure calculated.
- How did you get my name? Was a third party paid to refer me, and is that fee coming out of my compensation.
- Will I be working with the same solicitor throughout, or will my case be passed around?
RELATED GUIDES
Speak to a senior solicitor before you sign anything
Carter and Carter Solicitors is one of the few personal injury firms in England and Wales that publishes its fee on its homepage. Our fee is 10% when the claim settles without issuing court proceedings, or 25% if proceedings are issued. The figure is the same whether you call us today or a year from now. There are no hidden costs.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chris Carter, Managing Solicitor
Chris Carter qualified as a solicitor in 1993 and has 33 years of personal injury experience. He has handled needlestick injury and food allergy claims throughout that time and is the Managing Solicitor at Carter and Carter Solicitors, a specialist personal injury firm operating in England and Wales on a published-fee no win no fee model. SRA registration 449466.