Quick Answer
Success fee agreements in Scotland
"No win no fee" is a marketing phrase. In Scotland the legal instrument behind it is usually a success fee agreement, and it is regulated.
What a success fee agreement is
A success fee agreement is a written contract between you and your solicitor under which their fee depends on the outcome of the claim. If the claim does not succeed, no fee is payable. If it does, the solicitor takes an agreed percentage of your damages.
Two pieces of law govern it:
- the Civil Litigation (Expenses and Group Proceedings) (Scotland) Act 2018, which created the framework; and
- the Success Fee Agreements (Scotland) Regulations 2020, which set the maximum a solicitor may charge.
This is not the same as an English conditional fee agreement. The two systems developed separately, the caps are different, and guidance written for England does not describe the Scottish position.
Speculative fee agreements are a different thing
You may also see "speculative fee agreement" used. That is an older Scottish arrangement under which a solicitor takes a case on the basis that they are paid only on success, historically with an uplift on judicial expenses recovered from the defender rather than a percentage of your damages. The two are related but not interchangeable, and the 2020 Regulations govern success fees specifically. If a firm uses either phrase, ask them to set out in writing exactly what would be deducted, and from what.
How the caps work
The cap for personal injury claims is staged, not a single flat percentage. The maximum percentage applies to a first band of damages, then a lower percentage to the next band, and lower again above that. It is inclusive of VAT.
The practical effect is that the proportion taken falls as a claim grows. On a modest claim the top band does most of the work; on a large claim the blended percentage is considerably lower than the headline figure.
Check the figures before relying on them. The band thresholds and percentages are set by regulation and can be changed. Read the current version of the 2020 Regulations, or ask your solicitor to confirm in writing which cap applies to your claim. Do not rely on a percentage quoted in an advert, including on this site.
What the fee is calculated on
This matters as much as the percentage, and it is where most online guidance is vague.
A success fee is taken from damages, not from the expenses recovered from the defender. Firms differ in how they apply it, and some undertake not to touch compensation awarded for financial losses — lost earnings, treatment costs, care — so that the fee comes only from solatium, the award for the injury itself.
Whether that applies to you depends on the agreement you sign. Ask directly:
- What percentage would be deducted, and from which parts of the award?
- Is compensation for my financial losses protected from the fee?
- Is the percentage inclusive of VAT?
- What happens to outlays if the claim fails?
- What happens if I stop the claim part-way through, or reject an offer you advise me to accept?
A firm that answers those five questions clearly in writing is one you can assess. A firm that will not is one to avoid.
What you should receive before signing
Your solicitor should give you the agreement in writing and explain it before you commit. You are entitled to take it away and read it. Nobody should be pressing you to sign at a first meeting, and a claim that is genuinely worth bringing today will still be worth bringing after you have read the paperwork.
If something goes wrong
If you are unhappy with the service you receive, raise it with the firm first. If that does not resolve matters, you can complain to the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission, which handles complaints about Scottish solicitors. You can check that any solicitor holds a current practising certificate through the Law Society of Scotland.
Related guides
- No win no fee in Scotland — how funding works overall
- QOCS in Scotland — whether you pay the defender's expenses if you lose
- Expenses and outlays — what the Scottish terms actually mean
- Choosing a solicitor
Sources
- Civil Litigation (Expenses and Group Proceedings) (Scotland) Act 2018
- Success Fee Agreements (Scotland) Regulations 2020
- Law Society of Scotland — style success fee agreement guidance
Last reviewed: 2026-08-08 by the Personal Injury Claims Scotland editorial team