Legal Expenses Insurance ' Funding An Employment Tribunal Claim

• Published date: 10 May 2022
• Subject Matter: Employment and HR, Insurance, Unfair/ Wrongful Dismissal, Employment Litigation/ Tribunals, Insurance Laws and Products
• Law Firm: Consilia Legal
• Author: Laura Huntington, Marie Walsh, Victoria Horner, Andy Boyde and Matthew Bretherick

As a firm we act on a number of insurance backed claims both for Respondents and Claimants.

For the purpose of this blog, I will focus attention on a potential Claimant looking to bring an employment tribunal claim.

Funding options

One of the most daunting prospects a potential Claimant can be faced with is how to fund a claim and I have set them out below:

1. Privately fund the claim. Employment tribunal costs can run into thousands of pounds. Costs are much harder to recover than they are in the civil courts as they don't automatically follow the case.
2. Enter into a'Damages Based Agreement' (commonly referred to as 'No win-no fee' agreement). A damages-based agreement will require a Claimant to give up 35% of any total award that they might win under a 'no-win, no fee' arrangement. Further this arrangement typically only extends to the cost of the Solicitor's advice. The Claimant may be liable to privately pay for the costs of a barrister to represent them at tribunal hearings.
3. A Claimant can be a litigant in person The tribunal is set up for the 'man in the street' to be able to bring a claim however the process is quite complex Navigating the intricacies of the law can be particularly daunting so this deters many potential claimants. There is no cost to lodge a claim at the Tribunal and can be done easily online once the potential Claimant has gone through ACAS early conciliation and secured their certificate.
4. Legal expenses insurance. As set out above we act for many individuals through their legal expenses' insurance cover. Typically, insurers will direct potential Claimant's to their panel solicitors, however the individual has freedom of choice to instruct a solicitor of their choice Typical levels of indemnity are '50,000 or '100,000 of legal funding which will easily cover straightforward unfair dismissal or discrimination claims. Subject to a Claimant's claim having prospects of 51% or better, determined at the outset of the matter by a barrister the funding will cover the Claimant's...