02. The cost of taking legal action

Taking legal action can be expensive as well as stressful. If you have a problem or dispute with someone and you want to take them to court, you should first talk to your solicitor or adviser to see if there are easier, quicker or cheaper ways of dealing with the problem. For example, there are conciliation and mediation services for sorting out disputes, which can be simpler than using the courts. See the Community Legal Service leaflet 'Alternatives to court' for more information.

However, if you do find that you need to use the courts, you need to think about how you will pay for your case.

There are ways that you can get public funding to help pay for your case (formerly called Legal Aid), through the Community Legal Service. You can get this help only if you genuinely cannot afford to pay yourself. There are other conditions to do with your case and your situation that you have to meet, too.

If you do not qualify for money from the Community Legal Service Fund, there are other options to help you pay.

One of the main ways is to use a 'conditional-fee agreement', more commonly called a 'no-win, no-fee' agreement.

A 'no-win, no-fee' agreement can help you pay for a solicitor (unless your case relates to a family dispute, or it is a criminal matter). For information on dealing with the breakdown of a relationship, see the Community Legal Service leaflet, 'Divorce and separation'.

No-win, no-fee agreements are mostly used to pay for personal injury cases. See the Community Legal Service leaflet, 'Personal injury', for more information.

Alternatively, you may already have legal-expenses insurance (as part of some other insurance policy), which will cover your costs, see 'Before-the-event insurance'.