How much will it cost to claim from the raf?

Most attorneys specialising in personal injury claims will be prepared to take your case either

• on a contingency basis (no win, no fee basis); or

• in terms of a fees agreement, where the attorney will charge a normal fee in terms of an agreed tariff. 

The attorney may be prepared to wait until the end of the case for payment of all the costs including expenses.

Many attorneys specialising in personal injury cases will also undertake to incur and/or pay for all disbursements required in order to prepare your claim, including obtaining medical records and medico-legal reports on the basis that they will be repaid those costs out of the proceeds of your claim. Some of these costs will be recovered from the RAF as part of the party-andparty costs for which they may be liable.

An attorney acting in terms of a fees agreement (not on contingency) can charge you in terms of the agreement for all work done and all expenses incurred. Some attorneys may want you to pay some of the costs as your case proceeds.

If the attorney acts on contingency (no win, no fee) basis • the agreement must be signed by both you and the attorney (you must be given a copy at the time of signing);

• the attorney is entitled to charge a success fee in addition to the normal fee. The amount of the success fee is regulated in terms of the Contingency Fees Act and may not exceed 25% of your capital, or 100% above the normal fee, whichever is the lesser amount;

• you will also have to pay for other expenses (such as medical and other experts’ fees, medical records, police documents, court fees etc). Some of these will be recovered from the RAF as part of the party-and-party costs.

If you do not understand the fee or contingency fee agreement, then you must ask your attorney to explain it to you