Fees / No Win No Fee

AY Strategy UK Legal Consulting Ltd may offer eligible clients a No Win, No Fee arrangement for fraud recovery work, typically under a Damages-Based Agreement (DBA) or a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). The exact arrangement, percentages, VAT treatment, disbursements and any insurance will always be confirmed in writing in your engagement letter before work begins.

The information on this page is an outline. Nothing on this page is a binding fee quotation. Your engagement letter is the operative agreement.

• You do not pay our professional fees up front. Under a No Win, No Fee arrangement, you pay our success fee only if your matter succeeds, as defined in your engagement letter.
• If your matter does not succeed, you do not pay our professional fees.
• Disbursements (third-party costs — see Section 5) and any ATE insurance premium may still be payable depending on the agreement. This is set out clearly before you sign.

• Our success fee is typically charged as a percentage of the amount recovered or otherwise resolved in your favour. The typical range is 25%–35% depending on complexity, risk and the stage at which the matter resolves.
• VAT will be added at the prevailing UK rate (currently 20%) where applicable.
• The exact percentage, any caps, and how it is calculated will be set out in your engagement letter and any DBA/CFA.

A success fee may apply not only to cash recovered, but to any financial benefit obtained through our work, including:

• sums repaid, refunded or reimbursed to you;
• sums written off, reduced, cancelled, credited or set off against amounts you owed;
• sums obtained through settlement, mediation, ombudsman award, court order or any other resolution.

The precise definition of “Recovery” or “Financial Benefit” used for fee calculation will be defined in your engagement letter.

Disbursements are payments we make on your behalf to third parties, such as:

• court issue fees and hearing fees;
• barristers’ (counsel) fees;
• expert reports (e.g. forensic accountants);
• tracing, investigation or document procurement fees;
• translations, courier and witness expenses.

Where disbursements are likely to arise, we will tell you in advance, request payment on account where appropriate, and confirm whether they are recoverable from the other side or covered by ATE insurance.

After-the-Event (ATE) insurance is a specialist legal expenses insurance policy arranged after a dispute has arisen. Where appropriate, we will discuss with you whether to apply for ATE cover with an A-rated UK insurer. ATE is not part of our legal services; it is a separate contract of insurance between you and the insurer, underwritten on the insurer’s own terms and subject to the insurer’s policy schedule, conditions and exclusions.

What ATE typically covers

• Adverse costs — the opposing party’s legal costs that a court may order you to pay if your claim is unsuccessful, up to the policy’s indemnity limit.
• Own-side disbursements — certain third-party costs (e.g. court fees, counsel’s fees, expert reports, tracing fees), up to the policy limit and subject to the policy schedule.
• Deferred & contingent premium — for qualifying cases, the premium is deferred and self-insured: it is only payable if your claim succeeds. If your claim fails, the premium is waived by the insurer.

Key risks, limits and exclusions

• ATE is not automatic and not guaranteed. Cover is subject to underwriting. The insurer may decline cover, impose conditions, or set a premium and indemnity limit specific to your case.
• The indemnity limit is a cap. If adverse costs or covered disbursements exceed the policy limit, you remain personally liable for the excess.
• Cover is not retrospective. Costs and disbursements incurred before the policy incepts are not covered.
• Policy conditions must be complied with. The insurer can avoid, reduce or cancel cover (in whole or in part) for breach of policy conditions — including failure to give full and frank disclosure, providing inaccurate information, settling without consent, failing to follow legal advice, unreasonable withdrawal, or rejecting a reasonable Part 36 or settlement offer.
• Standard exclusions typically include (without limitation): fraud, dishonesty or material misrepresentation by the insured; claims with no reasonable prospects of success; punitive or exemplary damages; wasted costs orders made personally against you due to your conduct; and costs arising from any counterclaim falling outside the scope of cover.
• Interim costs orders. ATE typically only responds at the conclusion of proceedings (or earlier discontinuance) in accordance with the policy terms. You may need to satisfy interim costs orders from your own resources.
• ATE does not pay your own solicitors’ base costs. Those are addressed separately under your engagement letter and any CFA/DBA.

Premium

• The premium is set by the insurer and is typically a percentage of the indemnity limit. It will be confirmed in writing in the policy schedule before inception.
• Where the premium is deferred and contingent (self-insured on loss), you do not pay the premium if your claim fails. Where any premium is payable upfront, you will be told before you commit.
• Under current law, the ATE premium is generally not recoverable from the losing party (subject to limited statutory exceptions).

Summary of your residual exposure

Even with ATE in place, you may still be exposed to costs where: (i) costs exceed the indemnity limit; (ii) costs were incurred before the policy incepted; (iii) costs fall outside the policy’s scope or within an exclusion; (iv) the insurer avoids or reduces cover due to a breach of policy conditions; (v) an interim costs order is made pending conclusion of the case; or (vi) any premium becomes payable on a successful outcome.

Before you decide whether to take out ATE, we will explain in writing the proposed insurer, the proposed indemnity limit, the premium basis, key exclusions and your residual exposure. You are under no obligation to take out ATE, and you should read the insurer’s policy wording and Insurance Product Information Document (IPID) carefully before committing.

If your matter is unsuccessful as defined in your engagement letter:

• You do not pay our professional fees.
• You may still be liable for unpaid disbursements not covered by ATE.
• You may be liable for adverse costs the court orders you to pay to the other side, to the extent these are not covered by ATE insurance.

Your matter will be led by Ariel Yehezkel, a Registered Foreign Lawyer regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA No. 7271660), supported by paralegals, case managers, and where appropriate, instructed UK solicitors, barristers and forensic experts.

AY Strategy UK Legal Consulting Ltd is not itself authorised and regulated by the SRA. The supervising professional and the regulatory framework for your matter will be confirmed in your engagement letter.

1. Intake & eligibility review — free initial assessment of your case.
2. Engagement & ID checks — engagement letter, AML/KYC, conflict checks.
3. Investigation & case build — collecting evidence, bank records, communications, forensic analysis.
4. Letter of claim / bank engagement — formal demand referencing the CRM Code, PSR rules, common-law duty of care and PSR APP reimbursement framework where applicable.
5. Negotiation & settlement — engaging the paying bank, receiving bank and any other respondents.
6. FOS escalation — referral to the Financial Ombudsman Service where the bank refuses.
7. Litigation — county court or High Court proceedings if required.
8. Recovery & distribution — accounting, deduction of agreed fees and disbursements, payment to client.

1. • Bank response: banks generally must provide a final response within 8 weeks (FCA rules).
   • Typical APP fraud resolution: 2–4 months where the bank agrees, longer where escalation is needed.
   • FOS escalation: typically 6–12 months, sometimes longer for complex cases.
   • Litigation: court timetables vary and can take 12+ months.

   Timelines are estimates only and depend on the bank, the FOS, the court and the conduct of opposing parties.

Important: Clients may be able to bring a complaint themselves directly to an ombudsman scheme or public compensation scheme (such as the Financial Ombudsman Service) without professional assistance and without paying for such assistance.

We are happy to discuss whether instructing us is the right option for your circumstances. If you would prefer to pursue your complaint yourself, we can point you to the relevant free routes.