FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to the most commonly asked questions
There are two main categories of Novitas loans:
- Family: loans to finance divorce or probate proceedings
- Non-Family: loans to finance clinical negligence or cases where you are seeking compensation from a company.
If you have a Family loan, please contact us by telephone on 0333 321 6070 or email enquiries@novitasloans.co.uk.
If you have a non-Family loan, please find below answers to the questions that are frequently asked by our customers.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Novitas and my solicitor?
Your solicitor manages your legal case and can provide legal advice.
Novitas Loans only provides funding to cover payments required to progress your legal case, for example court fees, counsel (barrister) fees or expert witness reports. Our loan does not pay for your solicitor’s time or fees.
How does my Novitas loan work?
Your legal case was set up on a ‘No Win No Fee’ basis. Your Novitas loan was arranged by your solicitor at the time and is designed to fund payments required to progress your legal case - for example court fees, counsel (barrister) fees or expert witness reports.
We understand that your solicitor also arranged, on your behalf, an After The Event (ATE) insurance policy to repay the loan if the legal case was unsuccessful. This ATE insurance was also a condition of your Novitas loan.
Where a legal case is successful, the loan is repaid through the proceeds of the litigation (i.e. the winnings or settlement).
Where a legal case is unsuccessful or the loan is not fully repaid by the proceeds of the litigation, the loan balance is paid by the ATE insurance policy. Your loan will remain open until your insurer has repaid the loan. Until this payment is made, we are required, by regulation, to send you an annual statement.
We can confirm that you will not be required to repay your Novitas loan directly from your own finances.
Is the loan on my credit file? Or will the loan impact my credit score?
Novitas carried out a soft search and this search does not have a negative impact on your credit score. ‘Soft searches’ are not visible to companies, so they have no impact on your credit score or any future credit applications you might make. Only you can see them on your report.
Why do I keep receiving annual statements? How long will my loan be open for?
While your loan remains open, we are required by the Consumer Credit Act 1974, which sets out the relevant legal requirements for your credit agreement, to send you an annual statement. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) also requires us to act as responsible lenders, which means keeping our customers informed of the remaining balance on the loan, any interest accrued, any payments deducted from the loan amount and any repayments that have been made.
To meet this requirement, we provide all customers with annual statements every year until the loan is fully repaid.
We would like to reassure you that the statement you have received is not a request or demand for payment and that you will not be required to repay the loan, or any interest charged, out of your own finances.
My solicitor is insolvent / in administration. What should I do?
If your solicitor is insolvent, an administrator or insolvency practitioner would have been appointed, and they can advise you as to the status of your legal case.
Please contact the relevant administrator or insolvency practitioner.
What is an After The Event (ATE) insurance policy?
An After The Event (ATE) policy is an insurance policy that covers you as the policyholder, in the event your case is unsuccessful.
The policy ensures that payments required to progress your legal case - for example court fees, counsel (barrister) fees or expert witness reports do not have to be paid by you if the case is unsuccessful.
If you are successful in your case, the payments required to progress your legal case will be covered by the proceeds of the settlement and not the ATE policy.
The policy also covers adverse costs, which can also be known as defendant’s costs. This is where a Court orders that you pay some or all of the opponent’s (the defendant’s) legal costs as well as your own.
What can I do if I am unhappy with my insurer?
You will need to raise the complaint directly with your insurer.
You can then also refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), which provides a free service to review and settle complaints between consumers and businesses that provide financial services.
They can be contacted by telephone (0800 023 4567) or email (complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk).
It is important to engage with your insurer’s complaints process before approaching the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Who should I contact with a query about my legal claim?
Please contact the solicitor managing your case if you have any questions regarding your legal case, including its status, as they have the most up to date information.
Can I cancel or repay my Novitas loan? Can I cancel or get out of my case?
You cannot cancel your Novitas loan. Your case was set up on a ‘No Win No Fee' basis with the solicitor at the time.
The loan we provided you with is designed to fund payments required to progress your legal case (for example court fees, counsel (barrister) fees or expert witness reports).
If a case is successful, the loan will be repaid from the proceeds of the case.
We make it a condition of the loan that you arranged for an After the Event (ATE) Insurance Policy to be in place. Your solicitor at the time would have done this for you. If the case is unsuccessful, or if the payments required to progress your legal case are not fully recovered as part of the case, the loan will be paid by your insurer.
This means that if you were unsuccessful in your case, you would not be liable to repay the loan out of your own finances.
If you wish to cancel your case, you should contact your solicitor who will be able to advise you.
Why am I being asked to pay the defendant’s legal costs or courtroom costs (adverse costs) if my case was on a no-win, no-fee basis?
If your case was unsuccessful, the Court may order that you pay adverse costs, which can also be known as defendant’s costs. This is where a Court orders that you pay some or all of the opponent’s (the defendant’s) legal costs as well as your own.
Your solicitor arranged the setup of an After The Event (ATE) insurance policy on your behalf in the event your case failed, which was designed to pay both the Novitas loan and any defendant costs that may be awarded by the Court.
Please contact your solicitor to understand whether a claim has been made on your ATE policy and contact your ATE insurer to understand the outcome of your insurance claim.
As the legal case is in your name, you must engage with your solicitor to understand your obligations to pay defendant’s costs.