English
Thank you for instructing us to deal with your case. This booklet sets out information about how we will handle your case.
We are solicitors and are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). The services we provide are regulated and we need to set out certain information about our services, which we do in this booklet.
The Government made changes (which came into effect on April 2013) to the way we can handle your claim. We explain the relevant changes in these notes.
The information included with your Welcome Pack sets out the name and status of the person responsible for handling your case and the name and status of the person responsible for overall supervision. We operate on a team basis and certain members of the team may work on different stages of your case so we can deliver the best and most cost-effective service to you.
Our normal office hours are 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday. We operate a flexible system of working which allows our staff to start work between 8.30 & 9.30 am and finish between 4.30 & 5.00pm.
It is important that you quote the reference in all correspondence and have it available when contacting us.
Treat you fairly
The main steps we will take and the likely timescales are set out in this booklet under the section “Steps in a typical case” below.
We will:
If your case is likely to be subject to fixed costs (see under “Proportionality, fixed costs and co-operating with us” below) the service standards set out in this section do not apply. We will limit our communications with you only to those, which are necessary to progress your claim as quickly and cost effectively as possible, and will only contact you when there are material developments.
Our obligations are subject to our duty to the court and our professional duties.
You must:
Your objective, as we understand it, is to recover the best level of compensation for you and to secure funding for appropriate treatment or rehabilitation that you may require for your injuries. If you have other objectives please inform us.
It is not possible to give an accurate estimate of how long your case will take to reach a satisfactory conclusion. The main factors which determine the length of your case are: the nature of your injuries and how long it takes you to recover from your injuries (we cannot advise on settlement until we are certain enough of your prognosis) the approach taken by your opponent and their insurers whether or not liability (fault for the accident) is seriously in disputed the particular medical expert disciplines required whether you need any treatment. The timescales set out below and estimates are indicative only:
This can include:
This can include:
Where the other party’s insurer is known from the date of the accident, liability is known from the date of the accident and is not in dispute and your injury is relatively minor: 6–9 months from the date we are instructed.
Where the other party’s insurer is known from the date of the accident, liability is not in dispute and your injury is more serious: 15 months - 2 years but more serious injuries can take even longer to resolve.
Where the other party’s insurer is known from the date of the accident, liability is in dispute but the injury is minor: 12-14 months
Where the other party’s insurer is not known at the outset it can take a considerable time to ascertain this information. It will assist if you make your own investigations and provide us with the information as soon as possible.
The guidelines require your commitment in promptly responding to our letters and providing requested evidence in support of your claim without delay.
Estimates of basic costs are indicative only and exclude VAT and disbursements. If Court proceedings are required we will then know your Opponent’s position and give a more accurate estimate. If the case is allocated to the multi-track we will set a budget for your case.
If you are in receipt of means-tested benefits or may become entitled in the future, these benefits may be affected by the damages you receive. If you think you will be affected, please either contact your benefits advisor or contact us so that we can put you in touch with someone to give you advice on this.
We have agreed to deal with your case under a conditional fee agreement (sometimes called a “no-win, no-fee” agreement).
The Government changed the law on 1st April 2013. Before April 2013 we were able to recover all our costs and were also able to recover the premium for any insurance policy taken out to protect you from your Opponent. You would receive 100% of your damages. The change in the law means that we are not now able to recover all our costs (or the premium for any insurance policy) from your Opponent. This means that you may have to pay something from your damages and we cannot guarantee that you will receive 100% of your damages.
The front of the Conditional Fee Agreement document sets out the maximum percentage of your damages that you may have to pay towards our success fee.
There are alternatives to the conditional fee agreement. These are set out in the section “Other ways of funding your case” below. For example you could choose to pay us privately. This means that you pay our costs whether you win or lose the case and as we incur them (ie. before the end of the case). If you pay privately we will not charge you a success fee because we are not taking the risk.
The conditional fee agreement is not a contentious business agreement within the terms of the Solicitors Act 1974.
If you win your claim you are liable to pay our basic charges, our disbursements and a success fee, however, we expect to recover our basic charges and our disbursements from your opponent.
It may be that your opponent makes a Part 36 offer, which you reject on our advice, and your claim for damages goes ahead to trial. If, at trial, you are awarded damages, which are less than that Part 36 offer (ie. you have still won) but the Court makes an order that you cannot recover your costs from the last day on which you could have accepted the Part 36 offer. In this situation, we will agree to waive our basic costs for the period you are unable to recover them from your opponent. There are two conditions: (i) you have not withheld any information, which would have been relevant to our advice to reject the offer, mislead us or mislead the medical expert(s) (ii) the medical evidence upon which we based our advice to reject the offer has not changed.
The Government changed the law (in April 2013) so that you cannot recover the Success fee from your opponent. You pay the success fee yourself if you win your claim.
The success fee (including VAT) is capped at 25% of your Damages. We set out under the heading “Success Fee” below how the success fee is calculated.
If you lose, you do not pay our costs, providing that you have kept to Your Responsibilities. You pay your own disbursements. You may be able to take out an insurance policy against the risk of paying your own disbursements.
You do not pay the opponents costs unless you lose the protection of Qualified One Way Costs Shifting (see section “Qualified One Way Costs Shifting” below). If you win damages but are ordered to pay some of your opponents costs (for example if you fail to beat a Part 36 offer) then the amount of damages you receive can be reduced. This is explained in more detail in the section “Qualified One Way Costs Shifting” below). You may be able to take out an insurance policy against this risk.
If you are Fundamentally Dishonest you pay our costs when we ask you to pay them.
These are for work done from the date of our first contact with you until this agreement ends, and are subject to review. They are calculated for each hour engaged on your matter. Routine letters and telephone calls will be charged as units of one tenth of an hour. Other letters and telephone calls will be charged on a time basis. The hourly rates are:
Partners
If the case is one to which fixed costs applies, our basic costs will be the greater of the fixed costs or the costs calculated on the basis set out above.
Disbursements are the payments we make on your behalf such as Court fees, Barristers fees (if the Barrister is not on a CFA), Experts’ fees, Accident report fees or Travel expenses.
Estimates of disbursements in a typical personal injury case where damages are under £15,000 are:
If Court proceedings are required Court fees will be payable.
Please note that the above are estimates only. The figures exclude VAT.
The success fee (including VAT) is capped at 25% of your Damages (if a success fee of less than 25% is set out on the front page of the Conditional Fee Agreement, that lower percentage will apply) unless there is an Appeal. Damages for future loss (like future loss of earnings or future care) are not taken into the calculation. Sums repayable to the Compensation Recovery Unit (for benefits received as a consequence of your injury) are also excluded from the calculation.
Example:
Your settlement is: £10,000 which is made up of £2,500 General Damages for pain suffering and loss of amenity, £2,000 for past loss of earnings, £500 for past care and £5,000 future loss of earnings (the figures are examples and are not intended to have any bearing to your actual claim). You have received deductible state benefits of £1,000, which are repayable to the Compensation Recovery Unit. The success fee in this example is assumed to be 25% of Damages.
Our success fee in this example is £833 ( + VAT of £167 = £1,000 gross). This is calculated on a figure of £4,000 (£2,500 General Damages + £2,000 past loss of earnings + £500 past care - £1,000 repayable to CRU. The future loss of earnings are not taken into account).
Appeals are relatively rare. If there is an Appeal we will notify you and set out a separate success fee for the Appeal. If there is an appeal we will assess the risks involved in the Appeal and notify you at that time if a different success fee is appropriate.
Unless we have set out otherwise, in writing, the success fee is set at 100% of your Basic Charges subject to the overall cap of 25% of damages.
You agree to pay into a designated account any cheque or electronic payment (BACS, CHAPS or similar) received by you or by us from your opponent and made payable to you. Out of the money, you agree to let us take the sums due to us. You take the rest. We are allowed to keep any interest to your opponent pays on costs and disbursements.
If your claim includes claims for future losses and your Opponent makes an offer of settlement but refuses to break down the offer, we will set out our best analysis of the breakdown of the settlement between Past and Future Loss so that we can calculate the success fee. We will do so by reference to the other documents prepared in the case and explain our calculation.
It is not possible to be completely accurate in this assessment (for example because there is a range of possible values for general damages and other risk factors may apply to specific parts of your claim). We have a professional duty to treat you fairly and this will apply to our assessment. If you think our analysis of the breakdown is wrong you can ask us to look at it again. If you still think it is wrong you can ask us to instruct an independent barrister to advise on the breakdown. You pay the cost of the barrister as a disbursement. This may be recoverable from the Opponent depending on the type of case and the circumstances of the settlement.
Value Added Tax (VAT)
VAT is payable on our charges at 20% or such other rate as may be in force at the relevant time. Our VAT Number is 823 8367 14.
If you receive interim damages, we may require you to pay part of the Success Fee on account. We may also require you to pay our disbursements at that point as well as a reasonable amount for our future disbursements.
If on the way to winning or losing you are awarded any costs, by agreement or by court order, then we are entitled to payment of those costs and to retain these costs whether or not you go on to win your claim. We are allowed to keep any interest your opponent pays on the costs or disbursements.
If you receive provisional damages, we are entitled to payment of our basic charges and disbursements at that point. We are also entitled to payment of the success fee at that point in respect of the provisional damages.
The costs, which we can recover from your opponent, are limited by the Court rules to costs, which are and proportionate or, in some cases the costs we can recover from your opponent are fixed.
This means that it is very important that:
In turn we will try to limit the Basic Charges to the amount we can recover from your Opponent. If you do not keep to your obligations as set out above we reserve the right to charge the full costs we have incurred even if these exceed the costs recoverable from your Opponent.
Fixed costs cases are generally those cases where the damages are likely to be less than £25,000. In all cases we need to act proportionately.
Qualified One Way Costs Shifting (which we refer to as “QOCS”) applies to personal injury cases only. It is designed to limit the circumstances when you might be liable to pay your opponents costs.
The rules themselves are detailed and are set out in the Civil Procedure Rules. They need to be considered in 3 stages
The circumstances in which you can be ordered to pay your opponents costs are if:
QOCS only needs to be considered if the Court makes an order that you pay your opponents costs.
If the Court doesn’t make a costs order against you then you cannot be liable for the Opponents Costs.
If you have lost your case (ie. awarded no damages) then unless one of the exceptions at Stage 3 applies then you cannot be ordered to pay any costs to your opponent.
If you have recovered some damages but there is also a costs order made against you (for example where you have failed to beat a Part 36 offer), the maximum you can be ordered to repay is the amount of damages and interest received.
Example 1 — you are awarded £10,000 in damages but fail to beat a Part 36 offer. Your opponent is awarded £3000 costs for the period after the Part 36 offer. Your opponent deducts £3,000 from the damages you have been awarded and pays £7,000 net.
Example 2 - you are awarded £10,000 in damages but fail to beat a Part 36 offer. Your opponent is awarded £15,000 costs for the period after the Part 36 offer. Your opponent does not have to pay you anything (because the £15,000 costs exceed the £10,000 damages) but you do not have to pay any balance to your opponent.
Where an exception applies you can be ordered to pay the full costs. The Court will normally hold a hearing to determine whether an exception applies.
The exceptions are:
It may be possible to obtain insurance against these risks (apart from the risk that you are found to be dishonest).
Qualified one-way costs shifting does not apply to claims where there is no element of personal injury. In mixed claims (claims which include damages for personal injury but which also include some other elements, it is open to the Court to make an order that QOCS does not apply. Pre-action disclosure applications are not covered by QOCS.
The government have made changes which came into force on 13th April 2015 and which apply to all cases where proceedings start on or after that date to deal with a perceived issue of fraud or dishonesty in personal injury claims.
The changes mean that if any part of your claim (or evidence which you give in a related claim brought by another person) is considered by the Court to be fundamentally dishonest applying the test of balance of probabilities (ie. more likely than not), the Court must dismiss the whole of your claim unless the Court considers that you would suffer a substantial injustice if the claim is dismissed.
Specific points to note are:
If the Court does find that you have been dishonest in any part of your claim it is likely that you will lose the benefit of any costs protection (either from insurance or from the rules relating to Qualified One-way Costs Shifting) so are likely to have to pay the opponents costs. If you have entered into a conditional fee agreement with us then you would be in breach of that CFA and also be liable to pay our costs.
We hope that you will appreciate why we have had to set out the warnings above. The vast number of honest claimants have nothing to worry about but these provisions have been introduced to deal with the few dishonest claimants.
Where the Court sets out timescales for taking a particular step (whether in Directions or in the court rules and practice directions), you must provide us with all information and documents and take any other steps we ask you to take so that the directions can be complied with. If the Directions, rules or practice directions are breached the Court can apply sanctions to you. Sanctions can include depriving you of the opportunity to bring all or part of your case, depriving you of the right to rely on documents or evidence, striking out all or part of your case and imposing costs orders on you.
The Court, in multi-track claims, usually requires the parties to provide costs budgets when directions are being set (usually after the defence has been served). The parties either agree budgets or alternatively, the Court sets the budget for the case going forward. There a limited circumstances where the Court can vary a budget once it has been set. If the costs budgeting process is applied to your case we will let you know.
When the Court sets a costs budget this limits (subject to the Courts wide discretion on costs) the costs which you can recover from your opponent (in the event that a cost order is made in your favour) or the costs which you can be ordered to pay your opponent (in the event that a costs order is made against you). The costs budget approved or set by the Court does not limit the costs, which you are liable to pay us.
We will have told you separately whether we have suggested that a policy of After the Event insurance is appropriate for you. If we have this section applies to you. If we have not, but you wish to consider after the event insurance further please contact the person handling your case.
There is a risk that you may not recover your own disbursements and/or that you may be at risk of paying your opponents costs (subject to the rules on qualified one way costs shifting). Despite the rules in relation to Qualified One Way Cost Shifting (QOCS) there remains a significant risk that you could lose some or all of your damages if you fail to beat a Part 36 Offer. From the information you have provided we believe that you need to be protected against these risks.
In all the circumstances, on the information currently available to us, we believe that a policy of insurance is appropriate.
Our advice is not based on an analysis of the after the event insurance market because we do not hold ourselves out as insurance brokers, but is based upon a regular review of the market.
We believe that a contract of insurance is appropriate because: The policy covers the risk of you paying your own disbursements and your opponent’s costs. Despite the rules in relation to Qualified One Way Cost Shifting (QOCS) there remains a significant risk that you could lose some or all of your damages if you fail to beat a Part 36 Offer.
We are not contractually obliged to insure your case with any insurer. We do have a delegated authority scheme, which enables our clients to obtain insurance in instances where the premiums may be far higher and for claims that might well not be insurable elsewhere and with a minimum of administrative cost. We have no financial interest in any insurance scheme. We do not receive commission.
You can request details of the insurance undertakings with which we conduct business and we will provide those details to you on request.
We are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. However, we are included on the register maintained by the Financial Conduct Authority so that we can carry on insurance mediation activity, which is broadly the advising on, selling and administration of insurance contracts. This part of our business, including arrangements for complaints or redress if something goes wrong, is regulated by the Law Society. The register can be accessed via the Financial Conduct Authority website at http://www.fca.org.uk.
There are other insurance companies and insurance products available and you should feel free to seek independent advice from an insurance broker or other independent financial adviser on the choice of insurance policies available to you if you wish to do so. We would point out that your insurance will only protect you provided that you abide by the terms and conditions of the policy and that the loss claimed for is one, which is covered by the terms of the policy. You are therefore advised to read the policy in full.
Or
You may be able to take out a policy of After the Event Insurance to cover the risk that you will not recover your own disbursements and/or the risk of paying your opponents costs (subject to the rules on qualified one way costs shifting see above). Following changes made by the government in April 2013 you would not be able to recover the premium from your Opponent and the premium would be payable by you (usually at the end of the case). If you wish us to look to take out a policy of After the Event Insurance or look to take out a policy please let us know straight away.
We are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. However, we are included on the register maintained by the Financial Conduct Authority so that we can carry on insurance mediation activity, which is broadly the advising on, selling and administration of insurance contracts. This part of our business, including arrangements for complaints or redress if something goes wrong, is regulated by the Law Society. The register can be accessed via the Financial Conduct Authority website at http://www.fca.org.uk.
Whilst it may be that your desired outcome can only be achieved by pursuing your claim to a Court hearing, this can sometimes be an expensive and confrontational process.
There are forms of alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation, which can, in the right case, prove effective in achieving the outcome you want and in saving costs. We need to draw these to your attention.
If you do wish to resolve your case at an early stage, you may wish to consider making proposals to settle the claim. There is a device called a Part 36 offer, which we can use to make a formal offer to your opponents and which will have consequences for your opponents if they do not accept the Part 36 offer.
If you wish to discuss this further then please contact us.
If your opponent does not pay any damages or charges owed to you, we have the right to take recovery action in your name to enforce a judgment, order or agreement. The charges of this action become part of the basic charges.
The cost of advocacy and any other work by us, or by any solicitor agent on our behalf, forms part of our basic charges. We may, if we consider it appropriate, instruct a barrister to provide advocacy services. We will advise you about the arrangements for payment of the barristers fees if we instruct a barrister.
(a) Barristers who have a conditional fee agreement with us
If you win, you are normally entitled to recover the Barrister’s basic fee (but not success fee if any) from your opponent. If the barrister seeks a success fee we will advise you. If you lose, you pay the barrister nothing.
(b) Barristers who do not have a conditional fee agreement with us
If you win, then you will normally be entitled to recover all or part of their fee from your opponent. If you lose, then these are treated as a disbursement.
Barristers do not have to agree to take cases on a conditional fee basis. We will advise you in writing if a barrister has agreed to work on a conditional fee basis.
Paying us if you end the agreement
You can end the agreement at any time. We then have the right to decide whether you must:
Paying us if we end the agreement
a) We can end the agreement if you do not keep to your obligations. We then have the right to decide whether you must:
b) We can end the agreement if we believe you are unlikely to win. If this happens (providing you have complied with your obligations), you will only have to pay our disbursements. These may be able to be claimed under the insurance policy. Disbursements: these will include barristers’ fees if the barrister does not have a conditional fee agreement with us.
c) We can end the agreement if you reject our opinion about making a settlement with your opponent. You must then:
d) We can end this agreement if you do not pay your insurance premium or any other sum when asked to do so. We then have the right to decide whether you must:
e) We can end this agreement if we believe that a Court will find that you have been Fundamentally Dishonest. You must then:
This agreement automatically ends if you die before your claim for damages is concluded. We will be entitled to recover our basic charges up to the date of your death from your estate. If your personal representatives wish to continue your claim for damages, we may offer them a new Conditional Fee Agreement, as long as they agree to pay the success fee on our basic charges from the beginning of the agreement with you.
After this agreement ends, we may apply to have our name removed from the record of any court proceedings in which we are acting unless you have another form of funding and ask us to work for you.
We have the right to preserve our lien unless another solicitor working for you undertakes to pay us what we are owed including a success fee if you win. If the agreement ends before the whole case we have been instructed to deal with is concluded, we will be entitled to payment for the work done up to the date the agreement ends on the basis set out in these terms. Our agreement with you is not what is sometimes referred to as an entire contract.
We have offered to deal with your case under a conditional fee agreement. There are other ways of funding your case, which include:
If you require further advice or information on any of these methods of funding please contact us. We have set out general information only about these methods of funding. They may not be appropriate to your case. There may be other solicitors who are prepared to act on different terms than we are prepared to act.
If the claim includes an element of personal injury, which is valued at £1000 or less (or if the Small Claims track limit is changed such higher limit) it is likely, if Court proceedings are issued and defended, that the case will be allocated to the Small Claims Track. This means that only limited fixed costs will be recoverable from the opponent if you are the Claimant and that no costs will be recovered if you are the Defendant unless the Court believes that your opponent has proceeded in an unreasonable manner. This is a hard test to satisfy and it is rare that the Court makes an unreasonable costs order in the small claims track. This means that the costs incurred by us in dealing with the claim will outweigh the costs, which can be recovered from your opponent. You need to consider with us whether it is economic to pursue the claim in these circumstances. The same applies if your case does not include a claim for personal injury and the value of the claim is likely to be less than £10,000.
You need to consider in the light of the potential value of the case and the risks involved in litigation (including the risk of having to pay your opponents’ costs) whether to pursue your case. If you require any further specific information on this please contact us.
Whilst it may be that your desired outcome can only be achieved by pursuing your claim to a Court hearing, this can sometimes be an expensive and confrontational process.
There are forms of alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation, which can, in the right case, prove effective in achieving the outcome you want and in saving costs.
If you do wish to resolve your case at an early stage, you may wish to consider making proposals to settle the claim. There is a device called a Part 36 offer, which we can use to make a formal offer to your opponents and which will have consequences for your opponents if they do not accept the Part 36 offer. We will advise you about making a Part 36 offer when we have enough information to be sufficiently certain about the value of your case to recommend a settlement. If you make a Part 36 offer and it is accepted that creates a binding settlement and you cannot claim any further sums from your opponent.
If you wish to discuss this further then please contact us.
We are committed to providing high-quality legal advice and client care to all our clients. If you are unhappy about any aspect of the service you have received or about a bill for our fees please refer in the first instance to the person dealing with your file. At that stage we will send you a copy of our Complaints Procedure. Alternatively, you may request a copy of our Complaints Procedure at any time. If you are not satisfied with the way we handle your complaint you may be able to contact the:
Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6806
Wolverhampton
WV1 9WJ
http://www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Telephone 0300 555 0333
[email protected].
The Legal Ombudsman can deal with individuals or certain charities, clubs or microbusinesses. Normally, you will need to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint. The Legal Ombudsman may also consider complaints within six years of the act or omission about which you are complaining occurring (or if outside of this period, within three years of when you should reasonably have been aware of it).
We do not pay Prohibited Referral Fees (as set out in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 and by the SRA in our professional code).
Our independence and professional judgment are not affected by any other arrangements. Your interests are protected and we will act in your best interests at all times.
You give us authority to:
You have the right to challenge our bill. You can do this by raising a complaint about the bill with us initially. You may also have the right to apply to the court for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitors’ Act 1974 and/or Part 46.10 of the Civil Procedure Rules, if you case involves contentious business (predominantly litigation cases where court proceedings have been issued). You may also have a right (this applies to individuals or certain microbusinesses, charities or clubs) to object to the bill by making a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman may not deal with a complaint about a bill if you have applied to the court for an assessment of that bill. If you require further information on any of the above matters or about costs generally please speak to us.
We are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. However, we are included on the register maintained by the Financial Conduct Authority so that we can carry on insurance mediation activity, which is broadly the advising on, selling and administration of insurance contracts. This part of our business, including arrangements for complaints or redress if something goes wrong, is regulated by Solicitors Regulation Authority. The register can be accessed via the Financial Conduct Authority website at http://www.fca.org.uk/register.
We encourage communication by e-mail. If you would like us to communicate with you by e-mail please provide us with your e-mail address. Often the information we send you will be of a confidential nature (for example details about your case or expert evidence) and you will be aware that communication by e-mail and/or the internet is not always secure. If you provide us with your e-mail address to use to communicate with you we will (unless you advise us to the contrary) assume that you are giving your authority to us to include confidential information in non-encrypted e-mails. We do not usually encrypt e-mails.
Our use of your personal data is subject to your instructions, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), other relevant UK and EU legislation and our professional duty of confidentiality.
You can find our Privacy Policy which explains how and why we collect, store, use and share your personal data on our website here. It also explains your rights in relation to your personal data and how to contact us or supervisory authorities in the event you have a complaint. Please read it carefully.
Please ask if you would like to receive a paper copy of our Privacy Policy
We will keep any confidential information you give to us confidential save that from time to time, we may be obliged to disclose information relating to your file to other bodies, for example The Solicitors Regulation Authority, external auditors and legal expenses insurers. This disclosure may be in written or electronic form and any information disclosed will be treated in the strictest confidence. We assume you consent to this disclosure unless we receive your express written instructions to the contrary.
We owe a duty to you to disclose all information that we are aware of which is material to your case. We also owe a duty to keep information we receive from our other clients (including former clients) confidential. It is possible that we may receive confidential information during the course of dealing with our other clients that may be considered to be relevant to your case. We cannot disclose any confidential information we have received from other clients to you without the consent of those other clients as the Solicitors’ Code of Conduct provides that our duty of confidentiality overrides our duty of disclosure. By instructing us you agree that our duty of disclosure to you does not extend to disclosure of confidential information we have received from our other clients. We also limit our duty of disclosure to our other clients in this way so that we do not have to disclose confidential information received from you to our other clients.
Interest is charged on all, or part of, any bill, which is not paid within 28 days of delivery at 8% over the base rate of the Barclays Bank plc both before and after judgment. Interest charged under this clause will run from the date of delivery of the bill.
Money held by us for you, whether on account of fees or disbursements or otherwise, will be placed in our general client accounts with our bankers unless you specifically request otherwise. If you require a separate designated client account, an administrative fee will be agreed with you for setting up and maintaining the account.
Money held by us for you, whether on account of fees or disbursements or otherwise, will be placed in our general client accounts with our bankers unless you specifically request otherwise. If you require a separate designated client account, an administrative fee will be agreed with you for setting up and maintaining the account. A copy of our Interest Policy is available on request.
We reserve the right to keep all papers, documents and any other property held on your behalf until all money due to us is paid. This lien may be applied after our retainer ends.
Sometimes we ask other companies or people to do on our files to ensure this is done promptly and cost effectively. We will always seek a confidentiality agreement with these outsourced providers. If you do not want your file to be outsourced, please tell us as soon as possible.
After the conclusion of your case we will keep our file of papers for 7 years (or in the case of property purchase transactions 15 years) after which they will be destroyed. We may (at our election) store electronic copies of the file rather than the original paper documents. We will not destroy any documents you ask us to hold for safekeeping on your behalf. If we take papers or documents out of storage at your request, we reserve the right to charge you for the retrieval. We may also charge for the time spent producing the papers that are requested and for reading correspondence and other work necessary to comply with your instructions in relation to the retrieved papers.
We expect to provide you with a service that meets your needs and to achieve the outcome we agree at the outset of the case. Whilst we do not expect this to happen, sometimes things can go wrong.
We have the benefit of Professional Indemnity Insurance. We limit our liability to you greater of to the minimum level of cover required by the SRA indemnity insurance rules, currently £3 million, or to the amount of the cover provided by our insurers, which is currently £20 million for any one claim. This limit applies to the aggregate of all claims including costs made any one party or parties arising from a transaction.
Advice given or other legal services provided are for the benefit of our clients alone and should not be relied upon by anyone else. Details of the insurers and coverage of the policy are available to our clients on request.
We only give advice on the legal issues you have instructed us to deal with. We do not give advice on other issues unless you specifically instruct us to advise on these issues and we agree to advise. We do not give advice on tax or state benefits. You should take advice from an appropriate other professional on these issues.
We are a trading style of Simpson Millar, a Limited Liability Partnership (“LLP”) and if you need to make a claim you bring that claim against the LLP. None of the members, staff, consultants or agents of the LLP have any liability in respect of a claim by you and you agree that you will not pursue any claim against any of those people.
The exclusions and limitations set out above do not apply to liability for death or personal injury or any other liability, which cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, or to liability arising as a result of fraud on our part.
If you start proceedings against us for loss or damage and there is another person (for example, another adviser) who is liable or potentially liable to you in respect of the same loss or damage, then you will if we so request join them into the proceedings. This is subject to any legal prohibition against your joining them in that way.
If you are unsure or in any way unclear about the effect of this section, then please contact us.
Simpson Millar LLP is committed to promoting equality and diversity in all of its dealings with clients, third parties and employees. Please contact us if you would like a copy of our Equality and Diversity Policy.
You have the right to cancel this contract within 14 days without giving any reason. The cancellation period will expire after 14 days from the day of conclusion of the contract.
To exercise the right to cancel, you must inform us [Simpson Millar, 27 St Paul’s Street, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS1 2JG, tel: 0345 357 9000*, fax: 0345 357 9199, email [email protected] (please quote your case reference in any correspondence)] of your decision to cancel this contract by a clear statement (e.g. a letter sent by post, fax or e-mail).
You may use the below model cancellation form, but it is not obligatory.
To meet the cancellation deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right to cancel before the cancellation period has expired.
If you cancel this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (except for the supplementary costs arising if you chose a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us). We may make a deduction from the reimbursement for loss in value of any goods supplied, if the loss is the result of unnecessary handling by you. We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than — (a) 14 days after the day we receive back from you any goods supplied, or (b) (if earlier) 14 days after the day you provide evidence that you have returned the goods, or (c) if there were no goods supplied, 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to cancel this contract.
We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of the reimbursement.
If you requested us to begin the performance of services during the cancellation period you shall pay us an amount, which is in proportion to what has been performed until you have communicated to us your cancellation from this contract in comparison with the full coverage of the contract.
.....................................................................................................................
Model Cancellation Form — (Use only if you wish to Cancel)
To: Simpson Millar, 27 St Paul’s Street, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS1 2JG,
tel: 0345 357 9000*,
fax: 0345 357 9199,
email [email protected].
I/We [*] hereby give notice that I/We [*] cancel my/our [*] contract of sale of the following goods [*]/ for the supply of the following service [*],
Ordered on [*]/ received on [*].
Name of consumer(s) ..............................................
Address of consumer(s) .............................................
Signature of consumer(s) ................... (only if this form is notified on paper)
Date: .................. Ref .....................................
[*] Delete as appropriate.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unless otherwise agreed, and subject to the application of our then current hourly rates, the Basic Charges and other terms and conditions contained in this Client Care Information Booklet shall apply to any other cases you refer to us. If you wish us to carry out that work under a conditional fee agreement then we will consider whether (but shall not be obliged) to enter into a conditional fee agreement with you.
We are not liable to repay money lost through a banking failure. All monies are currently held in UK banks or Building Societies.
The provisions of our Agreement are severable and if any provision of these terms and conditions is held to be unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable and the remaining provisions of this agreement shall continue in full force and effect.
Our Agreement with you and any dispute arising between you and us shall be governed by English law.
All solicitors' practices are required by law under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the Terrorism Act 2000 and Money Laundering Regulations 2017 to apply procedures to guard against the risk of money laundering. These place quite onerous requirements on us, which we have to apply even to our existing and valued clients.
There are exceptions in certain categories of cases.
The main implications are as follows:
Advocacy : Appearing for you at court hearings.
Appeal : Where either you or your opponent seek to challenge a decision made by the Court by appealing to a higher Court. It is only possible to Appeal if the Court gives permission to Appeal.
Basic charges : Our charges for the legal work we do on your claim for damages.
Claim : Your claim as set out on the front page of the Conditional Fee Agreement.
Counterclaim : A claim that your opponent makes against you in response to your claim.
Costs : Our basic charges and success fee.
Damages : Money that you win whether by a court decision or settlement. When calculating the Success Fee, we take into account your general damages and damages for past losses only. Damages for Future Losses such as future loss of earnings or future care are not taken into account. Amounts repayable to the Compensation Recovery Unit are also excluded from our calculation.
Disbursements (or Our Disbursements) : Payments we make on your behalf such as Court fees, Barristers fees, Experts’ fees, Accident report fees or Travel expenses.
Fundamentally Dishonest : where a court is satisfied (or in our opinion is likely to be satisfied) on the balance of probabilities that you have been fundamentally dishonest in relation to your claim (the primary claim) or a related claim (a claim made in connection with the same incident or series of incidents in connection with which the primary claim is made by a person other than the person who made the primary claim).
Future Loss : Claims for Future Loss are claims for losses, which have not yet been incurred at the point when a settlement is agreed or when the Court gives judgment. Examples include items such as future loss of earnings or future care needs.
General Damages : The amount of damages agreed or awarded for pain, suffering and loss of amenity.
Gross settlement : Means a settlement or award, which is not broken down into separate elements.
Interim damages : Money that a court says your opponent must pay or your opponent agrees to pay while waiting for a settlement or the court's final decision.
Interim hearing : A court hearing that is not final.
Lien : Our right to keep all papers, documents, money or other property held on your behalf until all money due to us is paid. A lien may be applied after this agreement ends.
Lose : The court has dismissed your claim or you have stopped it on our advice.
Part 36 offer : An offer to settle your claim made in accordance with Part 36 of the Civil Procedure Rules. This is an offer, which has consequences if you reject it. We will advise you at the time any offer is made.
Past Loss : The part of the Damages for actual losses, which have already been incurred at the point when a settlement is agreed or when the Court gives judgment. Examples include items such as past loss of earnings or past care needs.
Provisional damages : Money that a court says your opponent must pay or your opponent agrees to pay, on the basis that you will be able to go back to court at a future date for further damages if:
in a way that has been proved or admitted to be linked to your personal injury claim.
Provisional damages claims are rare.
Qualified one way costs shifting or “QOCS” : The Civil Procedure Rules dealing with Qualified One Way Costs Shifting in personal injury cases. We describe these in more detail under the heading “Qualified One Way Costs Shifting” above.
Success fee : The additional amount we charge if you win your claim for damages.
Trial : The final contested hearing or the contested hearing of any issue to be tried separately and a reference to a claim concluding at trial includes a claim settled after the trial has commenced or a judgment.
Unlikely to Win : we believe, in our sole discretion, that your claim is unlikely to win (ie. that the chances of success are 50% or less).
We, Us, Our, Simpson Millar : In these terms the expressions "we" "us" or "our" refer to Simpson Millar LLP Solicitors, . Simpson Millar is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales: No. OC313936. Registered Office: 39 St Pauls Street, Leeds, LS1 2JG. Authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Registration number 424940.
Win : Your claim for damages is decided in your favour whether by a court decision or an agreement to pay you damages or you recover damages or in any way that you derive benefit from pursuing the claim.
November 2017
