Terms of Business

TERMS OF BUSINESS

Our firm is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) which is the regulation body for Solicitors under registration number 632134

Our accompanying client care letter provides detailed information about your matter, the name and professional status of the fee earner with conduct of your matter together with the name and professional status of the person with responsibility for overall supervision of your file. It also sets out appropriate details about your objectives, instruction, key dates, advice and options available to you. It will confirm the proposed action plan and the next steps. It will also set out the steps to take if you are dissatisfied with our service.

1.           PLACE AND HOURS OF BUSINESS

Our offices are located at Telynfa, Main Road, Gwaelod-y-Garth, Cardiff, CF15 9HJ.  The normal hours of opening are between 9.00 a.m. and 5.00 p.m. on weekdays.  Appointments can be arranged outside those hours (or off premises) when essential to your interests or if you are disabled, to make reasonable adjustments to enable you to more easily access our services. Please let us know if you need any assistance.

2.           RESPONSIBILITY FOR WORK

2.1         The Solicitor and fee earner responsible for the conduct of your matter is named in the accompanying client care letter, as is the person responsible for overall supervision of your case.

3.           COMPLAINTS

3.1         We aim to offer all clients a friendly and efficient service.  If however, any difficulty should arise with your matter including the conduct of the case or our bill, you should first raise the matter with Helen Downes.  

3.2         If you are still dissatisfied, after informally discussing the matter you may refer the matter to Helen Downes as a formal complaint. She will fully investigate your complaint and provide a full written response within a period of 28 days. A copy of our written complaints procedure can be provided on request.

3.3      If you are not satisfied with our handling of your complaint, you can also ask the;

Legal Ombudsman

PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH

Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk 

Tel: 0300 555 0333

Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.co.uk

to consider the complaint.

This must be done within six months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint.

The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern.

1.  Please Note

      

1. If your complaint is specifically about our bill, you have the right to object to it and apply for an assessment of it under part III of the Solicitors Act 1974. If you should choose to exercise this right, and the court is assessing our bill, you may be unable to use the Legal Ombudsman service.
2. If you are complaining as a business client, unless you are a “micro business” (as defined by the European Union), you may not be able to use the Legal Ombudsman scheme and should check the guidance on Legal Ombudsman’s website.
3. If you refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman as a trustee/personal representative (executor/administrator) or beneficiary of the estate/trust of a person who, before they died, had not referred the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman the period runs from when the deceased should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint; and when the complainant (or the deceased) should reasonably have known there was a cause for complaint will be assessed on the basis of the complainant’s (or deceased’s) own knowledge, disregarding what the complainant (or the deceased) might have been told if he/she had sought advice.
4. If the ombudsman considers there are exceptional circumstances (e.g. serious illness or you were still within the time limits when you made your initial complaint to them) then he/she may extend any of the above time limits to the extent that he/she considers fair.

If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.

4.           FEES

4.1         We have provided you (in our covering client care letter) with the best information possible, at this stage, about the likely overall cost of you matter and will update you, when appropriate, as the matter progresses. The basis of our charging is set out below.

4.2         Where we accept conduct of your case, we do not usually receive commissions or referral fees and therefore, other than our fees we will not normally receive from a third party any financial benefit as a result of accepting your instructions.

4.3         We provide legal services in connection with Wills, Probate, Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) and Trusts. For Wills, LPA and Trusts we charge a fixed fee and this would have been provided to you in our Client Care letter which accompanied this letter. For Probate, we charge a percentage of the value of the estate. Whilst we do not usually know the value of the estate at the outset of the matter, our client care letter provides information on how much this would be likely to be, based on typical estate values.

4.4         Our fees are normally reviewed annually to take effect from the 1^st January and take account of changes in our overhead costs.  Details of any revision of rates occurring during the continuance of a case or transaction will be supplied to you. These rates may not be appropriate in cases of exceptional complexity or urgency.  Where it becomes apparent that such circumstances exist, we reserve the right to terminate the retainer unless higher rates are agreed in substitution to the above.

4.5         In the administration of estates and in transactions involving a substantial financial consideration or benefit to the client, fees may be calculated both by reference to the time spent and also by reference to a value element based on e.g. the price of the property, the size of the estate or the value of the financial benefit. The value element reflects the importance of the transaction and the resultant risk and responsibility falling on the firm.

4.6         “Disbursements” include payments made by us on behalf of the client e.g. for such items as Probate Registry fees etc.  We have no obligation to effect such payments unless funds have been provided in advance by the client for that purpose.  VAT is payable on certain disbursements. 

4.7         Our fees are payable whether or not a matter is successfully concluded or a transaction completed.  If any matter or transaction does not proceed to completion for any reason, then we shall be entitled to charge for work done to date on the basis set out above.

5.           ARRANGEMENTS FOR PAYMENT OF FEES

5.1         Administration of estates:  It is our usual practice to deliver interim accounts at intervals during the administration.  An interim bill will normally be submitted when the Grant has been obtained.  If it then transpires that it will take some time to complete the administration, further interim accounts will be rendered periodically and the final account will be presented when the estate accounts are delivered for approval.

5.2         Interest will be charged at 15% per annum after one month from the date of delivery of an account.

5.3         In any matter where monies are recovered or held on behalf of a client we reserve the right to deduct from such monies the amount of costs and/or disbursements then outstanding.

5.4         We will be entitled to exercise a lien over your file of papers until our costs and disbursements have been paid in full.

5.5    Deposit Protection scheme - the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the event of Bank failure

We are unlikely to be held liable for losses resulting from a banking failure.

1. The £85,000 FSCS protection limit applies to you as an individual client, and so if you hold other personal monies yourself in the same deposit-taking institution (e.g. bank) as our client account, the limit remains £85,000 in total.
2. If you are a corporate body client and are not considered a small company by FSCS, then you will not be eligible for compensation.
3. Deposit-taking institutions (like banks) have several brands, i.e. where the same institution is trading under different names. You should check either with your deposit-taking institution, the FCA or a financial adviser for more information.
4. We will assume by your acceptance of these terms of business that we have your consent for the disclosure to the FSCS of your details in the event of a deposit-taking institution (bank) failure.

6.           INTEREST PAYMENTS

6.1         If we hold client money for more than 7 days, fair and reasonable interest will be paid at the rate from time to time payable on National Westminster Bank Plc deposit account less a sum of £20.00 to take into account the administrative costs of calculation and payment in respect of each amount or interest as and when calculated. We will not pay interest if the total interest so calculated is less than £100.  Subject to the above, the period for which interest will be paid will normally run from the date(s) on which cleared funds are received by us until the date(s) of issue of any cheque(s) in discharge thereof.

7.           INSURANCE DISTRIBUTION

7.1         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 distribution 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 Solicitors Regulation Authority.  The register can be accessed via the Financial Conduct Authority Register at https://register.fca.org.uk/ . The firm’s Insurance Distribution Officer is Helen Downes.

8.       CONFIDENTIALITY, DATA PROTECTION ACT & THE UK GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION 2018

8.1     As solicitors, we have a duty of confidentiality to you under the SRA 2019 Code of Conduct for Firms. We, of course, take that duty very seriously and it is part of our professional culture to protect your personal data. In some circumstances we will have a legal obligation to share your personal data with public agencies and authorities.

              We are also registered under the Data Protection Act with the Information Commissioner.

              We use the information you provide primarily for the provision of legal services to you and for related purposes.

              Further information on how we process your personal data and our lawful bases, for doing so under the UK GDPR, can be found in our Privacy Notice, a copy of which is attached.

              If you refuse to provide certain information or object to us sharing it with others, then we may not be able to progress your matter or indeed continue to act for you.

              Please note that our work for you may require us to give information to external third parties such as expert witnesses and other professional advisors and auditors. Some of those third parties such as barristers and doctors will be subject to their own professional codes of conduct with regard to confidentiality. We have entered into appropriate confidentiality/privacy agreements with relevant third parties.

              You have the right to access the personal data that we hold about you. You also have other rights such as the right to object to us sending you information. You can exercise these rights by simply writing to Mrs Helen Downes, our COLP who has overall responsibility for Data Protection. If you have difficulty in putting your request in writing, then please contact us in some other way and we will do all that we reasonably can to accommodate you and enable you to exercise your rights.  We may ask you for proof of identity when you make a data subject request.

              Further information on your rights can be found in our Privacy Notice which can be viewed here; https://www.cla-tlp.co.uk/en/page/privacy-notice

              We may from time to time send you information which we think may be of interest to you. If you do not wish to receive that information, please let us know.  We attach a “Right to Object” form for your use.

8.2         Outsourcing of Work

Sometimes we ask other companies or people to do typing, photocopying or other administrative work on our files to ensure this is done promptly.  We will always seek a confidentiality agreement with these outsourced providers. However, if you do not want your file to be outsourced, please tell us as soon as possible.

8.3         Direct Marketing

If you would like to opt in to receiving direct marketing and updates from us, please tick the following box.  ¨

8.4         Auditing of Files & Confidentiality

External firms or organisations may conduct audits or quality checks on our practice. These external firms or organisations are required to maintain confidentiality in relation to your files. As a result of this, we are, or may become subject to periodic checks by outside assessors. This could mean that your file is selected for checking.  All inspections are, of course, conducted in confidence. If, however, you object to this, then please let us know and we will mark your file(s) as “not to be inspected”.  

9.           MONEY LAUNDERING REGULATIONS 2017 and Financial Transactions

9.1         We are required by anti money laundering legislation to obtain proof of identity from clients for whom we act. Accordingly, you may be asked to supply us with the requisite information. In order to enable us to satisfy our obligations under these Regulations and related legislation, it will almost always be necessary for you to supply appropriate proof of identity before we are able to act or continue to act for you or for any principal whom you may represent. We will also not be able to receive any funds from, or pay any funds to, you or on your behalf unless all necessary identification and other procedures have been satisfied for the purposes of the Regulations. Any failure or delay on your part to provide us with any requested documentation or information may mean that we cannot act for you or must cease acting for you.

For individuals and partnerships, proof of identity will usually be a current valid passport, driving licence, recognised identity card or equivalent showing your name, date of birth and photograph, together with a current utility bill or equivalent confirming your address. For companies, we will usually require a copy certificate of incorporation or copy audited statutory accounts together with personal identification as above in respect of some or all of the company’s directors. In the case of a company incorporated overseas, there should also be a certificate from lawyers qualified in the relevant jurisdiction to the effect that the company is properly incorporated, together with evidence of the company’s directors and of the authority and identity of the persons instructing us.

We are required to keep these records for a minimum period of five years.  Where we already hold the above information as we have acted on your behalf before in connection with another matter, we may require further documentation from you in order to update our records.

In the light of the Regulations and for insurance reasons we do not normally accept cash payments from or on behalf of clients and then only in special circumstances and for limited amounts up to £500.  Any cheque you give us should be a personal cheque from you drawn on a UK Bank Account in your name.

9.2         Destination of funds: Where we are to pay money out to you, we will normally do so by cheque in your favour, or into an account in your name. If instead you want us to pay surplus money out into the name of someone other than yourself, please tell us as early as possible, including the reason. We may not be able to comply with your request. The money received and paid out must relate to the underlying transaction/case. We are not permitted by the SRA Accounts Rules to simply act as a banker and receive money from you or a third party and pay it out on your behalf. All payments in and payments out must be related to and recorded on your matter file.

9.3         Proceeds of Crime Act 2002: The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 can oblige us to report information about financial offences to the National Crime Agency. In particular, if it seems that any assets involved in your matter were derived from a crime we may have to report it. This can include even small amounts of money, and covers all offences, including for example tax evasion and benefit fraud.

If we have to make a report we may not be able to tell you that we have done so. A report may result in an investigation by the police, the Inland Revenue or other authorities. The law contains exceptions. If you are concerned about how this may affect you, please ask us to clarify until we are satisfied with the source of the money or funds. We shall not be liable for any loss, damages, penalties, costs, interest or charges which you may so suffer or incur.

10.         STORAGE OF PAPERS AND DEEDS

10.1       Following the conclusion of a matter, we will retain your file of papers for such a period as we shall deem appropriate having regard to the nature and type of case. At the end of the case you will receive a closing letter from us setting out the retention period for your specific case file and documents.  A client who requires such papers (including pre-registration deeds and documents were the title to the property has been registered at H M Land Registry) to be kept for any specific period should give us notice in writing to that effect and, in the event of such notice being given, we reserve the right to require the client to take personal custody of the papers.  This provision does not apply to current deeds, wills, securities and other documents which we agree to store on your behalf.

10.2       We provide a safe storage service to clients in respect of wills, deeds and other securities and no charge will be made to the client for such storage unless prior notice in writing is given to the client of a charge to be made from a future date to be specified in that notice.

10.3       Where stored papers, wills deeds or securities are retrieved from storage by us in connection with continuing or new instructions to our firm to act in connection with your affairs, normally no charge will be made for such retrieval.  However we reserve the right to make an administration charge based on time spent in retrieval and any perusal, correspondence or other work necessary to comply with the instructions given by or on behalf of a client or former client for whom a file, papers, wills, deeds or securities are stored.

11.         TIME LIMITS & KEY DATES

11.1       Many matters have strict time limits or key dates within which a case has to be brought or during which procedural matters have to be complied with.  You will be advised of these time limits at the outset.  It is important that you remember them and check that they are being complied with.  The responsibility is as much yours as ours.

12.      TIME SCALES

12.1       We will at the outset give you an indication of how long your matter is likely to take to complete. This will obviously vary depending on the circumstances and to some extent will be out of our control e.g. bank, building society responses to our letters etc.

13.       SERVICE STANDARDS

13.1     We have set ourselves standards to work to in providing you with a high quality service. This is   what you can expect from us:

• We will update you by telephone or in writing with progress on your matter every 8 weeks or sooner if a significant change becomes apparent
• We will communicate in plain language and avoid jargon as far as possible
• We will explain to you by telephone or in writing the legal work required as your matter progresses.
• We will update you on the cost of your matter every six months or sooner if any change occurs
• We will update you on whether the likely outcomes still justify the likely costs and risks associated with your matter whenever there is a material change in circumstances
• We will update you on the likely timescales for each stage of this matter and any important changes in those estimates
• We will continue to review whether there are any alternative methods by which your matter can be funded.

Responsibilities

Our responsibilities:

• We will review your matter regularly,
• We will advise you of any changes in the law,
• We will advise you of any circumstances and risks of which we are aware or consider to be reasonably foreseeable that could affect the outcome of your matter,

Your responsibilities:

• You will provide us with clear, timely and accurate instructions
• You will provide all documentation and information required to complete the transaction in a timely manner
• You will safeguard any documents which are likely to be required for discovery
• You will check whether any insurance policy or membership you hold provides legal expenses cover for this type or matter and notify us accordingly

14.      EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

14.1     We are committed to promoting equality, diversity & inclusion in all our dealings with clients, third parties and employees. Please contact us if you would like a copy of our equality, diversity and inclusion policy.

15.     OFF-PREMISES & DISTANCE CONTRACTS

15.1       If we have not met with you at our offices, the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 will apply to this file. If so, then a separate letter explaining your rights of cancellation and a statutory form of notice will be attached to these Terms of Business.

16.         PROVISION OF SERVICES REGULATIONS 2009

16.1       We hold professional indemnity insurance with: Travellers Insurance Company Insurance Company of 61 – 63 London Road, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 1NA, (Telephone Number: 01737 787787) which covers us for legal advice services in England & Wales only.

16.2       We are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the detailed professional rules to which we are subject can be found in the SRA Handbook on the SRA’s website http://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/handbook/welcome.page

16.3       Our complaints resolution procedure is set out above.

17.         TERMINATION

17.1       You may terminate your instructions to us in writing at any time but (except in a legal aid case) we will be entitled to keep all your papers and documents while there is money owing to us for our charges and expenses. If at any stage you do not wish us to continue doing work and/or incurring charges and expenses on your behalf, you must tell us this clearly in writing.

17.2       If we decide to stop acting for you, for example if you do not pay an interim bill or comply with the request for a payment on account, we will tell you the reason and give you notice in writing.

17.3       If you decide to terminate or we decide to stop acting for you, you will pay our charges up to that point. These are calculated on an hourly basis or by a proportion of any agreed fixed fee.

18.         LAW – England & Wales

Our dealings and contractual arrangements will be governed by the laws of England and Wales.

19.         FUTURE INSTRUCTIONS

Unless otherwise agreed, and subject to the application of then current hourly rates, these Terms of Business shall apply to any future instruction given by you to our firm.

Although your continuing instructions in this matter will amount to an acceptance of these Terms of Business, it will be helpful if you would please sign and return one copy of them for us to retain on our file.

I have read, understood and accept the Terms of Business set out above.