Thank you for instructing this Firm to act for you. The accompanying letter confirming your instructions and these Standard Terms together set out the basis on which the Firm will act for you. Please read them carefully, then, in order to indicate your agreement, please sign and return the duplicate of the letter confirming your instructions which include acceptance of these Standard Terms: e-mailed copies are acceptable. Please let us know if you have any queries or concerns or if you have any difficulty understanding the letter or these Standard Terms, e.g. if you require information to be provided in larger text, another format or a different language.
1. General Definitions
1.1 The following are the Terms of Shentons Solicitors (“the Firm”). The “Terms” means the information set out in this document and the letter confirming your instructions and (unless the context otherwise requires and unless inconsistent with this document) includes any special terms and conditions agreed in writing.
1.2 The Firm only provides services (the “Services”), legal or otherwise, subject to these Terms and a client seeking services from the Firm accepts that these Terms shall govern relations between the Firm and the Client to the exclusion of any other terms. We are accredited by the Law Society to the requirements of the Lexcel management standards.
1.3 Any instructions issued by you are subject to acceptance by the Firm.
1.4 We will normally communicate with you by post and email, unless you instruct us otherwise.
2. Your Personal Data
2.1 The Privacy Policy on our website here explains why we are collecting your personal data, your rights in respect of it and how we look after it. Please read this carefully. Our Practice Manager is the person to contact if you would like a copy or if you have any questions about how we handle your personal data.
2.2 If you send us personal data about anyone other than yourself you will ensure you have any appropriate consents and notices in place to allow you to transfer that personal data to us and so that we may use it for the purposes for which you give it to us.
2.3 Unless you instruct us to the contrary, we will assume that you are prepared for us to use our discretion in communicating with you and any interested person or organisation involved in this matter through non-encrypted electronic communications.
2.4 You MUST tell us if you are travelling outside the EEA (outside of EU countries, plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) and you are asking us to send your personal data to you there (for example by using email). We have an obligation to protect personal data and check what safeguards are in place.
2.5 We reserve the right to record or monitor telephone calls.
2.6 We may be obliged without reference to you to make fair and comprehensive disclosure of privileged and/or client information to our firm’s advisers, including their solicitors, insurers and auditors. By signing the letter you agree to us making such disclosure if we are called upon to do so, unless you advise us otherwise. Similarly, we may be required to disclose personal information and/or documents to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), Legal Ombudsman (LeO), Lexcel Assessors, Legal Aid Agency (LAA) or to any mortgage provider with whom we are panel members or intermediary from time to time, regardless of whether you are borrowing from them. By signing the letter you explicitly consent to us making such disclosures if we are called upon to do so, unless you advise us otherwise. If you do not sign them, your continued instructions will signify your agreement to them. We do not normally copy your information to anyone outside the European Economic Agency (EEA) although we may if this is required for your matter. Sometimes we ask other companies or people to help us with work on your matter and we will share relevant information about you with them. We always seek a confidentiality agreement with outsourced providers. If you do not want us to share your details or to outsource work, please tell us straight away.
2.7 Please note that whilst we will retain your file after the matter has ended usually for a period of at least six years before it is destroyed, we might also maintain electronic copies of the file which may be kept for longer.
3. Anti-Money Laundering Requirements
3.1 The law requires solicitors, banks, building societies and others to obtain satisfactory evidence of the identity of their client and, at times, people related to the client or their matter. This is because solicitors who deal with money and property on behalf of their client can be used by criminals wanting to launder money.
3.2 In order to comply with the law on money laundering, we are required to obtain evidence of your identity and address as soon as practicable, and in any event before we can proceed with your matter. Please therefore arrange (for each of you, if you are instructing us jointly with other people) to bring to the office the following:
3.3 Originals of those items; will be photocopied and returned to you.
3.4 If you are unable to provide us with the specific identification requested, please contact us as soon as possible so that we can discuss alternative ways to verify your identity.
3.5 If any funds necessary for the completion of the matter are to be paid by a third party or parties, then it will be necessary for that person or those persons also to comply with these anti-money laundering requirements before the Firm can accept payment of such funds.
3.6 Please do not send the Firm any funds until the identification procedures have been carried out. We will require verification of the source of the funds for the transaction and we can decide in our absolute discretion only to proceed with the matter when this has been carried out to our satisfaction.
3.7 We may receive personal data from you for the purposes of our money laundering checks, such as a copy of your passport. These will be processed only for the purposes of preventing money laundering and terrorist financing or as otherwise permitted by law or with your express consent. You consent to us retaining such data for longer than the five-year statutory period.
3.8 The Firm may use electronic identification service providers to confirm your identity and that of any beneficial owners. By instructing us, you consent to such checks being carried out and if you refuse to do so we may refuse to act for you. We reserve the right to charge an administration fee in connection with such electronic checks.
3.9 Solicitors are under a professional and legal obligation to keep the affairs of clients confidential. This obligation, however, is subject to a statutory exception. Legislation on money laundering and terrorist financing places solicitors under a legal duty in certain circumstances to disclose information to the National Crime Agency (NCA), without reference to you (see www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk) unless it is information received so that advice may be given about it, or unless it compromises the advice itself (“privileged information “). We therefore reserve the right to give such notices to the NCA as we deem appropriate without notice or discussion with you. Where a member of staff knows or suspects that a transaction on behalf of a client involves money laundering, we may be required by law to make a money laundering disclosure. If that happens, the Firm may not be able to inform you that a disclosure has been made or of the reasons for it because the law prevents us “tipping” you off.
3.10 Please note that the Firm is normally only able to accept cash up to a limit of £750.00 in any 28-day period. If clients circumvent this policy by depositing cash direct with the Firm’s bank the Firm reserves the right to charge for any additional checks that may be deemed necessary regarding the source of the funds.
3.11 We have to make compulsory identification checks and you have to provide us with evidence of your name and your current address, which means that you should either send certified identification to us or attend our office in person and bring original identification documents with you. We reserve the right not to accept payment in cash. We will require verification of the source of the funds for the transaction and we can decide in our absolute discretion only to proceed to completion of the matter when this has been carried out to our satisfaction.
4. Costs and Expenses
4.1 Your individual cost estimate is included in the separate letter enclosed. The Firm's charges are exclusive of VAT and any charges required by third parties. VAT will be charged at the applicable rate. The VAT registration number for the Firm is 188 6896 78.
4.2 You will not make any deduction from any amount due to the Firm on account of any disputes, set offs or cross claims.
4.3 If we are retaining any funds on your account at the time we are required to make any payments on your behalf or we are rendering an invoice of our costs then such money will be used to fund such expenditure unless you have given us specific instructions not to do so.
4.4 The Firm will present invoices on a monthly basis unless otherwise agreed with you from the date of the initial instructions or when charges amount to £500 plus VAT or more. The interim bill may not incorporate all of the time spent and disbursements incurred in the interim billing period. If this is the case the Firm will charge the time and disbursements so incurred in subsequent bills.
4.5 The payment of any amounts due to the firm must be made within 14 days of the presentation of our bill. After the expiry of one month from delivery date of the bill, the Firm reserves the right to:
a. charge interest at 10% on all or part of the unpaid bill (including disbursements) and all interest will be calculated and compounded monthly;
b. charge a fixed administration fee of £100 + VAT; and/or
c. commence Court action for recovery of any outstanding balance plus interest & administration fee without further notice.
4.6 If any payment is overdue the Firm reserves the right to suspend any further action on your behalf.
4.7 If, for any reason, this Firm does not complete the work you have instructed us to do, then a charge will be made in respect of the work that has already been completed. VAT will normally be payable on that amount and you will also be invoiced for any disbursements (expenses) incurred upon your behalf.
4.8 Where funds are paid to us on your behalf by a third party, by signing the letter (accepting these Terms) you agree that any unused funds may be returned to that third party if funds are no longer required to be held by the Firm.
5. Bank Details
Please note that this firm’s bank account details are highly unlikely to change during a transaction and WE WILL NEVER NOTIFY YOU OF A CHANGE TO OUR BANK ACCOUNT DETAILS VIA EMAIL.
Fraudsters occasionally target people involved in legal transactions. To obtain our bank details you should ask for them in person at our office or via telephone. We will not send them via email on the first occasion so that you can be sure they have not been intercepted by anyone. Please then be very wary of any purported communication from us suggesting that these account details have changed.
6. Charges and Payment – Legally Aided Clients
6.1 The charges will be at the relevant rate allowed by the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) from time to time. You will be given an estimate by the Firm of the total costs and any expenses (disbursements) at the outset of your matter. If the LAA require you to pay contributions towards your fees you will be notified by them. If you are expected to contribute at the end of your matter via statutory charge then you will be advised by us of the total fees and disbursements incurred in your matter every six months.
6.2 If at any time your Legal Aid Certificate/Representation Order is revoked, the Firm reserves the right to charge you for the full amount of costs and disbursements incurred since the issue of the Legal Aid Certificate/ Representation Order.
6.3 You must always provide, when requested by the Firm, accurate, full and up to date details of your financial affairs. This is in addition to your personal duty to tell the LAA of any change in your financial circumstances.
6.4 Please be aware that the LAA reserves the right, dependent upon the type of action being undertaken, to register a Statutory Charge. The details will be advised by the Firm and confirmed by letter to you.
7. Orders for Costs (all Litigation Clients)
7.1 You should be aware of the potential liability for your own costs and for those of any other party including:
a. Your responsibility for paying our bill in full, regardless of any order for costs made against an opponent.
b. You may have to pay the opponent’s costs as well as your own costs if the case is lost.
c. If you win the opponent may not be ordered to pay or be capable of paying the full amount of your costs.
NOTE: If the opponent is legally aided, it is highly unlikely that you will recover costs, even if successful.
7.2 Obtaining an order for costs against your opponent or other party is no guarantee of recovery of any funds.
7.3 If you are facing criminal proceedings, you may have to pay towards the costs of the prosecuting body that commenced the prosecution. This is irrespective of whether your case was funded by legal aid.
7.4 If you have funded representation in criminal proceedings privately and you are acquitted, you will NOT be able to recover all of your fees. You will only be able to claim for work done at legal aid rates and the shortfall between these and private fees will mean that you are only likely to recover around 15-20% of what you have paid.
8. Conveyancing Transactions
8.1 It is likely that your Mortgage Lender will instruct us to act on its behalf. If so, we are obliged to inform the Lender directly of any information which may affect its decision to lend. If we seek your agreement to pass on any such information which we may have asked from you and you do not agree then we will have to cease to act both for you and the Lender.
8.2 Prevention of mortgage fraud: if we also act for a proposed lender in your matter, we have a duty to fully reveal to that lender all relevant facts about the purchase and any mortgage. This includes any differences between the relevant mortgage application and information we receive during the transaction and any cash back payments or discount schemes that a seller may give you.
9. Receipt of Monies
9.1 It is agreed and understood that as your Solicitors we may receive monies directed to you and credit these to you in our client account.
9.2 The Firm warrants that it will place client monies in a client account at a bank or building society as defined in Section 87 of the Solicitors Act 1974. The Firm will make a reasonable assessment of the circumstances surrounding its individual client accounts and take any appropriate action. Factors which will be taken into consideration will include any statements from the bank reassuring customers of its stability and any Government guarantees for depositors in UK banks or for particular banks.
9.3 We hold client monies with various banking institutions. We will not be liable to repay any money that we hold for you in our client accounts which is lost as a result of a failure of any such banking institution. If we make a claim under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) on your behalf, we will, subject to your consent, give certain client information to the FSCS to help them identify clients and any amounts to which they are entitled. The maximum amount protected under the FSCS is £85,000 per individual so that if you hold other personal monies in the same banks as us (NatWest and Handelsbanken) the limit remains at that amount in total for you. Temporary high balances are covered up to £1m e.g. property transactions, some compensation payments and proceeds of a deceased’s estate: full details are on the FSCS website.
10. Interest
We will normally credit you with interest on any funds we hold in our client account on your behalf. Our policy on the payment of interest is as follows.
10.1 Interest will accrue at the rate payable by our bank on instant access deposits. This may be less than the rate at which you could have invested the money yourself.
10.2 We will credit you with interest if the amount of interest is more than £50. The first £50 of any interest is not normally paid since the administrative costs involved in applying such interest are likely to exceed the amount payable.
10.3 If we hold sums of money for you in relation to different matters, we will normally treat the money relating to each of the different matters separately.
10.4 We will not account for interest on money held for the payment of a professional disbursement, once the intended recipient has requested a delay in settlement. Nor will we account for interest on money held for the LAA.
11. Commission/Referral Payments/Storage charges
11.1 We will account to you for commission we receive from a third party unless it has been agreed with you that we keep such commission. We will also advise you of any arrangement we have for referral or payment of a referral fee.
11.2 We reserve the right to make a reasonable charge for storage of deeds or other documents or items. A charge of £60 plus VAT will be made if you request your file or any deeds or documents from store.
12. Our Respective Responsibilities
12.1 Unless you tell us otherwise, we will normally communicate with you by email and post. We undertake to:
a. Keep you informed of progress monthly
b. Keep you informed of the costs of the matter monthly unless a Fixed Fee has been agreed
12.2 Subject to the conditions set out below the Firm warrants that the services provided will be carried out with all reasonable care and skill. The Firm undertakes to act solely in your best interests at all times. Please note that we do not advise on the Government HMRC’s Trust Registration Service (TRS) unless specifically instructed to do so.
12.3 The legal advice provided and any documentation produced within our retainer are based on the information that you have provided as at this time and it is based on the current law which may change in the future. Shentons solicitors cannot accept responsibility for notifying you in the future of any changes in the law or any legal decision which may affect the interpretation or impact of this advice in the future
12.4 You undertake to
a. confirm in writing any instructions to the Firm which are contrary to the advice provided by the Firm. These written instructions must be received by the Firm before any further action is taken
b. inform us promptly in writing of any change of your address
c. to provide us with clear and timely instructions, the information and documents required for us to do the work and the funds required
12.5. Where you are to provide us with documents or materials so the Firm can provide its Services, you warrant:
c. to provide the documents or materials upon being called upon by the Firm either orally or in writing.
d. that the documents and materials provided are accurate and are not defamatory or infringing the rights of any third party.
12.6 No instructions which have been accepted by the Firm may be withdrawn by you except whereby you indemnify the Firm against any loss, costs (including all time spent and expenses incurred), damages, charges and expenses incurred by the Firm as a result of the withdrawal of instructions.
12.7 On acceptance of instructions you authorise the Firm to incur all expenses/disbursements the Firm considers necessary and to instruct and/or employ any experts or other persons it considers necessary.
13. Ceasing to Act
13.1 The Firm shall be entitled, for any reasonable cause, by written notice to you, to cease acting for you and not to accept any further instructions from you should the Firm be in any way prevented or hindered by a cause beyond its reasonable control from continuing to act for you.
13.2 The solicitor/client relationship is based on mutual respect, trust and confidence. The Firm reserves the right to cease to act in situations where for example, staff are subjected to verbal or other abuse, you have unreasonable expectations or demands, you do not provide reasonable instructions, or you have a poor payment record. We will give you reasonable notice that we will stop acting for you. The Firm will be entitled to recover the costs incurred to the date when the Firm ceased to act.
14. Force Majeure
The Firm will not be liable for any loss or damage suffered by you resulting from any failure by the Firm to carry out the instructions of the client if the failure is as a result of any circumstances beyond the control of the Firm including, but without limitation, strikes, lock outs, labour disputes of any kind, war, hostilities, civil commotion, terrorist activities and if any such event should occur then the time for completing your instructions shall be extended until a reasonable time after such event ceases.
15. Limitation of Liability – Important Notice
Our maximum liability to you (or any other party we have agreed may rely on our services) in relation to any individual matter conducted under this general retainer or any group of connected matters which may be aggregated by our insurers will be £10 million pounds.
It is hereby agreed and confirmed that the liability hereunder (whether vicarious or direct) of the Firm and/or its partners for the time being and successors for any loss or damage howsoever such liability shall arise (including but not limited to liability arising by reason of negligence or breach of statutory duty) shall be limited to the sum of £10 million pounds except insofar as it is provided otherwise by the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 (as amended).
16. Professional Indemnity Insurance
The Firm’s insurer is AXIS MANAGING AGENCY LTD - AXS SYNDICATE 1686 whose registered address is 52 Lime Street, London, EC3M 7AF. Territorial coverage is worldwide. Insurance is maintained in accordance with SRA rules.
17. Incidental Investment Business & Insurance Distribution Work
Sometimes our work involves investments. We are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and so may refer you to someone who is authorised to provide any necessary advice. However, we can provide certain limited services in relation to investments, provided they are closely linked with the legal services we are providing to you, as we are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) No: 60916. We are not authorised by the FCA, but we are included on the FCA’s Register 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 and redress if something goes wrong, is regulated by the SRA. The register can be accessed via the FCA website at www.fca.org.uk/firms/financial-services-register. The Law Society (TLS) of England and Wales is a designated professional body for the purposes of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. The SRA is the independent regulatory arm of TLS. The Legal Ombudsman (LeO) deals with complaints against lawyers. If you are unhappy with any insurance advice you receive from us, you should raise your concerns with the SRA or LeO.
18. Any Concerns
18.1 The Firm is committed to high quality legal advice and client care. If you are unhappy about any aspect of the services you have received, our bill, application of our equality and diversity policy, or have any other concerns please contact our complaints Partner, Chloe Jay, on 01962 844544, cjay@shentons.co.uk or by post to our office. We have a procedure in place setting out how we handle complaints which is available from the office and on our website.
18.2 If you are not satisfied with our handling of your complaint, you can ask the Legal Ombudsman (LeO, address PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH, telephone 0300 555 0333, website https://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/ email enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk,) to consider the 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. You will normally need to bring a complaint to the LeO within 6 months of receiving a final written response from us. We normally have 8 weeks in which to resolve complaints.
18.3 Any barrister or other professional we instruct on your behalf should have their own complaints process. If you are not happy with their service, you can complain to them direct. However, please let us know; we can tell you how to make your complaint, if they have not given you that information themselves.
19. Lien
19.1 A lien is our right to keep certain papers, documents, money, evidence or other property belonging to you which we hold on your behalf until all money due to us is paid.
19.2 We have the right to preserve our lien unless another solicitor working for you undertakes to pay us what we are owed, including any success fee in appropriate cases, and that undertaking is acceptable to us.
20. More Than One Client
20.1 If more than one person is the Firm’s client, we will agree with you from whom the Firm will principally take instructions in order to avoid duplication of communication. You confirm that the person so identified is authorised by you to give instructions to the Firm and that the Firm may act on those instructions.
20.2 If we have agreed to act in this matter for more than one client, we can only do that if there is no significant risk of a conflict of interest between you and you all have a substantially common interest.
20.3 You acknowledge that we have advised you on the risk of a conflict of interests and that you understand that advice and consent to us acting. You understand that in the event of a conflict of interest arising between you, we may be unable to continue acting for either of you.
20.4 If we are instructed by more than one client, then all the clients are jointly and severally liable for our fees notwithstanding any agreement between you as to how you will share the costs. This means that we will look to one client only or to each of you individually to pay the whole or any balance of any unpaid fees.
20.5 Instructions are understood to be for the purposes of all of those instructing us. We will act on instructions from anyone of those clients unless you instruct us otherwise.
20.6 Please note that you are personally responsible for all the legal costs, payments we have made to others on your behalf and VAT incurred, even if we are acting for you and others. In other words, liability to pay our costs is joint (all the clients together) and several (each may be liable for the whole amount). If instructions are given on behalf of a client, we are entitled to assume that the person giving the instructions has lawful authority to instruct us. If not, then that person will be liable to us as if they were our client.
21. Ending This Contract
This contract will remain in force until:
a. it is superseded;
b. you cancel it; or
c. we terminate it on reasonable notice for good cause.
We can keep all your papers and documents while there is still money owed to us for our charges or disbursements. We are not responsible for reminding you about important dates and/or any deadlines after our appointment has been terminated.
22. Solicitors Regulation Authority
The Firm is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority under number 60916 and the applicable professional rules are in the SRA Standards and Regulations viewable at www.sra.org.uk.
23. Consumer Contract Regulations
If the Consumer Contract (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 as amended (‘the Regulations’) apply to the contract made between us (i.e. the contract is made by exchange of emails, online, by us visiting you outside the office, or otherwise off premises, rather than via an in person meeting in our office) and the contract is therefore an off-premises contract or a distance contract (as set out in the Regulations) then the following provisions apply:
23.1 Right to cancel – you have the right to cancel this contract within 14 days from receipt of our engagement letter and these standard terms. To exercise the right to cancel you must inform us of your decision to cancel this contract by a clear statement (e.g. a letter sent by post or email). You may use the attached cancellation form but it is not mandatory. To meet the cancellation deadline it is sufficient for you to end your communication concerning your exercise of the right to cancel before the cancellation period has expired.
23.2 Effect of cancellation – If you cancel this contract we will reimburse to you all payments received from you. We will make the reimbursement without undue delay and not later than 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 that 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.
23.3 If you wish us to start work sooner – You can waive your right to the 14 day cooling off period by signing and returning a copy of your client care letter and/or signing these standard terms.
23.4 If you have authorised work and then cancel – If you requested us to being work during the cancellation period and then decided to cancel the contract; we are entitled to ask you to pay an amount which is in proportion to what has been performed before the cancellation was received. You will have however lose your right to cancel and have to pay in full if the contract has been fully performed (i.e. we have completed the work) even if this happens within the cancellation period.
24. Acceptance
Now that you have received these standard terms, you are deemed to have accepted them if you continue to instruct us.
NOTICE OF RIGHT TO CANCEL AND CANCELLATION FORM for off-premises contracts
1. This contract is made between yourself and Shentons Solicitors of Star Lane House, Staple Gardens, Winchester, Hampshire, SO23 9AD.
2. Because you are instructing us at a distance (eg via email or online or via us visiting you in your home) you have the right to cancel this contract within 14 days from receipt of this notice / our engagement letter, without giving any reason.
3. To exercise the right to cancel, you must inform us of your decision to cancel this contract by a clear statement (eg a letter sent by post, fax or email). You may use the attached cancellation form, but it is not obligatory.
4. 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.
5. If you cancel this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you. We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 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.
