1. Our estimated fee or basis of charge may be varied in certain
circumstances. In particular, variation may arise if the value of a transaction
or the nature of the work undertaken differs from that upon which the fee estimate
is based or if the amount of time, work or skill required for the proper conduct
of a transaction is significantly more than initially expected or if the matter
requires expedition. You will be informed by us of any such variation at the
appropriate point in the transaction or as soon as practicable thereafter.
2. Our fee estimate will normally make reference to disbursements. These are
payments made or incurred by us on your behalf in the course of a transaction.
These may be significant expenses such as stamp duty, land registry fees, local
and other search fees or less significant items such as the cost of bank charges,
telephone calls, facsimile transmissions, photocopying or legal forms. It is
seldom possible for us to foresee at the outset all the disbursements that may
arise however our fee invoice or financial statement will show these items separately
from any professional fees.
3. Our fee for acting in this matter will be on the basis of your agreement
that this firm will not be required to pay you interest on any monies held on
your behalf during the normal course of the transaction.
4. We may ask you to make a payment on account of fees or disbursements either
at the outset or during the transaction.
5. If for any reason a transaction does not reach completion we will only make
a charge for work done and disbursements already incurred. Any such charge will
reflect the amount of work done and the time taken by us, either based on the
notified basis of charge or as a proportion of the estimated fee. Where the
work done is beyond the scope of that for which the estimated fee was given,
or otherwise exceeds initial expectations, then the charge made will reflect
the nature and complexity of the work done and the time taken. Our fee invoice
is for immediate settlement and interest may be applied where payment is delayed
as set out in paragraph 10.
6. If you require a mortgage advance, it is your responsibility to comply with
the terms and conditions of the mortgage offer. In particular you should be
aware of the financial implications of any deductions, retentions, redemption
penalties or interest payable upon early repayment. If so requested by you we
will help you with any difficulty you have in understanding the terms of a mortgage
offer. Otherwise we will assume the mortgage offer is understood and accepted.
7. All lenders have specific legal work they require to be carried out in either
granting or repaying a mortgage. All lenders require the borrower to pay the
lender’s legal fees for such work. These will normally be taken into account
in our estimate but we will advise you as soon as possible of any additional
fees that may become payable as a result of the lender’s instructions. The lender
requires us to pass them information you give us that might be relevant to their
decision whether to finance the purchase and unless you tell us in writing to
the contrary we shall be entitled to pass on any such information to them. If
you instruct us not to pass on any such information to the mortgagee we may
have to stop acting.
8. If your lender chooses to use the services of another firm to deal with its
legal work, it is standard practice for the lender to require the borrower to
pay the charges of that firm, whose charges will be separate from ours.
9. Conveyancing transactions can only be financed using funds cleared for banking
purposes. You must ensure that any money needed from you to finance the transaction
is paid to us so that it can become cleared funds by the date it is needed.
We must receive such money by the time and date and by the means of payment
advised to you. If payment is made by cheque this will normally be by noon on
the fifth working day* before cleared funds are required. If clearance is delayed
because you provide funds after the specified time and date, or you pay by inappropriate
means, we will not be liable for any delay or consequential loss arising out
of such delay.
10. It is standard legal practice for solicitors’ fees and disbursements due
to be paid as cleared funds before the date of completion and we reserve the
right not to complete if this does not happen. Where we hold funds belonging
to you, this payment will be deducted once a financial statement has been provided
to you. If we hold insufficient or no client’s money then you should provide
the required sum as cleared funds before the date of completion in accordance
with the preceding term. After one month from delivery of our invoice we have
the right under Article 5 of the Solicitors Remuneration Order 1972 to charge
interest on any amount outstanding.
11. We will normally advise a minimum period of ten working days* between exchange
of contracts and legal completion to deal safely with all pre-completion searches
and formalities (including obtaining cleared funds from any lender and if necessary
from you). Should you instruct us to complete a transaction and specify a completion
date less than ten working days* after the date of exchange of contracts, we
reserve the right to charge an expedition fee. Furthermore, we will not be liable
for any direct or consequential loss arising from completion being delayed beyond
the specified completion date provided we have used reasonable professional
skill in attempting to complete on the specified date.
12. If we are requested to give a professional undertaking in order to assist
the progress of your transaction, we may make a reasonable charge for providing
this personal commitment. Such an undertaking is a binding pledge (usually given
to another lawyer, that a particular action will be taken – often the payment
of money) which we are personally liable to fulfil. We do therefore require
appropriate security from you before giving such an undertaking which will be
used as necessary to fulfil the undertaking.
13. You should consult appropriately qualified professionals for advice on non-legal
matters such as the physical condition of a property and its connected services,
its market value or investment or financial advice. Before exchanging contracts
to purchase or lease premises you should have a structural survey (of a type
appropriate to the nature of the premises) by a qualified surveyor and obtain
any further information the survey report may state is required.
14. To assist the efficient progression of a transaction and to minimise costs
you agree:-
14.1 to provide us with written confirmation of any significant variation of
your original instructions;
14.2 to respond promptly in writing to any request for instructions you may
receive from us;
14.3 that we are authorised to incur the costs and search fees (including repeat
searches) which in our professional judgement are necessary to protect the interest
of you or your lender;
14.4 to provide evidence of your identity when and how we may reasonably request;
14.5 to take whatever steps we may request to comply with current money laundering
regulations.
15. We shall only be liable for loss resulting directly from a breach of duty
owed to you by this firm and any such liability shall not exceed £3,000,000.
It is a condition of our agreement to provide you with legal services that it
is agreed that any dispute should be governed by English law and submitted to
the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.
16. We are confident that we will give you a high quality service but our code
of professional conduct requires us to have a formal complaints procedure. If
at any time you are not entirely happy with the way things are going please
let the person dealing with your matter know straight away. Any complaint would
be dealt with by either Peter Read or Colin Cooper.
17. After completing a matter we are entitled to keep your papers while money
is owing to us. We will keep our file of papers for no more than six years (or
one year if the matter was not completed) on the understanding that we have
your authority to destroy the file six years after sending you our final bill
(or one year if the matter was not completed).
18. We will not be liable to repay any money in our client account lost through
a banking failure.