Terms & Conditions

INFORMATION ABOUT COSTS, FUNDING & EXPENSES

1. Introduction

1.1. There are a number of different ways to fund litigation. This document provides an overview of the options, to help you to make an informed decision, about how your litigation is funding and pursued. If you have any questions arising from this information, please let us know.

2. Legal Aid

2.1. Legal Aid is not generally available to fund litigation.  Legal Aid may be available in extremely limited circumstances for certain litigation relating to family matters or serious medical negligence resulting in the serious disability of a new-born child. We will have discussed this thoroughly with you if it applies to your claim.

3. Funding Your own claim on a private basis

3.1. You may choose to fund your claim personally i.e., on a private basis. This method carries the risk that you will be liable to pay all of your costs and disbursements and all those of your opponent if you ultimately lose your claim or if the court orders or assesses costs in favour of your opponent. However, it may be possible to insure against this possibility (see below).

3.2. We will have discussed the cost-benefit analysis with you and advised you as to whether we feel that this would not be in your best interests and is therefore an unnecessary financial risk. However, you are of course, free to ignore our advice and proceed as you see fit.

4. Funding through a third party

4.1. You may be a member of a trade union or other affinity group, which may entitle you to have some, or all of your legal expenses funded by a third party. We recommend that you check the terms of any memberships to see if it will cover your claim. In some circumstances your employer may also be required or willing to contribute towards your legal expenses. If you have this type of entitlement, any work which we do on your behalf prior to receiving confirmation from the third party will be at your expense, regardless of whether you subsequently benefit from that entitlement.

5. Legal Expenses Insurance

5.1. Legal Expenses Insurance may protect you against having to pay our fees and any charges we incur in acting for you such as Court fees (these charges are known as ‘disbursements’) and may also protect you against having to pay the legal fees and disbursements of your opponent.

5.2. Legal Expenses Insurance is often contained within other types of insurance policies such as Home Contents or your motor policy. Please check whether your policies or any policies belonging to your spouse or partner contain legal expenses insurance. Some insurers have their own panel of solicitors, so you will need to check that your insurers will cover us for acting for you. If you have any doubts, then let us know and we will investigate it for you.

5.3. It is very important that you do check any existing policies that you may have as this will avoid unnecessary expenditure for you. If you do not tell us that you may have existing cover, then we will proceed on the basis that you do not. As a result, we may, at any point during the case, advise you to take out a Legal Expenses Insurance Policy to cover the costs of your claim and you will have to pay the policy premium. If you have this type of cover, any work which we do on your behalf prior to confirmation of cover from your insurer will be at your expense, regardless of whether cover is subsequently granted or not.

6. Conditional Fee Agreement

6.1. You may wish to fund you claim by entering into a Conditional Fee Agreement with us.  These agreements are often referred to as ‘no win no fee’ agreements because under such an agreement you will not have to pay our legal costs if your claim is unsuccessful.

6.2. If your claim is successful, you will be liable to pay our legal costs and disbursements plus a ‘success fee’ (to reward our firm for the risk we take when we make our fees conditional upon the success of your claim). You will usually be able to recover part or all of our costs and disbursements from your opponent, but you cannot recover our success fee or the ATE premium, this must be paid by you.

6.3. The success fee will never be more than 100% of our costs (i.e., you might pay double the amount of our fees if you cannot recover part of your costs from your opponent).

6.4. If your claim is unsuccessful then in the majority of cases, you do not have to pay any of our basic charges or our success fee. You are likely to have to pay:

a) Your opponent’s Legal charges and disbursements; and

b) Your disbursements.

6.5. We have assessed the strengths and weaknesses of your claim and we are prepared to enter into a Conditional Fee Agreement with you.   Should the case change, and particularly if it transpires that you have failed to disclose any relevant information to us, we reserve the right to withdraw from the Conditional Fee Agreement and you may become liable to pay our past and future fees on a private basis.

6.6. Substantial information about this type of funding is provided in the terms of our Conditional Fee Agreement and the attached document entitled ‘CFA: What You Need to Know’. If you are interested in this type of funding, then please read the terms carefully before signing the agreement. Please do not hesitate to ask us to clarify any term of this agreement for you.

7. Damages-Based Agreement

7.1. We must make you aware that it is now possible to fund litigation on the basis of a Damages-Based Agreement.

7.2. We have set out a brief explanation of how a Damages-Based Agreement would work, to allow you to make an informed decision about the best way to fund your claim.

7.3. A Damages-Based Agreement is also a ‘no win no fee’ agreement as under such an agreement you will not have to pay our legal costs if your claim is unsuccessful, and you do not recover any damages from your opponent.

7.4. If your claim is successful and you are awarded damages, then you would pay us a percentage of the damages recovered as our payment. The law sets a limit on the percentage of your damages that we can take as our payment. The maximum percentage of your damages that we can take is 50%. You will also be expected to pay any disbursements that we incur on your behalf.

7.5. You will usually be able to recover some of the basic costs and some disbursements from your opponent. Where this happens, this amount will be payable to us and will reduce the amount of your damages that you will have to pay us.

7.6. If your claim is unsuccessful, you do not pay us anything except any disbursements that we have incurred on your behalf. You are likely to have to pay:

a) Your opponent’s Legal charges and disbursements; and

b) Your disbursements.

8. After the Event Insurance

8.1. If your claim is unsuccessful, you may still have to pay our disbursements and the fees and disbursements of the other side. To protect you against this possibility we have recommend that you take out an insurance policy known as an ‘After the Event’ policy (ATE) with Millennium Insurance Company. This is of course, provided that you do not have any existing Legal Expenses Insurance in place (as discussed above).  If you have existing Legal Expenses Insurance (or other methods of funding / ensuring this claim) which you wish to use, we will not act for you, and you must seek an alternative solicitor.

8.2. You will be liable for the cost of the insurance policy premium to take out After the Event insurance.

8.3. We may have recommended in our engagement letter a suitable policy to you and, on signing these terms, we will arrange this policy for you. You are not obliged to take out the policy we recommend, and you should seek independent financial advice if you have any concerns about our recommendation. Similarly, if we do not believe that taking out a policy is in your best interests, we will advise you accordingly.

8.4. We will have set out the reasons why we believe that you need an ATE policy in the engagement letter and enclosed a copy of the policy and an Insurance Product Information Document (“IPID”) with this letter. We are not financial advisers and do not conduct an analysis of the insurance market when making any recommendations and only do so because we are confident that that policy will meet your requirements.

8.5. 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 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 website at www.fca.org.uk/firms/financial-services-register.

8.6. We are required to inform you that the Law Society is a designated professional body for the purposes of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, but responsibility for regulation and complaints handling has been separated from the Law Society’s representative functions.  The Solicitors Regulation Authority is the independent regulatory body of the Law Society. Complaints are handled by the Legal Ombudsman.

9. Our Costs

9.1. Fixed Fee Services

a) Where our Client Care Letter states that we are charging on a fixed fee basis, additional services may be provided on request and (unless otherwise agreed by us in writing) will be charged at our standard hourly rates, plus expenses (if any) and VAT.

9.2. Hourly Rate Services

a) Where our Client Care Letter states that we are charging on an hourly basis, the hourly rate varies according to the experience and expertise of the person dealing with the matter. The rates which apply to each matter are set out in our Client Care Letter

b) The time spent on your matter for which you will be charged includes meetings with you and others, travelling, waiting, researching, and considering, writing, and receiving correspondence, making, and receiving telephone calls, preparing, and working on documents, and making file notes.

c) The time spent on your matter is recorded as units of one tenth of an hour. Therefore, this is the minimum amount of time we will charge for any piece of work undertaken on your matter.

d) Once a year we review our hourly rates. We will notify you in writing of any increase.

e) We will add VAT to our fees at the rate that applies when the work is done.

9.3. All Services

a) All expenses which we incur in working on your matter will be payable by you in addition to our fees.

Examples of these expenses include fees charged by experts, agents, couriers and barristers, court fees, travel expenses and subsistence, faxes, international telephone calls, use of on-line databases and telegraphic transfer fees. In addition, we may also charge you for photocopying and other document production. If we intend to make this charge, we will let you know the applicable costs prior to incurring them. VAT is payable on certain expenses, which you will need to pay in addition.

b) We will usually submit bills monthly but may choose to submit bills at other intervals during the course of working on your matter. We will also submit a bill on or shortly after the after conclusion of the matter or at the end of this Agreement. Unless otherwise agreed, our bills are payable within 28 days of the delivery of the bill. All bills, whenever they are submitted, will be for final bills for the period to which they relate but this does not prevent us from invoicing you for expenses for that period on a subsequent bill.

c) We may also ask you at any time to pay money in advance of any fees and expenses being incurred by us (known as ‘payment on account’). If we ask you to make a payment on account, we will not be obliged to undertake any further work on your matter until you have made that payment (and if you do not make the payment, we may cease acting for you).

d) Where we decide to extend credit to you by carrying out urgent work on your matter after the money you have paid on account has all been used, you agree to remain liable for our fees regardless of whether or not we give you advance notification that we are going to extend credit to you.

e) You must tell us when first instructing us if there is a third party who may pay our fees. If a third party agrees to pay all or part of our bills, you will remain responsible to us for payment until those bills have been paid in full.

f) If we are advising more than one person (usually individuals, companies, or other entities) we will, unless otherwise agreed by us in writing, act for those persons jointly and severally. If we are asked to deliver bills only to one person, those bills will nevertheless be payable in full by all other persons we act for under this agreement.

g) If you are instructing us jointly in relation to any matter it is your responsibility to tell us at the outset of the Agreement if you require more than one person to give us instructions in relation to that matter. Otherwise, we will accept instructions from any one person and will not be responsible to any other person for any losses they may suffer as a result.

h) If you are a company or other commercial entity it is your responsibility to tell us at the outset of the

i) Agreement if you require more than one Director (or equivalent) to give us instructions.

10. Late Payment of Bills

10.1. Unless otherwise agreed, our bills are payable within 28 days of the delivery of the bill. If we do not receive payment during this time, we reserve the right to charge you interest thereafter as follows:

a) If you are a private client, we may charge you interest (on a daily basis) on the unpaid element of the bill (at a rate no higher than the rate payable on judgment debts at the date of this agreement).

b) If you are a commercial client, we may charge you interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 plus a fixed sum under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 as amended and supplemented by the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2002.

c) We may refuse to undertake any further work for you (whether in respect of the matter to which the bill relates or any other matter on which we are acting for you) until that bill is paid and/or we may stop acting for you; and

d) We may retain any papers or documents belonging to you, together with our own records.

e) We may refer the collection of the debt and sufficient information about you and your matter to enable the recovery of the debt to an outside agency.  Your acceptance of these terms of business amounts to your consent to this action being taken.

f) Should you make a payment by way of cheque or credit card and that payment subsequently not be honoured then we will inform you in writing and request funds be made available for the payment to be re- presented. We reserve the right to charge you a fee for administration and any charge imposed by the bank for re-presenting your payment. Until such time as the payment is cleared into our accounts, the provisions of term 9 (c) (ix) may apply.

g) If you have any queries in respect of any element of a bill, you should still promptly pay all other elements of the bill.

h) Where we hold money for you, whether because you have made a payment on account or we otherwise receive funds on your behalf, we may use this money toward payment of our bills. We will always advise you when this is being done. If we take any security for our fees, whether from you or any third party, this shall not affect any rights we have (or which we may have) to retain your papers.

i) If you wish to make a complaint about one of our bills, you may do so by using the firm’s Complaints Procedure (copy available on request). You may also have a right to object to a bill by making a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman and/or applying to the court for an assessment of the bill under part III of the Solicitors Act (1974). The contact details for the Legal Ombudsman can be found at clause 6.9 of our Terms of Business (below).

11. Payment of costs by your Opponent’s

11.1. Even if you are successful, the other party is very unlikely to be ordered to pay all your costs and expenses. Very often they may be ordered to pay a proportion and you will be responsible for paying the remainder.

11.2. In ‘small claims’ cases (i.e., claims with a value of up to £10,000) you are unlikely to recover more than a nominal amount. In employment tribunal cases, or cases where the other party is publicly funded, you may recover nothing at all.

11.3. If you are successful and the court orders the other party to pay some or all of our charges and expenses, interest may by claimed on them from the other party from the date of the court order. We will account to you for such interest to the extent that you have paid our charges or expenses account, but we are entitled to the rest of that interest.

11.4. You will also be responsible for payment of the charges and expenses of seeking to recover any charges and expenses the court orders the other party to pay.

12. Your Opponent’s Costs

12.1. In some circumstances, the court may order you to pay the other party’s legal charges and expenses; for example, if you lose the case or lose on certain issues. In addition, the court has the power to assess costs and make orders for immediate payment during the course of a case. This may take place following any hearing and will usually be made against the losing party at that hearing.

12.2. Any money that the court orders you to pay will be payable by you in addition to our charges and expenses and, in the case of summary assessment costs, within 14 days of making of the order. We will discuss with you whether our charges and expenses and your liability for another party’s charges and expenses may be covered by insurance, and, if not, whether it would be advisable for you to have insurance to meet the other party’s charges and expenses.

12.3. You remain liable to pay our bills in full to the extent that they have not been paid by any third party.

TERMS OF BUSINESS

1. Courmacs Legal Ltd

1.1. Courmacs Legal Ltd Solicitors is an alternative business structure (ABS) law firm.

a) Registered Office: Alexander House, Beehive Trading Park, Haslingdon Rd, Blackburn, BB1 2EE

b) Phone Number: 033034100803

c) Email: info@courmacslegal.co.uk

d) Authorised and Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) under Identity Number: 819044

1.2. In these Terms of Business all first-person terms such as ‘we’, ‘us’ and ‘our’ refer to Courmacs Legal Ltd and or any successor business that carries on the legal practice of Courmacs Legal Ltd By entering into this Agreement, you are entering into a contract with Courmacs Legal Ltd and or any successor business.

1.3. We are bound by various professional rules of conduct which can be viewed at  www.sra.org.uk or by writing to:

1.4. ‘Solicitors Regulation Authority, The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN’ or calling the Solicitors.

1.5. Regulation Authority’s contact centre on 0370 606 2555 (inside the UK), 09.00 to 17.00, Monday to Friday.

1.6. The SRA Indemnity Insurance Rules, in force from time to time, require us to take out and maintain Professional Indemnity Insurance with Qualifying Insurers. Information about the compulsory layer of Professional Indemnity Insurance we carry, including the contact details of our insurers and the territorial coverage of our insurance, are available in hard copy at our registered office.

2. Terms of Business

2.1. These Terms of Business may not be varied unless agreed in writing and signed by the Sole Practitioner. They should be read in conjunction with our Client Care Letter which sets out the basis on which we act for you and any documents referred to in that letter. Together these form the ‘Agreement’ between us relating to each matter on which we advise you.

2.2. These terms, including the limits on our liability in clause 9, shall apply to all work done by us for you (and any work to be done in the future) unless we otherwise notify you in writing.

2.3. If any term of this agreement is inconsistent with our legal obligations under the relevant laws, then the relevant laws shall apply instead of those terms.

3. Excluded Advice

3.1. We do not advise on the laws and regulations of jurisdictions other than England & Wales (which for these purposes includes the law of the European Union as applied in England & Wales).

3.2. Whilst we have a degree of understanding of taxation relevant to an individual or corporate entity or value added tax or other taxation, we are not qualified to give any taxation advice in any form, and you should take the professional advice of a taxation accountant or your own accountant.   If you authorise us to proceed with the transaction, we will proceed on the basis you have sought appropriate professional advice. If you wish us to help you appoint an appropriate accountant, please ask.

3.3. We do not tolerate tax evasion, or the facilitation of tax evasion in any circumstances, whether committed by or facilitated by a client, our employees or associated persons or companies.  We are committed to fighting tax evasion and have policies and procedures in place to detect and prevent the facilitation of tax evasion offences in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Finances Act 2017.

3.4. We do not advise on competition law, nor do we provide financial advice generally, or comment upon the commercial viability of any transactions upon which we advise.

4. Your Duty to Retain and Preserve Documents

4.1. If now, or at any time in the future, any matter on which we act for you is the subject of formally contested proceedings, whether in the courts or other tribunals, you will almost certainly have to disclose documents, including electronic documents, relevant to the matter. You should ensure that you do not destroy or allow to be destroyed any documents that relate to such matter in any way (however slight you believe the connection may be), as your position in such proceedings could be seriously compromised if you do so.

5. Copyright

5.1. Unless we agree otherwise, all copyright which exists in the documents and other materials that we create whilst carrying out work for you will remain our property.  You have the right to use such documents and materials for the purposes for which they are created, but not otherwise.

5.2. If you use such documents for any purpose other than that for which they were created, we are not responsible to you for any losses that you may suffer as a result.

5.3. Unless otherwise required by law or court order, you agree not to make our work, documents, or materials available to third parties without our prior written permission. Our work is undertaken for your benefit alone and we are not responsible to third parties for any aspect of our professional services or work that you make available to them.

6. Client Satisfaction

6.1. We operate strict client care and quality policies and always aim to provide you with the highest level of legal expertise and to be available, approachable, understandable, prompt, and courteous.

6.2. We will keep you informed about all important developments in your case, and we will respond to your letters, emails, and telephone calls promptly and efficiently.

6.3. The majority of our clients are very happy with the service we provide them, but in the event that you have any cause for concern, including about a bill, then please be aware that you are entitled to make a complaint, and that you can do so by contacting our designated complaints handler, Darren Smith.  We take all feedback from clients seriously and operate a Complaints Handling Procedure, a copy of which is available upon request.

6.4. We are usually able to deal with any concerns you have promptly and to your satisfaction, but if this is not the case, you will be able to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman provided you do so within six months of the end of our internal complaints procedure or within six years of the act or omission about which you are complaining occurring (or if outside this period, within three years of when you should reasonably have been aware of it).

6.5. Further information about the time limits relating to the date you first became aware or should have become aware of the problem are set out in the version of the Legal Ombudsman’s Scheme Rules in force from time to time (which can be accessed at: http://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/aboutus/scheme_rules.html) and may only be extended by the Legal Ombudsman in exceptional circumstances.

6.6. You should also be aware that, when your complaint relates to a bill, the Legal Ombudsman will not consider your complaint while your bill is being assessed by a court.

6.7. A complainant to the Legal Ombudsman must be one of the following:

a) An individual.

b) A micro-enterprise as defined in European Recommendation 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003 (broadly, an enterprise with fewer than 10 staff and a turnover or balance sheet value not exceeding €2 million).

c) A charity with an annual income less than £1 million.

d) A club, association, or society with an annual income less than £1 million.

e) A trustee of a trust with a net asset value less than £1 million; or a personal representative or the residuary beneficiaries of an estate where a person with a complaint died before referring it to the Legal Ombudsman.

6.8. If you are not, you should be aware that you can only obtain redress by using our Complaints Handling Procedure or by mediation or arbitration, or by acting through the Courts.

6.9. Legal Ombudsman Contact Details:

a) Address: PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH

b) Telephone: 0300 555 0333

c) Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

d) Website:  www.legalombudsman.org.uk

6.10. Courmacs Legal Ltd is committed to ensuring that all Employees give their full co-operation to the Legal Ombudsman in the event of any dispute or complaint against the firm.

7. Storage of Documents

7.1. We retain all documents relating to your matter (other than any documents which are in your possession or returned to you) for at least six years from the conclusion of our involvement in the matter and in accordance with the Law Society guidance and relevant legislation. You agree that we may destroy them after that time.

7.2. If you ask us to retrieve documents from storage there is a charge, which is normally £25 plus VAT for each matter, although we will not normally charge that fee if we retrieve documents to enable us to carry our further work for you. We will charge, however, for any work necessary to comply with instructions given by you in connection with retrieved documents. Unless otherwise agreed with you in writing, those charges will be at our hourly rates applicable at the relevant time and those charges will be applied on the same basis as set out in this agreement.

8. Financial Services

8.1. The Law Society of England and Wales is a designated professional body under Part XX of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 which means that we may carry on certain regulated activities without being regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. This means that we may be able to provide limited financial services to you where such services arise out of, or are complementary to, the provision of legal services.

8.2. The Law Society is the designated professional body for the purposes of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, but responsibility for regulation has been delegated to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (the independent regulatory body of the Law Society), and responsibility for handling complaints has been delegated to the Legal Ombudsman. The contact details for the Solicitors Regulation Authority can be found at clause 1.4 and the contact details for the Legal Ombudsman can be found at clause 6.9.

8.3. The limited regulated activities that we carry out are issuing certain insurance policies, such as after the event legal expenses insurance, defective title insurance and other property indemnity insurance (such as breach of covenant, absence of easement, lack of planning permission, unknown rights, and covenants policies).

8.4. 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 website at www.fca.org.uk/firms/financial-services-register.

8.5. Any insurance policy arranged by us on your behalf, shall, in our opinion, be adequate to meet your needs, but you are hereby informed that we do not recommend any policy over and above any other and that it is your responsibility to check that you are satisfied with the excess levels, exclusions, limitations and other policy terms. We do not conduct a fair analysis of the insurance market prior to arranging insurance policies. You can request details of the insurance undertakings with which we conduct business at any time.

8.6. You hereby agree to provide us with details of any relevant existing insurance policies you may have, and you agree that we shall not be liable to you for any losses you sustain as a result of your failure to provide us with such details.

9. Limitation of Liability

9.1. You agree that the limitations on our liability as set out in this agreement are reasonable having regard to the nature of your instructions and the work involved and the availability and cost of professional indemnity insurance. We are, however, happy to consider options to increase these limitations, should you so require (which may result in an increase to our fees).

9.2. We will undertake the work relating to your matter with reasonable skill and care.

9.3. We accept liability without limit for the consequences of fraud by us or any of our Employees which is affected in their capacity as Employees and for any other liability which we are not permitted by law or rules of professional conduct to limit or exclude. If any part of this agreement which seeks to exclude, limit, or restrict liability (including provisions limiting the amount we will be required to pay or limiting the time you have to bring a claim) is found by a court to be void or ineffective for any reason, the remaining provisions shall continue to be effective.

9.4. We will not be liable under this agreement or laws of negligence for any deficiencies in the work we have undertaken if and to the extent that deficiencies are due to any false, misleading, or incomplete information or documentation which has been provided to us (whether by you or any third party) or due to the acts or omissions of you or any third party. However, where any failure by us to identify any such false, misleading, or incomplete information (or any failure by us to inform you that we have identified such information or any failure to act on your resulting instructions) constitutes negligence then we shall, subject to the other provisions of this agreement, remain liable for such failure.

9.5. Despite anything else contained in this agreement, we are not under any obligation to act for you (or to continue to act for you) if to do so would breach any laws or professional rules. Therefore, we will not be responsible or liable to you for any loss which you or any other party may suffer as a result of our refusal to proceed with your matter where we would be in breach (or we reasonably believe that we would breach) of our legal obligations or our professional rules.

9.6. Except as stated in 9.3 and 9.12, the total aggregate liability of Courmacs Legal Ltd to you under or in connection with this agreement (including any addition or variation to it), whether for breach of contract, negligence, breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, shall not exceed £3,000,000.00 (three million pounds).

9.7. Where we are instructed jointly by more than one party, the limit on our liability applies, in total, to all of you collectively (including anyone claiming through you or on your behalf).

9.8. You agree that you will not bring any claims or proceedings in connection with this agreement against our Employees personally, unless (and to the extent that) you are otherwise permitted to do so by law or our professional rules. Our Employees may enforce this clause even though they are not parties to this agreement (but despite having such rights, this agreement may be varied or ended without their consent).

9.9. Proceedings in respect of any claim against us must be commenced within six years after you first had (or ought reasonably to have had) both the knowledge for bringing an action for damages and the knowledge that you had the right to bring such an action and, in any event, no later than six years after any alleged breach of contract, negligence or other cause of action. This provision expressly overrides any statutory provision which would otherwise apply; it will not increase the time within which proceedings may be commenced and may reduce it.

9.10. If we and any other party or parties are liable to you together in respect of the same claim, then we shall only be liable to pay you the portion which is found to be fair and reasonable having regard to the level of our default. Therefore, we shall not be liable to pay you the portion which is due to the fault of such party, even if you do not recover all or any money from such other party for any reason.

9.11. If we are liable to you and any other party or parties would have been found liable to you together with us in respect of the same claim if either:

a) You had also brought proceedings or made a claim against them; or

b) We had brought proceedings or made a claim against them for a contribution towards our liability, then any sum due from us to you shall be reduced by the proportion for which such other party or parties would have been found liable had those proceedings been brought or those claims been made.

9.12. Nothing in this agreement excludes or limits the liability of Courmacs Legal Ltd for

a) Death or personal Injury caused by negligence;

b) Fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or

c) Any liability if and to the extent that it is not permissible in law for such liability to be limited or excluded.

10. Client Money

10.1. Subject to certain conditions set out in the SRA Accounts Rules and our interest payment policy, a fair sum of interest will be accounted to you on client money held on your behalf.

10.2. Our policy seeks to provide for a fair and reasonable outcome for both our clients and this practice.

10.3. For cleared funds paid into general client accounts, the practice shall account for interest unless one of the following circumstances applies:

a) The amount of interest calculated on the balance held is £20.00 or less; or

b) The client money was held in cleared funds in client account for a period of five working days or less.

10.4. All other clients shall be paid interest at the rate payable upon the practice’s client account from time to time, unless there are specific circumstances which lead the client to contract out of the right to receive interest payments (for example where the client agrees the practice may keep interest payments to remunerate the practice for acting as stakeholder in the transaction or where the client’s religious beliefs prohibit the receipt of interest).

10.5. Where sums of money are held in relation to separate matters for the same client, the money relating to the different matters shall be treated separately unless it is fair and reasonable in the circumstances to consider the sums together.

10.6. Where a client fails to present a cheque to his or her bank for payment, we will not recalculate any amount due to the client unless it is fair and reasonable to do so, for example if the cheque has been sent to an incorrect address.

10.7. We will usually account to you for interest arising under our policy at the conclusion of your matter, but might, in some cases, consider it appropriate to account to you at intervals throughout.

10.8. Unless otherwise agreed by us in writing, if we receive any sums to hold on your behalf (whether received directly from you or from a third party) then we may deposit such money into an account or accounts with any bank or financial institution (a “deposit provider” which expression shall include bank, financial institution or clearing house through which transfers are made) of our choosing. We confirm that we comply with any applicable laws and any applicable rules of a regulatory authority in respect of the making of any such deposits.

10.9. We shall not be liable for any loss which you or any third party may suffer in connection with an Insolvency Event occurring in relation to any deposit provider with whom we have deposited funds or through whom transfers are made, save if and to the extent that any such loss was caused by or contributed to by any breach by us of clause 10.8.

10.10. In clause 10.9 an “Insolvency Event” means:

a) Any deposit provider is unable or admits inability to pay its debts as they fall due (or is deemed to be or declared to be unable to pay its debts under applicable law), suspends or threatens to suspend making payments on any of its debts or, by reason of actual or anticipated financial difficulties or commences negotiations with one or more of its creditors with a view to rescheduling any of its indebtedness.

b) The value of the assets of any deposit provider is less than its liabilities (taking into account contingent or prospective liabilities).

c) A moratorium is declared in respect of any indebtedness of any deposit provider.

d) Any corporate or government action, legal proceedings or other procedure or steps taken in relation to:

 The suspension of payments, a moratorium of any indebtedness, winding-up, dissolution, administration, or reorganisation (by way of voluntary arrangement, scheme of arrangement or otherwise) of any deposit provider.

 A composition, compromise, assignment, or arrangement with any creditor of any deposit provider.

 The appointment of a liquidator, receiver, administrator, administrative receiver, compulsory manager, or other similar officer in respect of any deposit provider or any of its assets.

 Enforcement of any security interest (however so described) over any assets of any deposit provider; or

 The prevention or restriction (whether by way of freezing order or otherwise) of a deposit provider’s ability to dispose of, deal with or diminish the value of its assets or any of them.

e) Any event analogous to those set out in clause 10.15(iv) occurs in any jurisdiction in respect of any deposit provider.

10.11. If an Insolvency Event occurs in relation to any deposit provider which holds money that we have deposited on your behalf, you agree that we may, where applicable, disclose to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (“FSCS”) all relevant details in our possession about you and the money that we hold on to your behalf with such a deposit provider. However, if you do not wish us to make any such disclosure, please notify us by writing to our Data Protection Compliance Officer at our registered office.  Please note that by withholding consent to our disclosure of your details to the FSCS in such circumstances, you may forfeit any right you may have to receive compensation from the FSCS where an Insolvency Event occurs in relation to a deposit provider holding money which we have deposited on your behalf. Compensation for deposits is limited to £85,000 for any individual’s total deposit with that service provider, including any personal finances.  Further information regarding the FSCS can be found at www.fscs.org.uk, telephone number 020 7892 7300.

11. Confidentiality, Privacy & Data Protection

11.1. We are registered as a Data Controller with the Information Commissioner (ICO) – registration number ZB558466. The types of personal data that we process are listed under our registration records.  All information that we hold concerning you as an individual will be held and processed by us strictly in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Regulations. You may raise any query that you have with regard to your confidentiality, privacy and data protection with our Data Protection Officer, Steven Westwood, at the address noted above.

11.2. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the ICO in the event that you believe we have mishandled your personal data.   Please see the ICO’s website for details of their complaints handling process. https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/.

11.3. We keep information passed to us confidential and respect your right to privacy.  We will keep your personal information confidential except for the extent that it is necessary to disclose it by law or to comply with a regulatory or legal process or where we need to process the information to provide a product or service that you have requested. We have procedures designed to ensure that personal data is used only by appropriately authorised and trained personnel and to safeguard such information against accidental loss or unauthorised disclosure.

11.4. If you are an individual, you have right un the Data Protection Regulations to obtain the personal data that we hold on to you.   Should you have any queries concerning this right, please contact our Data Protection Officer, Steven Westwood. We will comply with your access rights without delay and within a month in any event. Providing you with access to the personal data we hold about you is free of charge although we may charge or refuse a request it if is deemed to be manifestly unfounded or excessive. If we refuse a request, we will tell you why and how you may complain about our decision.

11.5. You also have the following rights as a data subject, which you can exercise free of charge. These are:

a) Rectification – the right to require us to correct any mistakes in your personal data.

b) To be forgotten – the right to require us to delete your personal data in certain situations.

c) Restriction of processing – the right to require us to restrict processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.

d) Data portability – the right to receive the personal data you provided to us, in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and/or transmit that data to a third party in certain situations.

e) To object – the right to object: —at any time to your personal data being processed for direct marketing.

f) (Including profiling) and in certain other situations to our continued processing of your personal data.

g) Not to be subject to automated individual decision making – the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing (including profiling) that produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you.

11.6. For further information on each of those rights, including the circumstances in which they apply, please contact us, or see the Guidance from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on individuals’ rights under the General Data Protection Regulations.

11.7. We will retain your personal data for a period in accordance with law Society guidance and relevant legislation.

11.8. If on your authority we are working with other professional advisers or lawyers, we will assume that we may disclose any relevant aspect of your matter to them.

11.9. We may in some cases consult credit reference agencies in order to assess your creditworthiness. If you are an individual, we require your consent before we do this. Your continuing instructions to us will constitute your consent to us carrying out such a search. Details of the credit agency we use are available on request. We have procedures designed to ensure that personal data is used only by appropriately authorised and trained personnel and to safeguard such information against accidental loss or unauthorised disclosure. We will keep that information strictly confidential unless otherwise required by law or court order.

11.10. During the course of the firm’s work, it may be necessary to discuss your case with cost specialists, experts, or counsel. Your acceptance of these Terms of Business amounts to your consent to us to disclose information which we consider necessary to progress your case.

11.11. Where you provide us with fax or computer network addresses for sending material to, we will assume, unless you tell us otherwise, that your arrangements are sufficiently secure and confidential to protect your interests.

11.12. The Internet is not secure and there are risks if you send sensitive information in this manner or you ask us to do so. Data we send by email is not routinely encrypted, so please tell us if you do not want us to use email as a form of communication with you or if you require data to be encrypted.

11.13. We will take reasonable steps to protect the integrity of our computer systems by screening for viruses on email sent or received. We expect you to do the same for your computer systems.

11.14. We promise to respect the data we hold on to you. Your acceptance of these terms authorises us to keep your details on our database so that we can provide you with legal services and for administration and accounting purposes, so that we can make credit searches and send you relevant information on our services and on events that may interest you. All information that we hold concerning you as an individual will be held and processed by us strictly in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Regulations.

11.15. We will not, without your consent, supply your name and address to any third party except where:

a) It is necessary as part of the legal services that we undertake; or

b) We are required to do so by law or our professional rules; or

c) It is necessary to refer the collection of any debt owed to us by you to enable the recovery of the debt.

11.16. The firm may become subject to periodic checks by Law Society approved Consultants and/or Assessors.

11.17. This could mean that your file is selected for checking, in which case we would need your consent for the checking to occur.  All such checks are conducted by individuals who have provided the firm with a Confidentiality Agreement. Your acceptance of these Terms of Business amounts to your consent to make your file available for checking. If you do not want us to make your file available for checking, you must notify us immediately and we will mark your file accordingly. If you refuse to give us consent to checks, your refusal will not affect the way your case is handled in any way.

11.18. If you are an individual, you have a right under the Data Protection Regulations to obtain information from us, including a description of the data that we hold on to you. Should you have any queries concerning this right, please contact our Data Protection Compliance Officer, Darren Smith, at our registered office.

11.19. We may correspond with you by email unless you advise us in writing that you do not wish us to do so.  You acknowledge that email may not be secure.  Email will be treated as written correspondence, and we are entitled to assume that the purported sender of an email is the actual sender and that any express or implied approval or authority referred to in an email has been validly given.  You consent to us monitoring and reading any email correspondence travelling between you and any mail recipient at Courmacs Legal Ltd Solicitors.

11.20. We will aim to communicate with you by such method as you request.   More often than not this will be in writing but may be by telephone if it is appropriate.  We may need to virus check disks or e-mails, but unless you withdraw consent we may communicate with others when appropriate by e-mail or fax, but we cannot be responsible for the security of correspondence and documents sent by e-mail or fax.

12. Referrals to Third Parties

12.1. If we recommend that you use a particular firm, agency, or business, we shall do so in good faith and because we believe it to be in your best interests. If we recommend that you use a particular firm, agency or business that can only offer products from one source, we shall notify you in writing of this limitation. We will pay to you any commission that we receive from any particular firm, agency, or business that we recommend you use.

12.2. If we recommend that you use a particular firm, agency or business, we shall not be liable to you for any advice you may be given by that firm, agency or business and you are advised that if that firm, agency or business is not another firm of solicitors you will not be afforded the regulatory protection of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) or of the SRA Code of Conduct and SRA Indemnity Insurance Rules, nor shall you be entitled to the benefit of the SRA Compensation Fund.

13. Hours of Business

13.1. Our offices are open between 9.00am and 5.00pm, Monday to Friday, excepting bank holidays. We do not provide an out of office or emergency service to clients. The person responsible for your matter may, at his or her absolute discretion, provide you with a mobile telephone number, and may endeavour to take your telephone calls outside of office hours, but nothing he or she says should be interpreted as an agreement to routinely deal with your matter or to take your telephone calls outside of office hours.

14. Equality & Diversity

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

14.2. If you have any special requirements in relation to the way in which you would like us to handle your work, (for example, if you consider yourself to have a disability) please let us know.

15. Rights of Third Parties

15.1. Except as stated otherwise in clause 9.7, a person who is not a party to this agreement shall not be entitled to enforce any of its terms.

16. Applicable Law, etc.

16.1. These terms and our Client Care Letter shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with English law. Any disputes or claims concerning this agreement and any matters arising from it shall be dealt with only by the courts of England and Wales.

16.2. If we or you do not enforce our respective rights under this agreement at any time it will not prevent either us or you from doing so later.

16.3. If any provision of this agreement is found by any court or administrative body of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unenforceable, such invalidity or unenforceability shall not affect the other provisions of this agreement which shall remain in full force and effect.

17. Setting Standards

17.1. We operate systems throughout our Office, insisting that all our staff meet certain standards with regard to Client care. These standards include:

a) Sending you copies of all important correspondence.

b) Returning your telephone calls during the course of the same day, if at all possible.

c) Dealing with correspondence of any sort promptly.

d) Writing letters to you and others in plain and concise language.

e) Giving appointments to you without any undue delay.

f) Dealing with you and all persons with the same attention, courtesy, and consideration regardless of race, colour, ethnic or national origins, sex, creed, disability, or sexual orientation.

17.2. To assist us in providing an efficient and effective service we ask that you:

a) In all communications quote the file reference number of your matter (which is set out at the top of each of our letters) and clearly address all written communications to your Legal Representative.

b) Leave clear telephone messages with your Legal Representative’s secretary, or reception.

c) Notify us immediately of any change of your address, telephone number or other material information.

d) Notify us immediately if you are delayed or cannot attend an appointment.

e) Respond to our requests promptly.

f) Pay our bills and disbursements without delay.

g) Contact your Legal Representative immediately if you receive any communication from your opponent or solicitors on that person’s behalf.  Do not reply without speaking to your Legal Representative.

18. Client Satisfaction and Complaints

18.1. We aim to provide you with commercial and efficient service. You will have a partner who will be responsible for liaising with you on all the matters we undertake for you.

18.2. In the event that you have any concern with the service you have received from us, then you should raise your concern with the partner supervising the Work, who will do their best to resolve your concerns. If, however, you are not satisfied by the action taken or do not feel you can address the concern with the partner supervising the Work, you should ask to have your concerns reviewed by our Managing Director Darren Smith who will provide you with full written details of our complaints procedure and will investigate your concerns. When we receive your complaint, we will let you know within 7 days that we have received it and we will investigate it within 28 days. At this point we will write to you with the results of our investigation.

18.3. In the event that you are not satisfied with our response the Legal Ombudsman may be able to consider your complaint.

18.4. There are, however, restrictions to this service for organisations, as set out on their website.

The contact details for the Legal Ombudsman are:

You should bring any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of the end of our complaints process. In addition, you should be aware that the Legal Ombudsman will not accept your complaint if:

• more than six years have elapsed from the date of the act or omission giving rise to the complaint; or
• more than three years have elapsed from the time when you should have known about the complaint; or
• the date of the alleged act or omission giving rise to the complaint was before 6th October 2010.

18.5. You may also be able to object to our invoice by applying to the Court for an assessment under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974. If you exercise this right, you could be prevented from making a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman. In addition, if you apply to the Court for an assessment and all or part of the invoice remains unpaid at the end of that assessment, we are entitled to charge interest. There are strict time limits that apply to this process, and you may wish to seek independent legal advice.

18.6. The Solicitors Regulation Authority can also help you if you are concerned about our behaviour.

19. Our Responsibilities – We Must:

19.1 Always act in your best interests, subject to our duty to the court.

19.2 Explain to you the risks and benefits of taking legal action.

19.3  Give you our best advice about whether to accept any offer of settlement.

19.4 Give you the best information possible about the likely costs of your claim.

20. Your Responsibilities – You Must:

20.1 Give us instructions that allow us to do our work properly.

20.2. Not ask us to work in an improper or unreasonable way.

20.3. Not deliberately mislead us.

20.4. Advise us of any changes in your circumstances that may result in you being unable to pay our fees.

20.5. Co-operate with us.

20.6. Go to any court hearing.

21. Online Services

21.1. Please note that some of our other services, are available online through our website. For more details, please feel free to contact us at any time.

22. Termination

22.1. You may end this agreement (and therefore, your instructions to us) at any time by writing to us by post, fax, or email (see clause 1 of these terms for details). However, we may be entitled to keep all of your documents and deeds while there is money owing to us (including fees and expenses which have not yet been billed)

22.2. We may end this agreement (and, therefore, cease acting for you) in relation to any matter or all matters of yours but only on reasonable written notice and for good reason. Examples of a good reason include where you have not given us sufficient instructions, where you have not provided appropriate evidence of identification, or we reasonably believe that the relationship between you and us has broken down.

22.3. If your matter does not conclude, or we are prevented from continuing to act because of our legal obligations or our professional rules, we will charge you for any work we have actually done. Our charges will be based on our hourly rates set out in this Agreement (and where a fixed fee has been agreed, the charges will not exceed that fixed fee)

22.4. If we cease acting for you, we shall (where relevant) inform the court or tribunal that we no longer act for you and shall apply to be removed from their records. We may charge you for doing so at our hourly rates applicable at the relevant time and those charges will be applied on the same basis set out in section 9 ‘Our Costs’ of this information and for any expenses which we incur on the same basis – also set out in section 9.

22.5. If you are an individual consumer (and not a business entity) and we have not met with your prior to entering into this Agreement or, if we entered into this Agreement with you away from our business premises, you have the right to cancel this Agreement 14 days of conclusion of this agreement (the ‘Agreement Date’ at the beginning of this Agreement). This right exists in accordance with The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. Please refer to the ‘Cancellation Notice’ at clause 22 for further information about your right to cancel and the conditions attached to the same.

22.6. If clause 22.5 applies to you then we will not start work on your file within 14 days of the Agreement Date.  If you would like our service to start within 14 days of the Agreement Date, please sign the enclosed Client Declaration, mark the relevant box stating your wishes and return a copy to us.

22.7. Once we have started work on your file within the cancellation period, on your instruction, you will be charged for any work done if you then cancel your instructions. You will have to pay us an amount which is proportionate to the work completed until we receive notice of cancellation from you, in comparison with the full coverage of this Agreement. These charges will be applied on the same basis as set out in our client care letter and where a fixed fee has been agreed, the charges will not exceed that fixed fee.