We want to be clear with you on the fees that we charge and the work that we will undertake, so there are a variety of fee arrangements, including fixed fees, capped fees or hourly rates, depending on the type of work that you want us to undertake. If you ever have any questions, please discuss with the lawyer that is allocated to you.
In some limited circumstances, we can also offer a success fee arrangement, whereby you pay a heavily discounted hourly rate and then a success fee if the work we undertake achieves the outcome that we agree from the outset.
There are a number of differences between each;
- Fixed Fee in advance
- Hourly Rate
- Capped Fee
- Fixed fee in arrears
| Description | These are a set amount, based on our estimation of how much work we think that we will need to do. |
| Advantages | You know the amount that our services will cost and the amount of work that we will do. The amount is less than we would normally anticipate with an hourly rate, as we estimate how long we will need and then apply a discount. |
| Disadvantages | The amount of the fixed fee is normally paid before we start work. Fixed fees are non-refundable, even if the work does not complete. |
| Notes | We do not normally time record fixed fee work. If the matter does become more complicated or you wish to extend our instructions, we reserve the right to make an additional charge but would consult with you before doing so. |
| Description | As the name suggests, this arrangement means that you pay for our services based on the amount of time that we spend. |
| Advantages | The fees are paid after the work is complete (or at the end of a full calendar month) and in some cases can be paid over a period of time. The amount could be less than our fixed fee, if the work progresses more smoothly than we anticipated. |
| Disadvantages | The work will normally cost more than our fixed fee unless we can conclude it more quickly than we expected. |
| Notes | Our hourly rates are charged according to the seniority of the person dealing with the work.We use an electronic time recording system to calculate the amount of time spent in 6 minute intervals. |
| Description | A capped fee is an arrangement where we work on the hourly basis, up to a total amount that we agree. |
| Advantages | You know the maximum amount you will pay for the work we agree to do for you. This is useful if you have a set budget that you do not want to exceed and you could pay less than the fixed fee. |
| Disadvantages | There is a possibility that we may not be able to complete the work if the capped fee is too low. |
| Notes | Time is recorded as with our hourly rate. We only offer capped fees under certain circumstances. The cap on these types of fee are normally set at around twice the fixed fee. |
| If you would like a fixed fee that is payable when the work is completed, please ask. This is possible in some circumstances but you will not benefit from the discount that is applied for fixed fees paid in advance. Should you choose this option, please ensure that you have sufficient funds available to pay the amount that will be due. This is particularly important if you are involved in a purchase of a park home and are relying on a related sale to fund the process as you need to think carefully about what will happen and how you will pay our fees if the transaction does not complete. |
Our fees are in part based on the experience of the lawyer dealing with your case, as well as the amount of time taken. Our hourly rates are ;
| Partners/Directors/Consultants | £180 to £280 plus VAT |
| Solicitors and Admitted staff | £140 to £200 plus VAT |
| Non-Admitted Staff (paralegals/legal executives) | £50 to £180 plus VAT |
The terms of business that we send out will confirm the exact the hourly rate of the lawyer dealing with your work, as well as any travelling and waiting rate. Where we have to travel as part of the work, road travel is normally charged at 50p per mile, travelling costs by public transport and parking are recharged to you as incurred.
| Please note that we have a minimum fee for all new work, which is £300 including VAT (£250 excluding). This covers up to the first hour of our time, including the process that we have to go through to take you on as a client. |
Referral fees
On occasions, we have a referral arrangements in place with estate agents and other professionals on the work that we undertake.
This helps us to work together in a positive way to secure the best result that we can. If you should have any questions about this, please do not hesitate to contact us.
- For clients
- For referrers
Normally, we would expect the professional that refers you to us to give you information about the process that will be followed and they may ask you to provide identification on our behalf.
Sometimes the referral arrangement includes a payment from us to the referrer for their services. Where there is such an arrangement in place, we will always tell you that it exists when we take you on as a client. Please refer to our terms of business letter. The estimate that we give you for the work in our terms of business letter includes any referral fee that is paid, so that you know what you will be due to pay.
Rest assured that our priority is to you as a client, to try and ensure that the work is done to your satisfaction.
We offer a variety of arrangements for referral fees, depending on the nature of the work and the referral. If you are interested in working with us, please contact one of our team. We will of course need to carry out some checks if you have not referred a client to us before.
To help your business, we can help develop an integrated process for park home transactions so that you can present to the client an easy-to-follow process that will take them from enquiry to completion. Clients often appreciate this approach, so that there is clarity on the various stages.
We will generally report to you only when our work is completed, unless we have agreed a process with you as a regular referrer. With regular referrers, we provide updates at key stages through the process so that you know the state of play.
As part of our onboarding process with clients, we need to be open with them about any referral fee arrangement that exists. The amount of any fee that we agree is between you and us but we explain to clients that such a fee is included within the amount that we charge.
Depending on the arrangement, we are able to pay the referral fee upon successful completion or when we accept instructions to act for the client and complete the onboarding process.
We regret that we are unable to pay any referral fees unless we have agreed this with you in writing before we start work. Normally, we will need an invoice from you in order to pay any fee.
If you would like to refer a potential client to us, we try to make it as easy as possible : just complete the form below. Regular referrers should instead use the page that we provide for this purpose.