Terms of Business

(Click terms to download our Terms of Business as a PDF file)

Sheltons has been established since 1934. It has several offices in Nottingham and 3 partners who are supported by a team of other lawyers, administrative and secretarial staff. As a team we offer a wide range of experience and expertise in various areas of legal work.

We are pleased you are a client of our firm. Whether your case is large or small, straight forward or complex, we aim to give you peace of mind and confidence that your case will be dealt with efficiently and promptly.

This leaflet gives you important information about the basis on which we will provide our professional services and is the “small print” covering the agreement between us.

We will:

• Represent your interest
• Keep your business confidential
• Communicate with you in plain language
• Explain to you the legal work required as your matter progresses and the prospects of a successful outcome
• Make clear the likely degree of financial risk you will be taking on
• Give you advice on the availability of Legal Aid or alternative funding including continuing to review whether there are alternative methods by which your matter can be funded as it progresses
• Update you on the cost of your matter at times agreed with you, or promptly upon your request
• Keep you regularly informed of progress or, if there is none, when you are next likely to hear from us.
• Update you on whether the likely outcome still justifies the likely cost and risks associated with your matter whenever there is a material change in circumstances
• Update you on the likely timescale for each stage of the matter and any important changes in those estimates
• Explain if you have any queries.
• Respond promptly when you contact us

Responsibilities

Our responsibilities include:-

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

Your responsibilities include:-

• You will provide us clear, timely and accurate instructions
• You will provide all documentation required to enable your matter to be dealt with fully, properly and in a timely manner.
• You will safeguard any documents that are likely to be required for the conduct of your matter

 

What are our hours of business?

 
Our offices are normally open between 9.00 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays.

 

Who will deal with your case?

At the start of the case we will write to you to inform you who has the day to day responsibility for your case. You will also be told who is the matter supervisor with overall responsibility for your case.

When you contact us a secretary or assistant may be able to help. They will not, however, be able to offer legal advice.

So that we can provide you with an economical and efficient service different aspects of your case may sometimes be handled by members of our team other than the person responsible for your file. Routine tasks may need to be delegated to someone more junior whilst complex issues may need to be referred to someone more senior.

If more than one area of law is involved the person dealing with the file may need to involve a colleague from another department or office. If your case is progressed at another office this will be to ensure that we are providing you with the services of specialist lawyers who can provide the quality of service you need.

We will try to avoid changing the people who handle your work but if it cannot be avoided we will tell you promptly and let you know why it is necessary.

Whenever we need to see you in person we will try to make arrangements to see you at the office which is most convenient for you.

 

Equality and Diversity

Sheltons is committed to promoting equality and diversity in all of its dealings with clients, third parties and employees. Please contact us if you would like a copy of our ‘Equality and Diversity Policy’

How much will it cost?

This will depend on the type of case.

Estimates

For residential conveyancing, making a straightforward will and a small number of other types of simple matters we are often able to complete the work for an amount agreed in advance. You will be given details separately.

The estimate is not intended to be a fixed price. In some cases, through no fault of our own, complications can arise which involve an unexpected amount of work. When this happens we reserve the right to increase our charges to cover the actual work needed to complete your case. We will, of course, advise you if this happens.

Estimates for conveyancing transactions do not include the provision of tax advice. If you feel you need tax advice please let us know and we will make an appointment for you to discuss your queries. There will be a separate charge for this service.

Alternative Funding

We will discuss with you at the outset whether your charges might be covered by insurance or by another person or organisation such as an employer or trade union. This will include advice as to whether your case is suitable for a Conditional Fee Agreement (sometimes known as a ‘no win, no fee’ agreement)

If you enter into a Conditional Fee Agreement the charging arrangements will be set out in the agreement.

Other Cases

Our charges will be calculated by reference to the time actually spent by the solicitors and other staff working on your behalf. This will include meetings with you, and perhaps others, reading and working on papers, correspondence, telephone calls, preparation of documents and any detailed costs calculations, attending court and time spent travelling away from the office if this is necessary.

Occasionally a transaction may not be completed. Provided that this is not through any fault on our part, then, in such an event, we will charge you for the work which we have actually done up to that point

We keep a computerised record of time spent on individual cases.

Routine letters which we send out are charged as 6 minute units of time. Time spent considering incoming letters is also charged in 6 minute units but at half the rate of letters sent out.

If letters are not routine then we will charge for the actual time spent.

We charge for the time spent making and taking telephone calls in 6 minute units.

We are required to prepare a written record of your instructions to us and our advice to you. This record will be kept on your file. Copies will be provided to you asnecessary. A reasonable charge will be made to you for these essential records.

The current rate for the person dealing with your matter will be advised to you in writing at the outset. Any change to the rate will also be advised to you by letter.

We will add VAT to our charges at the current standard  rate.

We review our rates annually, usually on 1st January, to take account of increased overheads and inflation. If the rate for your case is to be changed we will let you know.

When calculating your charges we may take into account a number of other factors including the need to carry out work outside normal office hours, the complexity of the issues involved, the speed at which action has to be taken and any specialist expertise which the case demands.

In property transactions, in the administration of estates and in matters involving a substantial value or benefit to you we may consider a charge reflecting the price of the property, the value of the estate or the value of the benefit. Normally we would expect this to be covered in our quoted rate and if an additional charge is to be made it will be explained to you.

You may set an upper limit on our charges. In this case you agree to pay for our charges up to that limit without the need for us to seek your authority. We will not exceed such a limit without your consent.

We will deduct our charges from any money we hold on your behalf. You will be informed of this in advance.

If for any reason your case does not proceed to completion we will be entitled to charge you for work done and expenses incurred. If we have given you an estimate for the cost of your transaction and the matter does not proceed to completion then the costs charged would not exceed our original estimate.

Wasted Costs

Occasionally a Court Order may be made ordering us to meet the whole or part of any costs. These are known as “wasted costs”. If this were to arise in your case and it is due to fault on your part because of delay, failure to accept advice, failure to give instructions or similar reasons then you will be responsible for those costs.

Limited Companies

We may require a Director and/or controlling shareholder to sign a form of personal guarantee in respect of our charges and expenses.

Disbursements

We may need to make payments on your behalf such as search fees, doctor’s fees, Court fees, barristers fees, travel expenses and in some cases postage. These payments are referred to as disbursements. When these disbursements can be foreseen we will advise you in advance of the estimated likely cost.

Any quotation or estimate of our own costs will always exclude money we have to pay for these other fees. In most cases we will ask you to provide money in advance to enable us to make these payments. It will be important that you let us have the money promptly so that your case can progress smoothly.

VAT will be payable on some disbursements.

If you ask us to communicate with you regularly by mobile phone we may make a charge for the additional expense incurred.

If you choose to pay your bills by credit card we will make a transaction charge of 2.3% on the disbursement element of the bill to cover the charge levied on us by the credit card company. This transaction charge is not payable on the element of the bill relating to our costs.

We are not permitted to accept credit or debit card payments for deposit or balance payments on property transactions.

 

Payments

We may send you interim bills as the case progresses.

At the end of the case you will receive our bill setting out the work we have done for you and any payments we have made on your behalf.

For property transactions we will normally send you our bill following exchange of contracts. For a property purchase the bill is payable prior to completion and for a property sale the bill is payable on completion. If sufficient money is available on completion and we have sent you a bill we will deduct our charges and expenses from that money.

In the administration of estates we normally submit an interim bill at regular stages during the administration starting with the obtaining of a Grant of Representation. The final account will be sent to you with the estate accounts.

 

Payments on Account

In all other private cases it is normal practice to ask clients to pay money on account from time to time. This is to cover the charges and expenses which are expected to be incurred in the following weeks or months. The basis for these payments will be discussed with you to agree the amounts and method of payment.

Payments on account help you to budget.

Non-receipt of payments will delay progress in your case.

 

Money Laundering

We are required by the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 to :-

• Obtain information about a client’s identity and to verify that information
• Obtain identity information about people related to a client where relevant, and at the same time, verify that information
• Continue to monitor the transaction and keep identity information up to date

The law requires solicitors to get satisfactory evidence of the identity of their clients, and spmetimes of people related to them because solicitors who deal in money and property on behalf of their client can be used by criminals wanting to launder money.
To comply with the law, we need to get evidence of your identity as soon as possible. We will tell you what is required and what documents you must produce to us for examination, copying and retention on your file. Any charges that we make to you for this will be notified to you and will appear on your bill as expenses.

Our Bill

Your account should be settled within 28 days. Interest will be charged on a daily basis from the date of the bill on any amount outstanding after that time at the Court Rate for Judgement Debt.

Payments of cash in excess of  £2,000.00 may incur a charge to cover the cost of counting, checking and banking. The fee will depend on the time taken, the amount and the condition of the notes. If the notes are still sealed in bank wrappers there will not normally be a charge.

No cash or any other payment at all may be made into any of our bank accounts without our prior written consent and without the source of the funds being identified to us. Unauthorised payments will be returned to the sender.

All the work done for you is carefully recorded and full details of how your bill has been calculated can be given on request.

Fees charged by the legal profession are closely regulated and our bills are carefully prepared to ensure that they meet these requirements. If you are not satisfied with the accuracy of our bill you should discuss it with the person responsible for your case. If you remain dissatisfied with your bill, then you will be entitled to make a formal written complaint to us which would be dealt with in accordance with our Complaints Procedure, details of which are available upon request.
You may also have a right to object to the bill by making a complaint to the Legal Complaints Service and/or by applying to the Court for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitors’ Act 1974

 

Other Parties Charges and Expenses

In some situations you may be entitled to payment of costs by another person. It is important that you understand that if this is the case,  the other person may not be required to pay all the charges and expenses which you incur with us. You will be responsible for paying our charges and expenses. Any amounts which can be recovered from another party will then be a contribution towards them. If the other party is funded by legal aid it is unlikely that costs would be recovered.

If your case is successful and a court orders another party to pay some or all of your charges and expenses it may be possible to claim interest on that amount. We will pay you the interest relevant to any payments you have made on account and we will be entitled to the remainder.

You will be responsible for the cost of any action necessary to recover any costs that a court orders another party to pay to you.

If you are unsuccessful in a court case you may be ordered to pay another party’s legal charges and expenses. This would be in addition to our charges and expenses. In some cases such as personal injury claims, insurance is available to cover this liability. If this is a possibility we will discuss the alternatives with you.

 

Interest on Money Held/Owing

If we receive any money on your behalf it will be held in our Client Account. Subject to certain minimum amounts and time periods defined in the Solicitors Accounts Rules interest will be calculated and paid to you. This will be calculated at the rate payable on NatWest Deposit Accounts.

The period for which interest is payable will run from the date(s) on which the money is received by us until the date(s) of the issue of payment from our Client Account.

If you are borrowing from a lender for a property transaction we will ask the lender to ensure that the loan money is received by us at least 5 working days before completion if paid by cheque so that the cheque can be cleared. If the money is to be sent to us electronically we will ask for receipt on the day before completion. You will be charged interest by the lender from the date they issue the cheque or send the electronic payment.

 

Conflict of Interest

Before we confirm that we are accepting your instructions to act for you we will carry out a “Conflict of Interest” check. This is to make sure that we are not already acting for any other parties involved in the matter and so are able to be genuinely independent in the advice we give you.

In the unlikely event that we become aware of a potential conflict of interest during the course of the work  we will have to ask both parties to take independent legal advice but this is extremely rare.

In property transactions we are permitted to act for both buyer and seller if they are both established clients or the work is carried out by two different conveyancers at different offices.

 

Copyright

When we draft or prepare documents for you the copyright in them belongs to us and you are licensed to use them for the purpose for which they were prepared but not for any other purpose. You are not permitted to copy them without our permission.

 

Financial Services -Investments

Sometimes our work includes investments. We are not authorised by the Financial Services Authority so we may refer you to someone who is authorised to provide any necessary advice. We can, however, provide certain limited services in relation to investments if they are closely linked with our legal services because we are regulated by the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority.

 

Insurance Mediation - General Insurance

We are not authorised by the Financial Services Authority. However, we are included on the register maintained by the Financial Services Authority so that we can carry on insurance mediation 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 Services Authority website at www.fsa.gov.uk/register.

 

Property transactions - Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)

Most property transactions will be subject to Stamp Duty Land Tax (this replaced Stamp Duty) and although we will deal with the calculation and payment of this tax on your behalf it is important that you know what is involved and your responsibilities in relation to it.

In the majority of cases we will need to complete and submit a Land Transaction Return (LTR). This is effectively a self-assessment form for Stamp Duty Land Tax and we will forward it to the Inland Revenue with the appropriate payment.

Unless you request otherwise we will complete the LTR forms on your behalf.  They will be completed using the information that we have received from you. You will, therefore, be ultimately responsible for the accuracy of that information.

If the LTR is not properly completed it could lead to delays in its acceptance by the Inland Revenue and this could incur a late return penalty charge.

Even though we will submit the LTR for you, you need to be aware that it is in fact your obligation to notify “liability to tax” within the defined period. This is 30 days from the effective date of the Transaction.  In the majority of cases this will be the date of completion.

Penalties will be incurred if the LTR is not submitted within the defined period.

There is a fixed penalty for delay in submitting the LTR of 100.00 if the return is delivered within 3 months after the filing date and 200.00 in any other case, regardless of whether any tax is payable.

If the LTR is filed more than 12 months after the filing date an additional tax related penalty will be incurred.

Any delay in submitting or having the LTR accepted will lead to delays in the issue of a certificate. This is an essential document to enable the purchase to be registered.

If there is a delay on your part or you fail to provide information, complete and/or sign the LTR then there will be delays in registering the property as a result.  When we are also acting for a mortgage lender, if you fail to co-operate then this could lead to a conflict of interest, because it would also lead to delay in the mortgage being registered.

It is your responsibility to pay the tax due even though in practice, we will be making the payment on your behalf.  Where there is more than one purchaser you need to be aware that the duty to pay tax is joint and several, even if the parties are contributing unequal amounts towards the purchase.

The LTR includes our details as your agent for the purposes of dealing with Stamp Duty Land Tax. By signing the LTR you are giving authority to the Inland Revenue to send the certificate of tax paid to us. This enables the Inland Revenue to meet their data protection responsibilities.

This will be a “Process Now -  Check Later” system.  If there is any shortfall due as a result of an incorrect self-assessment then you may be liable to pay it.  Likewise if there has been an overpayment then it will be refunded as appropriate.

The Inland Revenue may make an enquiry into the transaction within 9 months of the filing date.  We understand that cases will be chosen at random for this purpose.  If we are to deal with any enquiry then this will involve further work that is not included in the initial conveyancing estimate and there would, therefore be an additional charge.  It may be possible to insure against those costs and if you would like us to look into how much a premium might be, please let us know.

If you choose to deal with such an enquiry yourself you may have access to your file on request. Normally 7 days notice will be required to give time for the file to be retrieved from our document store. There may be a small administration charge depending on the work involved.

We have to make you aware of your obligation as Purchasers to keep relevant documents for a minimum period of 6 years.  In practice we keep your file for at least that length of time anyway.

If there are any aspects of Stamp Duty Land Tax that are not clear, we will be happy to discuss them with you.

 

What will happen to your file?

After your case is completed we will keep your file of papers in storage for not less than one year. You may of course request that papers be returned to you. We are entitled to keep your papers while there is any money owing to us for our charges and expenses.

After the first year,  storage of your papers is on the basis that we have the right to destroy them. At the end of the matter we will let you know how long your documents will be retained.

We will not destroy any documents such as Wills, Deeds or other securities which you ask us to hold in safe custody.

If we ask you to collect your papers and you fail to do so then we may make a charge for storage. No charge will be made to you for document storage unless prior notice is given to you in writing.

If we retrieve documents or papers from storage to continue to act on your instructions or to act on new instructions on your behalf we may make a charge for retrieval.

If you request us to deliver your papers or documents to another party then we may make a charge based on the time spent producing and delivering them. We may also charge for other work involved in dealing with your request such as reviewing documents or dealing with correspondence.

As part of our quality standards procedures files are reviewed by external assessors. Please let us know if you do not agree to your file being assessed.

 

What happens if you terminate your instructions?

You may terminate your instructions to us at any time but we will be entitled to retain any papers and documents until our account is settled. If at any time you do not wish us to continue to work or incur expense on your behalf you must tell us clearly in writing.

We may only decide to stop acting for you with good reason, for example if you do not pay an interim bill, or if there is a conflict of interest. We must give you reasonable notice that we will stop acting for you.
If you or we decide that we should stop acting for you, you will pay our charges up to that time. These are calculated on an hourly basis or by a proportion fo the agreed fee as appropriate to the particular matter. 

How will we communicate?

We will communicate with you by letter and/or telephone as appropriate.

Unless you tell us otherwise we will communicate with other parties on your behalf when appropriate by fax but we cannot be responsible for the security of correspondence and documents sent in this way.

As a matter of policy we do not communicate with clients by e-mail because of the related security risks.

Data Protection

The Data Protection Act requires us to inform you that your details are held in our records. We use the information you provide primarily for the provision of legal services to you and for related purposes including updating and enhancing client records, analysis to help us manage our practice, statutory returns, legal and regulatory compliance and to send you information which we think might be of interest to you.
Our use of that information is subject to your instructions, the Data Protection Act 1998 and our duty of confidentiality. Please note that our work for you may require us to give information to third parties such as expert witnesses and other professional advisors.
You have a right of access under Data Protection legislation to the personal data that we hold about you.
 

What if you are not satisfied with our service?

We aim to provide an efficient and effective service to our clients at all times and we hope that you will be pleased with the work we do for you. In the unlikely event that a problem arises which you cannot resolve with the person responsible for your case, you should contact the Senior Partner who will investigate.

We will try to resolve any problem quickly using our internal complaints handling procedures. Let us know if you would like a copy of our Complaints Procedure leaflet or download it here.

If for any reason we are unable to resolve the problem then we are regulated by the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority which also provides a complaints and redress scheme.

The Legal Complaints Service

Help line Telephone No. 0845 608 6565
website:- www.legalcomplaints.org.uk

Professional Indemnity Insurance

We are required at all times to have in place a Professional Indemnity Insurance to provide compensation in the event that you suffer loss as a result of any negligence on our part. We confirm that such insurance is in place at all times. Our insurers may change from time to time, but if you require details of our current insurers, please write to us and we will provide you with that information.

Solicitors Regulation Authority

SRA No. 55097 Sheltons

VAT Registration

GB 117 7319 69

Sheltons has offices at the following locations:-

 
299 Main Street
Bulwell
NG6 8ED

388 Carlton Hill
Carlton
NG4 1JA
 

Belmont House
Station Road
Hucknall
NG15 7UE
 

Telephone (All Offices)

(0115) 955 3444