CONVEYANCING

Purchase of a Freehold residential property

At Robert Barber Solicitors, we prefer to offer a bespoke estimate of our fees and would always advise that you contact one of our offices to speak with a member of our conveyancing team who will be more than happy to discuss the process with you and offer an estimate tailored to your personal situation. We have given a general fee estimate below. The estimate below covers all of the work required to complete the purchase of your new home, including dealing with registration at the Land Registry and dealing with the payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax (Stamp Duty) if the property is in England, or Land Transaction Tax (Land Tax) if the property you purchase is in Wales.

Conveyancer’s fees and disbursements

Legal fee from £600+VAT (£720) (Dependent on Purchase Price)

Search fees usually £193.60 (but dependent upon the searches required and/or chosen)

Land Registry fee from £20.00 (but dependent on Purchase Price)

Electronic money transfer fee £35+VAT (£42.00)

Subtotal £975.60 Inc. of VAT.

Other Common Disbursements in addition to the above:

Office copies £6.00-9.00

ID & AML: Checks £18.00 per person

Bankruptcy search: £2.00 per person

OS1: £3.00

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as Land Registry fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

Purchase of a Leasehold residential property

At Robert Barber Solicitors, we prefer to offer and bespoke estimate of our fees and would also advise that you contact one of our offices to speak with a member of our conveyancing team who will be more than happy to discuss the process with you and offer an estimate tailored to your personal situation. We have given a general fee estimate below. The estimate below covers all of the work required to complete the purchase of your new home, including dealing with registration at the Land Registry and dealing with the payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax (Stamp Duty) if the property is in England, or Land Transaction Tax (Land Tax) if the property you purchase is in Wales.

Conveyancer’s fees and disbursements

Legal fee from £900+VAT (£1080.00) (Dependent on Purchase Price)

Search fees usually £193.60 (but dependent upon the searches required and/or chosen)

Land Registry fee from £20.00 (but dependent on Purchase Price)

Electronic money transfer fee £35+VAT (£42.00)

Subtotal £1,335.60 Inc. of VAT.

Other Common Disbursements in addition to the above:

Office copies £6.00-9.00

ID & AML Checks £18.00 per person

Bankruptcy search £2.00 per person

OS1 £9.00

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as Land Registry fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

Sale of a Freehold residential property

At Robert Barber Solicitors, we prefer to offer a bespoke estimate of our fees and would always advise that you contact one of our offices to speak with a member of our conveyancing team who will be more than happy to discuss the process with you and offer an estimate tailored to your personal situation. We have given a general fee estimate below. The estimate below assumes that we will be redeeming 1 mortgage on your behalf. The estimate covers all of the work required to complete the sale of your home

Conveyancer’s fees and disbursements

Legal fee from £600+VAT (£720) (Dependent on Purchase Price)

Electronic money transfer fee to redeem Mortgage: £35+VAT (£42.00) per mortgage

Office copies £6.00-9.00

Subtotal £768.00-£771.00 inc. of VAT.

Other Common Disbursements in addition to the above:

ID & AML: Checks £18.00 per person

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as Land Registry fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

Sale of a Leasehold residential property

At Robert Barber Solicitors, we prefer to offer and bespoke estimate of our fees and would also advise that you contact one of our offices to speak with a member of our conveyancing team who will be more than happy to discuss the process with you and offer an estimate tailored to your personal situation. We have given a general fee estimate below. The estimate below assumes that we will be redeeming 1 mortgage on your behalf. The estimate covers all of the work required to complete the sale of your home.

Conveyancer’s fees and disbursements

Legal fee from £900+VAT (£1080.00) (Dependent on Purchase Price)

Office Copes £6.00-£9.00

Electronic money transfer fee £35+VAT (£42.00 per mortgage

Subtotal £1128.00-£1131.00 inc. of VAT.

Other Common Disbursements in addition to the above:

ID & AML Checks £18.00 per person

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as Land Registry fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

You may also have to make a payment to the managing agent of your property in relation to their fees.

PROBATE

Obtaining a Grant of Probate Only

We can help you through this difficult process by obtaining the Grant of Probate on your behalf. We will also undertake the collecting and distributing of assets.As part of our fixed fee we will:

•Provide you with a dedicated and experienced probate solicitor to work on your matter

•Identify the legally appointed executors or administrators and beneficiaries

•Accurately identify the type of Probate application you will require

•Obtain the relevant documents required to make the application

•Complete the Probate Application and the relevant HMRC forms

•Draft a legal oath for you to swear

•Make the application to the Probate Court on your behalf

•Obtain the Probate and securely send two copies to you

How much does this service cost?

Breakdown of costs:

Legal fees from £950+VAT of £190 giving a total of £1,140.00

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees. At Robert Barber Solicitors, we handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

  • Probate court fee of £155.00
  • Bankruptcy-only Land Charges Department searches (£2.00 per beneficiary)
  • £250.00 for Post in The London Gazette and the Local Newspaper – Protects against unexpected claims from unknown creditors

Applying for the Grant, Collecting and Distributing the Assets

At Robert Barber Solicitors we anticipate that our fees will be £1,500.00 + VAT of £300.00 giving a total of £1,800.00. The exact cost will depend on the individual circumstances of the matter. For example, if there is one beneficiary and no property, costs will be at the lower end of the range. If there are multiple beneficiaries, a property and multiple bank accounts, costs will be at the higher end. We at Robert Barber Solicitors will handle the full process for you. This estimate is for estates where:

  • There is a valid will
  • There is no more than one property
  • There are no more than 2 bank or building society accounts
  • There are no other intangible assets
  • There are no more than 3 beneficiaries
  • There are no disputes between beneficiaries on division of assets. If disputes arise this is likely to lead to an increase in costs
  • There is no inheritance tax payable and the executors do not need to submit a full account to HMRC
  • There are no claims made against the estate

Disbursements

These are payments Robert Barber Solicitors may have to make to Third Parties which will be in addition to the fee above. At Robert Barber Solicitors we handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process:

  • Probate application fee of £155.00
  • Bankruptcy-only Land Charges Department searches (£2.00 per beneficiary)
  • £250.00 for Post in The London Gazette and the Local Newspaper – Protects against unexpected claims from unknown creditors.

Potential additional costs

If there is no will or the estate consists of any share holdings (stocks and bonds) there is likely to be additional costs that could range significantly depending on the estate and how it is to be dealt with. We can give you a more accurate quote once we have more information.

If any additional copies of the grant are required, they will cost £0.50 (1 per asset usually).

Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate is not included in the estimate given above.

EMPLOYMENT

We at Robert Barber Solicitors offer (subject to a risk assessment 2 ways of funding Employment Cases:- either via a Damages Based Agreement or on our standard Hourly Rate.

Damages Based Agreement

Paying Us

At Robert Barber Solicitors for employment law cases we offer a type of No-Win-No-Fee Agreement known as a Damages Based Agreement. If you win the case you pay us up to 35% of your damages including VAT at 20% (this percentage is based upon our initial risk assessment, the value of your claim and the initial risk assessment is offered free of charge) plus any disbursements. Please see below the meaning for damages. If you lose the case you do not pay us anything except disbursements.

Disbursements are payments we make on your behalf to others involved in the case, such as representation by a barrister. We will notify you of disbursements incurred as we go along. We would expect the only disbursements to be travelling and subsistence expenses incurred in attending the tribunal hearing. A Barrister may charge in the region of £1,000-£1,500 per day to attend trial. If you end the agreement before the case is won or lost, you are liable to pay our costs at the rate of £225.00 per hour with letters, telephone calls charged at £22.50 each unless they last for ten minutes or longer in which case they will be charged at the appropriate proportion of the hourly rate and letters received charged at £11.25 each. All of these figures attract VAT at the standard rate of 20%.

Damages

Damages means any money we recover on your behalf before deduction of any state benefits (such as income support, job seekers allowance) or any claim made against you by your employer (for example: repayment of a loan, relocation expenses or the cost of telephone calls etc.) Damages also include the financial value to you of any private health care, pension contributions, motor vehicle, etc.). We will calculate the financial value of these benefits to you.

What happens if you win?

If you win (which means that your case is decided in your favour whether by a tribunal or an agreement to pay you damages) you pay us up to 35%% of any damages plus any disbursements including VAT (subject to the agreed percentage from our initial risk assessment). You agree that we may receive the damages your opponent has to pay. If your opponent refuses to accept our receipt, you will pay the cheque you receive into a joint bank account in your name and ours. Out of the money you agree to let us take 35% of the damages plus any outstanding disbursements. You take the rest. If your opponent fails to pay any damages owed to you we have the right to take recovery action in your name to enforce a judgment, order or agreement. The costs of this action are payable by you to us in addition to the 35% damages. It is possible, although rare, that the industrial tribunal will either reinstate or re-engage you in your original position or in another position working for your old employer. This award may be made alone or combined with an award of damages. For the purposes of deciding how much you have won for the purpose of calculating the 35%, an order for reinstatement or re-engagement will be valued as 3 months average pay of which we take 35% along with any other damages awarded.

What happens if you lose?

If you lose you do not have to pay us anything, except our disbursements.

What if the agreement ends before the case?

You can end this agreement at any time except within 7 days of an Employment Tribunal commencing. You are then liable to pay our costs incurred up to the date you end the agreement calculated at an hourly rate, set out above under “Paying Us”. We can end this agreement at any time. We have agreed to act on your behalf without payment unless we win or settle the case and this agreement has been made without knowledge of the pattern the case will follow before it ends. We are potentially acting for you without payment for our advice and assistance and we can therefore end the agreement at any time. The following are examples (but not an exclusive list) of the circumstances which might lead us to end this agreement:-

  • If you do not keep to your responsibilities to us. You are then liable to pay us our costs incurred up to the date the agreement ends calculated at our standard hourly rate of £225+VAT per hour.
  • If we believe that you are unlikely to win and you disagree with us. You do not have to pay us anything.
  • If you reject our opinion about making a settlement with your opponent. You are then liable to pay us our costs incurred up to the date the agreement ends (unless the damages you negotiate or are awarded are 20% more than the offer we advised you to accept in which case you do not have to pay us anything). The costs you will be liable to pay us will be calculated on the hourly rate specified under paragraph 3 above.
  • If the case is listed by the Tribunal for a hearing of longer than a day.
  • If the value of the case does not make it financially worthwhile to pursue.
  • If your opponent makes a counterclaim against you or makes allegations or produces evidence which in our opinion increase the risk of losing the case and we know longer believe that we should act for you on a “No win, No fee” basis.

In any circumstances where we end the agreement, we will explain our reasons to you in full and will discuss whether we are prepared to enter into a replacement agreement on different terms and, if not, what our normal professional charges would be to continue to act on your behalf.

Costs

Employment Tribunals have the power to award costs in limited circumstances. If we recover costs on your behalf they belong to us. In other words, if you win, you will pay us up to 35% of your damages as per the initial agreed percentage whether or not we also recover any costs from your opponent.

If you lose and you are ordered to pay costs to your opponent, then those costs will be payable by you. The circumstances in which costs may be ordered against you are set out below.

The 2004 Tribunal Regulations provide that a Tribunal may make a Costs Order against a Claimant (or Respondent) where the paying party has in bringing the proceedings, or her or his representative has in conducting the proceedings acted vexatiously, abusively, disruptively or otherwise unreasonably, or the bringing or conducting of the proceedings by the paying party has been misconceived. The Tribunal may also make a costs order against a party who seeks an adjournment or postponement of a hearing. A Tribunal may also make a Costs Order against a party who has not complied with a Tribunal Order or a Practice Direction.

The amount of any costs order is limited to £10,000 under the Tribunal’s own jurisdiction or in any sum (i.e. over £10,000) as adjudged payable by a County Court on a detailed assessment of costs incurred

On a Privately Paying Hourly Rate Basis

Simple case: £1,000-£3,000 (excluding VAT)

Medium complexity case: £3,000-£5,000 (excluding VAT)

High complexity case: £5,000-£15,000 (excluding VAT)

Factors that could make a case more complex:

  • If it is necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim
  • Defending claims that are brought by litigants in person
  • Making or defending a costs application
  • Complex preliminary issues such as whether the claimant is disabled (if this is not agreed by the parties)
  • The number of witnesses and documents
  • If it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim e.g. if you are dismissed after blowing the whistle on your employer
  • Allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal There will be an additional charge for attending a Tribunal Hearing of £1,000 per day (excluding VAT). Generally, we would allow 1-3 days depending on the complexity of your case.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.Counsel’s fees are estimated at £1,000 to £1,500 per day (depending on experience of the advocate) for attending a Tribunal Hearing (including preparation)

Key stages

The fees set out above cover all of the work in relation to the following key stages of a claim:

  • Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on merits and likely compensation (this is likely to be revisited throughout the matter and subject to change)
  • Entering into pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached;
  • Preparing claim or response
  • Reviewing and advising on claim or response from other party
  • Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process
  • preparing or considering a schedule of loss
  • Preparing for (and attending) a Preliminary Hearing
  • Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents
  • Taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses
  • preparing bundle of documents
  • Reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements
  • agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list
  • Preparation and attendance at Final Hearing, including instructions to Counsel

The stages set out above are an indication and if some of the stages above are not required, the fee will be reduced. You may wish to handle the claim yourself and only have our advice in relation to some of the stages. This can also be arranged on your individual needs.

How long will my matter take?

The time that it takes from taking your initial instructions to the final resolution of your matter depends largely on the stage at which your case is resolved. If a settlement is reached during pre-claim conciliation, your case is likely to take 12-24 weeks. If your claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, your case is likely to take 36- 52 weeks. This is just an estimate and we will of course be able to give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information and as the matter progresses.

PERSONAL INJURY

We at Robert Barber Solicitors can offer a No-Win-No-Fee (conditional fee agreement (CFA)) to help you pursue your Claim for Personal Injuries. We offer an Initial Free Consultation (either in person or over the telephone) to discuss the likely prospects of success and whether we will be able to take the matter on a No-Win-No-Fee Basis.

Paying us if you win

If you win your claim, you pay our basic charges, our expenses and disbursements and a success fee together with the premium for any insurance you take out. You are entitled to seek recovery from your opponent of part or all of our basic charges and our expenses and disbursements, but not the success fee or (save for clinical negligence cases) any insurance premium. If your claim is for clinical negligence and you have taken out a costs insurance policy, then, if you win, you may be able to recover from your opponent that part of the insurance premium which relates to the risk of having to pay for expert reports.

The overall amount we will charge you for our basic charges, success fees, expenses and disbursements is limited as set out below.

It may be that your opponent makes a formal offer to settle your claim which you reject on our advice, and your claim for damages goes ahead to trial where you recover damages that are less than that offer. If this happens, we will not add our success fee to the basic charges for the work done after we received notice of the offer or payment. In these circumstances, you may be ordered to pay your opponent’s costs, but (unless you are found to have been fundamentally dishonest in the claim) any order will normally only be up to the amount of damages and interest awarded to you.

Expenses and Disbursements

If you receive interim damages, we may require you to pay our expenses and disbursements at that point and a reasonable amount for our future expenses and disbursements.

If you receive provisional damages, we are entitled to payment of our basic charges, our expenses and disbursements and success fee at that point.

If you win overall but on the way lose an interim hearing, you may be required to pay your opponent’s charges of that hearing, but usually only up to the amount of damages awarded to you. If on the way to winning or losing you are awarded any costs, by agreement or court order, then we are entitled to payment of those costs, together with a success fee on those charges if you win overall.

What do I pay if I lose?

If you lose, you do not pay any base costs or success fee but we may require you to pay our expenses and disbursements.
If you lose you may be liable to pay some or all of your opponents costs. However you will normally have the benefit of Qualified One-Way Cost Shifting so the court will not usually enforce an order for costs against you, unless:

  • the proceedings have been struck out; or
  • the claim is fundamentally dishonest; or
  • the claim includes a claim for the financial benefit of someone else.

The Success Fee

This is dependent upon the likely prospects of success and can be up to £25%.

Basic Charges

Details of our basic charges are set out below

Ending The Agreement

If you have a right to cancel this agreement (see below) and do so within the 7 day time limit, you will pay nothing. Otherwise if you end this agreement before you win or lose, you pay our basic charges and expenses and disbursements. If you go on to win, you also pay a success fee. We may end this agreement before you win or lose, with the consequences set out in the Law Society Conditions.

Success fee

The success fee is set at 100% of our basic charges.

The success fee percentage reflects the following:

(a) the fact that if you lose, we will not earn anything;

(b) our assessment of the risks of your case;

(c) any other appropriate matters;

(d) the fact that if you win we will not be paid our basic charges until the end of the claim;

(e) our arrangements with you about paying expenses and disbursements.

(f) the arrangements about payment of our costs if your opponent makes a Part 36 offer or payment which you reject on our advice, and your claim for damages goes ahead to trial where you recover damages that are less than that offer or payment.

The Success Fee cannot be more than 100% of the basic charges in total.

Cap on the amount of Success Fee which you will pay us in the event of Success in proceedings

In addition, there is a maximum limit on the amount of the success fee which we can
recover from you.
In proceedings at first instance, that maximum limit is 25% of the total amount of any:

    1. general damages for pain suffering and loss of amenity; and
    2. damages for pecuniary loss, other than future pecuniary loss;

which are awarded to you in the proceedings covered by this agreement. The maximum limit is applicable to these damages net of any sums recoverable by the Compensation Recovery Unit of the Department of Work and Pensions.
However, this maximum limit applies only to a success fee for proceedings at first instance and not to a success fee in other proceedings (such as, for example, an appeal against a final judgment or order). In proceedings other than proceedings at first instance the maximum limit is 100% of the types of damages set out in (i) and (ii) above. Again this maximum limit is also applicable to these damages net of any sums recoverable by the Compensation Recovery Unit of the Department of Work and Pensions.

These maximum limits are inclusive of any VAT which is chargeable.

We will provide you with a copy of any relevant judgment or of our calculation of any settlement showing how much of your damages should be attributed to General Damages and Past Pecuniary Loss, net of any sums recoverable by the Compensation Recovery Unit.

You also have the right to apply to the court for assessment of our costs, including our success fee.

Basic Charges

These are for work done from now until this agreement ends. These are subject to review.

How we calculate our basic charges

These are calculated for each hour engaged on your matter. Routine letters and telephone calls will be charged as units of one tenth of an hour. Other letters and telephone calls will be charged on a time basis. The hourly rates are:

GRADE RATES
Directors – Samina Hussain & Helen Prins £240.00
Senior Solicitors – Sharon Cobham £225.00
Solicitor – Lauren Glass & Craig Sherwoon £210.00

These hourly rates have to be reviewed periodically to reflect increases in overhead costs and inflation. If a review is carried out before this matter has been concluded, we will inform you of any variation in the rate before it takes effect.