Terms & Conditions of Business

Last updated 20th January 2024 

Standard Terms and Conditions

1. Introduction

1.1       In these conditions “we” and “us” means McCloy (LS) Legal Limited trading as “McCloy Legal”. “You” means a client of McCloy Legal. “Our” and “your” shall be construed accordingly.

1.2       Your continuing instructions will amount to your acceptance of these Standard Terms and Conditions.

1.3       When we are undertaking ongoing work on your behalf we may not always draw your attention to these Standard Terms and Conditions on each and every occasion. In such circumstances they will nevertheless continue to apply unless and until specifically stated by us in writing to the contrary in respect of any particular transaction.

1.4       We draw specific attention to clauses 11 and 14 which relate to the important matters of our Limitation of Liability and our Complaints Handling Procedure.

2. Retainer Letter

2.1       At the outset of a transaction we will supply you with a retainer letter which will contain details of the person handling your business, details of anticipated fees and disbursements, and the nature of the work which we are undertaking on your behalf.

2.2       Our retainer letter will draw your attention to these Standard Terms and Conditions.

3. Terms of Payment – Conveyancing

3.1       Our usual practice is to invoice you and request payment of our fees upon completion of a transaction together with any disbursements expended.

3.2       Where a transaction does not proceed to completion, we will invoice you for work carried out by reference to the hourly charge stated in our retainer letter and in which case we will ask you to settle our account within 14 days of submission.

3.3       We will inform you if any unforeseen extra work becomes necessary; for example due to unexpected difficulties or if your requirements or the circumstances change significantly during the course of the transaction.  We will also inform you in writing of the estimated cost of the extra work and will attempt to agree an amended charge with you.  If we cannot reach agreement, we will do no further work and charge you on an hourly basis for work carried out, at the rate set out in our retainer letter.

3.4       Where a transaction becomes unduly protracted we reserve the right to submit accounts for settlement at monthly intervals.  We further reserve the right to submit an interim account upon exchange of contracts in any case where the contractual completion date is, or is likely to be, more than one month after the date of contract.

3.5       We reserve the right to require payment at any time on account of disbursements to be incurred on your behalf.

3.6       Where a transaction involves the sale of a property, and subject to our having given you prior notice, it is our usual practice to deduct fees and disbursements due to us from monies held on your behalf.

4. Terms of Payment – General Non-Contentious Work

4.1        We will submit accounts for settlement at regular intervals appropriate to the amount of work undertaken.

4.2       We reserve the right to require payment at any time on account of disbursements to be incurred   on your behalf.

4.3       Settlement of our accounts is due within fourteen days of submission.

4.4        We will inform you if any unforeseen extra work becomes necessary;   for example due to unexpected difficulties or if your requirements or the circumstances change significantly during the course of the transaction.  We will also inform you in writing of the estimated cost of the extra work and will attempt to agree an amended charge with you.  If we cannot reach agreement, we will do no further work and charge you on an hourly basis for work to date, at the rate set out in our retainer letter.

4.5       It is normal practice to ask clients to make payments on account from time to time. These payments help to meet our expected charges and expenses and help to avoid delaying progress in the matter.  We will notify you separately in this respect if monies on account are required.

5. Terms of Payment – Probate

5.1        We will send you a bill for our charges and expenses after a Grant of Representation has been obtained and reserve the right to submit further interim accounts from time to time.

5.2       We will also send you a final bill for our charges and expenses when the administration of the Estate is completed.

5.3       If we hold sufficient funds on your behalf and we have sent you a final bill, we will usually deduct our charges from these funds.

5.4        If we do not complete the work you have instructed us to do we will charge you for the work we have done by reference to the hourly rate stated plus VAT and expenses.

6. Terms of Payment – Contentious Work

6.1       In our retainer letter we will provide you with an estimate of our charges and expenses to an initial stage.  We will thereafter provide you with estimates on an ongoing basis.  All estimates will be for guidance only and are not intended to be fixed.

6.2       We will inform you if any unforeseen additional work becomes necessary (for example, due to unexpected difficulties or if your requirements or the circumstances change significantly during the course of the matter).  We will also inform you in writing of the estimated cost of the extra work before any extra charges and expenses are incurred.

6.3       It is normal practice to ask clients to pay sums of money from time to time on account of the charges and expenses that are expected in the following weeks or months.  This helps to avoid delaying the progress of their case.  We will request an agreed sum on account of our charges and to enable payment of expenses before we start work on your matter.  We may request further payments on account for charges and expenses to be incurred as the matter progresses. When we put these payments towards your accounts we will send you a receipt.  We will offset any such payments against your final bill but it is important that you understand that your total charges and expenses may be greater than any advance payment.

6.4        Please note that it is our invariable practice to seek advance payments in respect of monies to be incurred by us in respect of Counsel’s fees or expert’s fees.  Before incurring such charges we will endeavour to obtain a realistic estimate but in that respect we are reliant upon the third parties concerned and cannot assume responsibility for any excess fee which may be charged by them.

6.5       To help you budget we will send you interim bills for our charges and expenses on a regular basis while work is in progress.  These will be bills on account, not final bills.  We will send you a final bill after completion of work.

7. Interest on Late Settlement of Accounts 

We reserve the right to charge compensation and interest on outstanding accounts at the rate permitted from time to time under the provisions of the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.

8. Interest on Monies Held by Us

8.1        We will pay a fair sum of interest to clients or third parties on any client money we hold on their behalf.

8.2        We will not pay interest:

• • On money we are instructed to hold outside a client account in a way that does not attract interest e.g. cash held in our safe.
  • Where the amount of interest, calculated in accordance with this policy is less than £50 on the basis that the work and costs associated with paying that interest are disproportionate to the amount involved.
  • Where we come to a different arrangement, in writing, with the client or third party for whom the money is held – where we do so, we will provide sufficient information to enable the client or third party to give informed consent.

8.3        Interest on monies held in our general client account will be paid before deduction of tax. It will be the recipient’s responsibility to declare interest received to HMRC.

8.4        We are required by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to ensure client money is available on demand, unless we agree to an alternative in writing with the client or third party for whom the money is held.  We therefore hold money in instant access accounts only. This means that the interest rate paid on monies in our general client account may not be as high as the recipient can achieve by placing the money on deposit themselves.

8.5        Interest will be calculated over the whole period that we hold the monies, starting from the date the monies are treated by us as cleared funds.

8.6         Unless we are notified by our bank to the contrary, we will treat monies as cleared funds in accordance with the table shown below:

Method of payment	When monies are treated as cleared funds
Cheque	10 working days after the money has been paid into our client account
Direct transfer	the following working day

8.7      Where we hold monies on more than one matter for a recipient, interest will be calculated separately for each individual instruction unless it is fair and reasonable to aggregate the interest.

8.8      Interest will be paid on a monthly basis if monies are held for longer than 3 months.

9. Tax 

9.1      Please note that our retainer does not include the provision of advice on the tax implications of any work that we are carrying out for you or how any transaction may best be structured with a view to mitigating liability.

9.2      Advice on taxation issues is offered and available only if specifically requested by you and to the extent agreed by us in writing. Where appropriate we will provide such advice in conjunction (with your agreement) with your accountant and/or specialist tax counsel.

10. Professional Regulation

10.1      We operate in accordance with the Code of Conduct prescribed by The Solicitors’ Regulation Authority.

10.2      The Code of Conduct is available to view through the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority website (www.sra.org.uk/code-of-conduct/).

10.3      Alternatively you may access the link to the Code of Conduct through our website (www.mccloylegal.com).

11. Limitation of Liability

11.1      Our liability to you is limited to losses, damages, costs and expenses (“losses”) caused by our negligence or wilful default.  We will not be liable if such losses are due to the acts or omissions of any other person or due to the provision to us of incomplete, misleading or false information.  The aggregate liability, whether to you or any third party and whether in contract, tort or otherwise of this firm, its partners, employees and agents for any losses in any way connected with any of the services provided to you (and including interest) shall not exceed £3,000,000.00. (THREE MILLION POUNDS).

11.2      Any Director, employee or agent of this firm may rely upon and enforce this limitation in that person’s own name for that person’s own benefit.

11.3      Nothing in these Standard Terms and Conditions or in our letter of engagement excludes or restricts any liability arising from fraud or dishonesty or reckless disregard of our professional obligations or liabilities which cannot be limited or excluded by law.

11.4      Clients are provided with contact details for our Professional Indemnity Insurance on request.

12. Time Limits

In certain circumstances the transaction into which you have entered may impose important time limits with which you may be required to comply in the future.  This is particularly so in the case of a lease.  It is not our responsibility to remind you of any such date falling after completion of the transaction and which is not directly related to the completion of the transaction that we have undertaken on your behalf.

13. Storage of Papers and Deeds

13.1      After completion of your transaction we are entitled to keep all your papers and documents while money is owing to us.  On closing, our file (except for any of your papers which you ask to be returned to you) will be committed to secure electronic storage.  Original papers will be destroyed.  We reserve the right to delete your file from our electronic storage system after the expiration of six years.

13.2      We have separate facilities for the safe storage of deeds and documents of value.  We are generally prepared to hold such documents on your behalf without making a charge but reserve the right to do so where substantial volumes of documents are deposited with us.

13.3      It is our normal practice to keep stored documents in a secure offsite location.

13.4      Please note that the hard copies of our working files are securely and safely destroyed following the completion of a transaction but are thereafter retained by us electronically.  Electronic files are generally deleted after 12 years in the case of property/company purchase transactions and trust/probate work and in all other cases after 6 years.

14. Complaints Handling Procedure

14.1      We are confident that we will give you a high quality of service in all respects.  However, if you have any queries or complaints about our work for you please take them up first with the fee earner who is handling your transaction.  If that does not resolve the problem to your satisfaction or you would prefer not to speak to him then please request to speak to our Patrick McCloy, Director.

14.2      All firms of solicitors are obliged to attempt to resolve problems that clients may have with the service provided. We operate an internal complaints and dispute resolution service for that purpose. It is therefore important that you immediately raise any concerns with us.

14.3      You are entitled to receive a copy of our complaints procedure upon request. A complaint can include a complaint about our invoice.

14.4      You are entitled to contact the Legal Ombudsman in the unlikely event that you are dissatisfied with the outcome of our complaints procedure. In such a case, you may bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months from the date of our final decision under our own complaints procedure and no later than twelve months from when the problem first occurred.  If your complaint relates to an invoice you may also have the right to apply for assessment under Part III of The Solicitors Act 1974.  (If you do apply to the Court for assessment, the Legal Ombudsman may refuse to investigate a complaint relating to an invoice).

14.5      Further details relating to the Legal Ombudsman can be found online (legalombudsman.org.uk). Alternatively the postal address is Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH and telephone number is 0300 555 0333.

15. Money Laundering Regulations

15.1      Proof of Identity – Individual

The law requires solicitors as well as banks, building societies and others, to obtain satisfactory evidence of the identity of their clients.  When you first instruct us we will ask you to provide us with either of the following:-

• your current photocard driving licence, correctly showing your current address, or
• your passport, plus an item of evidence to prove your address, such as a recent utility bill, recent council tax demand or bank statement.

If you cannot provide such evidence please tell us and we will advise what alternative evidence may be acceptable.

Please do not send us any funds until the identification procedures have been carried out.

We may use electronic identification service providers to confirm your identity, and that of any beneficial owners.

15.2      Proof of Identity – Corporate

Where we are acting for a company we must ask you to provide us with:-

• the same documentation for each officer and beneficial owner of the company as is required for individuals under 15.1 above.
• a statement on the company’s notepaper certifying the identity of the beneficial owners of the company.

15.3      Confidentiality

Solicitors are under a professional and legal obligation to keep the affairs of clients confidential. This obligation, however, is subject to a statutory exception.  Legislation on money laundering and terrorist financing places solicitors under a legal duty in certain circumstances to disclose information to the Serious Organised Crime Agency.  Where a solicitor knows or suspects that a transaction on behalf of a client involves money laundering the solicitor may be required by law to make a money laundering disclosure.  If that happens, we may not be able to inform you that a disclosure has been made or of the reasons for it because the law prevents “tipping off”.

15.4      Cash

Please note that we are normally only able to accept cash up to a limit of £500. If clients circumvent this policy by depositing cash direct with our bank we reserve the right to charge for any additional checks we deem necessary regarding the source of the funds.

15.5      Unidentified Third Parties

Please note that we can not accept funds from a third party (i.e. a party who is not our client) unless that party has, too, complied with the provisions as to verification of identity referred to at 15.1 above.

16. Data protection

We use your personal data primarily to provide legal services to you, but also for related purposes including:

• conducting checks to identify you, verify your identity and screen for financial or other sanctions
• gathering and providing information required by or relating to audits, enquiries and investigations by regulatory bodies
• complying with professional, legal and regulatory obligations that apply to our business
• ensuring business policies are adhered to, eg policies covering security and internet use
• operational reasons, such as improving efficiency, training and quality control
• ensuring the confidentiality of commercially sensitive information
• updating client records
• preventing unauthorised access and modifications to systems
• preparing and filing statutory returns
• marketing our services
• credit reference checks via external credit reference agencies

Our use of your personal data is subject to your instructions, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), other relevant UK and EU legislation and our professional duty of confidentiality.

McCloy Legal is a data controller for the purpose of the GDPR and other relevant data protection legislation. We have nominated Patrick McCloy as the firm’s representative for the purpose of the GDPR.

We take your privacy very seriously. Please read the attached Privacy policy carefully as it contains important information on:

• what personal data we collect about you and how that data is collected
• how, why and on what grounds we use your personal data
• who we share your personal data with
• where your personal data is held and how long it will be kept
• whether your personal data may be transferred out of the European Economic area and, if so, the measures taken to protect that data
• your rights in relation to the personal data we hold or use
• the steps we take to secure your personal data
• how to make a complaint in relation to our use of your personal data
• how to contact us with any queries or concerns in relation to your personal data

17. Conclusion 

We hope that you have understood these Standard Terms and Conditions.  Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries arising.