Introduction
1.1 These Terms and Conditions of Business along with the accompanying letter of engagement set out our service standards and the terms of business on which we agree to act for you. Please contact the person dealing with your case if you have any questions about any of the information set out. By continuing to instruct the firm we shall be entitled to assume you have agreed to the terms and conditions set out here. For the purpose of these terms, “we” “our” “us” “the firm” “Sadler Cross Family Law” refers to Sadler Cross Family Law Limited (trading as ‘Sadler Cross Family Law.’) Unless otherwise agreed, and subject to the application of the current hourly rates, these terms and conditions of business shall apply to any future instructions given by you to the firm.
1.2 Your contract is with Sadler Cross Family Law Limited. There is no contract between you and any Partner, employee or consultant of the firm. Any advice given to you (or other work done for you) by a Partner, employee or consultant of the firm is given (or done) by that person on behalf of the firm and not in his or her individual capacity and no such person assumes any personal responsibility to you for the advice or other work.
About Sadler Cross Family Law
2.1 Sadler Cross Family Law is trading name of Sadler Cross Family Law Limited which is a Limited Company registered in England and Wales (company no. 12764066). Our registered office is at The Old Exchange, 64 West Stockwell Street, Colchester, Essex, United Kingdom, CO1 1HE. A list of directors is available for inspection at the above address. We use the word ‘Partner’ to refer to a role within the firm and not as a reference to being a shareholder of the Limited Company .
2.2 The SRA Standards and Regulations set out the regulatory framework imposed on service providers such as ours. Further information is available on the SRA website at www.sra.org.uk.
Professional Indemnity Insurance
3.1 Our insurance is provided by Travelers Insurance Company Ltd, One Creechurch Place, Creechurch Lane, London EC3A 5AF
3.2 Our liability to you for a breach of your instructions shall be limited to £3,000,000.00, unless we expressly state a higher amount in the letter accompanying these terms of business.
3.3 We will not be liable for any consequential, special, indirect or exemplary damages, costs or losses, or any damages, costs or losses attributable to lost profits or opportunities. We can only limit our liability to the extent the law allows. We cannot limit our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence.
3.4 Please ask if you would like any further explanation of our liability or insurance.
Service Standards
4.1 We aim to offer our clients quality legal advice with a personal service at a fair cost. As a start, we hope it is helpful to you to set out in this statement the basis on which we will provide our professional services. The firm sets the following standards:
4.2 In return, we request that our clients assume the following responsibilities:
Hours of business
5.1 We are normally open between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm from Monday to Friday. We may be able to arrange appointments outside of these hours, in cases of emergency. We are closed on all bank holidays. Our e-mail address is office@sadlercross.co.uk.
People responsible for your work
6.1 The person responsible for dealing with your work will be set out in the engagement letter. Our Family Department comprises of the following:
6.2 The person responsible for the overall supervision of the matter is Lauren Sadler. We will try to avoid changing the people who handle your work but if this cannot be avoided, we will tell you promptly of any change and why it may be necessary.
Legal Aid
7.1 We do not offer any legal aid services. However, for those eligible, there may be certain advantages to be gained from legal aid. These include a lower hourly rate (as a result of which the overall bill at the end of the day will be smaller). However, there are also disadvantages. For example, the Legal Aid Agency may have a charge over property or money which has been preserved or recovered as a result of the work undertaken, and there can be restrictions upon the work which can be undertaken.
Please note that your continued instruction will be taken to indicate that you are satisfied that either you are not eligible for legal aid or that you are eligible but that you have decided that you would nevertheless wish this firm to act for you on a private basis. If you believe that you may be eligible for legal aid, please visit https://www.gov.uk/check-legal-aid.
Charges and expenses
8.1 If we have agreed a fixed fee for work on your case, the arrangements will be set out in the engagement letter.
8.2 Provided we are not requested to do any more work than when that fixed fee was agreed, we will not make any additional charge. However, we reserve the right to make an additional charge if the matter becomes more complex or lengthier than originally estimated. This would entail either increasing our fee estimate or charging at an hourly rate for the additional work involved. In the latter case we would try and give you our best estimate of the likely additional cost or, where this is not possible, we would obtain your authority to carry out work to an agreed fee limit.
8.3 On matters funded on an hourly rate basis, our charges will be calculated mainly by reference to the time spent by the solicitors and other staff in respect of any work which they do on your behalf. This may include meetings with you and perhaps others; reading, preparing and working on papers; making and receiving telephone calls, e-mails and text messages; preparation of any detailed costs estimates, schedules and bills; attending at court; and time necessarily spent travelling away from the office.
8.4 From time to time we may arrange for some of this work to be carried out by persons not directly employed by us; such work will be charged to you at the hourly rate which would be charged if we had done the work ourselves.
8.5 Routine letters, e-mails and texts that we send or receive and routine telephone calls that we make and receive are charged at one-tenth of the hourly rate. Other letters, e-mails and calls are charged on a time spent basis. The current hourly rates applicable to your case will be set out in the accompanying letter. When applicable, we will add VAT to these at the rate that applies when the work is done. At present, VAT is 20%.
8.6 These hourly rates will be reviewed periodically to reflect increases in overhead costs and inflation. Normally the rates are reviewed with effect from 1st January each year. 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. In addition to the time spent, we may take into account a number of factors including any need to carry out work outside our normal office hours, the complexity of the issues, and the speed at which action has to be taken, any particular specialist expertise which the case may demand. An increase in the rates may be applied to reflect such factors.
8.7 Solicitors have to pay out various other expenses on behalf of clients ranging from court fees, experts’ fees, Counsel’s fees and so on. We have no obligation to make such payments unless you have provided us with the funds for that purpose. VAT is payable on certain expenses. We refer to such payments generally as ‘disbursements’.
Interim billing
9.1 We have a policy of requiring payment on account and/or rendering interim invoices for disbursements (that is payments made by us on your behalf and on which we make no profit) before they are incurred.
9.2 We have a policy of rendering regular interim invoices for fees for work done which helps you to judge the level of expenditure being incurred.
9.3 The conditions for payment of invoices for disbursements and interim invoices are the same as for payment of the final invoice.
Payments on account (or anticipated payments)
10.1 You may be asked either at the outset of your matter or during the course of it, to make a payment on account. This may be in addition to or in substitution for an interim invoice.
10.2 Any sums so paid will be held by us for your account and will be taken in payment or in part payment for any invoice under which payment is or becomes due.
10.3 In the event of non-payment after 7 days of a request for a payment on account, we reserve the right to cease work for you and to render an invoice for any un-invoiced work done to that time. If a payment on account has been requested at the outset of your matter, we will not undertake any work or open your file until the payment on account has been made in full.
Payment Terms
11.1 Payment is due to us within 7 days of our sending you an invoice. Payments must be made in full and without any deduction or withholding on account of tax or charges. If you are required by law to make a deduction or withhold payment you must notify us in writing setting out the amount being withheld and the legal justification for such. If payment is not made within the time we have requested, we reserve the right to cease to act on your behalf, suspend work on that matter and any other matter and retain all documents, working papers and other documents in our possession relating to any matter until all outstanding bills are paid in full including interest and any costs incurred in pursuing the recovery. Interest on outstanding bills may be charged after a period of 30 days from the date of the bill at the rate payable on judgement debts (currently 8% per annum).
11.2 If a third party has agreed to pay our fees incurred on your instructions then if the third party fails to pay us you will still be liable to pay our fees. We will be under no obligation to sue that third party for recovery of our fees, and if you are registered for VAT then we will invoice you (not the third party) for the VAT on the fees and disbursements.
11.3 We reserve the right to take our costs and disbursements by deduction from balances we hold from time to time on client account on your behalf whether these balances represent payments on account made by you, completion monies or any other sum we hold to your order. This right will only arise after we have delivered to you the relevant invoice and will not prejudice your rights under condition 12.
11.4 The common law entitles us to retain any money, papers or other property belonging to you which properly come into our possession pending payment of our costs, whether or not the property is acquired in connection with the matter for which the costs were incurred. This is known as a “general lien”. We are not entitled to sell property held under a lien, but we are entitled to hold property, other than money, even if the value of it greatly exceeds the amount due to us in respect of costs.
11.5 We do not accept any cash payments. Payment of our invoices may be made by electronic transfer, credit card or debit card issued by a UK High Street bank. We use software called ‘Rapid Pay’ which allows invoices and payments on account to be paid easily. Rapid Pay automatically sends reminders to our clients for payments outstanding whether they be invoices or payments on account.
11.6 Monies due to you from us will be paid by bank transfer, but not in cash and will not be made payable to a third party.
11.7 Please note that we may pass unpaid invoices to a third-party debt recovery firm. They will be given adequate information by us from your file which will include but not limited to your personal contact information to enable them to recover unpaid invoices. By instructing us, you consent to that information being given to a third-party debt recovery firm. If proceedings are issued to recover costs in relation to outstanding invoices, we reserve the right to also seek to recover all reasonable legal fees incurred in the process.
Disputes over fees
12.1 If you dispute the amount of our fees (whether in respect of an interim or a final bill) you should refer the matter to us in writing setting out the reason for your complaint. Further information of how to complain is set out at 27. below.
12.2 If we cannot agree what is the fair amount of costs then you have the following rights: (a) to complain to the Legal Ombudsman at PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH. Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must normally be made within six months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint or (b)in certain circumstances to ask the court to assess the amount of our costs (if it has not already done so) and to do this you should apply to the appropriate court for an order for detailed assessment.
Court Record
13.1 If you have instructed us in relation to work which involves court proceedings, we will appear as your legal representative on the court record. All correspondence and legal documents relating to your case will be sent to our office rather than to your address.
13.2 If, during the course of the proceedings an interim bill is not paid or a payment on account is not made within the due time, we reserve the right to remove our name from the court record and to advise the court of the reason for the removal. In that case we shall cease to represent you in that matter.
Other parties’ costs
14.1 In some cases and transactions, a client may be entitled to payment of costs by some other person. It is important that you understand that in such circumstances, the other person may not be required to pay all the charges and expenses which you incur with us.
14.2 You have to pay our charges and expenses in the first place and any amounts which can be recovered will be a contribution towards them. If the other party is in receipt of legal aid no costs are likely to be recovered.
14.3 If you are successful and a court orders another party to pay some or all of your charges and expenses, interest can be 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 on account, but we are entitled to the rest of that interest. You will also be responsible for paying our charges and expenses of seeking to recover any costs that the court orders the other party to pay to you.
14.4 A client who is unsuccessful in a court case may be ordered to pay the other party’s legal charges and expenses. That money would be payable in addition to our charges and expenses. Arrangements can be made to take out insurance to cover liability for such legal expenses. Please discuss this with us if you are interested in this possibility.
Client accounts, interest and surplus funds
15.1 Any money received on your behalf will be held in our Client Account. The firm pays interest on client account balances in accordance with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Accounts Rules. Interest will be calculated and paid to you at the rate from time to time payable on Barclays Bank Client Accounts.
15.2 The period for which interest will be paid will normally run from the date(s) on which funds are received by us until the date(s) of issue of any payment(s) from our Client Account. It is the firm’s normal policy to retain the first £20.00 of each amount of interest as and when calculated to cover the administrative expenses of arranging these calculations and payments.
15.3 Please note that if we do hold any of your money at any point, we will take good care of it and we only bank with UK banks. We are unlikely however to be liable to repay money lost through a banking failure.
15.4 In the event that there is a credit balance of less than £500 (or its equivalent) due for repayment to you from a client account and we are unable to return the funds because we cannot contact you (after making reasonable efforts to do so), you agree that we shall be entitled to pay the funds to a charity of our choice, where permitted by our regulatory authority, instead of making further efforts to find you. If the sum is greater than £500, we will require authorisation from the SRA. We will notify you on an annual basis of any surplus funds held in client account for over one year.
Financial Services Compensation Scheme
16.1 If we do hold any of your money it will be held with Barclays Bank PLC and that money will have the same protection (up to £85,000) under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) as if you held the money in that bank personally. If you hold other personal monies in that same bank you should note that the limit of £85,000 remains the same in total.
16.2 You also need to be aware that some deposit taking institutions/banks have several brands, i.e., where the same institution is trading under different names. You should check either with your bank, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or a financial adviser for more information.
16.3 If we do have to make a claim under the FSCS in respect of your money we will, subject to your consent, need to give certain information to the FSCS about you to help them identify you and any amount to which you would be entitled within our client account. Further details are available at www.fscs.org.uk. Please note that by instructing Sadler Cross Family Law you consent to us disclosing your personal details to the FSCS, in the event of a banking failure.
Storage of papers and documents
17.1 We operate a paperless file system. This means that wherever possible we will not keep paper files or copy paper documents. There are occasions when we take hard copies of documents from you or obtain hard copy documents from third parties. These will be electronically stored on our case management system and the hard copies confidentially destroyed unless you specifically request for them to be returned. If we have requested files from another party i.e. former solicitors, we will scan in and save electronically and then return the hard copy to the former solicitor firm. If we have a large volume of documents which need to be returned to you (or to former solicitors), we reserve the right to use the services of courier and to take a payment on account from you or recover the cost incurred. We will also charge for scanning in large amounts of paper documents.
17.2 After completing the work on your matter we will keep your electronic file of papers for no less than six years.
17.3 After the expiration of 6 years, storage is on the clear understanding that we have the right to destroy your file after such period as we consider reasonable without further reference to you. We will not of course destroy any documents such as wills, deeds, and other securities, which will be returned to you at the conclusion of your case. No charge will be made to you for such storage unless prior notice in writing is given to you of a charge to be made from a future date which may be specified in that notice. If the work we carry out for you is family mediation, we keep/destroy files/data as set out in our agreement to mediate.
Financial services
18.1 We are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). If, while we are acting for you, you require advice on investments or insurances, we may have to refer you to someone who is authorised to provide that advice. The FCA register can be accessed via the FCA website at www.fca.org.uk/firms/financial-services-register.
Termination
19.1 You may terminate your instructions to us in writing at any time, but we will still be entitled to keep all your papers and documents while there is money owing to us for our charges and expenses. If at any stage you do not wish us to continue doing work and/or incurring charges and expenses on your behalf, you must tell us this clearly in writing. We may only decide to stop acting for you if we have good reason, for example, if you do not pay an interim bill, fail to provide us with instructions or if a conflict of interest arises. We will tell you the reason and give you notice in writing.
19.2 If, for any reason, your matter does not proceed to completion, we will be entitled to charge you for any work done and expenses incurred. If your case is funded under an hourly rates arrangement, then these costs will be calculated based on the time spent plus expenses incurred up to the date of termination. On fixed fee arrangements, we will break the transaction down into stages and apportion the estimated fee for each stage. You will also be responsible for reimbursing any expenses incurred by us that were not included within the fixed price agreed.
19.3 Under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, you have the right to cancel this contract within 14 days without giving any reason. This only applies where contracts are agreed away from our premises or where we are not both physically present. To exercise the right to cancel, you must inform us of your decision to cancel this contract by a clear statement (e.g., a letter sent by post, or e-mail). To meet the cancellation deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right to cancel before the cancellation period has expired. If you cancel this contract, we will reimburse to you any payments received from you.
Tax advice
20.1 Any work that we do for you may involve tax implications or necessitate the consideration of tax planning strategies. We are not qualified to advise you on the tax implications of a transaction that you instruct us to carry out, or the likelihood of them arising. If you have any concerns in this respect, then you are advised to refer to a suitably qualified adviser.
Data protection/ UK GDPR/Confidentiality
21.1 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 and legal/regulatory compliance. Our use of that information is subject to your instructions, data protection law and our duty of confidentiality.
21.2 Please note that our work for you may require us to pass on such information to third parties such as expert witnesses, other professional advisers (including sometimes advisers appointed by another party to your matter), barristers and other solicitors involved in the matter. We may also give such information to others who perform services for us, such as typing, photocopying, costs drafting, research or other service providers. Our practice may be audited or checked by our accountants or our regulator, or by other organisations. We do not normally copy such information to anyone outside the European Economic Area, however, we may do so when the circumstances of your matter so require. All such third parties are required to maintain confidentiality in relation to your files.
21.3 You have a right of access under data protection law to the personal data that we hold about you. We seek to keep that personal data correct and up to date. You should let us know if you believe the information, we hold about you needs to be corrected or updated. The person at the firm with overall responsibility for data protection compliance is the Data Protection Partner, Lauren Sadler, email lauren@sadlercross.co.uk. The firm is registered with the Information Commissioner (ICO). Further information regarding data protection and privacy is available from the Information Commissioner’s Office www.ico.org.uk.
21.4 Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) you, as a data subject, have a number of rights. These include the right to be informed, the right of access, the right to rectification, the right to erasure, the right to restrict processing, the right to data portability and the right to object. Further information about these rights is set out on the ICO website referred to above and in our privacy policy which we have enclosed or can be found at sadlercross.co.uk.
21.5 We may receive personal data from you for the purposes of our money laundering checks. These checks may be undertaken using an online AML facility or by taking copies of documents from you. The data we may hold as a result of these checks or which you provide to us, such as a copy of your passport and documents evidencing proof of address will be processed for the purposes of identity verification in accordance with statutory and professional requirements, updating and enhancing client records, analysis to help us manage our practice, statutory returns, legal and regulatory compliance, preventing money laundering and terrorist financing, or as otherwise permitted by law or with your express consent. You consent to us retaining such data for longer than the five-year statutory period unless you tell us otherwise.
21.6 If you send us personal data about anyone other than yourself, you will ensure you have any appropriate consents and notices in place to enable you to transfer that personal data to us and so that we may use it for the purposes for which you provide it to us.
21.7 If you are not satisfied with our processing of your data, you have the right to make a complaint, at any time, to the (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues. We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please contact us in the first instance. Your complaint will be dealt with under our formal complaints handling procedure which can be downloaded from our website – www.sadlercross.co.uk
Documentation
22.1 You will be entitled to use and copy all documentation created by us for you in the scope of our work. All copyright and other intellectual property rights in the documentation created by us and relating to or connected with the scope of our work remains our property. We will be free to use any of the documentation and to use the intellectual property of any advice to other clients provided that we do not breach our duty of confidentiality. It is important that you only use the information and documents we provide in the context and for the purpose provided.
Equality and diversity
23.1 We are committed to promoting equality and diversity in all our dealings with clients, third parties and employees. Please contact us if you would like a copy of our Equality and Diversity Policy.
Communications
24.1 We shall aim to communicate with you in the most effective way, as agreed between us. Our preferred method of communication is via email and will in the main use email communication (rather than post) unless you specifically ask us to use the postal service. You should be aware that the use of e-mail is not secure for confidential matters. We take every precaution to ensure that e-mail is virus-free, but we cannot guarantee this. If you require correspondence to be addressed to a particular person or marked private and confidential then you must tell us.
24.2 We also use secure document sharing services called Law Connect and Egress. They are simple and free to set up and they are a safer way of providing documents to our clients. Further information will be provided in our initial correspondence.
Identity, disclosure, money laundering and confidentiality
25.1 The law requires solicitors to obtain satisfactory evidence of the identity of their clients and sometimes people related to them. This is because solicitors who deal with 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. If you cannot provide us with the specific identification requested, please contact us as soon as possible to discuss other ways to verify your identity.
25.2 We are entitled to refuse to act for you if you fail to supply appropriate proof of identity for yourself or for any principal whom you may represent. We may arrange to carry out an electronic verification of your identity. The cost of any such search will be charged to you. If the amount is in excess of £15 including VAT, we will seek your prior agreement.
25.3 In order to comply with its statutory obligations, the firm operates an anti-money laundering reporting procedure. If the firm knows or suspects that you or any other party involved in this matter are involved in money laundering or hold the proceeds of crime, the firm may be required by law to make a report to the National Crime Agency (NCA) and, if notification is made, the firm is prohibited from advising the suspected party that it is doing so. These requirements override the firm’s duty of confidentiality to you. Proceeds of crime are assets or income which have been acquired through some illegal activity, for example, drug-trafficking, non-payment of tax or fraudulently obtaining benefits. If a report is made to the NCA, the firm must stop work on the matter until it is authorised by the NCA to proceed. Any fees, disbursements and expenses incurred in complying with the above will be charged to you. There may be circumstances in which the firm considers that it is obliged to make a report to the NCA which it later turns out was not required by law. By instructing the firm you agree that such reports can be made. The firm cannot accept responsibility or liability for any loss, damage or expense (whether direct, consequential or otherwise) arising from any delay or otherwise as a result of making any reports to the NCA and ensuring compliance with its statutory obligations.
Joint instructions
26.1 If we are instructed by more than one person or more than one representative of a company or other body, which is our client, we are entitled to act on the instructions of any one of such persons and to correspond with any of such persons unless otherwise agreed.
26.2 In this situation there will be no rights of confidentiality between such persons or representatives so that all information and documents can be shared with any one of you. If there is a difference of opinion on your instructions you may need to be separately represented and if a conflict of interest arises between you or your representatives, we may have to cease acting for both or all such persons or companies.
26.3 Where our engagement letter is addressed to more than one person, or where we have agreed with the addressee of our engagement letter to act for another person as well, each of you shall be jointly and severally liable for our fees and disbursements and other costs, so that each of you is jointly responsible for ensuring that our bill is paid, and we can pursue all or any one of you for the whole amount that is due to us. This shall be the case regardless of any agreement you may have entered into with anyone else regarding the payment of our fees, disbursements, and other costs.
Client care and complaints
27.1 We strive to provide the best possible service to our clients and, in order to do this, we need to know from you if you feel dissatisfied. Should you have any occasion to feel unhappy about our service, or about the bill, please contact the person dealing with your matter who will discuss it with you. Should you wish to make a complaint our Client Care Partner, Lauren Sadler, is the person who deals with these matters and she will be prepared to meet with you (remotely) to discuss your complaint. We have a procedure in place which details how we handle complaints which is available upon request.
27.2 We have eight weeks to consider your complaint. If we have not resolved it within this time, or if you are not happy with our handling of your complaint, you may complain to the Legal Ombudsman (PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH, telephone 0300 555 0333, website www.legalombudsman.org.uk) to consider the complaint. The Legal Ombudsman will expect you to have given us a chance to resolve your complaint before it will get involved. Normally, you will need to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within 6 months of receiving a final written response from us and within 1 year from the date of the act or omission about which you are complaining, or 1 year from the date you should have realised that there was cause for complaint. ‘Late’ claims to the Legal Ombudsman will be capable of being addressed if it is fair and reasonable to do so.
27.3 You also have a right to complain about or challenge your bill by applying for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974. The Legal Ombudsman may not consider a complaint about a bill if you have applied to the court for assessment of that bill.
27.4 The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) can help you if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic. You can find information about raising your concerns with the SRA at www.sra.org.uk in the ‘For the public’ section.
Cybercrime warning
28.1 Cybercrime is a fast-growing area of crime. More and more criminals are exploiting the speed, convenience and anonymity of the Internet to commit a diverse range of criminal activity that knows no borders, either physical or virtual and causes serious harm and poses very real threats to victims worldwide.
28.2 You should be alive to the possibility that a fraudster might deliberately misrepresent himself or herself as a member of, or as someone acting on behalf of, or working with, Sadler Cross Family Law for criminal purposes. Such scams normally originate by email. Often the email will suggest there has been a change in bank details or request personal or financial information in order that money can be paid to them.
28.3 Please note, we will not be changing our bank details during the course of acting for you. If, during the course of the matter, or after it has completed, we need to remit funds to you by way of bank transfer, or if we require you to remit funds to ourselves, we will not give, nor can we accept from you, bank details via email. If you receive a request from us by email asking for your bank account details, or sending you our bank account details, please contact the person dealing with your matter immediately. Prior to transferring funds to our account, we recommend you contact us to verify our account details
28.4 If we receive any email communication from you informing us of a change to your account details or instructions for payment, then this could delay your matter as we will need to verify the change directly with you to ensure that they are not from a fraudulent source. We will not make any payment until such time as we have been able to confirm those instructions directly with you.
We know that taking the first step can feel daunting. Whether you need advice, reassurance, or simply someone to listen we’re ready when you are.
