Our Pricing
If you haven’t used a solicitor before then you probably have a few burning questions about how we work before you pick up the phone. An obvious one is ‘how much do you charge?’
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Our pricing
Due to the complexity of some matters, this isn’t always an easy one to answer at the outset as there are often many factors which need to be taken into account. However, we have been helping the people of Sussex for over 150 years so we have plenty of experience and are able to give you an indication of what we charge. Click on the relevant teams below for more information on what we charge.
For some people buying and selling a house is one of the few times you will need to use a law firm and it is something we do for clients hundreds of times a month. We are really, really good at it.
Here’s an example of our usual fee for buying a £200,000 freehold property (not a new build and assuming that you have the funds in place to pay for it): £1000 +vat.
This is of course just an example and if you want to know what our fees would be for your specific needs you can give us a call or use our online calculator which gives you an instant quote.
When buying a house there are some other costs to take into consideration and these can include payments to third parties that we make on your behalf (we call them disbursements) and other fees.
- UK national identification search: £10.00 per person
- Foreign national identification search: £36.00 per person
- Telegraphic transfer fee: £36.00
- Lawyer check: £15.00
- Search fees: £450.00
- Land Registry Searches: £3.00
- Bankruptcy searches (per person): £2.00
- Land registration fee: From £100
- Stamp duty: Click here for the SDLT fee calculator
We’ve put together a handful of FAQs, which you can find here.
We understand how difficult and emotional it is to deal with the paperwork after losing a loved one and that probate laws can be confusing and bewildering.
We have a really friendly team of highly experienced probate specialists that can help guide you through the probate process. The amount of work involved can depend on multiple factors including the size of the estate so we have created a handy calculator to give you an indication of what our fees might be.
This is an example of an Estate valued at £120,000
- Mr Perkins left a Will appointing Mr Godfree as his sole executor and beneficiary.
He did not own a property. He had 3 bank, and 3 shareholding accounts. He received 2 private pensions, and state benefits. - Mr Perkins died during the pandemic and it took 8 months to complete the administration of the estate.
- Working to a fixed fee the charges were just under £10,000 plus VAT.
This is an example of an Estate valued at £460,000
- Mr Baxter had no Will. His estate was divided between his 3 siblings.
- He owned one property which had to be cleared and sold. He also had 3 bank accounts, some shares, premium bond and had a private and a state pension.
- Mr Baxter died during the pandemic, and it took nearly 2 years to complete the administration of the estate.
- Working to a fixed fee the charges were just over £10,000 plus VAT.
This is an example of an Estate valued at £1,400,000
- Mrs Mayo died before her husband. Her Will appointed her husband and son as Executors.
- She owned one property and a bank account with her husband. She also had nine bank accounts and money in national savings, and was owed a tax refund.
- She left 5 cash, and 2 specific legacies and the balance of her estate to her husband, and son. Mrs Mayo died during the pandemic and it took a little over a year to complete the administration of the estate.
- Working to a fixed fee the charges were £12,500 plus VAT.
This is an example of a complex estate valued at £2,300,000
- Mrs Wynne died in 2019. Her Will appointed the partners at Mayo Wynne Baxter as her Executors. She left 10 legacies and divided her estate between 9 charities.
- Mrs Wynne owned 4 properties, 5 bank accounts, a business that needed to be wound up and received a state pension and attendance allowance. It took 2 1/5 years to complete the administration of the estate.
- The fees charged in this matter were £40,000 plus VAT.
Grant Fees
We know some people find all the forms for probate quite daunting. We would be happy to help complete these for you, based on the information provided by you and we can offer a fixed fee charge.
- Where the estate is complex but not taxable and form IHT400 is needed, our fees are £2,750 plus VAT for schedules and the probate application
- Where the estate is taxable or complex and form IHT400 is needed, our fees are £3,250 plus VAT for the form, 3 schedules and the probate application.
- Additional schedules (unless dealing with gifts or domicile) are charged at £50 Plus VAT per schedule.
- Schedules dealing with gifts and/or domicile will be charged at the hourly rate of the relevant adviser.
- Where form IHT205 for non-taxable estates is needed or where we can dispense with a form entirely, our fees are £2,000 plus VAT.
- The Probate Registry charges a separate fee of £300 to issue the grant and £1.50 per copy needed.
Find out more about our probate services by contacting us today.
The following illustrates our approach to handling claims of unfair and wrongful dismissal in the Employment Tribunal where such claims are not connected with issues such as discrimination, whistleblowing, or asserting a statutory right.
Typical legal costs
Not all the costs mentioned below will necessarily be incurred if it is possible to settle your case and a large number of cases do settle without making it to a Tribunal Hearing.
In our experience, the cost of advising and representing an employee in a straightforward claim addressing only wrongful dismissal, up to the point immediately before a Tribunal Hearing commences, will be in a range from £5,400 to £8,700 (excluding VAT).
In our experience, the cost of advising and representing an employee, in a straightforward claim addressing only unfair dismissal, up to the point immediately before a Tribunal Hearing commences, will be in a range from £8,650 to £11,900 (excluding VAT).
These typical costs are based on hourly rates of £180 to £300 per hour (excluding VAT).
Our fees could be higher than stated above if the case is a complex one. Factors that could make a case complex and increase costs include, but are not limited to:
- Claiming against an unrepresented employer
- Consideration of a complex element of law
- Dealing with an extensive amount of documentation
- Drafting statements for and/or dealing with a large number of witnesses
- A need to make amendments to a claim or to provide further information about the claim
- A need to seek further information about a defence to a claim
- A need to address preliminary issues
- A need to make or defend a costs application
- Defending a claim for automatic unfair dismissal in connection with a transfer of an undertaking
In such circumstances, we will keep you fully up to date on fees and revise our estimates, as the case progresses.
On average, each day for attending a Tribunal Hearing will cost between £1,650 and £2,500 per day (excluding VAT).
Generally, you should expect a typical Tribunal Hearing to take one to three days, depending on the complexity of your case though very complex cases can be longer.
Key stages
The fee structure set out above covers all of the work in relation to the following key stages of a claim and applies to work after the pre-claim conciliation period has been concluded:
- Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on the merits of your claim (this is likely to be revisited throughout the matter and subject to change)
- Preparing and submitting the claim form
- Preparing a schedule of loss which indicates the value of your claim
- Reviewing the response to the claim from your employer
- Exchanging documents with the employer and agreeing the contents for the bundle of documents to be used at the Tribunal Hearing
- Interviews for witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses
- Reviewing and advising on the employer’s witness statements
- Agreeing a list of issues
- Preparation for a Tribunal Hearing
- Instructing a barrister, if they are to be engaged
- Advising on and exploring and negotiating settlement throughout the process
This does not include the cost of preparing the bundle of documents to be used at the Tribunal Hearing as this is usually a task given to the employer. Neither does it include applying for a Tribunal Hearing of more than one day in length, the preparation of a chronology, skeleton arguments or a list of the key people who feature in the case.
Timeframe
The time that it takes from taking your initial instructions to the final resolution of your claim depends largely on the stage at which your case is resolved and how soon the Employment Tribunal can schedule a Tribunal Hearing. Currently, the Employment Tribunal can schedule a Tribunal Hearing for a date between six to nine months from when a claim is submitted.
The initial date for listing will be provided once your claim has been acknowledged as received by the Employment Tribunal. This initial date will usually assume that the Tribunal Hearing will only take one day. If the Tribunal Hearing will take more than one day then the timeframe is likely to increase.
Issues relating to the handling of all claims
Alternatives
You may wish to handle the claim yourself and only have our advice in relation to some of the stages. This can be arranged according to your individual needs with the costs tailored accordingly.
Expenses
These will be referred to as disbursements and are the costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties.
There are currently no fees payable in the Employment Tribunal but costs for such things as travel expenses and fees for expert witnesses may be incurred. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process and will inform you if VAT is payable or not.
Normally we will present your case at a Tribunal Hearing but in very complex cases it may be that, after consulting with you, a barrister (also known as counsel) is engaged to do this. Counsel fees will be regarded as a disbursement with the costs of counsel dependent on the complexity of the case.
If you run a business then it is likely that at some point you are going to have to chase an unpaid invoice or two. When that doesn’t work then our debt recovery team are on hand to help.
To make things as transparent as possible we have broken down the process and our fees at each stage but before we can help you need to be sure that your claim:
- Is a business debt
- Relates to an unpaid invoice
- Is undisputed as far as you are aware
If it is a tick against these three then our prices will be as listed below. If there is another way that we can help, e.g by pursuing a personal debt, we would be happy to discuss that with you.
Stage 1
Before Court – £300 + vat
- Review of your papers, eg invoice and contract
- Undertake relevant searches against the debtor to establish if risk of insolvency
- Undertake Land Registry search against debtor’s property where address known
- Send a letter before action to debtor
- Report to you as regards issues arising and advise you if issuing a Statutory Demand would be appropriate (this is outside of the fees quoted here)
- Either make payment to you on receipt or, if the debt remains unpaid, request whether you wish to proceed to Stage 2
Stage 2
Court proceedings £450 + vat
- Draft and issue your claim
- Where no Acknowledgment of Service and/or Defence apply to the court to enter judgment in default and report to you
- Report to you when Judgment received
- Upon receipt of judgment write to the judgment debtor for payment
- If the judgment debt remains unpaid after 14 days you may wish to proceed to Stage 3 and we will provide you with initial advice on which method of enforcement may be the most appropriate, or if it is not cost-effective to pursue.
Stage 3
Enforcement
Fees vary depending on enforcement method
- Instruct a High Court Enforcement Officer or a County Court Bailiff – £300 + vat
- Obtain a Charging Order – £450 + vat
- Attachment of Earnings Order – £300 + vat
- Third Party Debt Order – £450 – vat
- Order to Obtain Information from Judgment Debtor – £450 + vat
Please note that, in addition to our fees, there will be fees payable to the Court for issuing proceedings or applying for enforcement if matters go that far. The fees depend on the value of the claim you are making and can range from £25 to £450 for an online claim or several thousand pounds for high value claims issued in the Court.
The majority of the disbursements will be court fees.
There may be some disbursements and fees to third parties for example, search fees, process server fees, agent’s fees to attend court that will need to be taken into account.
If the matter becomes defended at any stage, the case is adjourned or there are negotiations then you will be charged at the hourly rate for the most appropriate legal advisor. It is obviously difficult to give an indication of our fees for these eventualities.
It is important that we point out the following to you before you go any further:
- You should already have asked for your debt to be paid before instructing us
- You cannot recover all of your solicitor’s costs from your debtor therefore it may not be a cost-effective scheme for you
- We cannot guarantee payment of your debt even if you obtain a judgment in your favour
- We will always consider if interest can be claimed and add to this to your claim
- We can secure lower court fees than if you issued proceedings by post as we are registered with Money Claims Online
Who would deal with my claim?
Your matter will be dealt with by any one of our team of solicitors including Paul Rooke, Lee Hills, and Marika Monaghan whose normal hourly rates are £250, £290 and £290 respectively plus VAT.
If you would like to discuss your particular needs then please call our debt recovery team on 0800 84 94 101 (it’s free) or complete our enquiry form.
The following illustrates our approach to defending claims of unfair and wrongful dismissal in the Employment Tribunal where such claims are not connected with issues such as discrimination, whistleblowing or asserting a statutory right.
Typical legal costs
Not all the costs mentioned below will necessarily be incurred if it is possible to settle your case and a large number of cases do settle without making it to a Tribunal Hearing.
In our experience, the cost of advising and representing an employer in defending a straightforward claim addressing only wrongful dismissal, up to the point immediately before a Tribunal Hearing commences, will be in a range from £5,400 to £9,800 (excluding VAT).
In our experience, the cost of advising and representing an employer, in defending a straightforward claim addressing only unfair dismissal, up to the point immediately before a Tribunal Hearing commences, will be in a range from £8,650 to £13,000 (excluding VAT).
These typical costs are based on hourly rates of £180 to £300 per hour (excluding VAT).
Our fees could be higher than stated above if the case is a complex one. Factors that could make a case complex and increase costs include, but are not limited to:
- Defending a claim by an unrepresented employee
- Consideration of a complex element of law
- Dealing with an extensive amount of documentation
- Drafting statements for and/or dealing with a large number of witnesses
- A need to seek further information about a claim
- A need to make amendments to a response to a claim
- A need to address preliminary issues
- A need to make or defend a costs application
- Defending a claim for automatic unfair dismissal in connection with a transfer of an undertaking
In such circumstances, we will keep you fully up to date on fees and revise our estimates, as the case progresses.
On average, each day for attending a Tribunal Hearing will cost be between £1,650 and £2,500 per day (excluding VAT).
Generally, you should expect a typical Tribunal Hearing to take one to three days, depending on the complexity of your case. Some complex cases can be longer.
Issues relating to the handling of all claims
Alternatives
You may wish to handle the claim yourself and only have our advice in relation to some of the stages. This can be arranged according to your individual needs with the costs tailored accordingly.
Expenses
These will be referred to as disbursements and are the costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties.
There are currently no fees payable in the Employment Tribunal but costs for such things as travel expenses and fees for expert witnesses may be incurred. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process and will inform you if VAT is payable or not.
Normally we will present your case at a Tribunal Hearing but in very complex cases it may be that, after consulting with you, a barrister (also known as counsel) is engaged to do this. Counsel fees will be regarded as a disbursement with the costs of counsel dependent on the complexity of the case.