£150 + VAT per hour– (£180 per hour including VAT)

Time Estimate usually 10 hours if the application is uncontested

Consumer Claim between £10,000 – £20,000 £200 + VAT per hour

(£240 per hour inc VAT)

– up to court action   and   preparation up to Court Action       £150 + VAT per hour if claim less  than £10,000 (£180 including VAT per hour)

Consumer Claim above £20,000                 £267 + VAT per hour

(£320.40 including VAT per hour)

Please contact office as dependant on type of work

required and size and turnover of business.

Debt Recovery

We charge £267 + VAT per hour (£320.40 including VAT per hour) for work done in relation to pursuing debts for up to £100,000 by way of Court action. We can reduce this hourly fee in appropriate circumstances, when the amount pursued is less than £10,000 and relatively small.

If only a one off letter is needed where there is only a small amount of paperwork which is not detailed then we have on occasion charged a one off fee of £50 +VAT (£60 inclusive of VAT).

We also assist in defending such action at the same rate.

A typical case may involve the following, if a matter proceeded to the start of Court Proceedings:

• listen to what the dispute is and provide advice
• help you to try to resolve the matter without going to Court by writing to the person or organisation that owes you money and trying to reach an agreement on the payment of funds
• comply with the requirements of the pre action protocol before starting Court Action
• advise in relation to any settlement that may be reached
• communicate with the person or organisation that owes you money (the Debtor) on your behalf
• start a Claim at Court or instruct a barrister to draft a claim for more complex matters where appropriate
• identify relevant documents for the matter at Court
• swap relevant documents with the other side
• help with preparations for any hearing
• prepare witness statements if the matter proceeds to Court and the debtor does not pay the debt
• prepare a Court Bundle of essential documents for use at the Court Hearing
• instructing a barrister to represent you at the Court Hearing

If Court action is started there will be a Court fee that has to be paid which will vary depending on the level of debt being pursued.

If barristers are needed for drafting complex Claims or attending Court Hearings in the event of a dispute, they will have their own charges which can vary depending on the level of barrister you choose and the set of barristers chambers you choose from as well as the likely time to carry out the work, any preparation time needed by the barrister to read the papers and, where appropriate, check the relevant applicable law and the likely duration of the hearing. The prices could vary from £250 + VAT, if the barrister charges VAT, to £1500+VAT (£1800 including VAT) or even more if a senior barrister is chosen by you.

It is difficult to estimate how much a debt recovery case will cost as it depends on the action or inaction of the Debtor (the person who owes the money) to the debt.  Where a client wants to fully assist with a matter rather than just send a one off letter, the matter can be resolved with a letter or two where the debtor agrees to a payment arrangement at an overall cost of £267 + VAT, which is £320.40 including VAT assuming one hours’ worth of work. The amount of work needed will be dependent upon the debtor’s response or possibly lack of response.

If the Debtor actively disputes the debt the overall cost could be as much as £32,040 including VAT in respect of our fees depending on the complexity of the case. The reason for such high fees will be the need to comply with the pre action protocol, correspond with parties to the action, to issue a Claim form, comply with all Court Orders, draft witness statements, preparing the list of documents for disclosure and all matters up to and including a final trial. Provided there is a Court Order in favour of the Creditor (person the money is owed to) then applications for enforcement of the Court Order will be needed in order to recover the money owed and additional charges will be incurred. Disbursements such as the Court Fees will be in addition to our costs and will be dependent upon the amount of the Claim. If there are any applications made during the litigation process these costs will be additional to those estimated. Within the litigation process there should be a consideration of purchasing insurance if it does not already exist and the cost of this will again be dependent upon the insurance provider, the likelihood of risk to the insurers and the value of claim.

The time taken is also difficult to estimate as resolution could be anywhere between 1 week to 24 months depending on the timetable of the Court and this is further complicated by the effect of the pandemic.

When a Court Order is obtained stating that money is owed and the amount is then not paid by the date specified there will be additional costs in enforcing the Order, that is trying to get the money from the debtor.

There are Court fees payable when applying for each enforcement method. As at December 2020 the Court fee payable for an Attachment of Earnings Order, Charging Order, Order for Sale, and a Third Party Debt Order are £110 per application. Dependent upon the Court where the Order was made instructing bailiffs carries a cost of between £66 and £110. There is also the possibility of making the debtor insolvent dependent upon the amount owed to the creditor. The Court fee for insolvency proceedings is £280 however, there are additional charges such as the Official Receiver’s costs, the amount is dependent upon the circumstances.  All of these enforcement methods attract additional costs for the work we carry out and again will be dependent on the amount of time taken at our hourly rate. Generally the work ranges from £320.40 inclusive of VAT to £1,602.00 depending on whether witness statements in support of the application are needed and whether the debtor challenges the application made to Court. The amount of time taken from the start of the enforcement process to conclusion of application will vary dependant on the type of enforcement method applied for and how busy the Courts are in dealing with applications and listing any necessary hearings.  It can range from 1 month to 12 months.

Our hourly rates for the following methods of enforcement are:-

– Charging Orders                                                       £150 + VAT per hour

                                                                                      (£180 including VAT per hour)

– Order for Sale                         £267 + VAT per hour Depending on complexity (may be reduced )

                                                                                      (£320.40 including VAT per hour)

– Third Party Debt Orders                                           £150 + VAT per hour

                                                                                        (£180 including VAT per hour)

– Bankruptcy                                                                  £150 + VAT per hour

                                                                                         (£180 including VAT per hour)

The solicitors who have day to day conduct of cases at M2M Community Solicitors LLP have been qualified for over 15 years. Civil Litigation and Debt Recovery work is carried out by the partners of the firm being Miriam Geevarghese, who has been qualified as a solicitor for over 22 years, and Marie Quinn who has been qualified for over 15 years.

£150 + VAT per hour (£180 per hour including VAT) acting for employees

£267 + VAT per hour (£320.40 per hour including VAT) acting for employers

Employment

We represent both employees and employers in employment matters from the time a problem starts to the conclusion of a matter which can be the end of the employment tribunal appeal process.

The work we do in relation to Employment Tribunal matters for employees is charged at a rate of £150 plus VAT per hour (£180 including VAT per hour) and for employers £267 plus VAT per hour (£320.40  including VAT per hour) which we can consider reducing dependent on the size of the Company and the task at hand. The Employment Tribunal does not usually make an Order that the losing side in a case pays the winning sides legal costs and so the legal fees you pay are not usually amounts that you can get back from the other side.

In relation to employees, we do consider the likely compensation you will receive if successful and will tailor our assistance and our costs based on that assessment. We shall inform you from the outset where we consider it would be more cost effective for you to be advised on a self-help basis, that is where we are not on record as your acting representatives with the Employment Tribunal. This will mean that letters from the Employment Tribunal will come directly to you and not to us and you would need to inform us about what you receive and ask for advice when you need it. As we will only then work when you want us to for particular tasks it means that you can budget for our costs. We will always inform you about the likely charge prior to starting the work dependant on what you want us to do.

The Employment Tribunal process is meant to be one that the parties to a matter can go through without the use of solicitors but we have found that the process can be very intimidating and confusing to those who have not gone through the process before and is very formal and a very stressful for all parties concerned.

In relation to relatively simple matters such as claims by employees involving wrongful dismissal only, we would usually, depending on the amount of likely compensation involved, recommend assistance on a self -help basis. The cost could range from £180 to £540 including VAT dependent on the level of help needed such as if only advice is needed and some assistance with some documents. Our charges as stated previously are based on our hourly charge.

In relation unfair dismissal the cost could typically range from £180 to £5400 including VAT dependent on the level of assistance needed, the issues involved, the settlement negotiations that take place and the number of witnesses involved for whom we have to prepare witness statements.

We would typically during the case carry out the following work if acting for an employee in an employment dispute:-

• listen to what the dispute is and provide advice
• help you to make a complaint using the ACAS Early Conciliation Process and help to liaise with the ACAS conciliator. The process usually takes one month only but can be extended by a further 2 weeks in the right circumstances if the ACAS conciliator agrees.
• advise in relation to any settlement that may be reached
• communicate with the employer on your behalf
• draft a Claim to the Employment Tribunal or instruct a barrister to draft a claim for more complex matters where appropriate
• prepare a schedule of loss indicating how much the Claim is worth
• seek and swap relevant documents with the other side
• help with preparations for any preliminary or final hearings
• prepare witness statements for any final hearing

An employment tribunal claim may involve more than one hearing with preliminary hearings being set so that certain issues can be resolved before considering the Claim itself such as issues as to whether a Claim was lodged on time.

An employment case involving more complex issues of multiple claims including discrimination from start to a final hearing at the employment tribunal if we act on a client’s behalf, that is liaising with the opposition and the Tribunal and being on record as your solicitors, typically costs at an estimate between £6000 to £10,000 in relation to our costs dependent on what happens and what is needed during the case. It usually takes 14 to 16 months for a case to progress from the early conciliation stage to the final hearing but that is very much dependent on the Tribunal’s caseload and settlement discussions before the start of a claim at the Employment Tribunal.

Most cases are resolved before the final hearing with the parties compromising and settling on condition that the terms of the agreement are not revealed to any third parties. We also act for clients whose cases are being funded by insurance policies, which can be restricting in respect of their choices but does relieve the financial burden of funding a case.

In complex cases such as for matters involving discrimination including where there are a combination of claims including discrimination we ask barristers to draft the Particulars of Claim which can cost anything from £360 to £1000 in barristers costs dependent on the level of barrister, the paperwork and the work involved in looking through the documents and drafting the particulars. In some cases medical evidence is required and an expert may need to be instructed. Their fees will depend on their level of experience and expertise. Your medical notes may also need to be obtained and in most cases are free to obtain.

Our solicitors do not represent at employment tribunals but instruct barristers who represent for you. The cost of barrister varies dependent on the hearing type and duration. Typically representation at a hearing for up to half a day costs £600 to £900 including VAT. Representation at the final hearing including the preparation work involved is dependent on the type of employment case. As an example, discrimination cases have a final hearing requiring typically 5 days’ worth of representation and costing anywhere between £4000 and £8000 depending on the level of barrister you choose and the complexity of the case.

Who conducts the work on your file?

The solicitors who have day to day conduct of cases at M2M Community Solicitors LLP have been qualified for over 15 years and the solicitor who takes on the employment matters, Miriam Geevarghese, is a partner of the firm and has been qualified as a solicitor for over 20 years but has been giving advice and assistance in employment matters since 1995.

Fixed Fee meeting   £50 + VAT (£60) for 30 mins

– Divorce                                             £200 + VAT per hour (£240 per hour inc VAT)

– Ancillery Relief/Financial Order     £200 + VAT per hour (£240 per hour inc VAT)

– Injunctions                                        £200 + VAT per hour (£240 per hour inc VAT)

– Child Contact                                   £150 + VAT per hour (£180 per hour inc VAT)

– Mortgage                  £150 + VAT per hour (£180 including VAT per hour)

 

– Rent Eviction (T)     £150 + VAT per hour (£180 including VAT per hour)

 

– Rent Eviction (L)      £267 + VAT per hour (£320.40 including VAT per hour)

 

– Disrepair                   £100 + VAT per hour prior to Court Action (£120 including VAT per hour)

                                      £150 + VAT per hour (£180 including VAT per hour)from the point of Court Action (drafting Claim Form stage)          

                        

– Homelessness           £100 + VAT per hour (£120 including VAT per hour)

 

– Allocations               £100 + VAT per hour (£120 including VAT per hour)

 

£40 including VAT for 3 miles radius of office or in the London Borough of

Ealing.

Contact office for quote outside 3 miles radius

£150 + VAT per hour – (£180 per hour including VAT)

Time Estimate usually 2 – 3  hours plus disbursements

– Leaseholders                             £200 + VAT per hour (£240 including VAT per hour)

Litigants In Person – Mock Trial – One and a half hours £200 + VAT   (£250 including VAT)

Litigants In Person – Mock Trial – Two and a half hours £300 + VAT  (£360 including VAT)

Probate                      £200 + VAT per hour  (£240 including VAT per hour)

Probate Disputes      £267 + VAT per hour (£320.40 including VAT per hour)

Probate – where there are no disputes (non-contentious)

The price

We charge £200 plus VAT per hour (£240 including VAT per hour). We do not take a percentage of the estate as many solicitors typically do but just charge for the work that we do.

We do on occasions reduce the hourly charge if the work to be done is straightforward and does not involve applying for probate. Probate is not needed in all cases. In some simple matters where a person does not feel they can do it themselves such as where the name on the title register of a home needs to be changed to remove a joint name from the property we have charged as little as £90 including VAT for all the work to be done.

We believe we differ from typical probate firms in that where the personal representatives (the people who have the authority to deal with a person’s estate when that person has died in these type of cases) want to save money on solicitor’s costs we do encourage them to carry out certain tasks themselves therefore reducing our fees. We tailor our services to your needs.

We offer 20 minutes free basic advice on probate matters. After this our charged for services range from £90 to £50,000 dependent on the level of assistance needed, whether we have been appointed executors to deal with all matters including the funeral, clearance of properties and sale of properties, and the complexity of the case with the upper level being for more complex cases involving property and multiple investments and dealing with Trusts within the estate over a number of years.

We would expect the typical cost of administration of an average sized estate with one residential property, an investment plan and up to 5 bank accounts with liability to inheritance tax to cost in the range of £3600 and £5040 including VAT and we would expect it to take 12 to 18 months dependent on the time taken for the property to sell.

The high cost administration of estates have involved a combination of complex matters rather than just one complexity such as applications to the Royal Courts of Justice for a subpoena for the release of a will, renunciation of executors of a will, liaising with beneficiaries to a will so that they can agree to be administrators of a will, identifying Trusts within a will, drafting deeds of variation of a will, drafting various affidavits in relation to proving the validity of a will, drafting affidavits to enter a certified copy of a will to probate, liaising with numerous financial institutions to collect the assets in relation to the estate, dealing with multiple probate applications when the deceased was entitled to an interest in another estate, completing the inheritance tax forms including the schedules and calculation of inheritance tax and drafting the final accounts for estates.

The amount of the charge is not necessarily based on the size of the estate as some very high value estates can be dealt with very easily and very quickly. It is generally less time consuming therefore cheaper dealing with probate for cases where there are wills and where no inheritance tax is payable.

If the only assistance needed is certification of documents we charge £5.00 per sheet of paper (all documents are single sided so one sheet) and £2.00 for each exhibit, which again is single sided.

Other likely costs

The fee to apply for probate with the Probate Registry is currently £273 and for each office copy of the Grant of Probate an extra £1.50 is payable. It is wise to get extra copies sufficient to cover all financial institutions and for the solicitors when selling property although many financial institutions return the Grant once they have verified it.

If we deal with the administration of an estate we carry out bankruptcy searches of the beneficiaries to check that any inheritance is being paid to the right person. The cost of this is £2 a search for those who are resident in the United Kingdom. The cost of international bankruptcy checks varies dependant on the Country and we can find out the cost and check the personal representative agrees to the cost before incurring that cost.

Another check that is advisable in most cases is a will search which is looking to see whether the deceased either made a will or whether the will that has been found is, indeed, the last will and testament. We carry out such searches with the National Will Register (www.nationalwillregister.co.uk) which costs £105+VAT (£126 including VAT) for a simple search and £220+VAT (£265.20 including VAT) for a search which includes a Trustee Act 1925 Notice which is advisable in most cases to do with additional add on notices in local papers at £220 plus VAT per publication. These are the prices as at February 2023.

Time taken

The time a case takes from the start of a case to the end of administration of a case depends on whether there was a will, the size of the estate and its content, that is what a person owns when they die and the number and location of the beneficiaries.

Estates we deal with typically consist of real property owned (houses and land), bank and building society accounts, shares and investments, motor vehicles and household property.

A small estate with a home and small number of accounts to deal with where all the relevant documents are provided to us, will typically take 2 to 6 weeks to obtain the Grant of Probate. However, during the pandemic the Probate Registry have experienced a high level of demand which has caused a delay within the Probate Registry and so it can take over 8 weeks just for the application for probate to be processed by the Probate Registry. The Administration of the estate timescale depends on who the beneficiaries are but if the beneficiaries are only the executors the funds can be distributed within 2 to 3 months and the case could, therefore, be finished within a very short period of time.

Any estate which involves people who are not executors should not be distributed until 10 months have passed from the date of Grant of Probate. These type of cases can take 12 months or more to finalise.

Any estate with property, multiple accounts in multiple financial institutions, shares and/or executors and/or beneficiaries who are living abroad usually results in delays and typically it can take 2 to 8 months to get the Grant of Probate and anywhere between 12 months and 36 months or more depending on the complexity for the matter for the administration of the estate to be finalised.

Who conducts the work on your file?

The solicitors who have day to day conduct of cases at M2M Community Solicitors LLP have been qualified for over 22 years. Probate work is carried out by the partners of the firm being Miriam Geevarghese, who has been qualified as a solicitor for over 22 years, and Marie Quinn who has been qualified for over 15 years. Occasionally a caseworker or administrative worker may assist the solicitor in the simpler tasks that need to be carried out but all work will be supervised by one of the partners.

£150 + VAT per hour (£180 including VAT per hour)

£5.00 + £2.00 for every exhibit (inclusive of VAT)

£150 + VAT per hour (£180 including VAT per hour)

£150 + VAT fixed fee (£180 including VAT)

£250 + VAT fixed fee (£300 including VAT) for Mirror Wills

We also usually participate in the work of the charities ‘Will Aid’ and ‘Free Wills Month’ and so have two months in the year during which there are suggested donations to be made to charity  rather than a charge  we make for drafting simple wills

We also provide special offers every so often which you will find by following this link: – https://m2mcommunitysolicitors.co.uk/see-our-news/ 

£100 + VAT per hour (£120 per hour including VAT) if on certain means tested benefits, if not then £150 +VAT per hour (£180 including VAT)