What will it cost me?
The following details the various funding options that may be available to you.
- Pay as you go
- Fixed Fee Interview
- Free Advice
- Contingency Fee Agreement
- Legal Aid
- Conditional Fee Agreement (“No Win, No Fee”)
- Conditional Fee Insurance
- Legal Expenses Insurance
- Assistance from Trade Unions, Trade Organisations or other Associations
- Funding your Personal Injury costs
Pay as you go
Please ask for details about paying on the traditional “private” basis. We have a range of different charging rates according to the level of experience you require.
We are always happy to discuss likely costs with you. With disputes, this can often depend on the conduct of the other party. Therefore, we can offer either a fixed fee for a specific piece of work or you can set a costs limit and we shall do as much work as we can up to that amount.
Fixed Fee Interview
For your peace of mind, Thomas Dunton can offer a Fixed Fee Interview. This enables you to talk through your concerns with a specialist lawyer, while knowing exactly what it will cost. A fixed fee interview provides:
- An opportunity for you to explain your concerns to a lawyer
- To ascertain whether you need to take any urgent action
- To discover what services are available and the fee structure that would apply
- To find out what future costs might be involved
- To help you decide if it is worthwhile for you to instruct a solicitor
You are under no obligation to engage Thomas Dunton.
Fixed Fee Interview Costs
Family:
For family matters we offer a one hour appointment for £200 + VAT.
Suitable subjects include the following:
- Family Law, including divorce
- Civil partnership, cohabitation relationships
Detailed advice cannot be given at this stage.
Contentious Probate, Land Disputes and Employment Issues:
We offer a one hour fixed fee interview with a qualified solicitor for £305 + VAT for contentious probate matters and £305 + VAT for employment matters.
A fixed fee interview is not appropriate if you are already involved in court proceedings and need to instruct a lawyer to represent you in those proceedings or if you require work to be carried out urgently.
Quotes for legal services
In addition, there are certain services for which we can give you a quotation or an estimate for the work we undertake on your behalf. These include:
- Residential property sale and purchase
- Residential property re-mortgages
- Residential leases
- Wills (except complex Wills)
- Change of name deeds
You can also find detailed costs on our probate, employment tribunials and conveyancing by clicking here.
In all cases, full payment must be made on the day of the interview, by cash, bank card or cheque. Please ensure you obtain confirmation of cost when you telephone for an appointment, as fees are subject to change from time to time.
Free advice
In some cases we can offer you an initial appointment without any charge at all. These would include:
- Personal Injury claims
- Business Start-ups
- Advice on certain aspects of existing businesses
Please make sure you confirm this is a free appointment when you book.
Legal Aid
This firm is only able to undertake legal aid work if it relates to certain family law cases.
Funding for which legal aid is available include:
Care and Supervision Order Proceedings:
If you are the parent of the child, or if you have a parental responsibility order for the child, and social services/local authorities initiate proceedings for a care or supervision order, you will be eligible for legal aid. If you do not have parental responsibility, legal aid may be available, depending on your circumstances.
Pre-proceedings Meetings:
If you are the parent or have parental responsibility, and social services have issued you with a letter advising you that they are considering taking care proceedings, in respect of your child, you will be entitled to legal representation at that meeting. This will be funded by legal aid.
Child Abduction Proceedings:
When a child has been abducted from abroad to the UK, legal aid will be available.
Private Law: Children Disputes:
In limited circumstances legal aid may be available, but there needs to be evidence of domestic violence and/or safeguarding issues. You will also need to be financial eligible to qualify for this.
In recent years the types of cases for which legal aid was once available have significantly reduced. Please, therefore, feel free to call us to discuss whether your case could be eligible for funding under the legal aid scheme.
If you find that you are not eligible for legal aid, we offer a fixed fee interview of £200 (+ VAT) for a one hour appointment
Contingency Fee Agreement
We may be able to enter into a Contingency Fee Agreement to cover your representation at a Tribunal Hearing. You would then only have to pay legal fees if you were awarded money by the Tribunal. In which case, all you would pay is a percentage of the money awarded, as agreed in advance.
Conditional Fee Agreement (“No Win, No Fee”)
We may be able to assist with your claim on the basis of a conditional fee agreement. This is known popularly as a “No Win, No Fee” scheme.
The idea is that, by making the claim, you do not risk being financially worse off than you were before, whatever the result. If you lose, you pay us nothing, and if you win your opponent pays towards your costs.
We will provide you with a conditional fee agreement which sets out all the terms of the agreement between us.
It will include details of any arrangement for funding of disbursements, the details of the success fee payable and details of your Conditional Fee Insurance (see below). We are always happy to discuss the terms of the conditional fee agreement with you.
Legal Expenses Insurance
Many of our clients already have the benefit of Legal Expenses Insurance. Most motor policies include legal expenses insurance, as do some building, home contents and holiday policies and even credit cards and some bank accounts.
Sometimes insurers will tell you to use their own nominated lawyer. This may not be convenient for you, nor provide the level of service you would like. If you talk to us about it, we can usually make arrangements with the insurers so that we may act on your behalf. Alternatively, insurance can sometimes be taken out even at this stage to cover your legal costs and/or those of the opponent. Please ask us about these possibilities.
Assistance from Trade Unions, Trade Organisations or other Associations
If you are a member of any of these, or similar bodies, you may be eligible for financial assistance with your claim. If this is the case, please discuss it with us and provide the details. We will probably be able to act on your behalf as your nominated solicitor.
Personal Injury funding
For all our Personal Injury clients, we offer a first free interview without obligation. We can discuss your case and advise you about the different funding options.
Conditional Fee Insurance
If you lose your case, there is a risk that you would have to pay your opponent’s legal costs and your own disbursements. For this reason the popular term “no win no fee” can be somewhat misleading.
We aim to avoid that risk for you by advising and arranging that you take out “conditional fee insurance”. The insurer would then pay your opponent’s costs and disbursements.
It would also pay your own disbursements if you lost the case. “Disbursements” are payments to others who help with your claim, such as experts.
Please click here for more information on the various cost options that may be available to you. To contact us please complete the Contact form on the right or alternatively please telephone Freephone 0800146 340 or 01689 822554 or email accident@thomasdunton.co.uk.
Credit Cards
Please note that whilst we are able to accept payment by debit card, payment by credit card will only be accepted at our exclusive discretion, in the most exceptional circumstances, given the additional charges that incur.
Contact Us
Please contact us at 217-219 High Street, Orpington, Kent BR6 0NZ
Call us on 01689 822554 or email us at enquiry@thomasdunton.co.uk