Terms & Conditions

Regulatory status

FD Law Limited trading as both Heirloom Fair Legal or Fair Legal is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (“SRA”) under ID number 632067 as an Alternative Business Structure. Further information can be found at www.sra.org.uk. The SRA is the independent regulatory body for solicitors in England and Wales. While the Law Society is a designated professional body under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, the SRA has full responsibility for regulatory matters, professional standards, and complaint handling.

We are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (formerly the Financial Services Authority). However, we are included on the register maintained by the Financial Conduct Authority so that we can carry on insurance mediation activity, which is broadly the advising on, selling, and administration of insurance contracts. This part of our business, including arrangements for complaints or redress if something goes wrong, is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

The Register can be accessed via the Financial Conduct Authority website at https://www.fca.org.uk/firms/financial-services-register. The relevant register is called the EPF Register.

If, while we are acting for you, you need advice on investments, we may have to refer you to someone who is authorised to provide the necessary advice. However, we may provide certain limited investment advice services where these are closely linked to the legal work we are doing for you. This is because we are Directors of the Law Society of England and Wales. The Law Society is a designated professional body for the purposes of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, but responsibility for regulation and complaints-handling has been separated from the Law Society's representative functions. The Solicitors Regulation Authority is the independent regulatory body of the Law Society. If you are unhappy with any investment advice you receive from us, you should raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority or with the Legal Ombudsman (see section “Our Relationship with You”).

We may assign any of our rights or transfer by novation any of our rights, obligations and liabilities under the Letter or these Terms to any other company or other corporate entity within the FD Law Limited group of companies (New Service Provider), which will perform and be bound by the Letter and these Terms in every way as if it were the original party to them. In the event of any such assignment or novation, you undertake to perform and be bound by the Letter and these Terms in every way as if the New Service Provider were the original party to them in place of us, to accept the liability of the New Service Provider in place of our liability and to release and discharge us from all claims and demands arising under or in connection with the Letter and these Terms, whether arising on or before the date of any such assignment or novation and whether known or unknown.

Marketing services and fees

As a firm of solicitors, we have a professional duty to act in your best interest at all times and give you independent advice. If you require any further information, please contact us.

During the course of the Firm's work, it may be necessary to discuss your case with or instruct cost specialists, experts, or counsel. Your acceptance of these Terms of Business amounts to your consent to us to disclose information which we consider necessary to progress your case.

Responsibility for the work

The Letter confirms that your claim will be dealt with by the person whose contact details appear in your letter, unless otherwise informed by us in writing to you.

An allocated person will carry out most of the work on your affairs personally, although other individuals will work on your affairs where that person is unavailable, if it is more cost-effective to do so, or the Services require the expertise of a particular person.

We will, where possible, identify those individuals in the Letter and will try to avoid changing the people who perform the Services, but if this cannot be avoided, we will inform you of any change.

Our responsibilities

We will:

• Always act in your best interests, subject to our duty to the court
• Explain to you the risks and benefits of taking legal action
• Give you our best advice about whether to accept any offer of settlement
• Give you the best information possible about the likely cost of your case
• Provide you with a good standard of service

Your responsibilities

You must:

• Give us instructions that allow us to do our work properly;
• Do not ask us to work in an improper or unreasonable way;
• Not deliberately mislead us;
• Co-operate with us;
• Attend as necessary any external appointment or court hearing; and
• Advise us as soon as reasonably practicable of any development that may affect any matter on which we are acting for you.

Failure to carry out your responsibilities may cause you to breach the terms of your After The Event Insurance Policy or Agreement, and you may become personally liable for our charges and potentially those of the other party.

Claims often involve time limits, particularly once legal proceedings are commenced, and there is a limitation period in place which provides a deadline by which your claim must be pursued.

Your co-operation at all times will help to ensure your claim is progressed without delay. Failure to our requests for co-operation and information may result in us ceasing to act on your behalf.

If you instruct other solicitors before our work on the case is finished, then we have the right to preserve our lien (keep all your papers) unless you pay all our charges and expenses due at that time or another firm of solicitors working for you undertakes to pay us what we are owed.

During the course of the Firm's work, it may be necessary to discuss your case with or instruct cost specialists, experts, or counsel. Your acceptance of these Terms of Business amounts to your consent to us to disclose information which we consider necessary to progress your case.

Fees and charges

The Firm's fees for services under this agreement shall be payable only from the damages recovered by the Firm on behalf of the Client, including any interest or other penalties awarded, but excluding any cost or Disbursement recovery (“the Redress”), as follows.

All fees and charges set out in this Agreement are exclusive of VAT, which is payable in addition at the prevailing rate.

The Firm shall be entitled to a fee equal to the lesser of: a) The Maximum Charge, and b) The Redress multiplied by the Fee Percentage based on differing Maximum Charges and Fee Percentages as per the Band based on the Redress amount as detailed in the following table:

Full details of our charges are set out on our About Our Fees page.

If the Firm is able to resolve the Client's dispute via a direct resolution with the Client's Finance Company or via the acceptance of an offer made under the proposed FCA Redress Scheme (or any similar regulatory or other redress program), the Client shall be entitled to a 25% rebate of the fee calculated above.

The Client is liable for direct payment of any Disbursements that may be incurred in the pursuit of the Client's Claim.

Prior to the incurrence of any Disbursement on the Client's behalf, the Firm will discuss these with the Client. It is expected, but not required, that the Firm will offer a non-recourse funding option for the Client to consider, the cost of which the Client will pay for out of any Redress awarded.

Under the following circumstances, the Client is liable for payment to the Firm of all Disbursements incurred, plus a fee of £150 per Client Finance Company being worked on by the Firm on behalf of the Client:

• If the Client fails to co-operate with the Firm in the conduct of a Claim;
• If the Client provides misleading information to the Firm, any redress scheme, the FOS, or the Courts;
• If the client rejects the Firm's advice in respect of taking a redress award or settlement;
• If the Client engages another solicitor firm, claims management company, or any other entity to act on its behalf in respect of the Claim;
• If the Client ends this agreement before the Claim is concluded (other than within the 14-day period after signing this agreement); or
• If the Client lies or exaggerates any part of the Claim.

The Client directs the Firm to pay any fee owing in respect of a successful Claim from the Redress awarded to the Client by way of deduction from the monies held in trust for the Client at the Firm's Client account to the Firm's Bank Account 15870847 at NatWest bank (“Firm's Bank Account”). Where any amounts are owing to the Firm by the Client other than in respect of a successful Claim, the Client shall forthwith pay such amounts to the Firm's Bank Account.

VAT

Under HM Revenue & Customs Regulations, if you are a company, business, or individual who is registered for VAT, you are responsible as such for any VAT on your costs. This is not recoverable from the person at fault, and we will submit to you a VAT account. Please note that VAT will also not be recovered from the person at fault in relation to repair costs, hire charges, etc.

If, however, you are not registered for VAT, then it can be reclaimed from the person at fault or their insurers on your behalf.

Any figure given by way of estimate, quotation, hourly rate, or other cost or charge, whether in the Letter or in these Terms, is exclusive of VAT. Our VAT number is GB 297 9526 32. We will generally be obliged to charge VAT on our fees and on most disbursements at the rate from time to time in force. Where any work is not subject to VAT, we will specifically confirm this to you. Unless you have received such confirmation, VAT will be chargeable.

Money laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act 2002

The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 requires us, if we become aware of, or suspect that there has been, any sort of unlawful dealing relating to either property or money, including tax evasion or benefit fraud, to inform the authorities. Our failure to do so, or if we “tip you off” that we have done so, could lead to our prosecution and possible imprisonment. By instructing us to act on your behalf, you expressly consent to our disclosing any information that we consider necessary, without reference to you.

The legislation also means that you could be guilty of a criminal offence if you receive, conceal, or become involved in any arrangement or other activity involving proceeds, or either direct or indirect benefits, from money laundering or tax evasion, or benefit fraud, unless you make a disclosure to the relevant authority under the provisions of the Act.

In accordance with the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, we may require you to send us two forms of documentary identification. This can be either a passport or a photo driving license (or other photographic ID) and one recent utility bill; we shall return them directly to you. If the need arises for you to provide us with these documents, we will contact you to inform you.

Data protection (UK GDPR & Data Protection Act 2018)

We comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (“UK GDPR”) and the Data Protection Act 2018. Any personal data you provide will be processed fairly, lawfully, and transparently for the purposes of providing legal services, complying with our regulatory obligations, and, where necessary, for our legitimate interests. You have rights under data protection law, including the right of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, data portability, and to object to processing. If you wish to exercise these rights, please contact our Compliance Officer. A copy of our Privacy Policy is available on request or via our website.

We may, when we communicate with you, including both incoming and outgoing calls, record our calls for quality and monitoring purposes, as well as regulatory compliance. If you do not wish the call to be recorded, you should inform us accordingly at the outset of the call.

Anti-discrimination policy

FD Law Limited Trading as Heirloom Fair Legal or Fair Legal is committed to eliminating discrimination and promoting equality and diversity in its own policies, practices, and procedures, and in those areas in which it has influence. This applies to the firm's professional dealings with staff and Partners, other solicitors, barristers, Clients, and third parties.

The firm intends to treat everyone equally and with the same attention, courtesy, and respect regardless of their disability, gender, marital status, race, racial group, colour, ethnic or national origin, nationality, religion or belief, or sexual orientation. This policy is constantly updated to reflect current legislation and to ensure compliance with the Solicitors Regulation Authority's code on anti-discrimination practice.

Confidentiality

As lawyers, we are bound by a general duty of confidentiality towards you as our client. Any information which we obtain from you while providing the Services which is not in the public domain will be treated as confidential. On some rare occasions, we may be required to disclose information to relevant regulatory or fiscal authorities, or under rules of professional conduct. In such cases, we would (where both permissible and practicable) inform you of the request or requirement to disclose. We may have to delay or stop providing the Services for a period of time, and we may not be able to tell you why.

In the course of providing the Services, we may need to give information to other Directors of the FD Law Limited Trading as Heirloom Fair Legal or Fair Legal and to other third parties such as banks, lenders, expert witnesses, and other professional advisers.

Sometimes we ask other companies or people to do typing or document production on our files so as to ensure that this is done promptly. We will always seek a confidentiality agreement with these outsourced providers. If you do not want your file to be outsourced in this way, please tell us as soon as possible.

We also use other companies or people to provide us with photocopying, file storage, and IT services in connection with the Services. Again, we will always seek a confidentiality agreement with these providers.

We will not use information that is confidential to you for the advantage of a third party, and, conversely, you accept that we will not use confidential information obtained from any other person for your advantage.

You agree that we are authorised to disclose that you are our client, and that we have acted for you on any matter where information on that matter is in the public domain and on any other matter where you consent to such disclosure.

Unless you notify us to the contrary in writing, we may use your personal information for marketing our services, providing you with legal updates, and profiling your legal and professional requirements. We may also disclose your information to other Directors of FD Law Limited Trading as Heirloom Fair Legal or Fair Legal and (unless you request otherwise) to external providers of typing and document production services. We may keep your information for a reasonable period to contact you about our services in the future. A copy of our Privacy Policy is available on request.

In this Section, references to “you” may include persons related to or connected with you.

We are subject to periodic checks by external assessors. This could mean that your file is selected for checking. All inspections are conducted in the strictest of confidence; however, please do advise us if you would prefer your file not to be inspected. Unless you indicate otherwise, we shall assume that you consent to your file being inspected if selected.

Storage of papers

After completing the work, we are entitled to keep all the papers and documents until all our charges have been paid. We will keep your file (except for any papers that you ask us to return to you) for no more than six years. We keep the file on the understanding that we have authority from you to destroy it six years after completion of the case. We may need to make a charge based on time spent if you need to retrieve any papers.

Conflicts of interest

We advise a large number of clients and may be in a position where we are advising individuals or entities whose interests might compete with your own. We cannot be certain that we will identify all such situations which exist or may develop, and it is difficult for us to anticipate all situations which you might perceive to involve a conflict. We request that you notify us promptly of anything which you think might involve a potential conflict of interest between yourself and another of our clients or ourselves.

Subject to our compliance with the professional rules which regulate our conduct as lawyers, we will not be prevented or restricted by virtue of our relationship with you from involvement in other matters where our or our client's interests may be adverse to your own.

We will not use information that is confidential to you for the advantage of a third party, and, conversely, you accept that we will not use confidential information obtained from any other person for your advantage.

Termination

You may terminate your instructions to us in writing at any time, but we will be entitled to keep all your papers and documents whilst there is money owing to us for our charges and expenses.

In some circumstances, we may, subject to the SRA Code of Conduct 2019 and for reasons as outlined in the Agreement, terminate this agreement. We will give you not less than 5 business days' notice in writing.

Deemed acceptance

Signing our Agreement either personally or electronically confirms your acceptance of our terms and conditions.

The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013

Because this agreement has been entered into away from our offices or at a distance (for example, by telephone, online, or during a visit to your home), you have a right to cancel it under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

The right. You may cancel this agreement within 14 days of entering into it, without giving any reason.

How to cancel. You must tell us clearly that you wish to cancel — by letter, email, or by using the cancellation form below. It is enough to send this before the 14 days expire.

You can contact us at: FD Law Limited, trading as Heirloom Fair Legal or Fair Legal, 3-7 Temple Avenue, Temple Chambers, Suites 208-209, London EC4Y 0DA. Email: mypcpclaim@fairlegal.com. Telephone: 0161 518 4966.

Effect of cancellation. If you cancel within the 14 days, we will refund any payments you have made, without undue delay and in any event within 14 days of being told, using the same payment method you used, at no cost to you.

Starting work early. We will not begin work on your matter during the 14-day period unless you expressly ask us to, by signing our Form of Authority or otherwise confirming this in writing. If you do ask us to start early and later cancel, you will be liable to pay for the work carried out up to the point you told us you were cancelling, calculated proportionately by reference to our charging rates.

Model Cancellation Form

(Complete and return this form only if you wish to cancel this agreement)

To: FD Law Limited, trading as Heirloom Fair Legal or Fair Legal, 3-7 Temple Avenue, Temple Chambers, Suites 208-209, London EC4Y 0DA. Email: mypcpclaim@fairlegal.com.

I/We* hereby give notice that I/We* cancel my/our* agreement for the provision of legal services.

• Signed: _____________________
• Name(s) of client(s): _____________________
• Address of client(s): _____________________
• Date: _____________________

*Delete as appropriate

Our relationship with you

We are confident of providing a high-quality service, but if you have any queries, concerns, or a complaint about our services or our invoice, please raise this with David Wells, Head of Financial Mis-Selling, who will deal with it in accordance with our internal complaints procedure. A copy of our complaints procedure is available on request.

Complaints and Alternative Dispute Resolution

If you have a complaint, you should first follow our internal complaints procedure. We aim to investigate and provide you with a final written response within eight weeks.

If you remain unhappy following our final response, you may refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, provided you do so within whichever of the following time limits applies:

• six months of the date of our final written response to your complaint; and in any event
• no later than one year from the date of the act or omission you are complaining about, or one year from the date you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

The Legal Ombudsman has discretion to extend these time limits in exceptional circumstances, but you should not rely on this and should act promptly.

The Legal Ombudsman details can be found at www.legalombudsman.org.uk. Its address is: The Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH. Telephone: 0300 555 0333. Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk.

We are also required to tell you that alternative dispute resolution (ADR) bodies exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services. We have, however, chosen not to adopt an ADR process. If you wish to consider ADR, details can be provided on request.

We will not charge you for dealing with a complaint.

If we consider that the firm or any member of our staff has been guilty of serious misconduct, then we shall report such conduct to the Solicitors Regulation Authority in any event.

If a Barrister is instructed in connection with the Services we are providing to you, the Barrister's Chambers will also have terms and conditions (including a complaints procedure), a copy of which will be made available on request.

Responsibility for advice

FD Law Limited Trading as Heirloom Fair Legal or Fair Legal (rather than its directors, employees, and consultants) will provide advice and services to you, and FD Law Limited Trading as Heirloom Fair Legal or Fair Legal alone will be responsible for the performance of the engagement contract in relation to the Services.

Where FD Law Limited Trading as Heirloom Fair Legal or Fair Legal is responsible for providing advice and/or services to you then, to the fullest extent permitted by law and regulation, no individual who is a Director or employee of, or consultant to, FD Law Limited Trading as Heirloom Fair Legal or Fair Legal accepts or assumes responsibility to you or to anyone else for advice and services provided to you, whether or not that individual is described as a “partner”.

You agree (to the extent such agreement is enforceable under applicable laws and regulations) that you will not bring any claim in connection with any advice and/or services provided to you by FD Law Limited Trading as Heirloom Fair Legal or Fair Legal against any Director of FD Law Limited Trading as Heirloom Fair Legal or Fair Legal or against any employee of, or consultant to, FD Law Limited Trading as Heirloom Fair Legal, but this will not limit or exclude the liability of FD Law Limited Trading as Heirloom Fair Legal or Fair Legal itself.

Any advice and/or services provided by FD Law Limited Trading as Heirloom Fair Legal or Fair Legal is/are for your benefit only and may not be used or relied upon by anyone else.

“Partner” is a title, and individuals described as “partners” are Directors or employees of or consultants to FD Law Limited Trading as Heirloom Fair Legal or Fair Legal.

Limitation of liability

In certain situations, there may be a risk that FD Law Limited Trading as Heirloom Fair Legal or Fair Legal will be prejudiced as a result of arrangements you have with other advisers which limit their liability to you.

This could arise where FD Law Limited Trading as Heirloom Fair Legal or Fair Legal is one of several professionals advising you, and you have agreed a limitation of liability with another of your advisers. If this occurs in circumstances where we would otherwise be jointly and severally liable with those other advisers for a claim, you agree that FD Law Limited Trading as Heirloom Fair Legal or Fair Legal position will not be adversely affected by the limitation of those other advisers' potential liability. In other words, FD Law Limited Trading as Heirloom Fair Legal or Fair Legal liability to you will not exceed the net amount for which we would have been liable after deducting the amount for which the other advisers would have been liable to us in contribution proceedings if a limitation of their liability had not been agreed with you.

We ask you to advise us as early as possible if you have agreed or are likely to agree a limitation of the liability of your other professional advisers where we are also acting for you.

We will not be liable to you for any indirect loss, such as loss of profits or loss of business opportunity.

In any event, our liability for any claim shall not exceed £3 million. For these purposes, all claims arising from one act or omission, one series of related acts or omissions, the same act or omission in a series of related matters or transactions, similar acts or omissions in a series of related matters or transactions, or one matter or transaction, will be treated as a single claim.

We do not limit our liability for loss caused by our fraud, or for death or personal injury resulting from our negligence.

If we engage third parties to participate in the Services, FD Law Limited Trading as Heirloom Fair Legal or Fair Legal will not be liable in respect of any advice given or work undertaken by them (regardless of whether such persons were introduced by us).

Copyright in documents

Original materials that we generate for our clients are protected by copyright, which belongs to us.

The fee you pay for our work gives you an implied licence to make use of those materials for the purposes for which they were obtained and for all reasonably associated purposes. You do not, however, obtain ownership of the copyright in our work product unless we specifically agree in writing.

Electronic communications and the internet

We will be pleased to discuss with you ways of setting up electronic communication links with us.

In the absence of your written instructions to the contrary, we may from time to time communicate with you electronically via the internet. Although the majority of internet messages reach their destination safely, as you may be aware, the internet is neither private nor secure, nor are there service guarantees for correct message routing or promptness of delivery. Electronic communications also introduce a risk of computer viruses causing system failure. Consequently, we accept no responsibility for any claims, costs, damages, losses, awards, or other liability incurred by or made against you and arising directly or indirectly as a result of the use of the internet.

We may monitor communications in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations in order to establish facts, or to determine that communications using our systems are relevant to our business, or to comply with laws or regulatory practices and procedures.

Unless you tell us otherwise in writing, or by clicking on an “unsubscribe” button attached to all communication not directly related to your claim, we may send you messages providing you with general firm updates, or in respect of services that we offer or other information that we feel may be of interest to you.

We are a data controller and bound by the Data Protection Act/GDPR 2018. 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
• Legal and regulatory compliance

We are entitled to obtain, process, use, and disclose your personal data to enable us to discharge our duties to you, to liaise with third parties such as expert witnesses and other professional advisors. You have the right of access under data protection legislation to the personal data that we hold about you.

Retention of documents

In general, we will retain any file relating to a matter on which we have acted for you for six years after the matter is completed. After that period, we will be entitled to deal with the file without further reference to you. Files may be retained in hard copy or electronic format where possible. Files will not be reviewed by us during this storage period.

In any particular matter, you will, of course, be free to ask us in advance to retain the file for a longer period and/or to take no action in relation to our file without further notification to you. In such circumstances, we may seek to apply a reasonable charge for this service, as we may for retrieval and/or copying of the file.

Changes to these terms

We may, by one month's written notice to you, modify these Terms from time to time to reflect our current practice and/or changes to professional and other regulatory requirements which we are obliged to meet.

Litigation

In any action, you will be required to disclose to the other parties all documents, correspondence, e-mails, notes, memoranda, and other items which are or have been in your possession, custody, or power and which relate in any way to the issues in the dispute. Subject to certain exceptions, such as most communications with us, this duty covers documents that may be prejudicial to your case, which you are nevertheless obliged to reveal. The obligation of disclosure is ongoing until the action is over, and therefore, all such documents must be preserved in safekeeping. This obligation is onerous, and you may be liable for severe penalties, including fines and/or imprisonment, in cases of deliberate non-disclosure. If in any doubt as to whether to preserve documents, you should always err on the side of preservation.

Mobility and access

We endeavour to ensure that all of our offices have facilities and access for the disabled. If you wish to visit any of our offices and are disabled, we recommend that you contact us to advise of your condition. We will then be able to confirm the facilities available at that office or alternatively advise of a more suitable local office. We are equally happy to visit you at home or at your place of work if this is more convenient.

Jurisdiction and proper law

These Terms and the Letter are subject to English law, and you and we irrevocably agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of England and Wales. If you are not instructing us as a consumer, you and we irrevocably agree to submit to either the jurisdiction of the High Court of England and Wales or arbitration in London at our sole discretion and option.

GDPR consent – Potential 3rd parties

• HM Courts & Tribunal Service
• Department for Work & Pensions (DWP)
• Employers (past and present)
• Legal Expense Insurers
• Enquiry agents
• Banks
• GP Surgeries
• Expert Witnesses
• HM Prison Service
• HM Revenue & Customs
• After the Event, insurance providers
• Hospitals – including private centres
• Ambulance Service
• Medico-legal reporting agencies
• Barristers' chambers
• Medical experts
• Before the Event insurance provider
• Police
• Case Management providers
• Rehabilitation providers
• Schools, colleges, and/or universities
• Client insurance providers
• Technology experts
• Cost draftsman
• Translation providers
• Defendants
• Witnesses