Fees & costs

At Morecrofts we recognise there are many ways to pay for legal services. This guide should help you understand what  options might be available, and to decide what is best for you. Your solicitor or legal advisor will provide more details and talk to you about the options in your case.

Whichever way you will be paying for our legal services, we will set out all the details in our initial letter to you, including an estimate of the overall costs, and who to contact if you have any concerns about our bill.

Hourly rates

Often solicitors will base their charges on the time it takes to deal with  your matter, and charge for their services on an hourly rate. If this applies in your case, at the start of the matter we will tell you how much this hourly rate will be, and that depends on a number of factors, including the seniority and experience of the person dealing with your case, the type of work involved and the urgency and complexity of the issues. Sometimes the amounts we can charge are set by the court. This information will be confirmed to you in a Letter of Engagement, which will be sent to you after the first meeting has taken place.  

There will be a charge for all the time taken to deal with your matter on your behalf, including preparation and research time. Drafting documents, letters, telephone calls and emails are charged for in six-minute units. Your lawyer will tell you at the start of the case how much they estimate the matter should cost and will keep you advised as it progresses. We will ask you for payment on account of our fees at the outset, and further payments as the matter proceeds. 

Depending upon the matter there may also be “disbursements” to pay. This term means payments which we make for you, to other parties, such as barristers’ fees, expert report fees, property searches, court fees and other charges. You will be advised of the amounts involved and we will need you to make payment of these charges before we can pay anything out on your behalf.

It is usually advisable to set up a standing order with us, to help you budget for, and spread the payments. The standing order form can be obtained from your legal team or our Credit Controller who can also advise you further about the process and the payments required.

In some matters you might be able to take out a loan with a litigation funder to cover your costs. If so, your lawyer will provide more details. It is important that you are aware that you are liable for repayment of any loan, no matter what the outcome of your case.

Fixed Fees

In some cases we are able to assess how much a matter will cost and provide you with the option of a fixed fee for our charges. This might apply to the whole matter, or to a certain stage. There might be times when it becomes clear as the matter progresses that the agreed fee will not be sufficient to cover the work that is needed. That is usually when matters become more complex due to issues outside our control, but if that happens your lawyer will discuss it with you before any additional fee is charged, explain why, and check that you are still happy to proceed. Our fixed fees are set at realistic levels to cover the normal amount of work required in similar cases, to give you confidence as to what you will have to pay. When a fixed fee is agreed we would usually expect you to make payment at the start of the matter.

No-win, No-Fee

The technical term for the most commonly used of these arrangements is “conditional fee agreements”. They are only available in certain cases, generally personal injury or clinical negligence claims, but sometimes in other types of litigation. You will sign an agreement which means that you are not responsible for our firm’s fees if you lose your case. If you win, most of your costs can usually be recovered from the other party, although you will usually be charged a success fee which comes out of your compensation. You would still be responsible for disbursements and you may be able to take out an insurance policy to cover the risk of having to pay these if you lose. In some cases, if you win, you may also have to pay the difference between our actual charges and the costs that can be recovered from the other party.  To find out whether this type of funding is right for you, and whether it can be used in your case, you will need to speak to your solicitor who will explain it all in detail.

There are also other types of “no-win, no-fee” agreements called Contingency Fee Agreements, also known as Damage Based Agreements. At Morecrofts, we usually only use these for claims made to the Criminal Injuries Compensation authority, or the Motor Insurers Bureau. Very rarely, they might be used for Employment Tribunal claims. With a contingency fee agreement, you agree that we can take a percentage of the compensation you recover if you win, to cover our costs, and you keep the remainder. The percentage will depend upon the complexity of the matter and the prospects of success and is set at the outset of each individual case. If you lose, you do not pay anything.

With both conditional fee and contingency fee agreements, we will need to assess the prospects of success of your matter before we can offer these to you. We will give you more details about this at your first meeting with us, before we send you out the agreement to review and sign.

Insurance funding

Sometimes your house or car insurance, or a credit card agreement, might include legal expenses cover. This is usually limited to certain types of work. It is worth checking details of any insurance you hold before coming to see us. You do not need to contact your insurance company; we will do that on your behalf. Insurers might pay all, or just part of your legal fees.

Legal Aid

Limited Legal Aid is still available for some areas of work. In family law, this includes divorce and finance applications, as well as applications for injunctions, but only where there is evidence of a history of domestic abuse. It also covers parents and children in care proceedings.

In other matters, legal aid is rare, but we are able to offer it in circumstances where compensation claims are made against public authorities. In most cases, Legal Aid is granted based on an assessment of your financial circumstances, and the merits of the case. Legal Aid is not free and might have to be paid back.  Your solicitor will be able to tell you whether you are eligible.

Retainers

Our commercial law, HR and employment teams offer retainer packages with monthly payments to suit most business budgets. These packages are varied and can even be tailored where necessary to suit the needs of your business. You can find out more by emailing us at info@morecrofts.co.uk

Need assistance?
If you have any questions about your invoice, payment methods, or need assistance with making a payment, please don’t hesitate to contact your legal representative, or our credit control team on 0151 236 8871.

We are here to help you through every step of the process.

At Morecrofts we pride ourselves on transparency and clear communication. We will keep you informed of any costs incurred throughout your case and provide regular updates on your billing status.