SERVICE & FEES TRANSPARENCY

SERVICE STANDARDS AND FEES

Treating Clients Fairly Policy Statement

At Net Solicitors we are fully committed to providing the highest standards of advice and service to our clients by working in partnership with them.

Our clients are our most valuable asset and our aim is to ensure that we deliver a client-friendly, robust, reliable and cost-effective legal service to them.

The fee-earners at Net Solicitors have a strong reputation in the legal market and we strive to build long-standing, trusted relationships with all of our clients. We are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and our Treating Clients Fairly Policy is designed to ensure that we consistently deliver fair outcomes to our clients; in line with the SRA’s Code of Conduct.

We are committed to promoting equality and diversity in all our dealings with clients, third parties and employees.

OUR SERVICES

In delivering our commitment to Treat Clients Fairly, Net Solicitors makes every effort to ensure that our clients are totally satisfied with the legal service they receive and we endeavour to:

make any and all possible accommodations for clients with individual needs so as that they are not at any disadvantage
ensure that clients are able to read any documents sent to them that require their understanding. We facilitate this by proactively providing large type documents for our clients with visual impairment
communicate with our clients in a way that they will understand, by using ‘plain’ and not ‘legalese’ language
update our clients regularly on the progress of their matter, especially with updates as to costs, ensuring they understand any potential outlays or fees that may arise
provide our clients with a high quality legal service by offering highly experienced lawyers who are experts in their particular area of work
work with our clients in an empathetic and personable way, particularly when the matter is emotionally delicate, such as when working on a probate with relatives of the recently deceased
operate our Complaints Handling Procedure in an open and fair way, whereby clients are aware of their right to complain to either the firm or Legal Ombudsmen
ensure that a client or prospective client is treated in a non-discriminatory way that respects diversity
be flexible in our approach, explore options and be open to new ideas
inspire and empower our clients for whom we act
provide practical solutions explained in straightforward language and ‘jargon free’
Passionate about what we do and the clients that we serve
Work continually as to how we can enhance and improve our services
Ensure timely responses and communication at every level in the organisation
Understand the importance of the client’s matter to them
Respect clients’ wishes and beliefs.

OUR APPROACH

Our priority is to provide our clients with an excellent service underpinned by the quality of our advice. We are committed to ensuring that our clients want to use our services, stay with us and recommend us to their families, friends and colleagues.

Our service is shaped by listening to our clients’ needs and understanding what is important to them. We take responsibility for meeting the needs of our clients and always look for way to improve the quality of our service. We operate a rigorous file review system as part of our internal audit procedures as well as regularly conducting client surveys to ensure that we consistently enhance the service levels for the client.

We recognise that our employees are critical to delivering a positive client experience and ensuring our clients are treated fairly. All of our employees are fully trained in dealing with our clients and in treating them fairly.

PROBATE

We are required to publish prices for probate work in relation to uncontested cases, where all the assets are in the UK. This includes both testate and intestate and taxable and non-taxable estates. However, there are a range of variables which could affect the price quoted (e.g. there is a separate cost for preparing tax returns).

APPLYING FOR THE GRANT, COLLECTING AND DISTRIBUTING THE ASSETS (FIXED QUOTE)

Total costs estimated between £750-£1250 + VAT where this is a small estate with no inheritance tax to pay.

The exact costs depend on the individual circumstances of the matter. For example, if there is one beneficiary and no property, costs will be at the lower end of the range. If there are multiple beneficiaries, a property and multiple bank accounts, costs will be at the higher end.

We will handle the full process for you. This quote is for estates where:

There is a valid will
There is no more than one property
There are no more than 2-5 bank or building society accounts
There are no other intangible assets
There are 3-4 beneficiaries
There are no disputes between beneficiaries on division of assets. If disputes arise this is likely to lead to an increase in costs
There is no inheritance tax payable and the executors do not need to submit a full account to HMRC
There are no claims made against the estate

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

Disbursements (not included in the fee)

typical disbursements:

Identification check fee of £15 + VAT
Probate application fee of £273
10 office copies £1.50 each
£7 Swearing of the oath (per executor)
From £100 + VAT - Post in The London Gazette and Local Newspaper – Protects against unexpected claims from unknown creditors.

Potential additional costs

If there is no will or the estate consists of any share holdings (stocks and bonds) there are likely to be additional costs that could range significantly depending on the complexity of the estate and how it is to be dealt with. We can give you a more accurate quote once we have more information.
Dealing with the sale or transfer of any property in the estate is not included.

How long will this take?

On average, smaller estates that fall within this range of being dealt with within 3-6 months. Typically, obtaining the grant of probate takes 3 weeks. Collecting assets then follows, which can take between 6-12 weeks. Once this has been done, we can then distribute the assets. This normally takes 1-2 weeks.

LARGER ESTATES INVOLVING PAYMENT OF INHERITANCE TAX

These will be dealt with usually on an hourly basis. Our hourly rate is £300 + VAT. Estimates will be provided as soon as we have a clear idea of the nature and complexity of the task at hand following receipt of comprehensive instructions from our client.