Hopkins Solicitors Ltd T&Cs
For further information regarding anything contained within the Terms and Conditions below, please contact Hopkins Solicitors in Mansfield.
WE ADVISE YOU PRINT OUT AND KEEP A COPY OF OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR YOUR RECORDS
1. Responsibility for the Work
1.1 Hopkins Solicitors Ltd are a Limited Company registered in England under registration number 13089477.
1.2 The registered address is Eden Court, Crow Hill Drive, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire NG19 7AE. We are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The Authority’s Rules can be found at www.sra.org.uk.
1.3 All services are provided by staff employed in England and Wales.
1.4 A list of the directors of the Ltd are displayed at each of our trading addresses.
2. Supervision
2.1 <<Your Solicitor’s Name>> will be supervising this matter.
3. Service Standards
3.1 We will update you with progress on your matter regularly.
3.2 We will communicate with you in plain language.
3.3 We will explain to you the legal work required as your matter progresses.
3.4 We will update you on the likely time scales for each stage of this matter and any important changes in those estimates.
3.5 We will advise you of any changes in the law.
3.6 We will advise you of any circumstances and risks of which we are aware that could affect the outcome of your matter.
3.7 The legal work is prepared in accordance with the Laws of England and Wales and is not suitable for use in or for assets situated outside of England and Wales.
3.8 This service provides services based on the answers you provide, you are therefore responsible in ensuring that the answers and information you provide are accurate.
3.9 Following submission of the questionnaire and payment, your legal service will be provided usually in no longer than 3 working days. Should this service require any further information or be delayed you will be contacted by an employee of Hopkins Solicitors Ltd who will provide you with more information.
3.10 It will be your responsibility to check that the final service has been provided in accordance with the information that you have provided.
3.11 Hopkins Solicitors Ltd reserve the right to withdraw from the instruction in circumstances where it is appropriate for us to do so and in such cases a payment refund will be made to you.
3.12 By completing the information on the matter questionnaires, you are providing confirmation that you are the person who has requested the service.
3.13 By completing the information, you are confirming that you are not subject to coercion or undue influence and that the information you have provided is correct.
4. Service Issues
4.1 Our intention is at all times to offer a first class service, but we do operate a Complaints Procedure.
4.2 If you have a concern then please feel free to firstly raise it with your solicitor.
4.3 If you feel that they have not dealt with your concern satisfactorily or, alternatively, if you do not wish to discuss the concern with your solicitor you should contact Martyn Knox our Managing Partner. Mr Knox will acknowledge your concern within 7 days and endeavour to let you have a detailed response within 14 days. A copy of our Complaints Procedure is available on request.
4.4 Hopkins Solicitors Ltd is committed to high quality legal advice and client care. If you are not satisfied with our handling of your complaint you can ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider the complaint.
4.5 A complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must be made within six months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint. The Legal Ombudsman’s address is PO Box 6068, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ.
4.6 If you wish to complain about the bill you have a right to object to the bill and apply for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitors’ Act 1974.
4.7 In addition the firm is insured for professional indemnity insurance for £3,000,000 and details are available at any of our offices.
5. Charges
5.1 We can confirm that fees will be charged in accordance with the information provided on the website.
5.2 By agreeing to make payment, you are confirming that you have the authority to use the payment method by which payment will be made.
5.3 It is expected that following receipt of payment, you will be provided with your requested service within 3 working days.
5.4 As a privately paying client you do remain personally responsible for payment of our legal costs and expenses.
5.5 To confirm the payment has been made and received, we shall provide to you an invoice. This will confirm that the invoice has been paid in full.
6. Online Payment
6.1 Payment of Invoice or Payment on Account of our Fees
In order to make a payment towards, or in satisfaction of, an invoice that has been issued to you, you will need to provide your invoice number and invoice amount. Please ensure you have the invoice available when making the payment. We prefer payment to be made via bank transfer or by card in our offices. We can accept a maximum online payment of £500 and a maximum over the counter cash payment of £250. Payments can only be accepted in £GBP Sterling.
6.2 Payment of Third Party Fees
We do not and cannot accept payment towards third party fees such as search fees, counsel fees, shortfall payments, or mortgage deposits. If you do make a payment of this type and misuse our system in this way, your payment will be refunded which could take up to ten working days, and could result in significant delays to your case. If you have queries regarding this, please contact our Accounts team in Mansfield on 01623 468 468 for more information.
7. Money Laundering Regulations
7.1 These rules have been imposed on solicitors and other professionals by the government to combat money laundering. We are legally obliged to comply with them as follows :-
7.1.1 Proof of identity
In order to comply with the law on Money Laundering, we need to obtain evidence of your identity as soon as practicable. By proceeding with your payment you indicate that you have read, understood and agree the Terms and Conditions, you are authorising Hopkins Solicitors Ltd to carry out a remote ID check prior to the provision of any service. In the event that the remote ID check does not confirm your identity, further enquiries will be made of you and Hopkins Solicitors Ltd will reserve the right to refuse to proceed with the matter in most circumstances, for which no refund will be given.
7.1.2 Confidentiality
Solicitors are under a professional and legal obligation to keep the affairs of clients confidential. This obligation however, is subject to a statutory exception: recent legislation on Money Laundering and terrorist financing has placed solicitors under a legal duty in certain circumstances to disclose information to the National Crime Agency. Where a solicitor knows or suspects that a transaction on behalf of a client involves Money Laundering, the solicitor may be required to make a Money Laundering Disclosure. If this happens, we may not be able inform you that a disclosure has been made or of the reasons for it.
8. Conflict of Interest
8.1 There are circumstances where it would be improper professionally for us to act on your behalf.
8.2 For example, we could not act for you if we have already been instructed by the other party in your case. Where a conflict exists, we may not be able to act for you.
9. Confidentiality and Disclosure
9.1 As a firm we must keep the affairs of our clients and former clients confidential except where permitted by law or by the client themselves. This obligation overrides any duty of disclosure we may have to you.
9.2 We must disclose to you all of the information we are aware of which is important to your case. If we are aware of any information which will be relevant to your case but we are not allowed to disclose it to you due to our duty of confidentiality then we must stop acting for you in that specific matter.
9.3 External firms or organisations may conduct audit or quality checks on our practice. These external firms or organisations are required to maintain confidentiality in relation to your files.
10. Data Protection
10.1 In order to deal with your matter we will need to process information about you on our computer system and paper files.
10.2 The provisions of the Data Protection Act apply to this data as it is considered ‘personal data’ and some information you provide may be ‘sensitive personal information’, for example medical records.
10.3 The firm has a Data Protection Policy which can be provided on request. You have a right of access under data protection legislation to the personal data that we hold about you.
10.4 The processing of any medical information which we hold for you is considered to be an essential part of running your case.
10.5 We do however require your express consent to process this information in accordance with the terms of our Data Protection Policy.
10.6 By checking the box to say that you have understood the Terms and Conditions, you are consenting to us to process this data.
11. Equality and Diversity
11.1 Hopkins Solicitors Ltd is committed to promoting equality and diversity in all its dealings with clients, third parties and employees. Please contact us if you would like a copy of our equality and diversity policy.
12. Financial Insurance and Mediation
12.1 If during this transaction you need advice on investments, we may have to refer you to someone who is authorised by the Financial Services Authority, as we are not. However, as we are regulated by the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority, we may be able to provide certain limited investment services where these are closely linked to the legal work we are doing for you.
12.2 The firm is not authorised by the Financial Services Authority. However, we are included on the register maintained by the Financial Services 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 Services Authority website at www.fsa.gov.uk/register.
12.3 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 and the Legal Ombudsman is the independent complaints handling body of the Law Society.
13. Distance Selling Regulations
13.1 If you are instructing us as an individual and we have not met with you at our office the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations apply to this matter.
13.2 This means that you have the right to cancel your instructions to us within seven working days of instructing and paying us. You can cancel your instructions by contacting us by fax or by post to this office.
13.3 Once we have started work on your file, you may be charged if you then cancel your instructions. If you would like us to commence work on your file within seven days please confirm this to us when returning your instructions.
13.4 By completing payment you have acknowledged, accepted and understood the Terms and Conditions, you are acknowledging that Hopkins Solicitors Ltd will prepare your service within the 7 day cancellation period, which is usually available to you.
13.5 By completing payment you are accepting that work will commence upon receipt of the questionnaire and that you will continue to be charged if you then cancel your instructions.
14. Storage and Deletion of Files
14.1 We store files for 7 years and they are then likely to be destroyed. If you wish us to return any part of your file to you then please ask at the conclusion of your matter and we will do so. We will not normally charge for retrieving documents stored by us.
14.2 We may charge for time spent producing copies of documents or for reading, dealing with correspondence or any work necessary to comply with your instructions in relation to the retrieved papers.
15. General Disclaimers
15.1 We are unable to guarantee that the Hopkins Solicitors Ltd online services website will be compatible with your software, hardware or browser.
15.2 We cannot guarantee that your access will be free from interruption. Hopkins Solicitors Ltd accept no liability for loss of information or failure to purchase your services where information is lost as a result of interruption or incompatibility.
15.3 Where your documents or service confirmation is returned by email, you will take responsibility for the receipt of that email and Hopkins Solicitors Ltd will not accept liability for loss of documents or information or a failure to provide a legal service where instructions and/or payment has not been received.
15.4 In the event that you make amendments to your document once it has been received and before we have had an opportunity to check it or provide advice upon it then Hopkins Solicitors Ltd will not accept liability for any failure in that document and will not in any way be responsible for the consequences of the amendments that have been made or the document in its entirety.
15.5 No liability will be accepted whatsoever for any loss caused by non-compliance of these Terms and Conditions, or any loss arising from inaccuracies, emissions or false statements contained within your questionnaire.
16. Intellectual Property
16.1 Hopkins Solicitors Ltd is the owner of all intellectual property rights in the Hopkins Solicitors Ltd website.
16.2 The intellectual property rights include without limitation, copyright trademarks, any underlying software, the design graphics layout of the questionnaire or the website.
16.3 By using the Online Services, you are acknowledging that you do so by virtue of a temporary licence provided to you by Hopkins Solicitors Ltd which can be removed at any time. The licence can be removed for any reason including but without limitation the failure to abide by the Terms and Conditions or breach of the intellectual property rights in the content of Hopkins Solicitors Ltd