Beverley Ogden and Company
tel: 01273 474159
email: beverley@beverleyogden.co.uk

I am pleased that you have instructed my firm to act for you and I am writing to set out the terms of our engagement in respect of the work that you have asked Beverley Ogden and Company to undertake.

This agreement is a legally binding contract between you and us. Before you sign and return it to us, please read it carefully.

Scope of the work

Your sale/purchase or remortgage will be carried out in accordance with accepted conveyancing practice and in accordance with the estimate enclosed or already provided. Please read the notes and conditions attached to the estimate.

You are the client in this matter and I am happy to accept instructions from both or either of you.

The usual timescale for the completion of a sale/purchase is 6 to 8 weeks from the start of the case.

Personnel

The Solicitor supervising and conducting this case will be Beverley Ogden who will be reporting to you from time to time throughout the transaction.

Charges

The fees you will be charged are in accordance with the written quotation or letter of estimate. Additional fees may be incurred as a result of any material change in the work.

On property sales and purchases the fees are usually invoiced on completion of the transactions and are deducted from the sale proceeds. Occasionally interim invoices will be rendered where a case exceeds three months.

Our fees are payable prior to completion, except where interim accounts have been delivered where the account is payable within 30 days of the invoice being issued or on completion whichever is the earlier. In respect of interim accounts if payment is not made within 30 days then we charge interest from the date of our bill (at the rate set out in the solicitors remuneration order) and we may stop working on your matter. If we hold any money for you (for whatever reason) we reserve the right to use it to pay what you owe us.

Service delivery

Beverley Ogden is responsible for ensuring that this matter is handled satisfactorily on your behalf. If you have any concerns at any time including problems with the service provided, please contact her.

E Mail

If we communicate by e-mail you accept that e-mail is not a secure form of communication and the contents of e-mail could be intercepted and read by a third party.

Abortive Transactions

If this firm does not complete the work, we will charge you £110.00 per hour for each hour of work. We will charge for writing letters, and for making and taking telephone calls in units of 1/10th of an hour. Our charges for considering letters received will be in units of 1/20th of an hour. Our total charge will not exceed the estimated fixed fee. Our bill will also include expenses.
The agreement is a non-contentious business agreement under Section 57 of the Solicitors Act 1974. If you sign it, you will not be able to ask the Law Society to check the bill. You will have the right to get our bill reviewed by a court if you claim that the agreement as a whole is unfair or unreasonable.
If the (sale/purchase) is not completed and you disagree with the bill but do not object to the agreement as a whole, you may ask a court to assess the reasonableness of the time spent, but not the hourly rates.

Indemnity Insurance

Occasionally title investigation leads to a need for legal indemnity insurance; for example; if there are breaches of restrictive covenants, no formal rights of way, or defects in a lease. Your lender may require you take out such insurance as a condition of granting the mortgage. The premium for such insurance is not included in any estimate of costs and expenses.

Mortgage Advance Funds — Purchases

Unless your lender forwards the mortgage advance by bank transfer (BACS) payment the advance will be requested by a (CHAPS) payment to arrive the on the working day preceding completion. This may incur you in an extra charge by the lender (usually not more than £30.00 and additional interest on the mortgage. Balanced against the potential interest and cost penalty imposed for late completion we feel this is a worthwhile expense.

Leaseholds

If you are obtaining a mortgage, your lender may require us to carry out a Company Search against any company that either owns the freehold title of the building in which you to purchase a flat or is involved in the management of the building. This will lead to an additional expense of approximately £30.00 plus Vat.

Third Party Advice

The estimate provided does not include the cost of advice to a third party e.g.: a potential occupant of the property. This is charged for separately either by us or by an independent solicitor asked to provide advice to such third party.

If we are instructed to act for your lender as well you authorise us to disclose such information as may be required by the lender in their mortgage offer/instructions.

We will begin work when you tell us that you accept our terms by signing and returning to us the attached duplicate of the agreement (and by letting us have £ on account of expenses. We will then pay expenses as they become due.)

SIGNED SELLER(S)

DATE