Terms of Business
The information contained in this website is not intended to provide you with legal or other professional advice. It is simply provided for general information. Where you would like legal advice, the website is intended to help and encourage you to take specialist legal advice (without delay) from a qualified lawyer about your specific circumstances.

1. Introduction
This document sets out the terms and conditions on which you instruct us to act as your solicitors and on which we accept your instructions.

2. Service Standards
2.1 We will update you regularly about your matter by way of various communications i.e., by way of telephone, in writing, or by electronic means such as email and will endeavor to use whichever form of communication you would prefer although this may not always be possible.
2.2 We will communicate with you in plain language.
2.3 We will explain to you, normally by telephone or in writing, unless we feel a face-to-face meeting would be preferable, the legal work required as your matter progresses.
2.4 We will update you on the cost of your matter regularly, the details of file review and update intervals will be provided with the client care letter.
2.5 We will update you on whether the likely outcomes still justify the likely costs and risks associated with your matter whenever there is a material change in circumstances.
2.6 We will update you on the likely timescales for each stage of this matter and any important changes in those estimates.
2.7 We will continue to review whether there are alternative methods by which your matter can be funded.

3. Responsibilities
3.1 Both you (the client) and us as your legal advisors have respective responsibilities and these include:
Our Responsibilities to you:
3.1.1 We will review your matter regularly.
3.1.2 We will advise you of any changes in the law.
3.1.3 We will advise you of any circumstances and risks of which we are aware or consider to be reasonably foreseeable that could affect the outcome of your matter.
3.2 Your responsibilities to us:
3.2.1 You will provide us with clear, timely and accurate instructions
3.2.2 You will disclose to us all information which is necessary and reasonably relevant to your matter and ensure that all information is, and will be, true and accurate and not misleading.
3.2.3 You will advise us as soon as possible if you become aware of anything which is inconsistent with any of the information previously disclosed or which renders any previous information untrue, inaccurate, or misleading.
3.2.4 You will provide all documentation required to complete the transaction in a timely manner.
3.2.5 You will safeguard any documents which are likely to be required for discovery.

4. Hours of Business
Our office hours are 9am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 2pm on Saturdays. However, any client meeting is subject pre-booked appointment. We appreciate that it is sometimes more convenient for a client to meet outside office hours and therefore, if requested, we will endeavor to accommodate an appointment out of normal hours.

5. Compulsory layer of Professional Indemnity Insurance
All legal practices are obliged to have in place professional indemnity insurance. Details of our insurance, which covers all work undertaken by the Practice in England and Wales, can be found at our office or you can contact us to request this information.

6. Avoidance of Discrimination and Promotion of Equality and Diversity
Hilltop Solicitors LTD is committed to promoting equality and diversity in all its dealing with clients, third parties and employees.

7. Data Protection
7.1 We use the information you provide primarily for the provision of legal services to you and for related purposes including:
7.1.1 Updating and enhancing client records
7.1.2 Analysis to help us manage our practice statutory returns.
7.1.3 Legal and regulatory compliance.
7.2 Our use of that information is subject to your instructions, the Data Protection Act 2018, and our duty of confidentiality. Please note that our work for you may require us to give information to third parties such as expert witnesses and other professional advisers. You have a right of access under data protection legislation to the personal data that we hold about you.
7.3 We may from time to time send you information which we think might be of interest to you. If you do not wish to receive that information, please notify our office in writing.

8. Storage of Documents
8.1 After completing the work, we will be entitled to keep all your papers and documents while there is still money owed to us for fees and expenses.
8.2 Once all fees and expenses have been settled, we will return any of your papers which you request be returned to you and we will then either retain and archive the remainder of your physical file, normally for six years, but in some cases it may be kept longer and then we have the right to destroy the file or alternatively we may archive your file into electronic format and immediately destroy the paper file. File notes made by us will always belong to us.
8.3 If we take papers or documents out of storage in relation to continuing or new instructions to act for you, we will not normally charge for such retrieval. However, we reserve the right to make an administration charge should we be required to do more than merely store and retrieve documents from storage, for example:
8.3.1 Spend time producing stored papers that are requested.
8.3.2 Reading, correspondence, or other work necessary to comply with your instructions in relation to retrieved papers.

9. Vetting of files and confidentiality
9.1 External firms or organizations may conduct audit or quality checks on our practice. These external firms or organizations are required to maintain confidentiality in relation to your files. As a result of this we are or may become subject to periodic checks by outside assessors. This could mean that your file is selected for checking, in which case we would need your consent for inspection to occur. All inspections are, of course, conducted in confidence. If you prefer to withhold consent, work on your file will not be affected in any way. Since very few of our clients do object to this, we propose to assume that we do have your consent unless you notify us to the contrary. We will also assume, unless you indicate otherwise, that consent on this occasion will extend to all future matters which we conduct on your behalf. Please contact us if we can explain this further or if you would like us to mark your file as not to be inspected.
9.2 Nothing in this agreement shall prohibit you or us from disclosing confidential information to professional advisers or Insurers or to a third party in the proper performance of your and our respective rights and obligations under these terms of business.
9.3 Nothing in this agreement shall prohibit us from using techniques, ideas and other know-how gained in the performance of your matter in other client work, provided that this does not result in a breach of our professional obligations to you.

10. Third Parties
None of the provisions of this Agreement are intended to, or will operate to confer any benefit, (pursuant to the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999) on a person who is not named as a party to this Agreement.

11. Limiting Liability
11.1 Our liability to you for a breach of your instructions is set out in our client care letters and is therefore, not set out in specific detail in these Terms of Business.
11.2 Should you decide to make a claim against us, such a claim must be issued against us in a court of law within a maximum period of three years following delivery of our final invoice on the matter concerned.
11.3 As Hilltop Solicitors is a Limited Liability Company, limitations on personal liability for the members, directors and employees of the Practice also apply.
11.4 Should you require any further information in respect of our limited liability please contact us.

12. Applicable Law
Any dispute or legal issue arising from our Terms of Business will be determined by the law of England and Wales and considered exclusively by the English and Welsh Courts.

13. Terminating the retainer
13.1 You are entitled to terminate this Agreement at any time. Upon termination, we are entitled to retain all your papers and documents, until such time as all money owing to us for our charges and expenses has been paid.
13.2 We may decide to stop acting for you, and where this occurs, we will give you reasonable notice where it is possible to do so. There may be any one of a number of reasons why we would wish to cease acting on your behalf, e.g., failure to pay an interim bill, failure to give us proper instructions, or you're giving us information which we may be obliged to report to another person, contrary to your interests.
13.3 If you or we terminate this Agreement, then you will be required to pay our charges and expenses incurred to the date of termination.
13.4 If we have agreed a fixed fee with you and the matter is not finished, the fees will be the lesser of the fixed fee (exclusive of VAT, disbursements, and expenses) and a sum calculated by reference to the hours spent.

14. Our Charges & Expenses:
14.1 Fixed Fees:
14.1.1 In most matters, we offer the option of a fixed fee arrangement, which can be agreed upon between us. The fixed fee will be estimated and based on the assumption that the transaction will proceed smoothly without any unforeseen additional work.
14.1.2 In the event of additional work or unforeseen complications arising, we will, whenever possible, provide you with written advance notice of the associated costs. Examples of such complications may include title difficulties in property matters, planning problems, lenders' requirements, insurance cover, and significant delays in the exchange of contracts. Additionally, if the matter does not reach completion, we reserve the right to charge abortive fees. These fees will be based on the amount of work completed and the time spent on the matter up to the billing date.
14.1.3 We will make an effort to reach an agreement on any additional charges with you. If agreement cannot be reached, we will cease further work and charge you on an hourly basis as outlined in the Termination section.
14.2 Non-Fixed Fee:
14.2.1 While most matters are typically handled on a fixed fee basis, there are instances where charges are based on the time we spend on your case, calculated in 6-minute units. This includes meetings, travel time, research, drafting, preparation, correspondence, as well as telephone calls made and received.
14.2.2 Our hourly charges encompass the cost of overheads and are periodically reviewed to reflect changes in salaries and other expenses. The specific charges applicable to your case will be communicated to you through our client care letters.
14.2.3 Our overhead costs include staff salaries, maintenance of our library, computer equipment, business rates, office maintenance, Law Society practicing fees, and professional indemnity insurance.
14.2.4 The hourly charge is reviewed annually in May to ensure its accuracy and fairness.

15. VAT, Expenses, and Disbursements:
15.1 Hilltop Solicitors Ltd is currently not registered for VAT. Therefore, no VAT is charged on our costs.
15.2 Please note that VAT may be payable on third-party costs, such as barrister fees or fees charged by other experts.
15.3 Expenses: Examples of expenses may include traveling expenses, photocopying charges, and bank transmission fees.
15.4 Disbursements: In the course of providing our legal services, there may be additional expenses incurred on your behalf, known as disbursements. Disbursements include costs such as court fees, expert witness fees, search fees, Companies House fees, HM Land Registry fees, Home Office fees including Health Surcharge, and document production costs. In certain cases, mediation or arbitration fees may also be applicable. It is important to note that these disbursements are separate from our professional fees and, as per our terms of business, you are responsible for paying these amounts in advance.

If you have any questions or require further clarification regarding VAT, expenses, or disbursements, please feel free to discuss this with us. We aim to provide transparency and ensure that you have a clear understanding of the financial aspects of your legal matter.

16. Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013
For some non-business instructions, you may have the right to withdraw without charge within 14 working days of the date of which you have asked us to act for you. However, if we start work with your consent within that period you lose that right to withdraw. If you seek to withdraw instructions, you should give notice by telephone or letter to the person responsible for your work. Further details will be sent to you in our client care letter including a notice of cancellation.

17. Payment of Fees
17.1 As we do not operate a separate client account, most matters are handled on a fixed fee basis, which is payable upfront upon acceptance of our terms of business with the client care letter. The client care letter will be enclosed with our invoice, which will detail the payment of our fees and disbursements as discussed in our meeting prior to sending the client care pack.
17.2 In certain cases and at our discretion, we may agree to periodic payments to help you manage the costs and expenses associated with your matter. However, if payment of our invoice becomes overdue for a period of more than 14 days, we reserve the right to decline to undertake any further work on your behalf until we are in receipt of sufficient cleared funds and cleared funds on account of any charges and expenses that are estimated to be incurred for the duration of the matter. This will relate to all types of work.
17.3 We will charge interest on any outstanding costs owed by you or your opponent and will retain the same from any monies received.
17.4 Payments are accepted by way of cash (only up to £500) and by bank transfer only.

18. Court Proceedings
It is important if you are involved in Court proceedings, that you both check with us and check yourself whether your costs may be covered by other persons e.g., an employer or Trade Union. It is also important to check whether you may be covered by pre- purchased insurance for our costs and the other side's costs.

19. Your costs
19.1: If you are a client of Hilltop Solicitors LTD, it's crucial for you to understand that you are responsible for paying our costs and expenses, regardless of the outcome of your legal action.
19.2: If your legal action is successful, you might be awarded costs by another party involved in the case. However, the amount you receive may be less than the costs owed to us. In other words, the court may not order the other party to cover all your charges and expenses. We have the right to claim interest on the costs awarded, and we will retain this interest to cover any outstanding or future invoices.
19.3: If the other party is receiving legal aid funded by public funds, it's unlikely that you will be able to recover any of your costs and expenses, even if you win the case.

20. Other Party's Costs and Expenses
20.1 In some circumstances, the Court may order you to pay or contribute towards the other party's legal costs and expenses, for example, In the unfortunate event that your legal action is unsuccessful, you may be liable to pay the costs and expenses of the opposing party. This means that not only will you be responsible for our costs and expenses, but you may also be required to cover the legal fees and expenses incurred by the other side. It's important to be aware that the amount of the other party's costs that you might have to pay could be substantial and could exceed the costs you owe to us. We will provide you with detailed information regarding the potential liability for the opposing party's costs so that you can make an informed decision about proceeding with your legal action.
20.2 Prior to proceeding with your legal action, we will have a discussion with you regarding the potential coverage of our costs and expenses, as well as the risk of you being required to pay the other side's costs. We will explore whether your existing insurance policies provide any coverage in these matters. If it is determined that your existing insurance does not cover these costs, we will advise you on the advisability of obtaining insurance specifically designed to meet the costs and expenses that you might be ordered to pay by the Court to the opposing party. It is important to consider such insurance to protect yourself financially in the event of an unfavorable outcome.

21. "No Win, No Fee" Agreement
In certain circumstances, we may offer you a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) or Damaged Based Agreement (DBA). If we agree to take on your case under a CFA or DBA, it will be necessary for you to enter into an additional form of agreement with us. Our client care letter will provide with full details.

22. Case Strategy
We will discuss with you how your case will be handled and agree a timetable, a reporting procedure and a fee structure or estimate. The case strategy will be reviewed and may be changed in consultation with you.

23. Conflict of Interest
We search our records to guard against conflicts of interest. We regret that where a conflict arises, we will be obliged to decline your instructions.

24. Conduct of Business Rules
24.1 We are committed to providing you at all times with a high quality, friendly and efficient service to meet your needs. All our Partners and staff are aware of the need to keep our clients regularly informed of progress and to provide you with appropriate information on the issue involved at all relevant times.
24.2 If at any time you believe our service to you could be improved, or if you are dissatisfied with any aspect of our service, please raise the matter in accordance with our complaints procedure which is referred to in our client care letters and therefore is not dealt with under these Terms of Business. If further information is required in respect of this matter, please contact us.

25. Client Due Diligence in relation to Money Laundering and terrorist financing
25.1 The law requires solicitors to get satisfactory evidence of the identity of their clients and sometimes people related to them. This is because solicitors who deal with money and property on behalf of their client can be used by criminals wanting to launder money.
25.2 To comply with the law, we need to get evidence of your identity as soon as possible. Our normal practice is to verify your identity by obtaining documentation from you, details of which we will either discuss with you when taking your initial instructions or include in our client care letters but we reserve the right to engage the services of a third party search company to ascertain your identity if we deem it necessary and in such cases we will advise you separately to this Agreement as to who we intend to approach and the fee(s) for such searches. These fees will appear on your bill under expenses.
25.3 If you cannot provide us with the specific identifications requested, we will need to discuss with you other ways to verify your identity.

26. Making a Disclosure
26.1 Solicitors are under a professional and legal obligation to keep the affairs of clients confidential. This obligation, however, is subject to a statutory exception. 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.
26.2 Where a solicitor knows or suspects that a transaction on behalf of a client involves money laundering, the solicitor is required to make a money laundering disclosure. If this happens, we will not be able to inform you that a disclosure has been made or of the reasons for it because the law prohibits "tipping off". Hilltop Solicitors LTD cannot be held responsible for any losses should a situation arise where we are inactive on a case due to an investigation.

27. Payments From Clients
27.1 Our Practice's policy is to only accept cash up to £500 any payment over £500 payment must be made via bank transfer.
27.2 If you try to avoid this policy by depositing cash directly with our bank, we may decide to charge you for any additional checks we decide are necessary to prove the source of the funds.
27.3 Where we have to pay money to you, it will be paid by cheque or bank transfer or where the sum is £10.00 or less, we reserve the right to forward the sum to you by way of postage stamps.
27.4 No sum will be paid in cash or to a third party unless there are exceptional circumstances and where it is authorised by a Director / Partner.

28. No Client Account Maintainted
28.1. We want to make it clear that Hilltop Solicitors does not operate a client account. This means that we neither hold nor handle any client money, nor do we maintain a separate account for client funds. Instead, we have implemented robust financial procedures to manage our finances responsibly and securely.
28.2. In most cases, we work on a fixed fee basis, and we provide comprehensive information about our fees and any disbursements upfront. An invoice detailing the agreed fee is enclosed with our Terms of Business and Client Care Letter. Please note that fees are payable upon acceptance of our terms, as outlined in the letter.
28.3. Under Rule 2.2 of the Solicitors Account Rules, we are authorized to hold money for disbursements related to costs or expenses incurred by us on behalf of our clients, for which the client is liable. However, unless there is a specific reason that necessitates maintaining a client account, we are not obliged to do so.
28.4. We want to assure our clients that our financial procedures are diligently designed to uphold responsible practices. Furthermore, our firm maintains a robust credit balance in its business account to ensure prompt refunds in situations where a client decides to withdraw their application or appeal, or changes their mind, in accordance with our refund policy.
28.5. We understand that our policy regarding client money may raise concerns for some clients, and we are here to address any questions or apprehensions you may have. Please feel free to reach out to us if you require additional information or clarification. It is important that you are fully satisfied and have all your queries resolved before signing and returning our terms of service or making any payment to our business account.

29. Financial Conduct Authority
29.1 We are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. 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.
29.2 However, we may provide certain limited advice services where these are closely linked to the legal work, we are doing for you. Such work is regulated by the Law Society of England and Wales.

30. Future Instructions
30.1 Unless otherwise agreed in writing, this Agreement shall apply to all further instructions given by you to us, save and except that the rates applicable will be those applying at the date of further instructions, and subject to the annual review.
30.2 Please keep this document for future reference.

31. Contact Details:
Hilltop Solicitors Ltd
Sophia House
28 Cathedral Road
Cardiff
CF11 9LJ
Tel: 02920660155
Email: info@hilltopsolicitors.co.uk
Website: www.hilltopsolicitors.co.uk