Click here to get an estimated quote for the sale of a freehold home.
About
Our Pricing
Fees, Pricing and Transparency.
Our approach is to always seek to agree a fee with you at the commencement of our work with you. We will look to agree that fee as part of our digital engagement process with you. If for any reason we can not agree a fee with you for the solution that we are providing, we will default to charging you on an hourly basis, reflecting the nature and complexity of the matter but also taking into account our efficiency and skill in delivering the solution you need. We are happy to agree a prior limit on our charges and expenses but we won’t carry on any further work beyond that limit without your express authorisation to incur additional costs.
As part of our digital onboarding process you will receive a fee estimate for the solution to be provided for your needs. Our onboarding process is delivered through LEGL and the cost of this process (£60.50 plus VAT if you are an individual in the UK, £75.50 plus VAT for individual international clients, £170.50 plus VAT if you are a corporate, partnership or other organisation in the UK and £185.50 plus VAT for international commercial clients) will be paid through LEGL within the onboarding process as a disbursement.
We may also incur fees with third parties such as search agencies, experts and occasionally barristers and will expect you to fund these disbursements prior to them being incurred. There may also be additional charges for bulk photocopying, travel and courier fees. We will notify you of these fees wherever possible prior to our incurring them. We also charge an administration fee of £40 + VAT for each transfer of funds made by us through our bank. Any charges from your own bank or a bank of a transferee will be payable by you or by the transferee. Where applicable, VAT will be charge at the prevailing rate on our costs.
We hold client money at Natwest Bank plc, but for such purposes we may use any UK clearing bank or where we expressly agree with you to do so, any other bank. This is ordinarily held in a general client account, although in some cases client money is placed in a specified designated client account.
We will not, except to the extent that we are able to recover monies from the bank, be obliged to pay monies to you or to your order and we do not accept any liability to you for loss of money arising from the failure of that bank. Where funds held in a general client account are recovered (including under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme) following a failure of the bank, the funds recovered will be divided pro rata amongst the persons entitled to the sums held on that account prior to the bank’s failure. Where appropriate, any claim for recourse should be directed to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Where funds are held in escrow or in a client account jointly with third parties the provisions of paragraph 10.1 of our terms and conditions of trading shall apply except to the extent expressly varied in writing signed by a Director of Arch Law Limited.
The SRA accounts rules require us to account to you for interest where it is fair and reasonable to do so in the circumstances. Our interest policy shall be kept under review and may change as and when the Bank of England base rate increases or decreases. Interest rates payable on client accounts are currently 0.1% and the Bank of England base rate is higher. Therefore, the rate of interest available currently on client accounts is lower than rates of interest that can be obtained on other bank or building society accounts.
For cleared funds paid into client account Arch Law Limited will account for interest unless one of the following applies:
- the amount of interest calculated on the cleared balance is £20 or less;
- the client money was held in cleared funds for a period of five working days or less;
We will usually account for interest to you at the end of your matter.
Online payments.
Our secure, online payment facility allows you to make a payment on account or pay an invoice through our preferred partner Legl
SRA TRANSPARENCY RULES
The Solicitors Regulatory Authority requires us to publish more specific price information about the costs associated with certain types of work, please see below:
The Solicitors Regulatory Authority requires us to publish more specific price information about the costs associated with certain types of work, please see below:
Click here to get an estimated quote for the purchase of a freehold home.
Click here for our remortgage service costs.
Our usual hourly rate applies to unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal claims. . Our current charge rates range from £275 for a newly/recently qualified solicitor referred to as an arch.direct member, to £450 for a senior solicitor or consultant referred to as an arch.portfolio member. We will discuss with you an estimate of the costs for each stage of the work and provide you with a budget. In addition we will separately list all third party expenses such as barristers fees, court fees etc.
We will explain what costs may be recoverable from, or payable by the other party. Our fees and most third party expenses also attract VAT at 20%.
Employment – unfair and wrongful dismissal claims
There are 4 stages
1. Pre commencement of Employment Tribunal proceedings
2. Commencement of Employment Tribunal proceedings
3. Preliminary Hearing
4. Main Hearing
We are usually able to quote a fixed fee for the initial correspondence in employment disputes and for conciliation prior to a claim being issued – the pre-commencement stage. The fee range is usually £1000-£2500, after that our hourly rates apply. Once we know the issues in the case we will provide you with an estimate for the likely costs at each stage, together with the likely third party expenses and VAT.
Our fees for bringing and defending claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal (stages 2-4) are likely to be in the range of
| Type of case | Estimate of our Fees |
|---|---|
| Simple case | £8,000- £14,000 plus VAT and expenses |
| Medium complexity | £14,000-£25000 plus VAT and expenses |
| High Complexity | In excess of £25,000 plus VAT and expenses |
THIRD PARTY COSTS
These are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties that we incur in order to progress the matter such as Counsel fees and court fees. Third party costs are not included in our fee quote above. Counsel will charge an hourly rate for advice leading up to the Hearing. Counsel’s rates range from £200 to £650 per hour depending on their experience. Junior Counsel’s fees for preparing for the Tribunal Hearing are likely to be between £7,500 and £20,000 depending on the length and complexity of the case and after the first day they charge an additional daily rate of £1500 to £6000 depending on their experience. When Counsel is used, you are required to make a payment on account. Senior Counsel and Kings Counsel are likely to charge substantially more than Junior Counsel.
Occasionally, a case may require expert evidence or the appointment of an expert in order to provide evidence or an independent consultant to determine a grievance or disciplinary matter. Typically, an expert or consultant will charge between £1,000 and £2000 depending on the level of their involvement and the complexity of the case. If the involvement of an expert or consultant is necessary, we will notify you of the additional expense as soon as reasonably practicable.
You don’t have to pay any fees to make an Employment Tribunal claim. If you lose an employment tribunal claim, there’s a small chance you may have to pay or contribute towards your employee’s costs of going to court.
Given how variable the size and complexity of estates can be, we are unable to provide fixed fee costings at the outset of a matter. In most cases at the outset of the matter we will look to provide a range within which the fee is likely to be, based upon our standard member charge out rate of £400 plus vat per hour. Factors that we will take into account will include the number of beneficiaries, whether any intentions have been properly documented, the tax position of the estate, whether there are any claims against the estate and the number and type of assets involved together with any accompanying liabilities. Certain disbursements such as probate application fees (circa £155), Oath Fees (£5) and Trustee Act 1925 Notice fees (circa £100) may also apply. Additional charges will also be made for dealing with any property related matters in accordance with our fee schedule above.
Our charges for debt recovery will tend to be on an agreed hourly rate with our clients ranging from £100 per hour plus vat at 20% to £500 per hour plus vat at 20% dependant upon the complexity of the matter. Your arch.portfolio member may agree a cap or fixed rate with you. In addition to the hourly charge, capped or fixed rate, there will be additional disbursements including court issue fees which will generally be up to 5% of the value of the claim. There is also likely to be a hearing fee of up to £1,090. A contested application fee may be imposed at £255 Counsel’s fees and expert’s fees may be charged in addition but these fees will be agreed with you in advance.