Our fees

At Owen White & Catlin, we believe in transparency and clarity in all aspects of our service, especially our fees. We aim to provide you with detailed and upfront fee information so that you can plan your finances accordingly.

We provide detailed fee information for the following services:

• Buying & Selling Property and Remortgages
• Debt Recovery Costs (Business to Business)
• Employment – Tribunal Claims
• Motoring Offences
• Probate

Buying & Selling Property and Remortgages

We are pleased to offer a fixed-fee quote that covers all the work required to progress your transaction to a successful conclusion. This means you won't face any unexpected costs or hidden surprises along the way. Should fees arise during the transaction that could not be contemplated at the outset, rest assured that we will inform you immediately.

Our fee structure is designed to cover to a variety of property transactions, including but not limited to purchases, sales, and remortgages.

Additional charges can apply for specific circumstances, such as New Builds, Leasehold properties, help-to-buy loans, help-to-buy ISAs, Declarations of Trust, bespoke indemnity insurance, and Company House matters.

Please note that other factors such as defects in title or lease, second mortgages, separate representation by another firm, unregistered property title, issues revealed in searches, consent requirements, lease extensions, and the use of bespoke contracts may influence the final fee.

Any additional costs involved in resolving identified issues will always be discussed with you when these issues arise and will be confirmed before being incurred.

Disbursements

Disbursements are payments to third parties during a transaction. They include the costs of searches, Land Registry fees, Stamp Duty Land Tax or Land Transaction Tax (properties in Wales), management pack fees, and Land Registry documents. Examples of particular transactions can be found below.

Disbursements on a sale

• Land Registry documents - £15 plus VAT
• Management Pack on a leasehold sale or a freehold development with managed areas – the managing agent or freeholder will confirm the fee

Disbursements on a purchase

• Search pack - £650 plus VAT, but the fee depends on the location of the property and the type of searches your lender requires we obtain
• Land Registry Registration Fee – The Land Registry charges a scale fee based on the property's purchase price and whether the property is a new build. The fees range from £20 to £1,105
• Stamp Duty Land Tax – Tax payable to HMRC if the property is in England and based on the purchase price and other factors
• Land Transaction Tax – Tax payable to the WRA in relation to property in Wales and based on the purchase price and other factors
• Notice of transfer and mortgage fees – Payable to a landlord or managing agent on a leasehold property or managed freehold development. The fees can be confirmed on receipt of the management pack from the seller
• Deed of Covenant and compliance fees - Payable to a landlord or managing agent on a leasehold property or managed freehold development. The fees can be confirmed on receipt of the management pack from the seller

Disbursements on a remortgage

• Search pack: £650 plus VAT, but the fee depends on the location of the property and the type of searches your lender requires we obtain. Many lenders accept no-search insurance instead of searches, and the insurance can cost in the region of £20 to £100 plus VAT, depending on the amount being borrowed.
• Land Registry documents - £15 plus VAT.
• Land Registry Fee – A scale fee payable to the Land Registry on registration of the mortgage and between £20 and £140.
• Notice of Mortgage – Payable to a landlord or managing agent and confirmed during the course of a transaction.

Please contact a member of our property team to discuss a transaction so that we may provide you with a detailed quote.

Debt Recovery Costs (Business to Business)

Court Claims

These costs apply where your claim is in relation to an unpaid invoice that is not disputed and enforcement action is not needed. If the other party disputes your claim at any point, we will discuss any further work required and provide you with revised advice about costs if necessary. The costs could be based on a fixed fee (e.g., if a one-off letter is required) or an hourly rate if more extensive work is needed.

Anyone wishing to proceed with a claim should note that:

• The VAT element of our fee cannot be reclaimed from your debtor.
• Interests and compensation may take the debt into a higher banding with a higher cost.
• The costs quoted above do not apply to matters where enforcement action, such as the bailiff, is needed to collect debt.
• The above costs are, of course, approximate and subject to variation depending on several factors, including the complexity of the matter, the amount of documentation involved, and the number of parties.

Our fee includes:

• Taking your instructions and reviewing documentation.
• Undertaking appropriate searches.
• Sending a letter before action.
• Receiving payment and sending it to you, or drafting and issuing a claim if the debt is not paid.
• Where no Acknowledgement of Service or Defence is received, applying to the court to enter Judgement in default.
• When Judgement in default is received, write to the other side to request payment.
• If payment is not received within 14 days, we will provide you with advice on the next steps and likely costs.

We would expect to be able to send out a pre-action letter of claim within seven days of receiving instructions and all relevant documentation from you and would usually demand payment within seven days. If payment were not made, then we would expect to issue a claim.

For further information, please contact Richard Land.

Employment - Tribunal Claims

The costs of an Employment Tribunal case depend on its complexity, which is determined by many factors, including the factual and legal issues, the number of claims, the amount of documentation, the number of witnesses for both parties, and the amount of compensation claimed.

Employment Tribunal cases will typically take 6-12 months from start to finish if they proceed all the way to final hearing although more often than not the parties will reach a settlement drawing the matter to an earlier conclusion. In our experience most Employment Tribunal matters are listed for hearings lasting between 1 -3 days. Occasionally, a case involving a great number of documents and many witnesses will last 4-5 days. Very rarely will a hearing be listed for 6 days or longer.

A claim for unfair and/or wrongful dismissal of low complexity listed for a 1-day hearing may cost in the region of £2,000 - £4,000 plus VAT as well as barrister’s fees of £1,000 - £2,000 plus VAT.

A case of medium complexity with a 3-day hearing is likely to cost from £9,000 - £15,000 plus VAT with barrister’s fees of £6,000 - £12,000 plus VAT.

A very complex case requiring a hearing of 7 days will cost at least £20,000 plus VAT and barrister’s fees are also likely to be upwards of £20,000 plus VAT.

Our costs cover all stages of the case including taking your instructions and reviewing documents, entering into ACAS Early Conciliation, preparing the ET1 Claim /ET3 Defence, drafting a Schedule of Loss, attending a Preliminary Hearing Case Management Discussion, Disclosure, Bundle of Documents, Witness Statements, List of Issues and instructing Counsel for a Final Hearing.

For further information, please contact Jeremy Parkinson.

Motoring Offences

Drink Driving Offence, guilty plea – fixed fee range £600 - £1500 plus VAT.

The fee range depends upon the location of the Court building where the hearing is taking place.

Fee includes:

• 1 Hour Attendance/Preparation.
• Considering Evidence.
• Taking Your Instructions.
• Providing Advice on likely Sentence.
• Attendance and Representation at a Single Hearing at the Magistrates Court.

(Should there be further attendance for sentencing, there will be an additional fee at half the cost of the original fee quoted plus VAT).

The fee does not include:

• Instruction of any Expert Witness.
• Taking Statements from any Witnesses.
• Advice and Assistance in relation to a Special Reasons Hearing.
• Advice and Assistance in relation to any Appeal.

The key stages of your matter are based on a presumption that you will enter a guilty plea at your first date of hearing.

• Firstly, meet with your Solicitor to provide instructions on what happened.
• We will consider Initial Disclosure and any Evidence and provide advice.
• We will explain the Court procedure to you so you know what to expect on the day of your hearing and the sentencing options available to the Court.
• We will conduct any further preparatory works and obtain further instructions from you if necessary and answer any follow up queries you have.
• We cannot provide a time scale of when your hearing will take place as this depends on the Court listing for that day.
• We will attend the Court on the day and meet with you before going before the Court. We anticipate being at Court for at least half a day.
• We will discuss the outcome with you. If advice is required on Appeal, this will carry an additional cost.

Not Guilty Fees for all Motoring Matters including Drink Drive – Starting Point £1000 up to £3500 plus VAT.

(The range of fees is dependent upon court location and complexity).

NB – Drink Driving Matters are more complex and, therefore, will fall into the upper range of the fee.

Fee includes:

• 3 Hours Attendance and Preparation.
• Considering Evidence.
• Taking your Instructions.
• Providing Advice on likely Sentence.
• Instruction of any Expert Witness (for which there will be additional costs dependent upon quote from the Expert).
• Taking statements from any Witnesses.
• Advice and Assistance in relation to a Special Reasons Hearing.
• Advice and Assistance in relation to any Appeal.
• Attendance and Representation at the first hearing, a maximum of three other hearings including a Trial itself.
• Conduct of Trial on the day by in house Solicitor or instructed Counsel.

For further information, please contact Jeremy Huntingford.

Probate

Our Probate Department has a team of paralegals, trainees, solicitors, associates, senior associates, consultants and partners.  Each paralegal, trainee or solicitor is supervised by a partner with at least 10 years’ experience.  Please see the individual biography of the paralegal, trainee, solicitor or partner for their hourly rates, experience and who is supervising them.

In a non-taxable Estate where the value does not exceed £850,000, the cost of obtaining the Grant of Probate and administering the Estate where we are not named as Executors and there is a Will is, on average, between £3,000 and £4,000 plus VAT.

However, the following will increase these costs:

• Multiple assets.
• A large share portfolio.
• Numerous assets to encash or transfer.
• Numerous legacies or multiple beneficiaries.
• An intestacy (where there is no Will or a partially valid Will).

Where the Estate is taxable and we are not named as Executors and there is a Will; on average the cost to obtain the Probate and administer the Estate is as follows:

• An Estate worth up to £850,000 - £4,000 to £6,000 plus VAT.
• An Estate worth £850,000 to £1,000,000 - £6,000 to £10,000 plus VAT.
• An Estate of £1,000,000 to £3,000,000 - £10,000 to £15,000 plus VAT.
• An Estate worth £3,000,000+ - £20,000+.

The factors that will increase costs include:

• Where there is a large share portfolio.
• Numerous assets to encash or transfer.
• Numerous legacies.
• If there is an intestacy (where there is no Will or a partially valid Will)
• The complexity of the Will or the Estate assets.
• Whether there is a need to set up trusts.
• Whether Deeds of Variation need to be prepared.

None of the above quotes include advice or carrying out work in relation to Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax.  The above fee structure does not include work carried out in a contested Estate or whether there are assets abroad.

The disbursements for all Probate matters will include the following:

• Office Copy Entries for any property - £3 plus VAT.
• Probate Court fee from £300
• Bankruptcy searches against each beneficiary each time that a payment is made at the cost of £2 per search.
• Will search fee of £114.
• Statutory advert fee which costs between £200 to £300.
• AMC searches which cost between £10 - £20

Where the estate is taxable, there is also Inheritance Tax payable.

From the information provided by you, our service to you includes the following:

• Ascertaining the assets and values of those assets as at the date of death.
• Preparing Inheritance Tax forms.
• Obtaining the Grant of Probate.
• Encashing or transferring assets.
• Obtaining clearance from the Inheritance Tax Office.
• Preparing Estate Accounts.
• Distributing the Estate.

Timescales

For a non-taxable estate with a small number of assets:

• It can take on average 4-6 months to submit the application for the grant.
• 2-3 months to encash the assets unless there is a sale of a property.
• The estate can be finalised within 9-12 months.

For a taxable estate:

• It can take on average 4-6 months to submit the application for the grant.
• 2-3 months to encash the assets unless there is a sale of a property.
• Where there is a property it can take months to sell it.
• The values need to be agreed with the Inheritance Tax office – the tax office can take up to a year from submitting the forms to issue clearance.
• The estate can be finalised within 18 months plus.

As each estate is unique, please contact us for a bespoke quote.

For further information, please contact Deepjeet Walia.

Fee Transparency - Contact Us

For more information about our fees or any other questions relating to our fee structure please feel free to get in touch.

Contact us using our online enquiry form, or call us directly on one of our office numbers – our friendly staff are ready to help.