We embrace the new rules relating to transparency and are happy to provide the following information for your guidance

Contacting Us & Our Pricing

You can contact us via the webform at the top of this page or at our address which is Bridgewater Legal Limited, 5 Bleasefell Chase, Worsley, Manchester, M28 1UZ if you wish to obtain a quotation for legal services. However, for convenience and transparency, we tend to use fixed fees rather than an hourly rate for most services. We would only tend to use an hourly rate model where you have not agreed a fixed fee with us despite us trying to agree that fee with you but work then needs to be done (e.g. it is required by the court and/or pursuant to our code of conduct and/or duty to you) and our agreement with you permits us to undertake the work at an hourly rate.

The work carried out pursuant to this website focuses on landlord and tenant related issues. In terms of timescales, we will prioritise workload based on deadlines and need. So one of the most common matters on which we are instructed is to attend a hearing (as you might expect for a barrister!). The timing and preparation needed for a hearing will determine both the fee and the time needed to prepare. However, usually, we can accommodate hearings at quite late notice. In terms of written work (drafting and advice) we have a turnaround of about 1 week but this may change depending on the kind of case. In some cases, we may be dependent upon you to provide information or other pre-requisites (such as a cheque from you for a court fee) in order to complete the work. In other cases, timescales may be determined by the steps that need to be taken in a case. So, for instance, in a property case we may need to serve some kind of notice on a third party before a claim can be started. Alternatively, a court may give directions which will then set the timescales to which we would need to comply. In such cases, we can only help you to comply with those time limits if we have all of the information and documentation that we have requested from you. The timescales of a motoring offence case will be determined by when the hearing(s) are listed by the court – that will accordingly be determined by the courts.

The timescales of your eviction matter will be determined by:
(a) Any preliminary steps that need to be taken such as sending a notice or serving a pre-action protocol letter - this stage could take anywhere between 2 weeks and 2-3 months depending upon the type of notice (some take 2 weeks and some 2 months or quarter of a year to expire);
(b) Whether the claim is defended at any stage by the tenant;
(c) Whether the claim ‘runs its full course’ at court (i.e. beyond a first/initial hearing).
(d) Whether, once you have judgment, you need to instruct bailiffs to gain possession - this usually takes 4-6 weeks from the date of possession.

In the case of (c), such a claim could last up to or beyond 18 months/2 years. In the case of (b), the claim could be completed within months. Any additional time spent on (a) and (d) would need to be added to either (b) or (c) (whichever is the case). It follows that all civil cases basically have a preliminary stage before litigation is started (even if this is simply reviewing the case and/or writing letters to the other side) and the litigation stage, with this latter stage either being ‘short’ or ‘long’ depending on how much of a realistic ‘fight’ the other side(s) present.

Any claim involving rent arrears will always involve a first hearing date 6-8 weeks after the claim is started. In section 21 cases, there is often no hearing but it can often take up to a 6 weeks to 2 months for the Judge to look at the case and make his or her judgment.

Public Access

We provide services directly to the public, including companies and other entities and unincorporated associations. We are licensed to conduct litigation so we can run your claim from beginning to end in most cases. In doing so, we are utilising rights that derived from the arrival of ‘direct access’, namely where a barrister could be instructed other than through a solicitor. In Guidance on public access for members of the public can be found here but you can also contact us for further information in this regard.

Pricing model/indications of price

We are currently not VAT registered and so no VAT is to be added to our fees. Our fees are, as stated above, largely fixed and whilst not on an hourly rate, will obviously reflect the amount of work involved. The following indicative fees apply:
* Full draft and service of property related notice: usually £279 including a full review. Any additional notices invoiced at the same time, are charged at £90 per such additional notice
* In some cases, a full Barrister Advice on the merits of claim is required: between £370 and £1000, depending on the amount of time involved. We will indicate if this stage is necessary and may further state that we are only willing to proceed in the event that such Advice is provided. Such insistence will be to protect your interests as the client.
* Carry out remedial work pursuant to a review, between £250 and £500 depending on the amount of work required;
* Commence possession proceedings (excluding hearing and court fee of £355 which is payable in addition): £497
* Submit request for warrant of possession at court: £247 (plus court fee of £121)
* Attendance at Initial Possession Hearing or Interim Hearing: between £300 and £750, depending on the amount of time involved in preparation and the amount of time the hearing is listed for. However, this may be exceeded depending on the type of case
* Attendance at Final Trial: between £1500 and £3000, depending on the amount of time involved. However, this may be exceeded depending on the type of case. Please note that it is unusual for any possession claim to reach this stage.

However, these are liable to vary depending on the individual circumstances. They are indicative only. Additional costs not detailed above might include (but not be limited to) those such as an unforeseen adjournment, the court requesting further paperwork, a Defendant submitting a late defence which then prompts the court to provide directions and/or an adjournment and/or give full directions for a later trial. Further, in certain cases, Counsel's Advice or Option will be required. The fee for this will vary but would tend to be in the region of £600 to £1000;

The overall costs of bringing or defending a claim can vary markedly depending on the ‘path’ it happens to take. A minimum cost to start any kind of claim (including possession), including initial instructions, will be as above plus the relevant court fees but would be markedly higher if the tenant defends the claim and the court considers that there is a viable defence. Do not be alarmed though – just call us to discuss your case and we will be as realistic as we can be. Court fees are not payable to nor handled by us, although we can have carriage of a cheque made payable to HMCTS on your behalf. In addition, it must be bourne in mind that if you lose a case then you may be liable to pay the costs of the winning party in addition to your own.

Complaints:

If you ever have any concerns about the service you are receiving from our entity or any person within it the best way to resolve it early is to send an email to info@landlorddoctors.co.uk and we will get back to you within 48 hours with some assistance and, hopefully, a resolution.

Initially we hope that any concerns raised can be dealt with directly by us through open and direct communication.

Although we hope our clients never have cause to use it, we also have a very simple and thorough complaints procedure in place to ensure that any concerns get dealt with quickly, proportionately and appropriately. The procedure is as follows:

1. If a quick email won’t help you resolve your concerns then it is likely that you have what we call “a substantive complaint”. Any substantive complaint received by the entity should be directed to the Managing Director together with all supporting documentation.

2. A substantive complaint is one which is about a matter which covers negligence, incompetence or a significant shortfall in the level of service our clients are entitled to expect. It may be in writing, by email, by fax or by telephone.

The address for complaints is:
Bridgewater Legal Limited
5 Bleasefell Chase
Worsley
Manchester
M28 1UZ

Or they can be emailed to the managing director at info@landlorddoctors.co.uk.

3. All complaints will be acknowledged, preferably in writing, within 72 hours of receipt.

4. You will also be advised when a full reply will follow, which should usually be within 28 days.

5. In order to investigate complaints, this entity may disclose your personal data to relevant third parties, including witnesses and your instructing solicitors and employees of your instructing solicitors or any unregulated or regulated intermediary. Where you object to any data being disclosed to any particular person or class of person as part of the complaints investigation you are asked to identify that person at the very beginning of this process.

6. In resolving each complaint, the matter will be reviewed to assess the need for:-

* Appropriate redress: as a goodwill measure for the client
* Remedial Action: where the problem is not completely beyond correcting
* Improvement Action: to look at the root cause of the problem and implement changes to prevent the problem from recurring.

7. So as to assist in our ability to investigate any complaint, we ask that complaints be made within 12 months of the incident from which the complaint arises. This is necessary because barristers do not necessarily retain the papers on a case, returning them to the instructing solicitor on completion of the case. Investigating complaints without the relevant files is a difficult (and can be an impossible) process. If a complaint is being made outside of this timescale complainants are asked to explain why there has been such delay. We reserve the right to refuse complaints that are more than 12 months old without any explanation or justification for that delay.

8. The existence of this procedure does not prohibit this entity from summarily setting aside unjustified complaints.

9. If a complainant is dissatisfied with the outcome of their complaint following investigation, or if their complaint has not been dealt with thin eight weeks, they have a right to refer the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman. Such a complaint must be made within 6 months of the end of our complaints process. The Ombudsman will only consider complaints that have already been referred to Chambers and that have received a or outcome from us that is unsatisfactory to you. The office of the Ombudsman can be contacted on 0300 555 0333 or you can write to: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ. Visit www.legalombudsman.org.uk for further information. Clients who have a right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman are individuals, small businesses and charities.

If you have any questions about this process please feel free to contact your local chambers or to email info@landlorddoctors.co.uk. We are happy to give you impartial advice on accessing this process.

You can find Legal Ombudsman decision data here and our entry on the BSB website here