Consumer Credit Breach


Sandstone Legal Limited
Fraser House
White Cross Industrial Estate
South Road
Lancaster,
LA1 4XQ
0161 470 1511

 

 

 

 

 

Your Consumer Credit Breach Claim

 

Dear  

 

Claims arising out of financial mis-selling: engagement letter

  1. Thank you for instructing Sandstone Legal (‘we’, ‘our’, us’, ‘the Firm’)to act as your solicitors in relation to claims which you may have which arise out of financial mis-selling.
  2. We are writing to confirm our instructions and the basis on which we will act for

 

Our team

  1. Thank you for instructing Sandstone Legal (‘we’, ‘our’, us’, ‘the Firm’)to act as your solicitors in relation to claims which you may have which arise out of financial mis-selling.
  2. We are writing to confirm our instructions and the basis on which we will act for


Our fees

  1. We will work for you under a Damages Based Agreement (or ‘DBA). This is a form of no win, no fee We will only charge you if we succeed in achieving compensation for you. In addition, we will pay all out of pocket expenses and disbursements (‘Disbursements’) associated with your claim. These may include court fees, the fees of experts, the cost of online disclosure platforms and the cost of any upfront after the event insurance premiums.
  2. We enclose a copy of our DBA with this The DBA provides that we will be entitled to charge you:
    1. 20% of your compensation, plus VAT plus the amount we have spent on your behalf on Disbursements other than the fees of Counsel, if the case settles before the issue of proceedings; or
    2. 35% of your compensation plus VAT, plus the amount we have spent on your behalf on Disbursements, other than the fees of Counsel, if the case settles after the issue of proceedings or if you win at In addition, the cost of any deferred After The Event insurance premiums, plus IPT, will be paid of out your compensation.

(The phrase ‘the issue of proceedings’ refers to the formal commencement of litigation against the defendant and involves the payment of a court fee and the issue of a claim form. Once this is done, your claim will be subject to a court process.)

  1. If we lose the case, then there will be no charge to you because your liability to pay disbursements will be covered by us.
  2. It is important that you read the DBA In particular:
    1. You should pay attention to how a ‘win’ and a ‘loss’ is
    2. The DBA covers work done on appeals but does not cover any work done in the unlikely event that the defendant brings a counterclaim against
    3. You will confirm your agreement to the terms of the DBA and this Engagement Letter by giving your electronic consent.
  3. We normally charge on the basis of the time which we spend working on your Secretaries and support staff are included within the Firms’ overheads.
    1. Directors and solicitors with over 8 years’ experience charge £350.00 plus VAT per hour, based on seniority;
    2. Solicitors and legal executives with over 4 years’ experience change £295.00 plus VAT;
    3. Other solicitors, legal executives and fee earners charge £240.00 plus VAT;
    4. trainees and paralegals are charged at £170 plus VAT per hour;
  1. Our hourly rates are relevant to the level of costs we may recover on your behalf if you win your claim for We review our hourly rates once a year. Any changes to our rates will take effect on 1 January. We will notify you of those changes in advance.
  2. Please note that we may have agreed to pay any claims management company you have previously instructed, and who initially introduced you to us, a commission which is a percentage of our fee in the event that your claim is If this commission is paid, it will be taken out of our fee – it is not in addition to the amounts set out above.

 

Our fees

  1. We may incur Disbursements on your These will be paid on your behalf by us in the first instance but other than the fees of Counsel, if you settle or win at trial they will be charged to you in addition to our fees.

 

Insurance

  1. If a claimant loses their claim for compensation, they are at risk of being ordered to pay the defendant’s If it is necessary to issue court proceedings, we will seek to protect you from this risk by obtaining appropriate After The Event insurance on your behalf. After the Event Insurance is a disbursement payable by you if you win or settle your claim. Where possible, we will seek to obtain a policy that requires no upfront premium and is self-insured, meaning that if you won or settled your claim you would not be required to pay the premium until your matter concludes, and should you lose your claim you would not have to pay the After the Event Insurance policy premium. We shall update you with further information should we consider that After the Event Insurance is required.

 

Aggregation with other claims

  1. Your claim may be one of many similar claims in which we are We may advise that it is in your and other clients’ interests for your claim to be run in concert with other similar claims in which similar issues arise (we refer in this letter to ‘Claims’, and to the claimants or a claimant in individual financial mis-selling Claims represented by us as ‘Claimants’ or a ‘Claimant’). You authorise us to combine your claim with other financial mis-selling Claims, whether by including you as a claimant in the same claim as other financial mis-selling Claimants, by consolidating your claim with other Claims, by seeking a Group Litigation Order or series of Group Litigation Orders, by applying to Court for other kinds of collective management orders, or in any other way, recognising that there may be strategic and practical advantages in such a course. We refer collectively to the combination of your claim with other Claims in whatever way it may be achieved as ‘Collective Action’.
  1. You agree that the duty of confidentiality owed to you individually by us in respect of the facts of your individual claim and any documents produced by you or to which you are free to disclose more widely shall be waived as against your fellow Claimants and any committee of claimants which is established in so far (but no further) as we consider it necessary or helpful to compare the facts of individual Claims against the same or other defendants for the purposes of advising on and conducting the common aspects of the Any information so shared will be shared on terms of confidentiality and without any waiver of privilege, with the intention that information or documents derived from one Claimant’s individual Claim may be deployed in any other Claimant’s claim and we be authorised to report to the Claimants about the progress of Claims in general. Solicitor-client privilege shall not be waived or abrogated from in any way by the passing of information amongst the Claimants.
  2. In the event that Collective Action is taken in respect of Claims, you agree upon our notifying you of our intention to run your claim as part of a Collective Action, to the appointment at our discretion of a committee on the terms set out in Schedule 3 to this letter and to the assignment of the conduct of your claim and to decision- making in respect of your claim to the
  3. The committee’s conduct of your claim will include certain decisions as to settlement of your claim:
    1. it may instruct us to settle your claim for an amount equal to 80% or more of the headline amount of the claim (that is, the total amount asserted in the claim to be the amount of compensation payable); but
    2. no vote in favour of the acceptance or making of an offer for less than 80% of the headline amount of the claim shall be passed unless Counsel advises it to be in the best interests of the individual Claimant or Claimants
    3. You agree further to execute or to the deemed execution of any document necessary to effect the terms set out in the document ‘Management provisions relating to collective action’.
    4. In the event that Collective Action is taken in respect of Claims, you also agree to the cost sharing provisions set out in the same

 

Timing

  1. We can make no promises as to the length of time it may take to resolve your claim, as it will depend very much on the attitude taken by the defendant, whether it is necessary to issue proceedings, and whether it is expedient to start Collective We will however keep you informed as to the progress of your claim.

 

The scope of our work and our estimate of costs

  1. You have instructed us to consider any potential claims you may have which arise out of financial mis-selling.
  2. Our own costs to you are capped at the relevant DBA percentage of either 20% or 35%, but the amount you may have to repay to us in respect of Disbursements and deferred insurance premiums will depend on the stage at which your claim is resolved. If you win your claim and we are able to recover costs and Disbursements from the defendant, you will receive the benefit of the recovery of costs and Disbursements, subject to the terms of your DBA.

 

Right to cancel within 14 days

  1. You have the right to cancel this contract within 14 days of receipt without giving any The cancellation period will expire after 14 days from the date of this letter. If you wish to exercise your right to cancel, you must inform us clearly, by post or e-mail. You will meet the cancellation deadline if you send your communication before the period expires, even if we do not receive it until after the cancellation period has expired.
  2. We are not permitted to carry out work for you before the end of the cancellation period unless you have made an express request that we should do By signing and returning this engagement letter, you confirm that you make an express request of us to begin work immediately and that we shall be entitled to charge you on the basis of this retainer for the time which we have spent and for any expenses which we have incurred on your behalf.
  3. Subject to that, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you without undue delay and not later than 14 days after the date upon which we are informed about your decision to cancel this Unless we agree otherwise, we will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used to pay us. You will not incur any charges for the processing of the reimbursement.

 

Client due diligence

  1. We are required to obtain evidence of your Our normal practice is to run an online check against your name, address, and date of birth. This is a ‘soft’ credit check and will have no impact on your credit score or any future credit applications you might make. The results of this check may also be used to identify other claims which you may be entitled to make. In signing this agreement you authorise us to carry out these checks on your credit history.
  2. We may also ask for further information to enable us to conduct another online check or we may ask you to produce paper documentation of your identity, such as a certified copy of your driving licence and a utility bill (or some other similar document which shows proof of address).

 

Enclosures

  1. Our general terms and conditions of business are enclosed with this Together, those terms and this letter set out the basis upon which we will act for you. If there is a conflict between the enclosed terms and this letter, then this letter will prevail. We also enclose:

    1. Our Privacy This document explains how we will collect and process your personal data, how we will use that data, and why. There is a tick-box on the signature page of this letter in which we ask you to confirm that you have read the Privacy Notice and you give your consent to the processing of your data as set out in the notice.
    2. Our Damages based If there is a conflict between this letter (and/or the enclosed terms and conditions) and the DBA, then the terms of the DBA shall prevail.

We may request documents from third parties to help with your case. By electronically signing this letter of engagement, you agree and accept the terms of our engagement and you authorise us to send a letter of authority, substantially in the same form as the enclosed template (the ‘Letter of Authority’), to any such third parties of which we are currently aware or become aware of during the course of the case, and to make a data subject access request to them on your behalf. You further agree that your electronic signature may be used by us on all Letters of Authority without further permission.

If you have any questions or comments about this letter, or about our services or during the period for which we act for you, then please let us know.

We would be grateful if you would confirm your agreement to the terms of this agreement by giving your electronic consent to it.

We are delighted to have the opportunity to work for you.

 

Sandstone Legal Limited
Fraser House
White Cross Industrial Estate South Road
Lancaster,
LA1 4XQ
0161 470 1511

 

Terms of Business

  1. About Sandstone Legal Limited
  2. Terms of Business
  3. Excluded Advice
  4. Your Duty to Retain and Preserve Documents
  5. Copyright
  6. Client Satisfaction
  7. Fixed Fee Services
  8. Hourly Rate Services
  9. All Services
  10. Body corporates and unincorporated partnerships
  11. Costs & Funding: Litigation/Contested Matters
  12. Storage of Documents and Deeds
  13. Financial Services
  14. Limitation of Liability
  15. Client Money
  16. Confidentiality, Privacy & Data Protection
  17. Referrals to Third Parties
  18. Hours of Business
  19. Anti-Money Laundering
  20. Equality & Diversity
  21. Rights of Third Parties
  22. Applicable Law,
  23. Termination
  24. Cancellation Rights
  25. Cancellation Notice

 

1.   About Sandstone Legal Limited

  1. Sandstone Legal Limited is constituted as a Limited Company, registered in England and Wales with Company Number: 10998083:
    1. Registered Office: First Floor, Fraser House, White Cross Industrial Estate, South Road, Lancaster, LA1 4XQ;
    2. Phone Number: 0161 470 1511;
    3. Web Site: com;
    4. Authorised and Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)under Identity Number:
  2. In these Terms of Business all first-person terms such as ‘we’, ‘us’ and ‘our’ refer to the Firm and not to any Director, Consultant or Employee personally or to any combination of Directors, Consultants or Employees collectively. By accepting these Terms of Business, you are entering into an agreement with the Firm and not with any Director, Consultant or Employee personally or with any combination of Directors, Consultants or Employees collectively. The fact that an individual Director, Consultant or Employee signs in his or her own name any letter or other document in the course of carrying out his or her work does not mean he or she is assuming any personal legal liability for that letter or document. No reference to a ‘Partner’ is to imply that any person is carrying on business with others in partnership for the purposes of the Partnership Act 1890.
  3. We are bound by various professional rules of conduct (contained within the SRA Standards and Regulations 2019) which can be viewed at sra.org.uk or by writing to ‘Solicitors Regulation Authority, The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN’, or by calling the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s contact centre on 0370 606 2555.
  4. The SRA Indemnity Insurance Rules, in force from time to time, require us to take out and maintain professional indemnity Information about the compulsory layer of professional indemnity insurance we carry, including the contact details of our insurers and the territorial coverage of our insurance, are available in hard copy at our registered office.

 

 

2.    Terms of Business

  1. These Terms of Business may not be varied unless agreed in writing and signed by a They should be read in conjunction with our Client Care Letter which sets out the basis on which we act for you and any documents referred to in that letter. Together these form the ‘Agreement’ between us relating to each matter on which we advise you.
  2. These terms, including the limits on our liability in clause 14, shall apply to all work done by us for you (and any work to be done in the future) unless we otherwise notify you in
  3. If any provision of the Agreement is inconsistent with our legal obligations under the applicable laws then the applicable laws shall apply instead of those

 

3. Excluded Advice

  1. We do not advise on the laws and regulations of jurisdictions other than England & Wales
  2. Whilst we have a degree of understanding of the taxation that is relevant to an individual or corporate entity, of value added tax, and of other forms of tax, we are not qualified to give any tax You should take the professional advice of a tax specialist if the work we are doing for you has tax implications. If you instruct us to proceed with a transaction, we will proceed on the basis you have sought appropriate professional tax advice. If you want us to help you appoint an appropriate professional, it is your responsibility to ask.
  3. We do not provide financial advice generally, or comment upon the commercial viability of any transactions upon which we Nothing we say to you or do in the course of our Agreement with you should be taken as advice on the commercial or financial viability of any investment you choose to make. The commercial or financial viability of any transaction is entirely a matter for you and is strictly excluded from the scope of our Agreement with you.

 

4.  Your Duty to Retain and Preserve Documents

  1. If now, or at any time in the future, any matter on which we act for you is the subject of formally contested proceedings, whether in the courts or other tribunals, you will almost certainly have to disclose documents, including electronic documents, relevant to the You should ensure that you do not destroy or allow to be destroyed any documents that relate to such matter in any way (however slight you believe the connection may be), as your position in such proceedings could be seriously compromised if you do so.

 

5.    Copyright

  1. Unless we agree otherwise, all copyright which exists in the documents and other materials that we create whilst carrying out work for you will remain our You have the right to use such documents and materials for the purposes for which they are created, but not otherwise.
  2. If you use such documents for any purpose other than that for which they were created we are not responsible to you for any losses that you may suffer as a result.
  3. Unless otherwise required by law or court order, you agree not to make our work, documents or materials available to third parties without our prior written Our work is undertaken for your benefit alone and we are not responsible to third parties for any aspect of our professional services or work that you make available to them.

 

6. Client Satisfaction

  1. We operate strict client care and quality policies and always aim to be available, approachable, understandable, prompt and courteous.
  2. We will keep you informed about all important developments in your case and we will respond to your letters, emails and telephone calls promptly and efficiently.
  3. The majority of our clients are very happy with the service we provide them, but in the event that you have any cause for concern, including about a bill, then please be aware that you are entitled to make a complaint, and that you can do so by contacting our designated complaints handler, Andrew Settle, who is a Solicitor/Director at the Firm (telephone: 0161 470 1511). We take all feedback from clients seriously and operate a Complaints Handling Procedure, a copy of which is available upon request.
  4. We are usually able to deal with any concerns you have promptly and to your satisfaction, but if this is not the case, you will be able to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman provided you do so within six months of the end of our internal complaints procedure if you are still not satisfied with the
  5. In addition, there are time limits for bringing a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, linked to the date of the act or omission giving rise to a complaint or the date on which you should reasonably have known there were grounds for a The relevant time limits are set out in the version of the Legal Ombudsman’s Scheme Rules in force from time to time and may only be extended by the Legal Ombudsman in exceptional circumstances. If you wish to bring a complaint to him, you should refer to the version which is in force at the time of your complaint. The Rules can be accessed at: www.legalombudsman.org.uk).
  6. You should also be aware that, when your complaint relates to a bill, the Legal Ombudsman will not consider your complaint while your bill is being assessed by a
  7. Legal Ombudsman Contact Details:
  1. The Firm is committed to ensuring that all Directors, Consultants and Employees give their full co-operation to the Legal Ombudsman in the event of any dispute or complaint against the Firm.

 

7.  Fixed Fee Services

  1. Where our Client Care Letter states that we are charging on a fixed fee basis, additional services may be provided on request and (unless otherwise agreed by us in writing) will be charged at our standard hourly rates as set out in our Client Care

 

8.    Hourly Rate Services

  1. Where our Client Care Letter states that we are charging on an hourly basis, the hourly rate varies according to the experience and expertise of the person dealing with the The rates which apply to each matter are set out in our Client Care Letter.
  2. The time spent on your matter for which you will be charged includes meetings with you and others, travelling, waiting, researching and considering, writing and receiving correspondence, making and receiving telephone calls, preparing and working on documents, and making file
  3. The time spent on your matter is recorded as units of one tenth of an Therefore, this is the minimum amount of time we will charge for any piece of work undertaken on your matter.
  4. Once a year, we review our hourly We will notify you in writing of any increase.
  5. We will add VAT to our fees at the rate that applies when the work is

 

9.    All Services

  1. All expenses which we incur in working on your matter will be payable by you in addition to our fees. Examples of these expenses include but are not limited to fees charged by experts, agents, couriers and barristers; court fees; travel expenses and subsistence; international telephone calls; and use of on-line VAT is payable on certain expenses, which you will need to pay in addition.
  2. If we have provided to you a written estimate of the total charges, it is given only as a guide to assist you in budgeting and should not be regarded as a fixed quotation unless otherwise agreed in writing. We will inform you if any unforeseen - but significant - additional work becomes
  3. It is often impossible to tell at the outset what the overall cost of a matter will If this is the case, we will provide you with as much information as possible at the start and keep you updated as the matter progresses. If a precise figure cannot be given at the outset, we shall explain the reason to you and give you the opportunity to set a ceiling figure beyond which you do not want us to act without your consent or we shall agree a review date with you on which we shall try to give you more information about the likely overall cost.
  4. We will usually submit bills monthly but may choose to submit bills at other intervals during the course of working on your We may also submit a bill on or at any time after conclusion of the matter or at the end of our Agreement with you. Unless otherwise agreed, our bills are payable within 28 days of the delivery of the bill. All bills, whenever they are submitted, will be for final bills for the period to which they relate but this does not prevent us from invoicing you for expenses for that period on a subsequent bill.
  5. We may also ask you at any time to pay money in advance of any fees and expenses being incurred by us (known as ‘payment on account’). If we ask you to make a payment on account, we will not be obliged to undertake any further work on your matter until you have made that payment (and if you do not make the payment, we may cease acting for you).
  6. Where we decide to extend credit to you by carrying out urgent work on your matter after the money you have paid on account has all been used, you agree to remain liable for our fees regardless of whether or not we give you advance notification that we are going to extend credit to you.
  7. It is your responsibility to tell us when first instructing us if you have any form of insurance cover (such as legal expenses insurance) that you think will pay our You must also tell us when first instructing us if there is a third party who may pay our fees. If a third party agrees to pay all or part of our bills, you will remain responsible to us for payment until those bills have been paid in full.
  8. If we are advising more than one person (usually individuals, companies or other entities) we will, unless otherwise agreed by us in writing, act for those persons jointly and If we are asked to deliver bills only to one person, those bills will nevertheless be payable in full by all other persons we act for under our Agreement with you.
  9. If you are instructing us jointly in relation to any matter it is your responsibility to tell us at the outset of our Agreement with you if you require more than one person to give us instructions in relation to that Otherwise, we will accept instructions from any one person and will not be responsible to any other person for any losses they may suffer as a result.
  10. If you are a company or other commercial entity it is your responsibility to tell us at the outset of our Agreement with you if you require more than one Director (or equivalent) to give us
  11. Late Payment of Bills
    1. Unless otherwise agreed, our bills are payable upon the delivery of our If we do not receive payment after 28 days, we reserve the right to charge you interest as follows:
      1. If you are a private client, we may charge you interest (on a daily basis) on the unpaid element of the bill (at a rate no higher than the rate payable on judgment debts at the date of our Agreement with you);
      2. If you are a commercial client, we may charge you interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 plus a fixed sum under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 as amended and supplemented by the Late Paymentof Commercial Debts Regulations 2002;
    2. We may refuse to undertake any further work for you (whether in respect of the matter to which the bill relates or any other matter on which we are acting for you) until that bill is paid and/or we may stop acting for you; and
    3. We may retain any papers or documents belonging to you, together with our own
  12. Should you make a payment by way of cheque or credit card and that payment subsequently not be honoured then we will inform you in writing and request funds be made available for the payment to be re-presented. The Firm reserves the right to charge you a fee for administration and any charge imposed by the bank for re-presenting your payment. Until such time as the payment is cleared into our accounts the provisions of clause 9.11 may apply.
  13. If you have any queries in respect of any element of a bill, you should still promptly pay all other elements of the bill.
  14. Where we hold money for you, whether because you have made a payment on account or we otherwise receive funds on your behalf, we may use this money toward payment of our We will always advise you when this is being done. If we take any security for our fees, whether from you or any third party, this shall not affect any rights we have (or which we may have) to retain your papers.
  15. If you wish to make a complaint about one of our bills, you may do so by using the Firm’s Complaints Procedure (copy available on request). You may also have a right to object to a bill by making a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman and/or applying to the court for an assessment of the bill under part III of the Solicitors Act (1974). The contact details for the Legal Ombudsman can be found at clause 6.7.
  16. If we are acting for you in a litigation matter and you win your case, the court may order the other side to pay your You are unlikely to receive the full amount of the fees and disbursements you have incurred with the Firm. Our fees will not be limited to the amount which is recovered from the other side, which means that you will have to pay the shortfall. You agree that you will pay the shortfall and that section 74(3) of the Solicitors Act 1974 shall not apply to this Agreement.

 

10. Body corporates and unincorporated partnerships

  1. Where we agree to act for a body corporate (a body corporate incorporated under the laws of the United Kingdom or any part of the United Kingdom or a body corporate constituted under the law of a country or territory outside the United Kingdom), the directors (or equivalent) and the owners and beneficial owners of the body corporate shall be personally liable for our fees and disbursements on a joint and several By instructing us you warrant that you have brought this clause to the attention of each of the body corporate’s directors (or equivalent), owners and beneficial owners and that they have agreed to be bound by it and you agree that this provision is fair and reasonable in the circumstances despite the provisions of clause 21 below.
  2. Where we carry out work ostensibly for an unincorporated partnership, our client will be the partners jointly and severally and each partner, regardless of his or her equity status or share, will be liable jointly and severally for all of our fees and

 

11. Costs & Funding: Litigation/Contested Matters

  1. The Firm recognises the need for flexibility in funding litigation, particularly where there is a possibility that you will have to contribute to the other side’s legal costs and At the outset we will investigate with you the best way of paying for your legal representation.

 

12. Storage of Documents and Deeds

  1. We retain all documents relating to your matter (other than any documents which are in your possession or returned to you) for at least six years from the conclusion of our involvement in the You agree that we may destroy them after that time. We will not destroy documents you ask us to deposit in our deeds store.
  2. If you ask us to retrieve documents from storage there is a charge, which is normally £25 plus VAT for each matter, although we will not normally charge that fee if we retrieve documents to enable us to carry our further work for We will charge, however, for any work necessary to comply with instructions given by you in connection with retrieved documents. Unless otherwise agreed with you in writing, those charges will be at our hourly rates applicable at the relevant time and those charges will be applied on the same basis as set out in clause 8.

 

13. Financial Services

  1. The Law Society of England and Wales is a designated professional body under Part XX of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (as amended) which means that we may carry on certain regulated activities without being regulated by the Financial Conduct This means that we may be able to provide limited financial services to you where such services arise out of, or are complementary to, the provision of legal services.
  2. The Law Society is the designated professional body for the purposes of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, but responsibility for regulation has been delegated to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (the independent regulatory body of the Law Society), and responsibility for handling complaints has been delegated to the Legal The contact details for the Solicitors Regulation Authority can be found at clause 1.3 and the contact details for the Legal Ombudsman can be found at clause 6.7.
  3. The limited regulated activities that we carry out are issuing certain insurance policies, such as after the event legal expenses insurance, defective title insurance and other property indemnity insurance (such as breach of covenant, absence of easement, lack of planning permission, unknown rights and covenants policies).
  4. We are not authorised by the Financial Conduct However, we are included on the register maintained by the Financial Conduct Authority so that we can carry on insurance distribution activity, which is broadly the advising on, selling and administration of insurance contracts. This part of our business, including arrangements for complaints or redress if something goes wrong, is regulated by Solicitors Regulation Authority. The register can be accessed via the Financial Conduct Authority website at www.fca.org.uk.
  5. Any insurance policy arranged by us on your behalf, shall, in our opinion, be adequate to meet your needs, but you are hereby informed that we do not recommend any policy over and above any other and that it is your responsibility to check that you are satisfied with the excess levels, exclusions, limitations and other policy We do not conduct a fair analysis of the insurance market prior to arranging insurance policies. You can request details of the insurance undertakings with which we conduct business at any time.
  6. You hereby agree to provide us with details of any relevant existing insurance policies you may have and you agree that we shall not be liable to you for any losses you sustain as a result of your failure to provide us with such

 

14. Limitation of Liability

  1. You agree that the limitations on our liability, as set out in our Agreement with you, are reasonable having regard to the nature of your instructions and the work involved and the availability and cost of professional indemnity We are, however, happy to consider options to increase these limitations, should you so require (which may result in an increase to our fees).
  2. We will undertake the work relating to your matter with reasonable skill and
  3. We accept liability without limit for the consequences of fraud by us or any of our Directors, Consultants or Employees which is affected in their capacity as Directors, Consultants or Employees and for any other liability which we are not permitted by law or rules of professional conduct to limit or If any part of our Agreement with you seeks to exclude, limit or restrict liability (including provisions limiting the amount we will be required to pay or limiting the time you have to bring a claim) is found by a court to be void or ineffective for any reason, the remaining provisions shall continue to be effective.
  4. We will not be liable under our Agreement with you or the laws of negligence for any deficiencies in the work we have undertaken if and to the extent that deficiencies are due to any false, misleading or incomplete information or documentation which has been provided to us (whether by you or any third party) or due to the acts or omissions of you or any third However, where any failure by us to identify any such false, misleading or incomplete information (or any failure by us to inform you that we have identified such information or any failure to act on your resulting instructions) constitutes negligence then we shall, subject to the other provisions of our Agreement with you, remain liable for such failure.
  5. Despite anything else contained in our Agreement with you, we are not under any obligation to act for you (or to continue to act for you) if to do so would breach any laws or professional. Therefore, we will not be responsible or liable to you for any loss which you or any other party may suffer as a result of our refusal to proceed with your matter where we would be in breach (or we reasonably believe that we would breach) of our legal obligations or our professional rules.
  6. Except as stated in clauses 3 and 14.12, the total aggregate liability of the Firm to you under or in connection with our Agreement with you (including any addition or variation to it), whether for breach of contract, negligence, breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, shall not exceed £3,000,000.00 (three million pounds).
  7. Where we are instructed jointly by more than one party, the limit on our liability applies, in total, to all of you collectively (including anyone claiming through you or on your behalf).
  8. You agree that you will not bring any claims or proceedings in connection with our Agreement with you against our Directors, Consultants or Employees personally, unless (and to the extent that) you are otherwise permitted to do so by law or our professional Our Employees may enforce this clause even though they are not parties to our Agreement with you (but despite having such rights, our Agreement with you may be varied or ended without their consent).
  9. Proceedings in respect of any claim against us must be commenced within six years after you first had (or ought reasonably to have had) both the knowledge for bringing an action for damages and the knowledge that you had the right to bring such an action and, in any event no later than six years after any alleged breach of contract, negligence or other cause of This provision expressly overrides any statutory provision which would otherwise apply; it will not increase the time within which proceedings may be commenced and may reduce it.
  10. If we and any other party or parties are liable to you together in respect of the same claim, then we shall only be liable to pay you the portion which is found to be fair and reasonable having regard to the level of our Therefore, we shall not be liable to pay you the portion which is due to the fault of such party, even if you do not recover all or any money from such other party for any reason.
  11. If we are liable to you and any other party or parties would have been found liable to you together with us in respect of the same claim if either:
    1. You had also brought proceedings or made a claim against them; or
    2. We had brought proceedings or made a claim against them for a contribution towards our liability, then any sum due from us to you shall be reduced by the proportion for which such other party or parties would have been found liable had those proceedings been brought or those claims been made.
  1. Nothing in our Agreement with you excludes or limits the liability of the Firm for:
    1. Death or personal injury caused by negligence;
    2. Fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or
    3. Any liability if and to the extent that it is not permissible in law for such liability to be limited or

 

15. Client Money

  1. Subject to Rule 1 of the SRA Accounts Rules 2019 a fair sum of interest must be accounted to clients or third parties.
  2. Our policy on interest shall be kept under The policy may change if the Bank of England base rate increases or decreases. At the date of the preparation of this policy, the interest rates payable on client accounts were low – between 0.75% and 1.4% (the Bank of England base rate is 5%.
  3. The rate of interest available on client accounts is significantly lower than the rate of interest which can be obtained on other bank or building society This reflects the fact that immediate access is required to client accounts in order to comply with the accounts rules and to facilitate the smooth completion of transactions. It is therefore unlikely that the funds will attract as much interest as if you had invested those funds yourself.
  1. All interest arising from cleared funds held on behalf of a trust will be credited to the trust whether those funds are held in a general client account or a separate designated client account (formerly known as a Designated Deposit Account).
  2. For cleared funds paid into general client accounts, the practice shall account for interest unless one of the following circumstances applies:
    1. The amount of interest calculated on the balance held is £20.00 or less; or
    2. The client money was held in cleared funds in client account for a period of five working days or less.
  1. All other clients shall be paid interest at the rate payable upon the Firm’s client account from time to time, unless there are specific circumstances which lead the client to contract out of the right to receive interest payments (for example where the client agrees the Firm may keep interest payments to remunerate the Firm for acting as stakeholder in the transaction or where the client’s religious beliefs prohibit the receipt of interest).
  2. In certain circumstances a separate designated client account will be opened on behalf of All interest arising from funds held in separate designated client accounts will be credited to the client.
  3. Where sums of money are held in relation to separate matters for the same client, the money relating to the different matters shall be treated separately unless it is fair and reasonable in the circumstances to consider the sums
  4. Where a client fails to present a cheque to his or her bank for payment we will not recalculate any amount due to the client unless it is fair and reasonable to do so, for example if the cheque has been sent to an incorrect address.
  5. We will usually account to you for interest arising under our policy at the conclusion of your matter, but might, in some cases, consider it appropriate to account to you at intervals
  6. Unless otherwise agreed by us in writing, if we receive any sums to hold on your behalf (whether received directly from you or from a third party) then we may deposit such money into an account or accounts with any bank or financial institution (a “deposit provider” which expression shall include bank, financial institution or clearing house through which transfers are made) of our We confirm that we comply with any applicable laws and any applicable rules of a regulatory authority in respect of the making of any such deposits.
  7. We shall not be liable for any loss which you or any third party may suffer in connection with an Insolvency Event occurring in relation to any deposit provider with whom we have deposited funds or through whom transfers are made, save if and to the extent that any such loss was caused by or contributed to by any breach by us of clause 11.

In clause 15.12 an “Insolvency Event” means:

  1. Any deposit provider is unable or admits inability to pay its debts as they fall due (or is deemed to be or declared to be unable to pay its debts under applicable law), suspends or threatens to suspend making payments on any of its debts or, by reason of actual or anticipated financial difficulties or commences negotiations with one or more of its creditors with a view to rescheduling any of its indebtedness;
  2. The value of the assets of any deposit provider is less than its liabilities (taking into account contingent or prospective liabilities);
  3. A moratorium is declared in respect of any indebtedness of any deposit provider;
  4. Any corporate or government action, legal proceedings or other procedure or steps taken in relation to:
    1. The suspension of payments, a moratorium of any indebtedness, winding-up, dissolution, administration or reorganisation (by way of voluntary arrangement, scheme of arrangement or otherwise) of any deposit provider;
    2. A composition, compromise, assignment or arrangement with any creditor of any deposit provider;
    3. The appointment of a liquidator, receiver, administrator, administrative receiver, compulsory manager or other similar officer in respect of any deposit provider or any of its assets;
    4. Enforcement of any security interest (however so described) over any assets of any deposit provider; or
    5. The prevention or restriction (whether by way of freezing order or otherwise) of a deposit provider’s ability to dispose of, deal with or diminish the value of its assets or any of them;
  5. Any event analogous to those set out in 13(d) occurs in any jurisdiction in respect of any deposit provider.
  1. If an Insolvency Event occurs in relation to any deposit provider which holds money that we have deposited on your behalf, you agree that we may, where applicable, disclose to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (“FSCS”) all relevant details in our possession about you and the money that we hold on your behalf with such a deposit However, if you do not wish us to make any such disclosure, please notify us. Please note that by withholding consent to our disclosure of your details to the FSCS in such circumstances, you may forfeit any right you may have to receive compensation from the FSCS where an Insolvency Event occurs in relation to a deposit provider holding money which we have deposited on your behalf. Compensation for deposits is limited to £85,000 for any individual’s total deposit with that service provider, including any personal finances. Further information regarding the FSCS can be found at www.fscs.org.uk, telephone number 020 741 4100.

 

16. Confidentiality, Privacy & Data Protection

  1. We will keep your information confidential and will not disclose it to third parties except with your consent or as permitted or required by law.
  2. Further information about our duties and your rights under data protection law, including about your right to access the data we hold on you, can be found in our Privacy Notice, which is on our website and which accompanies these Terms of Business, but, for the avoidance of doubt, is for information purposes only and does not form part of the agreement between
  3. If, with your knowledge, we are working with other professional advisers or lawyers, we will assume that we may disclose any relevant aspect of your affairs to them.
  4. During the course of the firm’s work it may be necessary to discuss your case with cost specialists, experts or Your acceptance of these Terms of Business amounts to your consent to us to disclose information which we reasonably consider necessary to progress your case.
  5. The firm may, from time-to-time, become subject to periodic checks by Law Society approved Consultants and/or Assessors to audit and review files for compliance This means that your file could be selected for checking, in which case we would need your consent for the checking to occur. All such checks are conducted by individuals who have provided the firm with a Confidentiality Agreement. Your acceptance of these Terms of Business amounts to your consent to make your file available for checking. If you do not want us to make your file available for checking you must notify us immediately and we will mark your file accordingly. If you refuse to give us consent to checks, your refusal will not affect the way your case is handled in any way.
  6. Where you provide us with an Email address for sending material to, we will assume, unless you tell us otherwise, that your arrangements are sufficiently secure and confidential to protect your interests. The Internet is not secure and there are risks if you send sensitive information to us by Data we send by email is not routinely encrypted, so please tell us if you do not want us to use email as a form of communication with you or if you require data to be encrypted. Email will be treated as written correspondence and we are entitled to assume that the purported sender of an email is the actual sender and that any express or implied approval or authority referred to in an email has been validly given. You consent to us monitoring and reading any email correspondence travelling between you and any mail recipient at the Firm.
  7. We will take reasonable steps to protect the integrity of our computer systems by screening for viruses on email sent or We expect you to do the same for your computer systems.
  8. If, with your knowledge, we are working with professional advisers or others, such as specialists and experts, we will assume that we may disclose any relevant aspect of your affairs to Your acceptance of these terms of business amounts to your consent to us to disclose information which we consider necessary to progress your matter.

 

17.   Referrals to Third Parties

  1. If we recommend that you use a particular firm, agency or business, we shall do so in good faith and because we believe it to be in your best If we recommend that you use a particular firm, agency or business that can only offer products from one source, we shall notify you in writing of this limitation. We may receive commissions or other such payments as a result of these referrals, details of such payments will be provided upon request.
  2. If we recommend that you use a particular firm, agency or business, we shall not be liable to you for any advice you may be given by that firm, agency or business and you are advised that if that firm, agency or business is not another firm of solicitors you will not be afforded the regulatory protection of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) or of the SRA’s Standards and Regulations 2019 and SRA Indemnity Insurance Rules 2019, nor shall you be entitled to the benefit of the SRA Compensation

 

18. Hours of Business

  1. Our offices are open between 00am and 5.00pm, Monday to Friday, excepting bank holidays. We do not provide an out of office or emergency service to clients. The person responsible for your matter may, at his or her absolute discretion, provide you with a mobile telephone number, and may endeavour to take your telephone calls outside of office hours, but nothing he or she says should be interpreted as an agreement to routinely deal with your matter or to take your telephone calls outside of office hours.

 

19.Anti- Money Laundering

Identity Checks

  1. We shall inform you in our Client Care Letter whether the Anti-Money Laundering Legislation applies to you.
  2. All solicitors are obliged to carry out customer due diligence (“CDD”) in accordance with the UK anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regime. This includes us obtaining and keeping documentary evidence of the identity of clients and gaining an understanding of their financial status and normal business
  3. In the case of individuals (including Directors, Secretaries and Share Holders of a Company or Members of a Limited Liability Partnership), we require to see and keep a photocopy of a Passport, Photo Driving Licence, or National Identity Card (or similar document) as evidence of your identity and a recent utility or council tax bill (or similar type of document) as additional evidence of your address. We need to see original documents and will discuss with you acceptable documents and methods of certification if the original is not available.
  4. For all companies we will carry out a search of Companies House (or similar registry in foreign jurisdictions) and may ask for further
  5. For non-listed companies and other organisations, we will also require the evidence for individuals for one or more Directors, Company Secretaries, Shareholders, Partners or other persons authorised to represent the
  6. For other legal entities we will inform you of the evidence required to confirm
  1. Disclosure to the Authorities
    1. We are in certain circumstance obliged under Money Laundering Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (information on the Payer) Regulations 2017, the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (‘POCA’) as amended by the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (‘SOCPA’) to make a report to the National Crime Agency (‘NCA’) where we are suspicious that any matter or transaction in which we are instructed involves the proceeds of criminal We may be prohibited by law from informing you or anyone else when such a report has been made, and it is possible that we may not be allowed to proceed with the transaction or matter concerned until NCA gives us permission to do so. We may not be permitted to tell you anything about any of these circumstances should they occur.
    2. If any term or provision of these terms of business or our Client Care Letter is inconsistent with complying with our legal obligations under Anti-Money Laundering Legislation, our legal obligations will override the inconsistent term which shall be deemed modified
    3. We will not accept any liability for any loss caused to you or any other party as a result of our refusal to proceed with a matter or transaction or otherwise complying with our legal
    1. Cash Payments
      1. We will not accept payments from you in cash of over £250.00 regardless of whether the payment is to settle our bill, to pay money on account, or in respect of transactions we may be acting upon (such as sales and purchases of businesses or property).
      2. For the avoidance of doubt the £250.00 cash limit applies to each matter in which we are acting for you and not just to each transaction relating to that
      3. We shall not be liable to you for any losses you may suffer as a result of any refusal by us to accept cash payments of over £250.00.

20. Equality & Diversity

  1. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity in all of our dealings with clients, third parties and Please contact us if you would like a copy of our Equality and Diversity Policy.
  2. If you have any special requirements in relation to the way in which you would like us to handle your work, (for example, if you consider yourself to have a disability) please let us

 

21. Rights of Third Parties

  1. Except as stated otherwise in clause 14, a person who is not a party to our Agreement with you shall not be entitled to enforce any of its

 

22. Applicable Law, etc.

  1. These terms and our Client Care Letter shall be governed by, and interpreted in accordance with English Any disputes or claims concerning our Agreement with you and any matters arising from it shall be dealt with only by the courts of England and Wales.
  2. If we or you do not enforce our respective rights under our Agreement with you at any time it will not prevent either us or you from doing so
  3. If any provision in our Agreement with you is found by any court or administrative body of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unenforceable, such invalidity or unenforceability shall not affect the other provisions of our Agreement with you which shall remain in full force and

 

23. Termination

  1. You may end our Agreement with you (and therefore, your instructions to us) at any time by writing to us by post, fax or However, we may be entitled to keep all of your documents and deeds while there is money owing to us (including fees and expenses which have not yet been billed).
  2. We may end our Agreement with you (and, therefore, cease acting for you) in relation to any matter or all matters of yours but only on reasonable written notice and for good Examples of a good reason include where you have not given us sufficient instructions, where you have not provided appropriate evidence of identification or we reasonably believe that the relationship between you and us has broken down.
  3. If your matter does not conclude, or we are prevented from continuing to act because of our legal obligations or our professional rules, we will charge you for any work we have actually Our charges will be based on our hourly rates set out in our Agreement with you (and where a fixed fee has been agreed, the charges will not exceed that fixed fee).
  4. If we cease acting for you, we shall (where relevant) inform the court or tribunal that we no longer act for you and shall apply to be removed from their We may charge you for doing so at our hourly rates applicable at the relevant time and those charges will be applied on the same basis set out in clause 8 and for any expenses which we incur on the same basis – also set out in clause 8.

 

24.Cancellation Rights

  1. If you are an individual consumer (and not a business entity) and if our Agreement with you is a ‘distance contract’ or an ‘off premises contract’, you have the right to cancel our Agreement with you within 14 days of conclusion of our Agreement with you (the ‘cancellation period’). ‘Conclusion of our Agreement with you’ means 14 days from the ‘our Agreement Date, defined at the beginning of our Agreement with This right exists in accordance with The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. Please refer to the ‘Cancellation Notice’ at clause 25 below for further information about your right to cancel and the conditions attached to the same.
  1. Where clauses 1 and 25 apply, we will not start work on your file for 14 days from the Agreement Date. If you would like our service to start within 14 days of the Agreement Date, please sign the enclosed Client Declaration, mark the relevant box stating your wishes and return a copy to us.
  2. Where clauses 1, 25 and 24.2 apply, then once we have started work on your file within the cancellation period, on your instruction, you will be charged for any work done if you then cancel your instructions. You will have to pay us an amount which is proportionate to the work completed until we receive notice of cancellation from you, in comparison with the full coverage of our Agreement with you. These charges will be applied on the same basis as set out in clause 8of our Agreement with you and where a fixed fee has been agreed, the charges will not exceed that fixed fee.

 

25.Cancellation Notice

  1. This Notice is applicable to you if you are an individual acting for purposes wholly or mainly outside your trade, business, craft or profession and our Agreement with you between the Firm (as the trader) and you (as the consumer) is a ‘distance contract’ or an ‘off-premises’
  2. A ‘distance contract’ means a contract concluded between a trader and a consumer under an organised distance sales or service-provision scheme without the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer, with the exclusive use of one or more means of distance communication up to and including the time at which the contract is
  3. An ‘off premises contract’ means a contract between a trader and a consumer which is any of these:
    1. A contract concluded in the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer, in a place which is not the business premises of the trader;
    2. A contract for which an offer was made by the consumer in the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer, in a place which is not the business premises of the trader;
    3. A contract concluded on the business premises of the trader or through any means of distance communication immediately after the consumer was personally and individually addressed in a place which is not the business premises of the trader in the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer;
    4. A contract concluded during an excursion organised by the trader with the aim or effect of promoting or selling goods or services to the consumer.
  4. If you are unsure whether cancellation rights apply to you, please contact us immediately upon receipt of these Terms of

 

Sandstone Legal Limited
Fraser House
White Cross Industrial Estate South Road
Lancaster,
LA1 4XQ
0161 470 1511

 

Privacy Policy

We take your privacy very seriously. Please read this privacy policy carefully as it contains important information on who we are and how and why we collect, store, use and share your personal data. It also e\plains your rights in relation to your personal data and how to contact us or supervisory authorities in the event you have a complaint.

This Privacy Policy applies to you if you provide your personal data to us, even if you decide not to go ahead with any product or service that we offer.

We collect, use and are responsible for certain personal data about you. When we do so we are subject to the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).

 

Who we are

Data is collected, processed, and stored by Sandstone Legal Limited, trading as “Sandstone Legal”. Sandstone Legal Limited is a limited company, incorporated in England and Wales, authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority under number 808140.

We are what is known as the “Data Controller” of the personal information you provide to us. We handle and store your personal information in accordance with the law, including the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Sandstone Legal is registered with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) under registration number ZA518143.

 

What information will we collect from you?

We will only collect information from you that is relevant to the matter we are dealing with, which shall depend on what you have asked us to do or what we are contracted to do for you.

There are two types of personal data (personal information) that you may provide to us, which include:

  • Personal Data: This is general information that you supply about yourself, e., your name, address, gender, date of birth, contact details, financial information etc.; and
  • Sensitive personal data: Certain personal data we collect is treated as a special category to which additional protections apply under data protection law. This is, by its nature, more sensitive information, which may reveal your racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation, trade union membership, health, biometric and genetic data.

Personal data is generally restricted to basic personal data and any information needed to complete identity checks. Where we process special category personal data, we will ensure we are permitted to do so under data protection laws, e.g.:

  • We have your explicit consent
  • The processing is necessary to protect your (or someone else’s) vital interests where you are physically or legally incapable of giving consent; or
  • The processing is necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

 

Who do we receive information from?

While acting for you we may receive information about you from various sources including the following:

  • You might volunteer the information about yourself
  • From publicly accessible services, g., Companies House or HM Land Registry
  • Information might be passed to us by third parties in order that we can undertake legal work on your behalf. Typically, these organisations include:
  • Claims Management Companies
  • Organisations that have referred work to us
  • Financial Institutions, who provide your personal records / information
  • Panel providers who allocate legal work to law firms
  • Accountants and other professionals
  • Central and local government
  • Courts and tribunals
  • Sanctions screening providers
  • Credit reference agencies

 

Please be assured that this information will be treated confidentially at all times and will only be used where necessary.

 

How and why we use your personal data

Under data protection law, we can only use your personal data if we have a proper reason, e.g.:

  • Where you have given consent
  • To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
  • For the performance of a contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract; or
  • For our legitimate interests or those of a third party

A legitimate interest is when we have a business or commercial reason to use your personal data, so long as this is not overridden by your own rights and interests. We will carry out an assessment when relying on legitimate interests, to balance our interests against your own.

The primary reason for asking you or others to provide us with your personal information is to provide legal services to you so we may perform our contract.

The following are some other examples of what we may use your information for:

  • Verifying your identity
  • Verifying source of funds
  • Liaising with you
  • Obtaining insurance policies on your behalf, including After the Event Legal Expenses Insurance
  • Progressing your file, including providing you with legal advice, carrying out litigation and attending hearings on your behalf, preparing documents or completing transactions
  • Seeking advice from third parties, including legal and non-legal experts
  • Responding to a complaint or allegation of negligence to us
  • Retaining financial records of your transactions and those transaction we make on your behalf
  • Where it is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest

 

How will we use your information?

We may use your information for the following purposes:

  • Provision of legal services, including advising and acting on behalf of clients
  • Direct marketing
  • Determining the effectiveness of promotional campaigns and advertising
  • Network and information systems security
  • Administering any accounts
  • Processing your bank / credit card detail in order to obtain / make payments
  • Prevention and detection of fraud
  • Credit reference checks (where appropriate)
  • Identity checks
  • Provision of education and training to customers and clients

We may use your personal information for legitimate interests such as direct marketing or under reasonable expectation to provide you with information you would expect to receive or that would benefit and enhance our relationship. This information will help us review and improve our products, services and offers. You have the right to object to this processing and should you wish to exercise that right (see ‘How to contact us’ below).

 

Who will we share your information with?

Sandstone Legal have robust data protection procedures in place to oversee the effective and secure processing of your personal data. We will not sell or rent your information to third parties, nor will we share your information with third parties for marketing purposes outside of Sandstone Legal.

Usually, we will only use your information within Sandstone Legal. However, there may be circumstances, in carrying out your legal work, where we ned to disclose some information to third parties, for example:

  • Companies within the Sandstone Legal group
  • HM Revenue & Customs
  • HM Land Registry
  • Courts and Tribunals
  • Solicitors acting on the other side
  • Providers of identity verification
  • Asking an independent barrister or Counsel for advice or to represent you
  • Non legal experts to obtain advice or assistance
  • Translation Agencies
  • Contracted Suppliers
  • Outsourcing Companies
  • External auditors (e.g., those who audit our accounts) or our regulators, e., The Solicitors Regulation Authority, Information Commissioners Office etc.
  • Payment Service companies that process transactions for us (e.g., Direct Debits and card transactions, automated payment service)
  • Bank or Building Society; or other financial institutions
  • The Financial Ombudsman Service, Financial Services Compensation Scheme, Pension Ombudsman Service
  • Communication providers (e.g., text/live chat service providers)
  • Third-party funders
  • Insurance Companies, e., for the purposes of acquiring After the Event Insurance
  • Client feedback review platforms, including Trustpilot
  • PR & Marketing agencies who help to promote our products and services and manage our brands
  • Any third parties who may have introduced you to our services that may require updates as to the progression of your matter
  • Other Third Parties: Where we have your consent to do so, or where we are required to do so under a legal or regulatory obligation, such as the prevention of financial crime or terrorism
  • We might share some of your information with the emergency services if we think you or others are at risk

 

How long will we keep your information for?

Your personal information will be retained only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which the information was collected, or as required by law, or as long as is set out in any relevant contract you may hold with us. For example:

  • As long as necessary to carry out your legal work
  • For a minimum of 7 years from the conclusion or closure of your legal work should you or we, need to re-open your case for the purpose of defending complaints or claims brought against us
  • For the length of a trust

In some cases, we may retain your information for a longer period. Where this applies, we will advise you of this at the time, for example:

  • Matrimonial matters (financial orders or maintenance agreements )
  • Probate matters where there is a surviving spouse or civil partner may be retained until the survivor has died to enable us to deal with the transferable Inheritance Tax Allowance
  • Wills and related documents may be kept indefinitely
  • Personal injury matters involving lifetime awards or PI Trusts may also be kept indefinitely

As a general rule, if we are no longer providing services to you, we will delete or anonymise your account data after seven years. However, as above, different retention periods apply for different types of personal data and for different services.

Following the end of the relevant retention period, we will delete or anonymise your personal data. More information is set out in our data retention policy, which is available on request.

How we will keep your personal data secure

We have appropriate security measures to prevent personal data from being accidentally lost or used or accessed unlawfully. We limit access to your personal data to those who have a genuine business need to access it. Those processing your personal data will do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We also have procedures to deal with any suspected data security breach. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so.

If you want detailed information from Get Safe Online on how to protect your personal data and other information and your computers and devices against fraud, identity theft, viruses and many other online problems, please visit www.getsafeonline.org. Get Safe Online is supported by HM Government and leading businesses.

 

Transferring your personal data out of the UK

The countries outside of the UK have differing data protection laws, some of which may provide lower levels of protection of privacy.

It is sometimes necessary for us to transfer your personal data to countries outside of the UK. In those cases, we will comply with the applicable UK laws designed to ensure the privacy of your personal data.

We may use outsourcing companies located outside of the UK for administrative services and may have outsourcing agreements with companies based in South Africa and India.

Under data protection laws, we can only transfer your personal data to a country outside of the UK where:

  • the UK government has decided the particular country ensures an adequate level of protection of personal data (known as an ‘adequacy regulation’) further to Article 45 of the UK A list of countries the UK currently has adequacy regulations in relation to is available here.
  • there are appropriate safeguards in place, together with enforceable rights and effective legal remedies for you; or
  • a specific exception applies under relevant data protection

Where we transfer your personal data outside the UK, we do so on the basis of an adequacy regulation or (where this is not available) by ensuring the use of legally-approved standard data protection clauses recognised or issued further to Article 46(2) of the UK GDPR. In the event we cannot or choose not to continue to rely on either of those mechanisms at any time, we will not transfer your personal data outside the UK unless we can do so on the basis of an alternative mechanism or exception provided by UK data protection law and reflected in an update to this policy.

If you would like further information about data transferred outside of the UK, or a copy of the standard data protection clauses we use please contact us (see ‘How to contact us’ below).

Any changes to the destinations to which we send personal data or in the transfer mechanisms we rely on to transfer personal data internationally will be notified to you in accordance with the section on ‘Changes to this privacy policy’ below.

 

What rights do you have?

You have the following rights under the UK GDPR:

  • Right to be informed: This is fulfilled by way of issuing this Privacy Notice and our full explanation as to how we use your personal
  • Right of access: The right to be provided with a copy of your personal data
  • Right to rectification: The right to require us to correct any mistakes in your personal data
  • Right to erasure / Right to be forgotten: The right to require us to delete your personal data—in certain situations
  • Right to restriction of processing: The right to require us to restrict processing of your personal data—in certain situations, e.g., if you contest the accuracy of the data
  • Right to data portability: The right to receive the personal data you provided to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and/or transmit that data to a third party—in certain situations
  • Right to object: The right to object to your personal data being processed for direct marketing. (including profiling). In certain other situations to our continued processing of your personal data, e.g., processing carried out for the purpose of our legitimate interests unless there are compelling legitimate grounds for the processing to continue or the processing is required for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
  • Rights concerning automated decision-making and profiling: The right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing (including profiling) that produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you

For more information on each of those rights, including the circumstances in which they apply, please contact us (see ‘How to contact us’ below) or see the Guidance from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on individuals’ rights under the General Data Protection Regulation.

If you would like to exercise any of those rights, please:

  • email, call or write to us—see below: ‘How to contact us’
  • provide enough information to identify yourself (eg your full name, address and client or matter reference number) and any additional identity information we may reasonably request from you
  • let us know what right you want to exercise and the information to which your request relates

 

Updating your details

If any of the information that you have provided to us changes, for example if you change your name or e-mail address, please let us know (see below ‘How to contact us’).

 

Marketing Data

We will use your personal data to send you updates (by email, text message, telephone, or post) about

our services, including exclusive offers, promotions, or new services.

 

How we collect personal data

The following are examples, although not exhaustive, of how we might collect your personal information:

  • Sign up to receive one of our newsletter
  • Submitting an online enquiry
  • Following / liking / subscribing to our social media channels
  • Completing a questionnaire on our website
  • Ask us a question or submitting any queries or concerns you have via email or on social media channels
  • Post information to our website or social media channels, for example when we offer the option for you to comment on, or join discussions
  • When you leave a review about us on com

 

The legal basis for using personal data for marketing purposes

We handle enquiries at different stages and therefore group those enquiries in three distinct ways. We shall take the following steps in each instance:

  • Prospects: Consent will need to be recorded before being added to marketing
  • Retainer Clients: We have a legitimate interest in using your personal data for marketing purposes (see above ‘How and why we use your personal data’). This means we do not usually need your consent to send you marketing Upon collecting your personal data, you will be provided the opportunity to opt in to receiving marketing communications from us. We hope you will provide this information as you may find our communications useful, but if you choose not to, this will have no effect on accessing our legal services. Clients will have the option to exclude themselves from marketing by clicking the unsubscribe link on any marketing emails they may receive, on the telephone when speaking with an advisor, or by contacting us.

We appreciate that you may decide that you do not wish to receive marketing communications and we shall respect that choice. We have a legal obligation pursuant to the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK GDPR to stop sending marketing communications if you object. If you do not want us to use your personal data in this way, please let us know (see below ‘How to contact us’).

 

Fixed fee clients

Legitimate interest will be the legal basis for using your personal data for marketing purposes, as described within the ‘Retainer Clients’ section immediately above.

 

Social Media

We use publicly available social media platforms to promote our services, to provide updates and to share any news and promotional updates. We may collect personal information from these social media platforms, for example, if you post a message on our Facebook page. By providing any of your information to us through these platforms you should be aware that:

  • The social media web pages are publicly available, and you must not provide any personal or sensitive information on our pages that are accessible to the public, such as your account
  • We may ask you for your account information via a private message to identify you and to service any request you make; and
  • Each social media platform will process any personal information you provide through the platform and will be processed in accordance with its own privacy The Privacy Policies are available to view on each social media platform.

 

Other types of advertising

When you visit our website or similar websites Google may use our advertisements promoting our products and services which may appear on other third-party websites you visit across the internet for remarketing purposes, including cross-device remarketing. Google and other third parties will use cookies to tailor advertisements for website users based on their previous visit to our website. More information about cookies can be found below.

We do not have any control over the advertisements you see on other third-party websites, however you can request to opt out or customise these advertisements by using the Google Ads Preference Manager.

 

Recording calls

We may from time to time, record calls that you make to us or we make to you or any other third party. This is for training, monitoring and quality purposes. Some calls may be observed by staff for training and development purposes.

 

Who can you complain to?

If you are unhappy about how we are using your information or how we have responded to your request, then you should contact us in the first instance (see below ‘How to contact us’). We hope we will be able to resolve any issues you may have.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s office. The UK’s Information Commissioner may be contacted using the details at https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or by telephone: 0303 123 1113.

 

How to contact us

If you have any queries about this policy please contact us in writing, by post or email at the following addresses:

Sandstone Legal
First Floor Fraser House
South Road
Lancaster
LA1 4XQ

 

Email: compliance@sandstonelegal.com

Telephone: 0161 470 1511

Sandstone Legal Limited
Fraser House
White Cross Industrial Estate South Road
Lancaster,
LA1 4XQ
0161 470 1511

 

Damages Based Agreement

This is a Damages-Based Agreement or ‘DBA’. It is a legally binding contract between you and us which controls how we will be paid. The work covered by this DBA includes all work preparatory to and/or related to the Claims, as defined below.

1. Date

The date of this agreement is the date upon which you click to accept its terms.

2.     The parties

This is an agreement made between:

  1. You;and
  2. Sandstone Limited (‘Sandstone’) of First Floor, Fraser House, South Road, Lancaster, LA1 4XQ (the ‘Firm’)

3. Background

  1. You are entering into this agreement in order to bring a claim or claims in respect of financial mis-selling (references in this agreement to the ‘Defendant’ or the ‘Defendants’ are references to lenders, brokers or to anybody else against whom we advise you to bring a claim) (the Claims)
  2. The Firm has described the legal work which they will undertake for you in an engagement letter (the ‘Engagement Letter’) which you have read and You have also received and agreed to the Firm’s ‘Terms of Business’
  3. You are one of a number of individuals (together, the ‘Claimants’, and each individually a ‘Claimant’) who have instructed the Firm to bring Claims in respect of financial mis-selling against a range of Defendants.The Firm may manage your Claims individually in the first instance, but as set out in the Engagement Letter and the Terms of Business, it may be that at some point your Claims are run as part of a Collective Action (alongside the Claims of other

4.  This agreement

  1. This is a DBA which is made under section 58AA(3) of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 and the Damages-Based Agreements Regulations 2013 (Statutory Instrument 2013/609) (the ‘DBA Regulations 2013’).
  2. The claims to which this agreement relates are the Claims
  3. This agreement covers all the work done and to be done by the Firm from the start of the
  4. This agreement covers any appeal proceedings which may be brought by you or by the Defendant (or any other party to the proceedings).
  5. This agreement does not cover any counter claim which might be made against you by the

5. What happens if you win?

  1. ‘Claim Proceeds’ means all money or non- monetary value that falls due to you in connection with or arising out of the Claims as a result of any judgment, award, order, settlement arrangement or compromise (including payment of any damages, compensation, interest restitution, recovery, judgment sum, arbitral award, settlement sum, compensation payment), (excluding the award of legal costs and Disbursements).
  2. You will ‘Win’ if you receive any Claim
  3. If you Win you will pay the Firm an amount of money equivalent to 35% plus VAT of the Claim Proceeds (the ‘Solicitors’ Fee’). The Solicitors’ fee shall be reduced to 20% plus VAT if you Win before proceedings are issued.
  4. The Solicitors’ Fee is calculated before the payment by you of tax (if any) on the amount
  5. The Solicitors’ Fee includes barristers’ fees but excludes Disbursements (which are charged separately);
  6. The Solicitors’ Fee payable by you shall in all circumstances be net of:
    1. any costs (including fixed costs under Part 45 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998); and
    2. any sum in respect of barristers’ fees incurred by the Firm, that have been paid or are payable by another party to the proceedings by agreement or order;
  7. The Solicitors’ Fee cannot in any circumstances amount to a payment above an amount which, including VAT, is equal to 50% of the sums in respect of the Claims Proceeds ultimately recovered by you;
  8. You will be liable for Disbursements incurred by the Firm but this liability shall in all circumstances be net of any amount which has been paid or is payable by another party to the proceedings by agreement or order;
  9. If you Win, then in ordinary circumstances the Defendant will be liable to pay some or all of your costs and Disbursements (as defined in clause 8 below) but, in such circumstances, the costs incurred by the Firm to be payable by the Defendant will be subject to assessment by the court in accordance with CPR rule 3 on the basis primarily or exclusively of a reasonable number of hours multiplied by reasonable hourly rates, rather than as a percentage of the Claims Proceeds as provided for in this agreement, and you may not recover from the Defendant by way of costs more than the total amount payable by you to the Firm under this agreement, pursuant to CPR rule 44.18.

If, before your Claim is finally dealt with, there is a court decision or agreement that requires a Defendant to pay all or part of your costs and/ or Disbursements, then you shall be liable in those circumstances for your Proportionate Share (as defined in the Management provisions relating to collective action) of:

  1. those costs, on the basis of the hours spent multiplied by the relevant hourly rates notified to you, together with
  2. those Disbursements;

but you shall be liable for i) and ii) immediately above if and only to the extent that such costs and/or Disbursements are recovered from another party to your Claim in that respect.

 

6.    What happens if you lose?

If your Claims end without a Win, then (subject to clause 10 above) you will not be required to pay the Firm anything apart from the Disbursements, and the Firm will in that event indemnify you for the costs of Disbursements on your behalf.

7.   Disbursements

    1. ‘Disbursements’ means the expenses which the Firm will need to pay in order bring your case (but does not include barristers’ fees which are included in the Solicitors’ Fee). These include:
      1. the fees of experts;
      2. court fees (where applicable);
      3. the payment of insurance premiums (if relevant, and whether or not such premiums are payable up front or only in the event of success);
      4. the costs, as applicable, of data rooms, disclosure platforms, and electronic bundling systems; and
      5. photocopying charges
    2. You authorise the Firm to incur Disbursements and, if your Claims are run as part of a Collective Action you authorise the Committee (as defined in Schedule 3 of the Engagement Letter) to authorise the Firm to incur You agree that the Firm shall arrange for the Disbursements to be paid on the Claimants’ behalf but you shall remain liable to pay the Disbursements subject to the terms of this DBA.

8 Calculation of the Solicitors’ Fee

    1. The Solicitors’ Fee has been set at 35% of the Claim Proceeds plus VAT for the following reasons:
      1. the risk to the Firm that the Claims will not succeed, in which case they will not be paid;
      2. the fact that the Firm may be undertaking work over a long period without pay;
      3. the high administrative cost of progressing the Claims;
      4. the fact that the Firm have borne a burden of costs and expenses prior to the Claimants entering into this agreement; and
      5. the risk that interim or final decisions of the Court may be appealed
    2. The Solicitors’ Fee will be reduced to 20% of the Claims Proceeds, plus VAT, if your Claim settles before the issue of court

    9. Invoicing at the conclusion of the case

    1. In the event that the Solicitors’ Fee becomes payable, the Firm shall raise an invoice to you or, if your Claims are run as part of a Collective Action care of the Committee who shall have authority to approve it on your behalf. The invoice shall set out a computation of the payment due and shall identify the relevant VAT sum which shall be paid to the Firm in any event. The invoice shall separately set out the Disbursements payable.
    1. Such fees as are payable by you will be paid to the Firm within 30 days of the date of
    2. You agree that, in the event that the Solicitors’ Fee becomes payable, then you shall use your best endeavours to procure that the Claim Proceeds (or, if more practicable, the Solicitors’ Fee only together with the Disbursements) shall be paid directly into the Firm’ nominated client account and distributed in accordance with this agreement, the Engagement and Terms of Business.

     

    10.Termination

    1. In entering this agreement it is the Firm’s intention to reach a successful conclusion of your Claim either before the Court or through However, there are circumstances in which either you or the Firm may wish to end this agreement before then.
    2. You may terminate this agreement at any
    3. The Firm can end this agreement if:
      1. you act unreasonably by, for example:
        1. failing to give the Firm clear or timely instructions, so that they consider that they cannot do their work properly; or
        2. deliberately misleading the Firm; or
      2. the Firm come to the view that you are unlikely to win and/or should withdraw the Claim or the value of the Claim does not make it worthwhile for the Firm to pursue the
    4. In the event of the Firm terminating this agreement pursuant to clause 3, the Firm shall explain in full their reasons for ending the agreement. In circumstances of termination other than where you achieve a Win, you will be liable just for Disbursements in accordance with clause 7 above and nothing else.

    11.Successor practice

    1. The Firm may notify you, using the email address which you provided to the Firmin the course of engaging them to act for you, that your Claim will henceforth be carried on by a successor firm or Firm which will:
      1. act for you on the same basis as the Firm;
      2. be authorised to carry on legal services and carry the appropriate insurance; and
      3. employ substantially the same lawyers on your
    1. You authorise the Committee to enter into a novation agreement on your behalf and as your agent in favour of the new firm.
    1. In that event, subject to any further agreement between the parties, that the terms of the DBA shall continue apply as between your and the Firm up to the date that the successor practice take over, and the DBA with the new firm shall apply from that date onwards.

    12.Agreement to enter new DBA and authority of Committee to enter new DBA on Claimants’

    It is expressly anticipated that the Firm and you will enter a replacement Damages-Based Agreement or agreements (a ‘Replacement DBA’) in the event that:

    1. the DBA Regulations 2013 are amended or replaced; or
    2. the Firm notify you that the carriage of your Claims is to be transferred into a new practice, provided that any Replacement DBAs should be on terms no less favourable to you than this agreement and should so far as possible have retrospective effect to the date of this Agreement. If your Claims are run as a Collective Action you hereby authorise the Committee to act as your agent for the purpose of, entering into a Replacement DBA on your behalf.

    13.No liability of the Firm for Adverse Costs

    Subject to the court’s jurisdiction to award costs against the Firm under the wasted costs jurisdiction or otherwise under Section 51 of the Senior Courts Costs Act 1981, you agree to use your best endeavours not to do any act so as to cause Sandstone to become liable for the costs of any opponent in the Claim.

     

    14. Your right to cancel

    1. You are entitled to cancel this agreement without charge until after the expiry of 14 days after you enter into this If you wish to cancel, you must notify the Firm by email to compliance@sandstonelegal.co.uk.
    2. When you receive an email confirmation of your acceptance as a Claimant, you will be provided with an explanation of your right to cancel in the form annexed to the Engagement Letter.
    1. You agree not to cancel this agreement after the expiry of 14 days after you enter this agreement and recognise that the Firm will rely on your agreement not to

    15.Severability

    If any of the provisions of this Agreement are found by a court or other competent authority to be void or unenforceable, such provision shall be deemed to be deleted from this Agreement and the remaining provisions of this Agreement shall continue in full force and effect. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the parties shall thereupon negotiate in good faith in order to agree the terms of a mutually satisfactory provision to be substituted for the provision so found to be void or unenforceable.

    16. Governing Law

    This Agreement is governed by and is to be construed in accordance with the law of England and Wales.

    17.Execution

    1. In making this DBA available for signature, the Firm have given their agreement to its In addition, we will execute a single copy of this agreement and such execution shall be evidence of the Firm’ agreement with you.
    2. You confirm your irrevocable agreement to the terms of this agreement by giving your electronic consent to it.

Leave this empty:

Signature arrow sign here


Signature Certificate
Document name: Consumer Credit Breach
lock iconUnique Document ID: 097c2e20969fe0fda35ab015e3b0ee7f42ff676c
Timestamp Audit
August 18, 2023 9:16 am GMTConsumer Credit Breach Uploaded by ade goddard - ade.goddard@justizia.co.uk IP 46.69.232.228
Audit trial Qr code
This audit trail report provides a detailed record of the online activity and events recorded for this document.
https://sandstonelegal.com/
Audit Trail Serial# cbb967fd9384a91b28a918686aaa7725