We were delighted to get a refund of £802 for David, who instructed Turner and White Solicitors in October 2016 in connection with a road traffic accident that had taken place on 5th November 2015.
His claim settled in March / April 2017 and a total of £1,000 was deduced from his compensation in respect of legal fees.
We were instructed in October 2017, issued proceedings under the Solicitors Act in February 2018, and the matter was settled in April 2018 when Turner and White accepted an offer that we had made on David's behalf back in December.
Particular issues in this case were that the success fee was calculated by reference to base costs calculated at a rate of £250 per hour plus VAT, but David had been given no warning that that rate was in any way unusual and would almost immediately exceed the fixed recoverable costs, which were £1,259 in this case. We also took the view that the success fee percentage - which was claimed at 100% - was too high.