TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT
1.OUR AIM
1.1 Our aim is to offer all our clients a quality Housing disrepair claims service supplied in a professional manner and at a cost which is fair to both the Clients and us.
1.2 To support this, we are setting out from the start the standards that we shall apply, and the basis upon which we provide our professional services.
1.3 Rental Disrepair Claims will act as your legal representatives for your Housing disrepair claim entered to the Housing disrepair Protocol or into the formal Court process. We are a specialist Claims Management Company dealing with Housing disrepair matters. Because we specialise in Housing disrepair we are unable to represent you in any other matter.
2.OUR COMMITMENT TO YOU
2.1 We shall represent your interests to the best of our ability and keep you regularly informed of the progress in your matter.
2.2 We aim to explain the legal process that is required, and where relevant advise you of any potential free avenues for your claim resolution, and any costs involved in bringing your claim and the risks and benefits of pursuing the matter further.
2.3 We will not advance a claim, whether on your instruction or on our own initiative, which ultimately has no reasonable prospect of success.
2.4 In dealing with your claim there may be periods which involve waiting for a reply from your landlord or their agent or representative or under the Housing disrepair pre-action Protocol or the Court process or the defendant landlord or their solicitors, or other delays caused by the claim process itself.
2.5 Please call or email us during office hours if you have any questions or concerns regarding your Housing disrepair matter if you would like an update on the progress of your claim outside of our standard Claimant update intervals. We will acknowledge your contact and respond with any updated information within 2 working days where further or new information on your claim progress is available, or, where we do not have any updated information for you, either because we are still waiting for a response or for another reason (for example under the protocol we have not permitted enough time to pass before escalating to the next stage), the reasons for that, and the time frame for the next stages of your matter progression.
2.6 We will endeavour to update clients at times within or sooner than those set out in our standard client update timeframes are set out in your Claimant service contract.
3. CONFIDENTIALITY
3.1 In accordance with our Data Handling commitments and data protection obligations we shall at all times, respect the confidential nature of all evidence, documents, photographs and information we receive from you, with the exception of the following limited situations which require us to share such information.
3.2 Obtaining further specialist Legal Advice in furtherance of your claim, in such circumstances we will disclose confidential information to other professional advisers to assist us in managing your case. Additionally, we may involve other support services to assist us either with the handling of your case or the running of our business (e.g. IT contractors). These may need access to details about you or your case. Unless you inform us to the contrary, we shall assume that you have no objection to us disclosing information and discussing it as we deem appropriate.
3.3 All external professional advisors, Companies or bodies are required to maintain confidentiality in relation to legal and data protection and ethical obligations.
3.4 Our legal duties to prevent clients causing Harm to themselves or others or to prevent criminal activity, or fraudulent activities.
3.5 Complying with Court Orders: subject only to any duty there is upon us to disclose such information to comply with various legislative and regulatory obligations.
4. RESTRICTION FROM DIRECT COMMUNICATIONS BY/FROM YOU WITH THE DEFENDANT(S) IN YOUR CLAIM
4.1 We provide a complete claims management service to our valued clients. You are instructing us to manage your claim and undertake settlement negotiations on your behalf.
4.2 It is essential that you refrain from discussing your claim, circumstances evidence, settlement or conclusion of your Housing disrepair claim directly with the Defendant(s) in your Case, in order that you do not risk or cause confusion or undermine our own case management, formal process or settlement negotiations with the other side.
5. PROVIDING US WITH THE FACTS NECESSARY FOR YOUR CLAIM
5.1 Our Housing disrepair advice involves the assessment of your Housing disrepair situation. We will provide you with as accurate an assessment of your particular matter as possible. Our assessment of your claim is initially based on the information provided by you to us, regarding your Housing disrepair circumstances and the surrounding events and timeframes. You agree to provide us with as accurate a description of these details as possible in order for a complete assessment of your claim to be undertaken. This is important because your initial information will help us decide whether to advance your Housing disrepair protocol or Court process fees as well as expending time and resources necessary to progress and handle your Housing disrepair claim.
5.2 It is very important that you present us with all the information you have relating to your matter so that you receive the clearest and most accurate advice from us. Full and frank explanation of your circumstances enables us to advise you correctly and to properly evaluate the risk involved in the claims process. You agree to provide us with any documents and relevant photographs of evidence relating to your housing disrepair claim to assist us in properly evaluating your claim circumstances.
6. FAILURE TO PROVIDE ACCURATE INFORMATION TO US
6.1 You agree that you will not withhold any information from us which relates to your claim and its circumstances and that you will present us with as complete picture as is reasonably practicable in order for us to advise you correctly. This is important because we have agreed to undertake work on your claim based on this information.
7. ENGAGING IN COMMUNICATIONS WITH US IN MANAGING YOUR HOUSING DISREPAIR CLAIM IN THE PRE-ACTION PROTOCOL OR COURT PROCESS
7.1 Your claim will depend on being able to find and present adequate evidence before the Housing disrepair Pre-Action protocol or Court process (if your claim progresses that far), which may include well-presented photographic evidence, written information and/or oral witness evidence from you prior to and at the pre-action protocol stage or in the formal Court process Hearing itself.
7.2 We will work with you throughout your claim to ensure you have the best possible chances of success to recover a settlement award or Judgment award outcome. To achieve the best result for your claim we ask you to cooperate fully in all stages of the claim process so that we can expedite an efficient outcome.
7.3 If you do not partake fully in the claim process or the Housing disrepair protocol or Court process stages including written or oral submissions and hearing stage(s) and this impacts our ability to win your claim then you must reimburse our reasonable costs involved in undertaking your claim. This will involve an assessment of the number of hours spent working on your claim, multiplied by our standard charge per hour which is currently £147.00.
8. COMPENSATION CLAIMED
8.1 You have instructed us to claim compensation for your Housing disrepair matter. You agree that you are instructing Rental Disrepair claims to obtain compensation for your legally recoverable losses and that this is your sole or main reason in bringing your Case.
8.2 We will work hard to achieve an appropriate financial award to compensate you for any poor Housing disrepair and bad treatment you have received and any related claimable damages. It is important to remember that the true value of any claim can only properly be assessed by the Housing disrepair protocol or Court process after reviewing all the evidence. We will guide you on the correct claimable compensation and use the pre-action protocol or Court process or other formal resolution available where necessary in line with your specific particular circumstances. We are not able to guarantee you recover any set minimum amounts, as this is an individual assessment which depends on evidence and responses. You may receive less compensation than the amount of compensation originally envisaged at the start of your claim. Please note: where compensation is less than first envisaged, the proportion percentage of your commission fee payable will never increase above that percentage proportion agreed with you at the start of your claim.
8.3 When we first review your Case, our assessment is based on a first review of the evidence and possible further potential evidence, to demonstrate what has happened.
8.4 The circumstances and chances of success may change as more evidence is received from the Defendant as part of the bundle preparation. Sometimes, further evidence, makes it very difficult for us to be able to prove the facts of the claim, in order to recover compensation and/or convince the Judge to find in your favour and award any compensation.
8.5 We are restricted in the way we manage your case, and are bound by Statutes and regulations with strict legal tests of evidence required to make a positive finding in law in your favour.
8.6 You agree to make reasonable efforts to provide evidence to support your claim. This includes photographs and written information and returning completed forms to us.
8.7 Please contact us if you would like assistance with completing any information or evidence we require.
8.8 The Housing disrepair pre-action Protocol and formal Court process will require evidence and information to support your claim.
8.9 We may have given you an outline indication of the compensation we will be seeking to claim for you. Any figures provided to you are an indication based on the evidence available to us at that time, and do not form minimum guaranteed sums of compensation. The amount claimed or claimable may change as your case progresses. We will discuss this with you during the course of your claim should this situation arise.
9. DOES MY CLAIM HAVE A GOOD CHANCE OF SUCCESS?
9.1 It is difficult to say with certainty whether your claim will be successful. Our commitment is to work hard to gather and present evidence which gives you the best chance of success in claiming compensation for the housing disrepair matter we are representing you in and claiming for on your behalf.
9.2 In your initial consultation you will have been given a first stage consultation assessment and indication of the strengths and weaknesses of your claim. However, this may change as evidence is received or further expected evidence from you does not materialise or is different to that which is anticipated.
9.3 The Defendant may also provide strong counter evidence or dispute key facts which form the basis of your claim. The first tier Housing disrepair pre-action protocol or Court process will decide your claim on its facts.
9.4 We are not able to guarantee your claim will continue to be as strong as it first appears when you make your enquiry to us, or undertake your initial consultation.
9.5 We cannot guarantee that you will be able to settle prior to Hearing, or win your claim. It is possible that evidence may reduce the amount claimable and that you might not be able to settle your case at all, or may achieve much less than initially expected.
10. HOW LONG WILL MY CLAIM TAKE TO CONCLUDE?
10.1 Because every claim is different, it is difficult to say with certainty how long your claim might take to conclude. Some simple claims (for example a claim for straightforward damage to property where the Landlord does not dispute the amount that is owed) may be concluded within a few weeks, whereas some more complicated types of claim might take 26 weeks or more to proceed through the Housing disrepair pre-action protocol or later Court process case management and formal Hearing stage.
10.2 At times during the claim process you may feel that things have slowed down or that you would like an update of what is happening. Rental Disrepair Claims undertake to contact our valued clients regularly and in any event in accordance with our standard update times set out in these terms.
11. MONEY PAID TO US
11.1 All compensation claimed is paid directly to us from the Defendant in accordance with your Claimant services contract instruction. We are happy to receive payment by way of Bankers Draft or cheque drawn on, or direct transfer from a personal or business bank account with any of the major UK Banks or Building Societies.
11.2 However, we reserve the right not to treat the money as received by us until our Bank confirms the sum as cleared funds. We are not obliged to take any steps to speed up the normal bank clearing process.
12. TAX ADVICE
12.1 Please note that, we specialise in Housing disrepair and are not tax law specialists. We instructed by you to litigate your Housing disrepair claim to recover compensation legally claimable in accordance with established settled legal principles.
12.2 In dealing with any aspect of your claim, we shall not consider the tax implications of the claim or litigation, Case management or settlement advice that is being given.
12.3 If you are concerned specifically about matters of taxation, you should refer to an appropriate external expert to obtain that advice. We are not able to recommend or draw your attention to any specific service provider or point of contact for this purpose, but make the common sense suggestion that you only use established reputable authorised regulated professional services after undertaking your own reasonable diligent enquiries in this regard.
13. PAPERS AND DOCUMENTS
13.1 We ask you to provide all evidence and information for your claim to us in electronic format.
13.2 We will usually transfer all paper copies of documents or evidence or hard file information you send onto secure digital medium storage as soon as we receive it. We will undertake reasonable common sense assessment of the evidence and paperwork you provide with a view to considering whether it is of the quality or type that a client may prefer or require to be returned. You must not assume that we will return any document or paperwork or other item to you after you send it to us, although we will do so where we identify it as requiring such action.
13.3 If you require us to return certain important documents or paperwork you must make that clear to us in sending or providing them to us.
13.4 In accordance with our data retention policy, we will not retain hard file paper copies of documents or evidence following the final day of the ending or conclusion of the matter we have advised or have ceased to act in representing you on.
13.5 We will transfer any hard copy evidence, paperwork, files or other physical evidence to secure digital archive copy storage at the conclusion of your claim, or close to that time, and we act for you on the understanding that we have your authority to destroy any papers, documents or other evidence at the end of your claim or conclusion of us dealing with your matter which shall also represent the end of any hard copy paperwork storage period.
13.6 We shall assume that you have no objection to us storing documents in an electronic format (which will usually include the destruction of the original documents themselves).
13.7 Where clients indicate that they specifically do not want us to store documents, paperwork or evidence electronically, this may prevent us from dealing efficiently with your claim and cause a significant delay to the claim process.
13.8 For clients requiring the return of paperwork we have scanned and filed as part of their claim, we reserve the right to forward the papers we hold to the last address we hold for you whereupon our responsibility for those papers will cease.
14. DATA PROTECTION
14.1 We use the information you provide solely for the provision of legal services to you and for closely related purposes including updating and enhancing client records; analysis to help us manage our business; statutory returns; and legal & regulatory compliance. We do not share or use your data for marketing purposes or share with any other third party for any purpose other than as strictly necessary for managing your Housing Disrepair claim.
14.2 Our use of that information is subject to your instructions and our compliance obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998 and 2018 as amended, and GDPR compliance. Please note that our work for you may require us to share information to third parties e.g. other professional advisors.
15. COMPLAINTS OR CONCERNS
15.1 Please ask for our complaint process policy if you require further information regarding a complaint or concern.
15.2 A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction, whether justified or not, about any aspect of your Disrepair Claim. Our objective is to provide a high standard of service to you at all times. However we recognise that things can go wrong occasionally and if this occurs we are committed to resolving matters promptly and fairly.
Rental Disrepair Claims views complaints as an opportunity to learn and improve for the future, as well as a chance to put things right for the person or organisation that has made the complaint.
15.3 If you do have any concerns there are a number of ways which you can choose to raise your concerns. You may prefer to write by letter of email to discuss these. Written complaints may be sent to Rental Disrepair Claims’s office Address: Saracens House, 25 St Margarets Green, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP4 2BN E-mail: complaints@rentaldisrepairclaim.co.uk Complaints may also be made by phone to 01473 561010 or in person to any of Rental Disrepair Claims’s staff at the above office address. We will record and open a file for your complaint. We will send acknowledgement of your complaint within 5 days and let you know the name of the person who will be dealing with your complaint.
15.4 We will then start to investigate your complaint. This will normally involve the appointed officer examining the matter and the information in your file. If necessary, the investigator may also need to speak to you to gain further information. The investigating officer will then report to you and hopefully have the complaint resolved.
15.5 Within four weeks of receiving a complaint, we will send you either:
· A final response which adequately addresses the complaint; or
· A holding response, which explains why we are not yet in a position to resolve the complaint and indicates when we will make further contact with you.
15.6 Within eight weeks of receiving a complaint we will send you either:
· A final response which adequately addresses the complaint; or
· A response which:
(i) explains why we are still not in a position to make a final response, giving reasons for the further delay and indicating when we expect to be able to provide a final response; and
(ii) informs you that you may refer the handling of the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman if you are dissatisfied with the delay.
15.7 At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, we will then arrange to review our decision. This review will happen by asking another person independent of the Company to review the decision within 10 days.
15.8 We will let you know the result of this review within 5 days of the end of the review. At this time we will write to you confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
15.9 Where we decide that redress is appropriate, we will provide you with fair compensation for any acts or omissions for which we are responsible and will comply with any offer of redress which you accept. Appropriate redress will not always involve financial redress.
15.10 If you are not satisfied with our response, or if a complaint is not resolved after eight weeks, you may refer the complaint to:–
Claims Management Ombudsman Service
Exchange Tower,
Harbour Exchange Square,
Isle of Dogs,
London
E14 9SR
Alternatively, you may contact the Legal Ombudsman by the following methods:
Make a complaint online by visiting the website at the following address:
https://cmc.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/complain and completing the online complaint form.
Email: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk
Telephone: 0800 023 4567
You can ask the Claims Management Ombudsman Service to look at your complaint if:
You should refer your complaint to the Claims Management Ombudsman within six months of Rental Disrepair Claims’s final response
If your complaint does not meet these time limits the Claims Management Ombudsman may not be able to investigate it.
16. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
16.1 There are strict time limits involved in bringing your claim to an Housing disrepair protocol or Court process. When considering using the different advice agencies mentioned below, please be aware that you will need to ensure your Housing disrepair protocol or Court process claim is submitted before the relevant deadline in your case. However, Rental Disrepair Claims must make you aware of the following information;
16.2 Other services exist which can provide you with Support and Guidance. Rental Disrepair Claims are not the only available avenue in resolving your Housing disrepair dispute. There may be dispute resolution services provided by public bodies, Housing associations or other agencies who can try and help you reach agreement with your Landlord or agent about your Housing disrepair complaint. Some formal bodies provide free impartial advice on good Housing disrepair practice, and support claimants in finding solutions when relationships go wrong. Further information is provided in your Pre-Contract Information Rental Disrepair Claims advice sheet.
16.3 However, some services cannot offer to make a claim on your behalf and may not be able to prepare your claim for you or make representations to the Housing disrepair pre-action protocol or formal submissions in preparation for the formal Court process.
16.4 They will also not be able to advise you on the amount of compensation you should be seeking, or represent you in any Housing disrepair protocol or Court process hearing or preliminary hearing or formal submission.
16.5 If you have paid for legal expenses insurance you should call your provider who may be able to offer some free advice. You should also consider whether you may be able to receive some free initial advice through charitable organisations..
17. FURTHER HELP
17.1 If there is anything contained within these terms of engagement or your claimant service contract which you do not understand or would like clarified further, please contact us using the office number (01473 56 10 10) or by email (enquiries@rentaldisrepairclaim.co.uk) and we will be happy to clarify this information for you.
Key summary points in the Claimant agreement
We draw your attention to key points about your Claimant contract litigation agreement with us. This is a super summary of key points. It is for very broad guidance only of some of the important bits, so please do read the full agreement before signing. In summary though;
You are covered under your NWNF agreement provided you continue to abide by the terms of your agreement. This means you might have to pay hourly costs for Litigation representation time if you change your mind half way through your Case and decide you don’t want to carry on with it. Cases can run from 50, to 100 hours + work, which is a lot of time to lose if a Claimant withdraws co-operation or loses interest in running their claim, for an impermissible reason.
You have to be honest about what’s happened. We know how bad Housing disrepair / Landlords can be, and don’t mind whatever has happened as long as know we can always work to argue the best Case possible. If a client has lied then this can ruin the whole case and all our time is lost (please don’t worry about this clause, it does not mean general or even medium sized details that everyone can forget or get wrong from time to time (no issues at all with that), this only means large points which are deliberately false).
You have to follow our assessment of your Case value. Judges follow Judicial guidelines for Case compensation and damages sums. We follow the same guidelines and assess chances of success based only on evidence, not on how much we like our clients. We want the highest sum we can get for you (apart from anything else this would mean higher commission for us, although we are obligated anyway to do our best for you, and will do so).
However, most Cases are of only modest value, and it is important to be realistic about the level of damages that you can claim.
The value you of your case will be discussed with you and will depend on the evidence available to demonstrate the financial losses and value of damages in your specific claim.
Our commitment is to competently value your Case based on your evidence (which affects success or failure chances), legal value achievable and case law guidelines of claimable sums. We will advise you of the value, but we must assure all clients that we will obtain the best compensation we can.
We ask all clients to ensure you are running your Case to claim compensation and not to punish the Defendant. They have not treated you well, but the only thing we can do is get a financial apology, not a punishment.
You can’t offset money you owe to the Defendant. For example, if you owe rent of £1,000 and we achieve £3,000 in compensation for you by settlement, then the amount to be considered for commission would be the entire sum of compensation of £3,000, and not the reduced sum received. Information about the commission fee we charge for managing your claim if it is successful, is available by following this link here.
Sometimes evidence turns up later which changes the merits of a claim and means the case has changed in success chances. If that happens, we may not be able to continue to represent a client. Provided our client was not dishonest by concealing the evidence, then the client would not owe us sums if we had to withdraw the case (we don’t charge in those circumstances) or, if the client wanted to continue by representing themselves. We would be disappointed also, but we wouldn’t be able to carry on representing though with those new unwinnable circumstances, even though the Claimant might want us to.
Clients have to keep in touch and keep communicating with us about the Case to answer questions and feedback on the evidence and documents we obtain through disclosure etc. If you move address you have to let us know also, so we don’t send important sensitive legal documents to the wrong place or lose touch with you for that reason.
Lastly, if you have questions on your Claimant contract clauses please check with us so we can clarify the meaning or effect of the part of the agreement. If parts of the agreement are unclear then we will always do our best to put clients minds at ease.
We want to do our best for all our valued clients, and also have to balance this with ensuring we get paid for the work we do on cases. For this reason, the claimant agreement terms are written as they are, but we assure you they are not intended to ‘catch clients out’, or apply hidden charges. 99.9% of clients only ever pay the NWNF commission fee for their case value. It is extremely rare that clients misrepresent their claim to us, or withdraw near the end after we have worked for 100 hours on their case towards achieving settlement. However, we are doing a lot of work and covering staff costs and overheads so must make sure we are paid in those rare circumstances where that happens.