Bromptons’ Price Transparency information is designed to provide you with an indication of the likely costs we charge for a typical case without compromising on quality at the right price. A more detailed discussion relating to your specific matters would still be expected to occur at the point of engagement.
Please see below for details related to our fees for Residential Conveyancing, Probate and Debt Collection.
Residential Conveyancing
Our Conveyancing services in relation to individuals are:
(a) The conveyance of residential real property or real estate which comprise:
(i) freehold or leasehold sales or purchases; or
(ii) mortgages or re-mortgages.
Our fee covers all the work required to complete the purchase, or sale or mortgage or re-mortgage of the property, including dealing with registration at the Land Registry and dealing with payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax.
The Conveyancing transactions with which we deal are usually complex and high value and for this reason we do not have a standard fee.
Our minimum fee for a simple purchase with no mortgage financing is £2,500.00 – £3,000.00. The following factors would influence the fee, but this list is not exhaustive:
• leasehold or freehold
• newly built or off-plan or existing property
• value
• timescale and urgency
• mortgage financing
• title defects
• conditionality in contract
• lease extension
• declaration of trust.
• listed building
• tax or structuring advice
• unregistered land
Our average fee for a leasehold purchase of approximately £2 million with mortgage (where we act for the lender also) is £3,500.00 – £4,500.00.
All above fees are exclusive of VAT which charged at 20% and disbursements.
Disbursements
Disbursements are costs related to your transaction that are payable to third parties, such as property search fees, HM Land Registry fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. Approximate costs for the standard disbursements are set out below:
• Search fees: approximately £450.00 plus VAT
• Land Registry fee: £95.00 – £910.00
• Bank transfer fee: £15.00 – £30.00
• Notice of charge/transfer (leasehold only): Usually £50.00 – £100.00 plus VAT
We do not charge or pay referral fees.
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)
This depends on the purchase price of your property. You can calculate the amount you will need to pay by using HMRC’s website or if the property is located in Wales by using the Welsh Revenue Authority’s website. We will assist you in the calculation of your SDLT.
Timing/urgency
The length of time between your offer being accepted and legal completion depends on a number of factors. If your purchase is urgent, it can be done within a week or two. Usually the purchase or sale of a property can take up to two months, sometimes longer. The average time is four to eight weeks.
Transaction outline
The precise stages involved in the purchase of a residential leasehold property vary according to the circumstances. The key stages are for us to:
• to formally identify you in a face-to-face meeting and from your passport, photocard driving licence or national identity card or a UK Residence Permit card, your National Insurance Number or HM Revenue & Customs Unique Tax Reference number, your two recently paid utility bills, recent bank statements, and any other information we may require.
• carry out the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations checks as required by law including an electronic database search
• where appropriate, a sanctions search with the UK Government in compliance with the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018
• take your instructions and give you initial advice
• send you our formal Client Engagement Letter and Terms of Business setting out our fees and disbursements for your signature, dating and return.
• check finances are in place to fund purchase and contact lender’s solicitors if they instruct they instruct their own panel solicitor
• receive and advise on contract, the property information forms, the transfer deed (TR1) and any other relevant documents
• carry out property searches, company searches, bankruptcy searches, HM Land Registry priority search prior to completion
• obtain further planning documentation if required
• raise any necessary additional enquiries of seller’s solicitor/conveyancer
• give you advice on all documents and information received
• go through conditions of mortgage offer
• check the final contract to you for signature
• agree completion date (date from which you own the property)
• discuss buildings insurance requirements of your lender
• submit a full written report on title to the property to you for your perusal and consideration with all supporting documents referred to
• exchange contracts and notify you that this has happened
• draft the transfer and arrange for your signature on the lender’s mortgage deed, any Licence to Assign or Deed of Covenant or any other completion documents
• advise you on joint ownership (tenancy-in-common or joint tenancy).
• carry out pre-completion searches
• arrange for all monies needed to be received from you and your lender
• complete purchase
• submit your online Stamp Duty Land Tax return
• pay the Stamp Duty Land Tax to HM Revenue & Customs
• submit your application for registration of title and the lender’s legal mortgage deed at HM Land Registry.
• Serve a notice of transfer/assignment and charge on the landlord/managing agents if the property is leasehold
• Send you and your lender official copies of your title to the property on completion of registration along with any title deeds and documents as per our mortgage instructions.
• deliver out VAT invoice and provide you with our financial statement to give you a final account of the monies received and disbursed in the course of your transaction.
Supplementary advice from fellow professionals such as Chartered Accountants, Specialist Tax Advisers or Financial Planners
We regularly work closely with carefully selected accountants, specialist tax advisers and/or financial planners because so much of what solicitors do for clients requires supplementary advice from fellow professionals. We can suggest the names of such expert professionals as may be necessary or relevant to your matter. They would charge for such advice.
Probate (Uncontested)
Probate is dealing with the financial affairs of someone who has died. Everything (money, property and possessions) owned by a person who has died is known as their estate.
Your probate legal costs/fees will depend on whether the deceased made a will or not whether your matter is relatively straightforward or complex. Please see the example of our costs/fees below.
Intestacy occurs where a person dies without leaving a valid will and is said to die ‘intestate’, as opposed to ‘testate’ if there is a will. The intestacy rules in England & Wales also apply where a person leaves a valid will but it does not distribute all their estate. This can happen for various reasons, for example, where all named beneficiaries have died. This is a ‘partial intestacy’ and can be an unexpected outcome. To avoid this situation, the person making the will, the ‘testator’, should always include substitute ‘beneficiaries’ (the people who benefit from an estate).
Obtaining a grant of representation and dealing with the administration of an estate can be complicated. It can take several months to make sure everything is done properly. Bromptons offer a complete estate administration service to deal with everything for you.
The estate may be made up of money, both cash and money in a bank or building society account, stocks and shares, ISASs, National Savings Bonds, pension, property and possessions. This could include money paid out on a life insurance policy. This could also include a debt due or a money claim or compensation or damages or anything which has a monetary value which is due to the deceased.
Every estate is different, which is why we encourage you to contact us so we can provide you with an estimate outlining a range of potential fees to make sure that you get the right amount of support to meet your individual circumstances. We will update you regularly on your costs throughout the matter so you can stay in control throughout.
The scope of the work
The scope of the chargeable work we will undertake on behalf of the Executors, or the Personal Representatives and/or the Beneficiaries
We will do the following:
- advise you in connection with obtaining the appropriate grant of representation to the estate;
- advise you in connection with the administration of the estate; including the legal, taxation and administrative matters.
We will not do the following:
- provide any advice in relation to foreign assets, however, we are able to co-ordinate advice with professional advisers in other jurisdictions in relation to assets held abroad but only to the extent specifically agreed in writing between us (which may incur additional legal costs/fees and disbursements*);
- provide advice in relation to dealing with actual claims (if any) made against the estate, or contentious matters in dealing with the administration of the estate – these would be a separate matter, however we are able to co-ordinate with other professional advisers on how this impacts the administration of the estate but only to the extent specifically agreed in writing between us (which may incur additional legal costs/fees and disbursements*).
The following is an example of our costs
The price information below is a general indication of costs based on our experience. We estimate a fixed fee cost is likely to range between £3,500.00 and £4,500.00 plus VAT at 20% and disbursements* for a straightforward grant of probate and administration of an estate, for estates in England and Wales, where:
- there is no more than one property in the sole name of the deceased
- there are no more than three bank accounts
- there are no debts (other than utility bills)
- there is a valid will appointing executors
- there is a single beneficiary
- there are no complications
*Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties.
| Item | Amount | VAT |
| Probate fee* | £155.00 | none |
| Office copies for the grant of probate (per copy) | £0.50 | none |
| Post in the local newspaper | £185.00 | none |
| Post in the London Gazette | £62.15 | none |
*Please note that the government has issued proposals to make probate fees more expensive. Under proposals published on 08/07/2021, fees to apply for a grant of probate will increase from £155.00 and £215.00 – for probate professionals and individuals respectively – to a flat fee of £273.00 for all applicants, regardless of the size of the estate.
Please contact us so that we can provide you with an individual quote based on your specific circumstances. This is particularly so if the estate of the deceased is complex or the matter is contentious.
The following factors are likely to increase the cost of your matter:
- not having all of the paperwork available, or having missing or incorrect information that needs investigation and correction
- third parties not responding to our communications promptly
- dealing with unusual or complex assets or items (for example: fine art; timeshares; shares in private companies, pursuing a claim to recover a monetary debt or other assets, etc.)
If and when any complications arise we will inform you and discuss these with you and agree the fee for any additional work being carried out in advance of any additional work being undertaken.
Supplementary advice from fellow professionals such as Chartered Accountants, Specialist Tax Advisers or Financial Planners
We regularly work closely with carefully selected accountants, specialist tax advisers and/or financial planners because so much of what solicitors do for clients requires supplementary advice from fellow professionals. We can suggest the names of such expert professionals as may be necessary or relevant to your matter. They would charge for such advice.
Debt Collection (Up To £100,000.00) for Businesses
We will charge fees as set out below for low value commercial debt recovery (i.e., business to business) work in relation to claims up to the value of £100,000.00 against debtors located within England and Wales.
If your claim exceeds £100,000.00, we will provide a written fee estimate on request.
Your legal costs will depend on whether your matter involves an undisputed debt claim because there are no factual or legal issues and the debt due is a matter of fact and law or where there is a dispute that the debt is due.
We cannot accurately estimate the costs involved in pursuing a disputed debt claim to conclusion at the outset because this depends on the particular facts of your case and how the debtor will respond to a formal demand of payment from us. Factors such as the available documents and the evidence in support of your claim or which the debtor will produce to dispute your claim, whether you will have to issue a claim in court, how long any negotiations will take. We will provide phased fee estimates for cases where the debt is disputed where we cannot sensibly provide an overall fee estimate which will be based on the time we spend on your matter.
We are better able to provide an overall fee estimate in relation to cases involving undisputed debt claims. The costs below are the average costs where the claim is for unpaid debts or invoices which are not disputed and enforcement action is not needed. We will provide you with a more accurate estimate when you formally instruct us. The anticipated costs for your particular case will depend, amongst other things:
- on the complexity and volume of documentation to review and the seniority of the solicitor or associate handling the matter; and
- if the other party disputes your claim at any point, we will discuss the further work required and have a further discussion with you about the costs to be incurred (based on the circumstances of your case and the work anticipated to be required) and we will provide you with further estimates as described above.
We can pursue your undisputed debt claim in one of two ways:
- Issuing a debt claim at Court and seeking summary judgment or (if the debtor fails to respond to the claim) applying for a judgment at the first opportunity in default of the Defendant’s failure to file either an Acknowledgement of Service giving their intention to contest your claim or in default of filing their serving Defence; and
- Serving a statutory demand and if the debt is still not paid within 21 days, issuing a winding-up petition if the debtor is a company or a petition for bankruptcy if the debtor is an individual in the bankruptcy Court. We will send a formal letter before claim or pre-action letter to the debtor.
We will agree an initial fee with you for reviewing all the documents and correspondence provided by you and writing an initial letter before action, demanding payment of the debt on your behalf. Depending on the amount of documentation which you provide and the complexity of the case, our fee is likely to be in the region of £2,500.00 to £4,500.00 (plus VAT and disbursements).
Issuing a court claim
If payment is not forthcoming, you may then wish to proceed with issuing Court proceedings to recover the debt. This will involve drafting a Claim Form and Particulars of Claim and, in straightforward undisputed debt claims, we would anticipate our fee for preparing this documentation will be in the region of £2,500.00 – £5,000.00 (plus VAT and disbursements).
There is a Court fee for issuing a claim, depending on the value of the value of the claim (and whether the claim is issued on paper (as is our usual practice) or if it is suitable to issue online (via Money Claims Online, “MCOL”).
It may also be that we need to involve Counsel (i.e., a barrister) in preparing the Court documentation (the Claim Form and/or the Particulars of Claim).
Further details of the Court fees and Counsel’s fees are set out below in the Disbursements section.
A Defendant (the debtor) will have 14 days from receipt of the Claim Form and/or Particulars of Claim in which to respond by filing an Acknowledgement of Service or a Defence.
Default judgment
If the Defendant does not respond in time, you can request judgment for the claim debt in default.
If an Acknowledgement of Service is filed within 14 days of service of the Claim Form, the Defendant then has a further 14 days to file a Defence to the claim. If the Defendant then fails to file a Defence, you can also request that judgment can be entered in default.
Our average range of fees for: (i) applying to the Court to enter judgment in default against the debtor (where no Acknowledgment of Service or Defence is received); (ii) when judgement in default is received, writing to the other side to request payment; and (iii) if payment is not received within 14 days, providing you with advice on next steps and likely costs, are likely to be £2,000.00 to £4,000.00 (plus VAT).
Summary judgment
Even if the debtor does file an Acknowledgment of Service and/or Defence, the court may give summary judgment against a claimant on the whole of a claim, or on the whole of a defendant’s counterclaim, or on a particular issue if it considers that –
(i) that claimant has no real prospect of succeeding on the claim or issue; or
(ii) that defendant has no real prospect of successfully defending the claim or issue; and
(b) there is no other compelling reason why the case or issue should be disposed of at a trial.
This would involve your issuing a formal Application Notice supported by written evidence by way of a witness statement and any exhibits and attending the Court for a hearing, for which we would instruct a junior Barrister. Our estimated average costs for: (i) preparing the application; (ii) instructing the Barrister; and (iii) attending a hearing of 1 hour are likely to be £3,000.00 – £5,000.00 plus VAT. In addition, there would be Barrister’s fees, of which we will obtain an estimate for you in advance.
General
Anyone wishing to proceed with a claim should note that:
- Interest and compensation may take the debt into a higher value banding, with a higher cost.
- The costs quoted above are not for matters where enforcement action, such as a bailiff, is needed to collect your debt.
Statutory demands, winding-up petitions and bankruptcy petitions
Rather than issue Court proceedings, for an undisputed debt, often the most time and cost-effective step may be to serve a statutory demand on the debtor company or sole trader (providing the debt is over £750.00 where the debtor is a company, or over £5,000.00 where it is an individual/sole trader).
Depending on the circumstances, this can be served on the debtor either before or after a letter before action.
A statutory demand is not in itself a court process but is a formal demand for payment which must be taken seriously and can be used as a precursor to insolvency-based proceedings, such as a winding up petition against a company or bankruptcy proceedings against an individual/sole trader (see below).
It provides a period of 21 days after service for payment of the debt.
A statutory demand should only be used in circumstances in which it is entirely clear that the underlying debt is genuinely undisputed; for example, if the debt is admitted or if there is a judgment for it.
Our average range of costs for preparing a statutory demand are £1,200.00 – £2,500.00 (plus VAT and disbursements).
Winding-up proceedings
For a debtor company, if payment is not forthcoming after service of the statutory demand within the specified 21-day period and provided the debt is not subject to a genuine dispute or can be extinguished by a valid counterclaim by the debtor, it may be appropriate to present a winding-up petition against the company owing the debt. Winding-up petitions can also be used where the debt is based on a Court judgment which has not been set aside or appealed.
Our average range of costs for preparing, presenting, and serving a winding up petition are £2,500.00 – £4,500.00 (plus VAT and disbursements).
Once the petition has been presented, there are a series of prescribed steps to be taken (including, for example, formally advertising the presentation of the petition) and there will be a Court hearing.
If the petition is successful, the Court will issue a winding-up order at this hearing. Our average range of costs for taking such steps and preparing for that hearing (including instructing a junior Barrister to appear at the hearing) are £2,500.00 – £4,500.00 (plus VAT and disbursements).
Thereafter, the Court will put an Official Receiver in charge of the liquidation. They will start the process of gathering in and liquidating the company’s assets so that the proceeds can be used to pay the company’s debts. Other creditors can register their claims to money they are owed by the debtor company; accordingly, the level of realisation and repayment received from the liquidation process is often uncertain. If the winding up petition is disputed, we will provide further estimates for our costs for dealing with the matter.
Bankruptcy proceedings
If you have obtained a Court judgment that has not been set aside or appealed, or if a statutory demand has been validly served and not set aside, a bankruptcy petition can be presented against an individual or sole trader debtor.
Our average range of costs for preparing, presenting and serving a bankruptcy petition are £2,500.00 to £4,500.00 (plus VAT and disbursements). The procedure following presentation of a bankruptcy petition is similar to those to be taken after presentation of a Winding-Up petition and our range of costs for carrying out that work will be of the same order.
Disbursements
Please see below a non-exhaustive list of the disbursements you may need to pay:
Process server fees
We will usually instruct a process server to serve the statutory demand.
Likewise, a process server may be used to serve the Claim Form and Particulars of Claim and/or a Winding-up or bankruptcy petition.
Typically, and on each occasion, process server’s fees will be in the region of £100.00 – £300.00 plus VAT.
Court issue fees (no VAT is charged)
Counsel’s fees
Depending on the value of the debt (and whether it is disputed or not), we may wish to instruct Counsel (i.e. a Barrister) on your behalf (and with your approval) to assist with tasks such as drafting
Court documents and conducting advocacy in the courtroom.
Counsel’s fees vary. However, we will always seek to ensure that Counsel’s fees are commensurate with the value you are seeking to recover, and we will obtain fee quotations in advance on your behalf.
Please note, VAT would be payable on Counsel’s fees.
Insolvency proceedings fees
Winding-up petition: To commence insolvency proceedings against a debtor company by issuing a winding up petition, the following fees will apply:
- Court fee £280.00
- Official Receiver’s deposit* £1,600.00
*If the debtor pays the debt and the petition is withdrawn or dismissed, the Insolvency Service should provide a refund of £1,550.00 for this fee after a period of time.
Bankruptcy petition: To commence insolvency proceedings against an individual / sole trader debtor by issuing a bankruptcy petition, the following fees will apply:
- Court fee £280.00
- Official Receiver’s deposit* £990.00
*If the debtor pays the debt and the petition is withdrawn or dismissed, the Insolvency Service should provide a refund of £940.00 for this fee after a period of time.
Anticipated timescales
The period of time from receipt of instructions from you to receipt of payment from the other side depends on whether it is necessary to issue a claim and whether the other side pays promptly.
However, typical durations might be as follows:
- 1 month to 6 weeks if a letter before action is sent and the debtor makes payment shortly after receipt of this (including our time for taking instructions and drafting the letter before action).
- 3 to 6 months to obtain a judgment in your favour (through issuing and serving a claim, and subsequently applying for summary judgment/default judgment).
- If you opt to pursue the insolvency proceedings route following service of a statutory demand, it will typically take 3 to 4 months to obtain an order that the debtor company be wound up or the individual / sole trader debtor be made bankrupt.
Enforcement action
If you obtain a judgment in your favour after commencing Court proceedings, the judgment debtor will then have a short period (usually 14 days) within which to pay the debt. If they do not do so, you would be entitled to take enforcement action (e.g., through taking control of the debtor’s goods, applying for a charging order over the debtor’s assets, or applying for an attachment of earnings order).
If enforcement action is needed, further substantive work will be required (most likely, including applications to the Court) and the matter will take longer to resolve, resulting in increased costs (in respect of both our fees and further disbursements, including Court fees for any hearings and/or enforcement action). In these circumstances, wherever possible, we will provide you with further estimates of our fees and any anticipated disbursements.