NEO REFUND LIMITED
Terms and conditions
1. General
These terms set out the basis upon which our services will be provided and is to be read in conjunction with our Engagement Letter.
2. Neo Refund Ltd
2.1 Neo Refund Ltd is constituted as a Limited company and is registered in England and Wales with Company Number 11325165
Registered Office: Neo Refund Ltd, 3 Hardman Street, Manchester, M3 3HF;
a) Phone Number: +1 987 654 321 ;
b) Email: info@neorefund.com;
c) Web Site: www.neorefund.com;
2.2 Value Added Tax (‘VAT’) number: 4553228921
2.3 Authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority 8000729
2.4 A list of Directors is available for inspection at Companies House.
3. People responsible for your work
3.1 We set out in the Engagement Letter the procedure of notifying you of the name of the person who will have day to day responsibility for dealing with you in that matter. In addition, the Engagement Letter will also set out any other members of staff who will assist, support or supervise the person who has day to day responsibility.
3.2 We will endeavour to avoid changing the people who handle this matter but if this cannot be avoided then we reserve the right to appoint other people suitably qualified to deal with the matter on your behalf however we will give you notice.
3.3 The Engagement Letter will set out the person who has ultimate responsibility for the work done within the department which is handling your matter.
4. The work to be undertaken
4.1 The Engagement Letter includes a summary of your instructions and gives details of the work which we will undertake on your behalf. We shall not be responsible for any failure to advise or comment or undertake work on matters which fall outside the scope of this summary and we will not undertake work outside the details we give unless we agree in writing.
4.2 We do not give any tax advice unless we make specific reference in our Engagement Letter.
5. Service standards
5.1 We will update you by telephone or email with progress on your matter regularly, – the Law Society believes this should occur at least every six weeks, unless agreed to the contrary.
5.2 We will communicate with you in plain language.
5.3 We will explain to you by telephone or email the legal work required as your matter progresses.
5.4 We will update you on the cost of your matter, at the relevant stages of your case.
5.5 Subject to our DBA, we will update you on whether the likely outcome still justify the likely costs and risks associated with your matter whenever there is a material change in circumstances.
5.6 We will update you on the likely timescales for each stage of this matter and any important changes in those estimates.
5.7 In any matter concerning litigation we will continue where appropriate to review whether there are alternative methods by which your matter can be funded.
6. Charges and expenses
6.1 Unless our charges are fixed by our DBA, they will be calculated mainly by reference to the time actually spent by the person dealing with this matter and any work which they do on your behalf. This to include meetings with you and other people on the matter as well as reading and working on papers, correspondence, including emails, and time spent travelling away from the office when this is necessary. From time to time we may arrange for work to be undertaken by a third party who is not directly employed by us. Such work will be charged to you at such rate as will be notified.
6.2 Time is recorded in units of 1/10th of an hour. We set out in the Engagement Letter the hourly rates of the person dealing with this matter along with those who are providing support.
6.3 The hourly rates have to be reviewed periodically to reflect increase in overhead costs and inflation. The rates are normally reviewed with effect from the 1st January each year. If a review is carried out before this matter has been concluded, we will inform you of any variation in rate.
6.4 In addition to the time spent, we may take into account a number of factors including any need to carry out work outside office hours, the complexity of issues, the speed at which action has to be taken, any particular specialist expertise which the matter demands. In addition, charges will on occasions reflect the value of the consideration surrounding the matter and the financial benefit it may provide.
6.5 If we have provided you with an estimate of the total charges, it is given only as a guide to assist you in budgeting and should not be regarded as fixed unless otherwise confirmed in writing, as there are many factors outside of our control which may affect the level of costs incurred. We will endeavour to update you on such estimates on a regular basis. As part of this process we will inform you if any unforeseen but significant additional work becomes necessary. We will inform you, and under normal circumstances, in writing before any significant extra costs or expenses are incurred.
6.6 In appointing us to act on your behalf you are also instructing us to incur such expenses and fees which we may call as disbursements as we consider necessary. We will consult with you before incurring any significant expense and fee. VAT will be added to those expenses and fees.
6.7 Subject to our DBA, if for any reason this matter does not proceed to completion then we will be entitled to charge you for the work done and expenses incurred. Unless we state to the contrary payment of our fees is not dependent on the outcome of the instructions or any commercial success.
7. Payment arrangements
7.1 In the event our DBA does not apply we reserve the right to request payments on account of our costs and expenses.
7.2 We shall be entitled to send you interim invoices for our costs and expenses at monthly intervals, or as otherwise agreed with you, while working for you. In addition, we may also send you an invoice, or request payment on account of the charges and expenses which we expect to incur as the matter progresses. We will offset any such payment against your invoice.
7.3 Payment is due upon presentation of our invoice and becomes deemed as late the day after it is presented.
7.4 If you have any query about your invoice including the basis upon which it is calculated, you should contact the person who has day to day responsibility for the matter as soon as possible. We reserve the right to charge you interest on the amount outstanding on any invoice at the rate of 8% after the expiry of 14 days from the date of the relevant invoice. Such interest will be charged on a daily basis from the date payment became due to the date payment is received by us whether before or after judgement. In addition you will also indemnify us and be liable for any of our costs, charges, expenses and liabilities of any kind relating to any step to recover an outstanding invoice including any legal proceedings and those relating to the enforcement of any judgement.
7.5 If an invoice is overdue for payment and/or you fail to make any payment on account of our charges and expenses, we reserve the right to suspend work on all matters on which we are instructed by you and retain all documents and papers belonging to you as well as your monies held by us in our client account irrespective of the matter to which they relate until all sums due to us have been paid.
7.6 Subject to the terms of our DBA, we are entitled to keep any interest on costs recovered between the parties, unless our fees have been paid in full, in advance.
7.7 We are entitled to keep any benefits accrued under Civil Procedure Rule 36.17, where we obtain and recover benefits from any opponent in litigation pursuant to any Court Order.
8 Right to costs assessment
Under the Solicitors Act 1974 you have the right to a costs assessment of our fees. You may become liable for the costs of that assessment by Court Order.
9. Your responsibilities
9.1 If you fail to undertake your responsibilities as here set out and in the Engagement Letter then we are entitled to make additional charges. Those responsibilities are:
a) Provide us with detailed clear and timely instructions which allows us to fully advise you;
b) Respond to all our requests within a reasonable period of time;
c) Provide us with consistent instructions and information;
9.2 In addition you are to:
a) Notify us at any stage if any of the information you have provided, is false, inaccurate or misleading:
b) Advise us of any changes in your circumstances that may result in you being unable to pay our fees.
10 Outsourcing
Sometimes we ask other companies or people to do typing on our files to ensure this is done promptly. We will always seek a confidentiality agreement with these outsourced providers. If you do not want your file to be outsourced, please tell us as soon as possible.
11 Liability for charges and expenses
11.1 You are primarily responsible for paying our charges and expenses even if you or we have entered into an agreement for another party to pay or share them.
11.2 If we receive instructions in relation to a matter from more than one party, each party for whom we are acting will be jointly and severally responsible for payment of the whole of our charges and expenses.
12 Confidentiality and conflicts
12.1 All information regarding you and your business will be kept confidential at all time and not disclosed by us to any other person without your permission except as required by law. We may however make public the fact that we act on your behalf.
12.2 As part of our business arrangements it may be necessary for external assessors or insurers to periodically review our files to check that we are complying with standards and procedures and to advise us in relation to any claim that we may receive from you. Files will not be made available to such persons where the subject matter is of an unusually sensitive nature or where you specifically request.
12.3 It is our practice to check for conflicts of interest before taking on matters in appropriate cases. However, an actual or potential conflict between your interests and interests of another client of the firm may arise during the course of a matter. If this situation arises during our dealings with you, we will discuss the position with you and determine the appropriate course of action. In order to protect your interests we may not be permitted to continue to act for you and if this occurs you will still be liable for our charges and disbursements.
13. Anti-Money Laundering Regulations
13.1 To comply with the law, we need to obtain evidence of your identity as soon as possible. The evidence we request from you will depend upon the type of work we undertake for you. If you cannot provide us with the specific identification requested please contact us as soon as possible to discuss other ways of verifying your identity. In the event that we are of the opinion that we are unable to properly identify you or where we are not satisfied over any source of funds we will cease to act and will charge you for any work undertaken to that point. As part of our charges we are entitled to charge you for the work we do in identifying you, identifying source of funds and “getting to know our client” to comply with our legal obligations.
13.2 In any transaction we require you at the outset of your instructions to provide us with details of your bank account from where payment will be made and which we will need to verify. We will charge for this and will not proceed with any transaction where we are unable to verify such bank details and we will not be liable for any losses arising therefrom. We will also not be liable for any delay in providing such details or should you change your bank account.
13.3 It is our policy not to accept cash from clients. If in the event you circumvent this policy by depositing cash direct with our banks we reserve the right to charge for any additional checks or work we deem necessary regarding the source of the funds.
13.4 Solicitors are under a professional and legal obligation to keep the affairs of the client confidential. This obligation, however, is subject to a statutory exception: recent legislation on money laundering and terrorist financing has placed Solicitors under a legal duty in certain circumstances to disclose information to certain agencies. Where a solicitor knows or suspects that a transaction on behalf of a client involves money laundering, the Solicitors may be required to make a money laundering disclosure. If, while we are acting for you, it becomes necessary to make a money laundering disclosure, we may not be able to inform you that a disclosure has been made or the reasons for it. Where the law permits us to do, we will tell you about any potential money laundering problem and explain what action we may need to take. We will also charge for any work that is necessary for us to comply with any anti-money laundering regulations.
14. Data Protection (GDPR)
14.1 By agreeing to engage us under the terms of the attached Engagement Letter, you consent to our using your personal data in certain defined ways. We intend to process data for the following purposes:
a) To enable us to supply professional services to you as our client.
b) To fulfil our obligations under relevant laws in force from time to time (e.g. the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 or HMRC regulations).
c) To comply with professional obligations to which we are subject as a member of the Law Society and under the Solicitors Regulatory Authority.
d) To use in the investigation and/or defence of potential complaints, disciplinary proceedings and legal proceedings.
e) To enable us to invoice you for our services and investigate/address any disputes that may have arisen.
d) To contact you about other services we provide which may be of interest to you if you have consented to us doing so.
e) To obtain any accreditation necessary for the services we NEO REFUND LIMITED
Terms and conditions
1. General
These terms set out the basis upon which our services will be provided and is to be read in conjunction with our Engagement Letter.
2. Neo Refund Ltd
2.1 Neo Refund Ltd is constituted as a Limited company and is registered in England and Wales with Company Number 11325165
Registered Office: Neo Refund Ltd, 3 Hardman Street, Manchester, M3 3HF;
a) Phone Number: +1 987 654 321 ;
b) Email: info@neorefund.com;
c) Web Site: www.neorefund.com;
2.2 Value Added Tax (‘VAT’) number: 4553228921
2.3 Authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority 8000729
2.4 A list of Directors is available for inspection at Companies House.
3. People responsible for your work
3.1 We set out in the Engagement Letter the procedure of notifying you of the name of the person who will have day to day responsibility for dealing with you in that matter. In addition, the Engagement Letter will also set out any other members of staff who will assist, support or supervise the person who has day to day responsibility.
3.2 We will endeavour to avoid changing the people who handle this matter but if this cannot be avoided then we reserve the right to appoint other people suitably qualified to deal with the matter on your behalf however we will give you notice.
3.3 The Engagement Letter will set out the person who has ultimate responsibility for the work done within the department which is handling your matter.
4. The work to be undertaken
4.1 The Engagement Letter includes a summary of your instructions and gives details of the work which we will undertake on your behalf. We shall not be responsible for any failure to advise or comment or undertake work on matters which fall outside the scope of this summary and we will not undertake work outside the details we give unless we agree in writing.
4.2 We do not give any tax advice unless we make specific reference in our Engagement Letter.
5. Service standards
5.1 We will update you by telephone or email with progress on your matter regularly, – the Law Society believes this should occur at least every six weeks, unless agreed to the contrary.
5.2 We will communicate with you in plain language.
5.3 We will explain to you by telephone or email the legal work required as your matter progresses.
5.4 We will update you on the cost of your matter, at the relevant stages of your case.
5.5 Subject to our DBA, we will update you on whether the likely outcome still justify the likely costs and risks associated with your matter whenever there is a material change in circumstances.
5.6 We will update you on the likely timescales for each stage of this matter and any important changes in those estimates.
5.7 In any matter concerning litigation we will continue where appropriate to review whether there are alternative methods by which your matter can be funded.
6. Charges and expenses
6.1 Unless our charges are fixed by our DBA, they will be calculated mainly by reference to the time actually spent by the person dealing with this matter and any work which they do on your behalf. This to include meetings with you and other people on the matter as well as reading and working on papers, correspondence, including emails, and time spent travelling away from the office when this is necessary. From time to time we may arrange for work to be undertaken by a third party who is not directly employed by us. Such work will be charged to you at such rate as will be notified.
6.2 Time is recorded in units of 1/10th of an hour. We set out in the Engagement Letter the hourly rates of the person dealing with this matter along with those who are providing support.
6.3 The hourly rates have to be reviewed periodically to reflect increase in overhead costs and inflation. The rates are normally reviewed with effect from the 1st January each year. If a review is carried out before this matter has been concluded, we will inform you of any variation in rate.
6.4 In addition to the time spent, we may take into account a number of factors including any need to carry out work outside office hours, the complexity of issues, the speed at which action has to be taken, any particular specialist expertise which the matter demands. In addition, charges will on occasions reflect the value of the consideration surrounding the matter and the financial benefit it may provide.
6.5 If we have provided you with an estimate of the total charges, it is given only as a guide to assist you in budgeting and should not be regarded as fixed unless otherwise confirmed in writing, as there are many factors outside of our control which may affect the level of costs incurred. We will endeavour to update you on such estimates on a regular basis. As part of this process we will inform you if any unforeseen but significant additional work becomes necessary. We will inform you, and under normal circumstances, in writing before any significant extra costs or expenses are incurred.
6.6 In appointing us to act on your behalf you are also instructing us to incur such expenses and fees which we may call as disbursements as we consider necessary. We will consult with you before incurring any significant expense and fee. VAT will be added to those expenses and fees.
6.7 Subject to our DBA, if for any reason this matter does not proceed to completion then we will be entitled to charge you for the work done and expenses incurred. Unless we state to the contrary payment of our fees is not dependent on the outcome of the instructions or any commercial success.
7. Payment arrangements
7.1 In the event our DBA does not apply we reserve the right to request payments on account of our costs and expenses.
7.2 We shall be entitled to send you interim invoices for our costs and expenses at monthly intervals, or as otherwise agreed with you, while working for you. In addition, we may also send you an invoice, or request payment on account of the charges and expenses which we expect to incur as the matter progresses. We will offset any such payment against your invoice.
7.3 Payment is due upon presentation of our invoice and becomes deemed as late the day after it is presented.
7.4 If you have any query about your invoice including the basis upon which it is calculated, you should contact the person who has day to day responsibility for the matter as soon as possible. We reserve the right to charge you interest on the amount outstanding on any invoice at the rate of 8% after the expiry of 14 days from the date of the relevant invoice. Such interest will be charged on a daily basis from the date payment became due to the date payment is received by us whether before or after judgement. In addition you will also indemnify us and be liable for any of our costs, charges, expenses and liabilities of any kind relating to any step to recover an outstanding invoice including any legal proceedings and those relating to the enforcement of any judgement.
7.5 If an invoice is overdue for payment and/or you fail to make any payment on account of our charges and expenses, we reserve the right to suspend work on all matters on which we are instructed by you and retain all documents and papers belonging to you as well as your monies held by us in our client account irrespective of the matter to which they relate until all sums due to us have been paid.
7.6 Subject to the terms of our DBA, we are entitled to keep any interest on costs recovered between the parties, unless our fees have been paid in full, in advance.
7.7 We are entitled to keep any benefits accrued under Civil Procedure Rule 36.17, where we obtain and recover benefits from any opponent in litigation pursuant to any Court Order.
8 Right to costs assessment
Under the Solicitors Act 1974 you have the right to a costs assessment of our fees. You may become liable for the costs of that assessment by Court Order.
9. Your responsibilities
9.1 If you fail to undertake your responsibilities as here set out and in the Engagement Letter then we are entitled to make additional charges. Those responsibilities are:
a) Provide us with detailed clear and timely instructions which allows us to fully advise you;
b) Respond to all our requests within a reasonable period of time;
c) Provide us with consistent instructions and information;
9.2 In addition you are to:
a) Notify us at any stage if any of the information you have provided, is false, inaccurate or misleading:
b) Advise us of any changes in your circumstances that may result in you being unable to pay our fees.
10 Outsourcing
Sometimes we ask other companies or people to do typing on our files to ensure this is done promptly. We will always seek a confidentiality agreement with these outsourced providers. If you do not want your file to be outsourced, please tell us as soon as possible.
11 Liability for charges and expenses
11.1 You are primarily responsible for paying our charges and expenses even if you or we have entered into an agreement for another party to pay or share them.
11.2 If we receive instructions in relation to a matter from more than one party, each party for whom we are acting will be jointly and severally responsible for payment of the whole of our charges and expenses.
12 Confidentiality and conflicts
12.1 All information regarding you and your business will be kept confidential at all time and not disclosed by us to any other person without your permission except as required by law. We may however make public the fact that we act on your behalf.
12.2 As part of our business arrangements it may be necessary for external assessors or insurers to periodically review our files to check that we are complying with standards and procedures and to advise us in relation to any claim that we may receive from you. Files will not be made available to such persons where the subject matter is of an unusually sensitive nature or where you specifically request.
12.3 It is our practice to check for conflicts of interest before taking on matters in appropriate cases. However, an actual or potential conflict between your interests and interests of another client of the firm may arise during the course of a matter. If this situation arises during our dealings with you, we will discuss the position with you and determine the appropriate course of action. In order to protect your interests we may not be permitted to continue to act for you and if this occurs you will still be liable for our charges and disbursements.
13. Anti-Money Laundering Regulations
13.1 To comply with the law, we need to obtain evidence of your identity as soon as possible. The evidence we request from you will depend upon the type of work we undertake for you. If you cannot provide us with the specific identification requested please contact us as soon as possible to discuss other ways of verifying your identity. In the event that we are of the opinion that we are unable to properly identify you or where we are not satisfied over any source of funds we will cease to act and will charge you for any work undertaken to that point. As part of our charges we are entitled to charge you for the work we do in identifying you, identifying source of funds and “getting to know our client” to comply with our legal obligations.
13.2 In any transaction we require you at the outset of your instructions to provide us with details of your bank account from where payment will be made and which we will need to verify. We will charge for this and will not proceed with any transaction where we are unable to verify such bank details and we will not be liable for any losses arising therefrom. We will also not be liable for any delay in providing such details or should you change your bank account.
13.3 It is our policy not to accept cash from clients. If in the event you circumvent this policy by depositing cash direct with our banks we reserve the right to charge for any additional checks or work we deem necessary regarding the source of the funds.
13.4 Solicitors are under a professional and legal obligation to keep the affairs of the client confidential. This obligation, however, is subject to a statutory exception: recent legislation on money laundering and terrorist financing has placed Solicitors under a legal duty in certain circumstances to disclose information to certain agencies. Where a solicitor knows or suspects that a transaction on behalf of a client involves money laundering, the Solicitors may be required to make a money laundering disclosure. If, while we are acting for you, it becomes necessary to make a money laundering disclosure, we may not be able to inform you that a disclosure has been made or the reasons for it. Where the law permits us to do, we will tell you about any potential money laundering problem and explain what action we may need to take. We will also charge for any work that is necessary for us to comply with any anti-money laundering regulations.
14. Data Protection (GDPR)
14.1 By agreeing to engage us under the terms of the attached Engagement Letter, you consent to our using your personal data in certain defined ways. We intend to process data for the following purposes:
a) To enable us to supply professional services to you as our client.
b) To fulfil our obligations under relevant laws in force from time to time (e.g. the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 or HMRC regulations).
c) To comply with professional obligations to which we are subject as a member of the Law Society and under the Solicitors Regulatory Authority.
d) To use in the investigation and/or defence of potential complaints, disciplinary proceedings and legal proceedings.
e) To enable us to invoice you for our services and investigate/address any disputes that may have arisen.
d) To contact you about other services we provide which may be of interest to you if you have consented to us doing so.
e) To obtain any accreditation necessary for the services we provide.
