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Complaints and Fixed Fees 

At Vale Solicitors, transparency is at the core of our values. We believe in establishing trust with our clients through clear communication, especially when it comes to our fee structure and complaint policy. Our commitment to transparency means that our clients are fully informed about the costs associated with our services from the outset. We provide detailed explanations of our fee structure, ensuring there are no hidden surprises. Additionally, we take pride in maintaining an open and accessible complaint policy, demonstrating our dedication to addressing any concerns promptly and fairly. At Vale Solicitors, our goal is to build lasting relationships with our clients based on trust, honesty, and clarity.

Complaints Procedure

Vale Solicitors is committed to high quality legal advice and client care. If you are unhappy about any aspect of the service you have received or about the bill please contact the fee-earning solicitors in the first instance but if they am unable to resolve the matter for you then please contact Mr Michael Morgan at our Llantwit Major Office of Mr Jonathan Hewitson at our Barry Office. We have a procedure in place which details how we handle complaints, which is available from this office. If you are not satisfied with our handling of your complaint, you can ask the Legal Ombudsman at PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ to consider the complaint.


Further details for the Legal Ombudsman; Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk Tel: 0300 555 0333 Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.co.uk.


Normally, you will need to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman;
(a) Within six months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint, or;
(b) No later than six years from when the problem (act or omission) occurred, or;
(c) No later than three years from the date you should have reasonably know there were grounds for complaint. (Assuming that the act/omission complained of took place before the 6th October 2010 or was more than 6 years ago.)


Please note
For the Legal Ombudsman to deal with your complaint:
(1) The act or omission or when you, the complainant, should reasonably have known there was a cause for complaint must have been after 5th October 2010.
(2) If your complaint is specifically about our bill, you have the right to object to it and apply for an assessment of it under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974. If you should choose to exercise this right, you may be unable to use the Legal Ombudsman service.
(3) If you are complaining as a business client, you might not be able to use the Legal Ombudsman scheme and should check the guidance on their website.

Fixed Fees

1. Conveyancing Fees

In most transactions we are able to agree a fee at the outset of the transaction . Please feel free to contact us for a written costs quotation.

Here are details of our Standard Residential Conveyancing Fees :

 

Sale and Purchase – FREEHOLD PROPERTY

Note: The sale/purchase of a leasehold property may incur additional charges – there will also be additional disbursements such as notice fees and/or management/service charge fees payable. 


Fees are all quoted net of VAT which will be added at the current rate of 20%.

IMPORTANT : We DO NOT charge any extra fees for dealing with a Mortgage Lender nor for dealing with your Stamp Duty Return [see LTT below]

Prices commence from £120 + VAT  plus disbursements depending on transaction type and complexity.

Transactions may include residential/commercial conveyancing, re-mortgages, freehold reversions and notice of  severance.

Disbursements will include: Pre Contract Searches, Local Authority , Water & Environmental Searches £210.20 ( This may vary slightly depending on location of property). These searches are recommended for all purchases and are mandatory if you are receiving a mortgage loan.

The following searches are discretionary and subject to mortgage lender requirements.

Chancel Search £28.00 
Coal Mining Search £61.80

Pre Completion searches

Land Registry Official Search of Register £3.00 
Bankruptcy (LC search) £2.00 per name

Land Registry Registration Fees – based on property price.

0 – £80,000- £45.00 
£80,001- £100,000- £95.00 
£100,001 – £200,000- £230.00 
£200,000 – £500,000- £330.00 
£500,000 – £1,000,000- £655.00 
£1,000,001+-  £1,105.00

Stamp Duty Land Tax and Welsh Land Transaction Tax [LTT] 
The Welsh Land Tax Calculator can be found here :

https://gov.wales/land-transaction-tax-calculator

Stamp Duty Land Tax ( for properties in England ) can be found here 
Stamp Duty Land GTax

On sale of a property disbursements will include: OCE and Plan £6.00 (£3 each) per title, OC doc £3.00, ID Check £6.00 plus Vat per name MANDATORY FOR ALL

The conveyancing prices above include all work required to buy/sell your property provided no unforeseen problems arise i.e. a deed of easement is not required, or the title is not defective and thus an application to the Land Registry is not required to rectify or create a title. If such problems arise during the transaction, then you will be advised beforehand of the likely additional costs. 


If a Declaration of Trust is required to set out shares in the property you are buying with a co-purchaser(s) then an additional fee will be payable for the preparation of the Trust Deed. You will be advised of the cost of these additional works beforehand.

 

Probate and Administration of Estates – Fees of Vale Solicitors 
We can help you through this difficult process by obtaining the Grant of Probate or Grant of Administration. In most cases we will act for you on the basis of a fixed fee which will depend on the complexity and value of the estate. 


In all cases, we will provide an initial consultation free of charge so that we may assess how best to proceed on your behalf . It may be that the circumstances of the estate do not require Probate – if that is so we can advise you straight away . 
Our fees fall into four sections depending on the complexity and size of the estate : 
Probate Application 
Inheritance Tax Accounts 
Administration and Higher Value Estates 
Professional Executor fee 
Probate Application 


If there is a Will the application is by the named Executors for a Grant of Probate. If there is no will the application is by Administrators for a Grant of Administration of the Estate.

We offer fixed fees where the estate does not exceed the Inheritance Tax Threshold and you simply wish us to obtain the Grant so that you can then deal with the administration of the estate personally. (Currently, the threshold is £325,000 for an individual or £650.000 for the survivor of a marriage or civil partnership). 
Our fixed fee for this application is £750 plus £150 VAT. In addition, there will be a Court application fee of £273.00. ( The Court provides a single copy of the Grant but if there are a number of assets it is advisable to request additional copies at a cost of £1.50 each). 


2. Inheritance Tax Account Fees 
If the estate exceeds the Inheritance Tax threshold there may be additional allowances to Tax. Residential property relief may apply if residential property is inherited by children. This application would require additional Inland Revenue returns which we will deal with for a fixed fee of £800 plus Vat of £160. 


3. Administration and Higher Value fees 
If we are appointed as Executors in the will or instructed to deal with the Administration of the estate additional fees are payable. This is to cover work involved in the encashment of assets, payment of liabilities, and tax and distribution to beneficiaries. If an estate is taxable there will also be additional correspondence with HMRC. 


We charge an administration fee depending on the volume of work involved but typically this is between £1,250 plus VAT and £5,000 plus VAT based on hourly rate of £200+Vat. Please note that any work we are instructed to do regarding the sale or transfer of the Deceased’s property will be quoted for separately by our conveyancing department.

4. Professional Executors Fee 
Where the deceased has appointed our firm as executors in the will, we take on the personal responsibility of the executors and this is reflected in an additional value-based fee of 1% of the value of the entire estate. For estates in excess of £500,000 we charge a higher value estate fee of 1.5% of the excess over £500,000.

Call us for a written quote.

You can call our office on 01446 733191 or 01446 792535 for a quotation.

 

We will always attempt to price match with other solicitors firms within the locality. 

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Barry Office 

102 High Street, 

Barry, CF62 7DS

01446 733191

Llantwit Major Office 

1 Boverton Road, 

Llantwit Major, CF61 1XZ

01446 792535

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