Fees Transparency

There are several diverse types of quotation. The relevant type for you depends upon the method by which you have engaged with McVey & Murricane.

Arrangements regarding fees are driven by three separate and distinct scenarios.

Scenario 1: Referral by a financial institution or services provider

Many financial institutions, estate agents and brokers (for ease of reference let's call them "referrers") offer their customers and clients assistance in arranging their finance including a reference to a solicitor such as McVey and Murricane for advice as part of a package of services. This will often incorporate a fixed core legal fee. 

Because these referrers are providing, in many cases, "umbrella support" to the customers or clients, it is often the case that McVey & Murricane  will recognise that contribution by making a payment from the total fee to the referrer, acknowledging that the referrer has reduced the cost of acquiring work for the solicitor. In such cases the amount of any such fee is always detailed in our quotation.

If you fall within this category the core fee will be that which has been advised by the referrer to you as part of the "umbrella service" arrangement. You will always receive a quotation at the outset which will refer to the scope of work and our terms and conditions.

Scenario 2: Referral by a financial institution or services provider who is subsidising the cost

In certain circumstances some financial institutions will offer availability of either reduced or zero cost fees to their customers provided that the customer uses the services of the preferred solicitor of the financial institution.

In those circumstances the amount which is charged to our client will be that amount which is not covered by the financial institution. It is important to remember that these arrangements are an incentive by the financial institution to secure the business of the customer and the availability of such deals very much depends upon the state of the market.

If you fall into the category where the financial institution is paying for part of the basic service, you will be advised at the outset of the service of those costs payable by you any the circumstances where any further cost becomes due.

If you fall into the category where the financial institution is paying the basic service, you will be advised at the outset of the service of circumstances where any cost becomes due.

Scenario 3: Traditional legal instructions

The final option is the more traditional one when the client contacts McVey & Murricane directly and not through an umbrella or preferred arrangement operated by a referrer. You will always receive a quotation at the outset which will refer to the scope of work and our terms and conditions

In every case the fee structure provided by McVey & Murricane is a fixed quotation together with a scope of what is included within that fixed quotation. Importantly it also includes various areas which are not included within the fixed quotation and what happens in such circumstances.

Understandably, the public often sees the services of a solicitor in the same way as they may see a consumer item such as washing machine. That consumer item may have different costs at different locations, but the underlying product is the same.

Especially in today's exceedingly difficult world and where the whole property law system is under extreme pressure, service in respect of property related matters is not the same for each firm of solicitors.

Accordingly, the fact that one firm may be cheaper than another is not necessarily a measure of the value of the service to the consumer.

The cheaper solicitor may not be carrying out the same level of investigation or providing the same level of information to the client. That client may end up with a title in both cases but the quality of that title or the knowledge of the client may be inferior.

Accordingly, to be completely transparent, McVey & Murricane publish the scope of the work which is carried out and, in various areas, those value for money additional fees that will be incurred only where an aspect of the transaction falls outside of the scope.

Where the scope does not provide for a fixed cost for the necessary additional work, a quotation will be provided before the additional work is carried out.

This is fair. It means that if a transaction is straightforward, there are no additions to the value for money fees. However, if issues arise that are pre-determined in terms of the scope, then McVey & Murricane  will continue with that work. The client has advance knowledge of all of these matters

Fees will not be increased in respect of matters not detailed in the scope without the approval of a client. Sometimes a client may decide not to proceed further with the transaction when faced with the level of costs required to resolve the matter.

In endeavouring to deliver value for money McVey & Murricane have not included outside of the scope of the transaction anything that will always be necessary.

A good example of a matter outside the scope but encountered periodically is where a client is receiving a gift from a family member towards the purchase of a property. If that property is being purchased with the benefit of a mortgage, the UK Finance rules state that several additional time-consuming steps require to be carried out and intimated to them so that they can establish that the gift does not invalidate their underwriting procedures.

A fixed fee is incurred when this happens. In the circumstances McVey & Murricane will not ask your approval before carrying out the work because the nature and amount of the work has been stated as falling outside of the standard scope.

However, if a serious title issue arose which required extensive additional work, then you would be provided with a quotation before we carried out the work and allowing you to make a decision.

Now - look at the scope of your intended transaction to see what is included and what is not included

As much as we try, we cannot predict every twist and turn in any transaction or matter. By providing a scope of what is included and not included we ensure that you are fully in the loop and that we minimise the unexpected. Where an issue falls outside of the scope or pre-determined circumstances mentioned in the scope, you will never receive an unexpected fee or charge.

When this situation occurs, we will explain the situation to you, why the issue does not fall within the scope and the implications for you. We will also provide an estimate of the cost and any disbursements. The choice will then be yours.

What happens if you do not agree that the work is outside the scope? We hope that you will accept that the effort that we make to communicate issues, means that we would not be seeking additional expenditure from you unless it is truly needed. But if you are unhappy then ask your fee earner to escalate the issue using the MMiEscalate internal system.