01785 257155

24/7 Arrest support 01606 866608

Interest Policy

Policy Statement

The firm have a policy of paying an amount in lieu of interest (“interest”) to clients where the firm holds money in a general client account on their behalf in the course of providing legal services.

Rate and calculation of interest paid

The calculation of interest due to a client on a matter accrues three days after client funds have been received into the general client bank account of the firm and is calculated on a daily compounded basis.

In the event that the calculated total interest accruing to a client for the duration of a matter is less than £20 then no interest will be paid to the client on the basis that it is a de-minimis amount. The firm takes the view that any amount below £20 is reasonably retained by the firm to cover the administrative cost dealing with client funds.

Protection of client money

The firm has an active policy of considering the potential exposure of client funds to commercial risks and regularly reviews the choice of banking institution where the firm holds client funds.

The firm is not in this capacity acting as financial advisers and whilst the firm will take reasonable steps to protect client funds such actions will only ever be based on information available in the public domain.

When do we pay interest?

Interest will be calculated and paid in accordance with this policy. The amount of interest paid to each recipient will take into account:

  • the amount held
  • how long we held cleared funds
  • the requirement to provide instant access to funds held in client account
  • the rate of interest payable on the amount held in an instant access account at the bank where we have the greater part of our client account
  • the practice of the bank where we have the greater part of our client account on how often interest is compounded

When don’t we pay interest?

We do not pay interest:

  • On money held to pay a professional disbursement, once the intended recipient has requested that we delay in paying them
  • On money held for the Legal Aid Agency
  • If we have agreed with the recipient to contract out of our obligation to pay interest
  • On monies that we are instructed to hold outside a client account in a manner that does not attract interest, eg cash held in our safe
  • The amount of interest, calculated in accordance with this policy, is less than £20

Informing clients of our interest policy

We will notify clients of our interest policy in our terms of business.

Failure to explain our policy on payment of interest could give the recipient unrealistic expectations about the amount of interest they will receive. Ultimately, this could lead to complaints to the firm and/or Legal Ombudsman.

Failure to comply with this policy

We are required to notify the SRA if we breach the SRA Accounts Rules 2019, including the rules relating to payment of interest. If you suspect that we have breached this policy, please report your concerns to our compliance officer for finance and administration (COFA) or compliance officer for legal practice (COLP).

Monitoring and review

The COFA is responsible for this policy.

All employees involved in client money must be aware of and adhere to it. You may be liable to disciplinary action if you fail to comply with the provisions of this policy.

The COFA will monitor compliance with this policy by a regular review of interest calculations
We will review this policy regularly–at least annually. We will provide information and/or training on any changes we make.