Interest Policy

We do not hold client monies on a general banking arrangement, and we do not provide clients with a banking facility. All monies sent to us by you must be for a specific transaction and we will only hold such monies whilst there is an ongoing legal transaction.

In accordance with the SRA Accounts Rules 2019, it is the firm’s policy to account to its clients for a fair sum of interest on client money held.

There are two types of client account:

  • a general client account where the majority of client money is held. This is on an instant access basis to ensure immediate access to funds and means it is unlikely you will receive as much interest on money held as might have been obtained had you held and invested the funds yourself; and
  • a Designated Deposit Account. This account is set up specifically for an individual client and will include in its title reference to your identity. These are sometimes set up when there are specific contractual requirements to do so. In relation to money held in a designated deposit account, we will account to you for all the interest earned on that account (net of any tax deducted at source).

In relation to money held in a general client account, we will account to you for a fair sum of interest, having regard to the principles and practices detailed below, subject to point 5:

  1. We will normally calculate and pay any interest due to you at the end of your matter. Where interest is paid on monies held in general client account, it is paid to you gross without any deduction of tax. You are therefore responsible for informing HMRC of any interest received.
  2. Due to the administrative costs involved and our regulatory requirements, we will not pay interest if the sum calculated is less than £50 in total for the full period during which we hold your money in client account.
  3. Where interest is payable the first £50 will be deducted to cover the administrative costs of dealing with client funds.
  4. We will retain interest paid to us by the bank on the aggregate of all client money held in the general client account.
  5. We will not pay interest on money held for payment of professional disbursements.
  6. We will not account to you for interest in the event that there is a specific agreement to contract out of the provisions of this policy. The Accounts Rules state that we may come to a different arrangement with you for the payment of interest, but we must provide sufficient information to enable you to give informed consent.

The amount of interest paid will be calculated over the period during which the money has been held. We will review interest rates quarterly, and at least when the Bank of England base rate changes.

Unless otherwise agreed, where we are conducting more than one matter for you, balances will not be aggregated for calculation purposes.

The applicable limit for claims for compensation under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) is currently £85,000. If the Bank in which your funds are held should fail, we reserve the right to disclose your details to enable a claim to be made. We will not be liable for any sums in excess of the current FSCS limit.

This policy will be reviewed from time to time to ensure that it continues to deliver a fair outcome to our clients.