PRICING STRUCTURE IN MOTORING OFFENCE CASES

At Draycott Browne, we are committed to offering our motoring offence legal services with transparent pricing to avoid costly surprises.

Our estimates for motoring offences always set out clearly what is and isn’t included.

We will provide you with:-

1. The total costs where possible of our fees where the work can be undertaken in a summary only motoring offence case, but where that is not possible, we will provide a range of costs.
2. Details of disbursements which you might incur, and which might include, for example, Forensic Expert – Drink Drive case. These are in addition to our fees.
3. How and when the fees should be paid.

THE COST OF YOUR CASE

It may not be possible to give you a precise cost of your case at the outset of a summary only motoring offence, but it is possible to indicate the range of costs. The reason for this is that every case is different and will depend upon a number of different factors, some of which are listed below (but there may be others):

  • Are you seeking just a single piece of advice where we can assess your options?
  • The number of papers that we need to consider which are supplied by either the prosecution, the court or yourself.
  • Whether you plead guilty or not guilty and at what stage any guilty plea is entered
  • The number of witnesses that we need to interview
  • The number of statements and/or other documents that we need to prepare
  • The number of hearings that may have to be undertaken and the nature of those hearings
  • Whether the matter raises any unusual points of law
  • Whether expert witnesses are instructed by either the prosecution or by us on your behalf

HOURLY RATE

Shaun Draycott (Senior Director) - £400 per hour plus V.A.T.
Robert Mann (Director) - £300 per hour plus V.A.T.
Lorna Wincote (Senior Solicitor) - £250 per hour plus V.A.T.
Assistant Solicitors/Senior Litigators/Prison Law Supervisors - £200 per hour plus V.A.T.
Admin/support staff - £90 per hour plus V.A.T.

This rate is for attendances, preparation and advocacy. Travel and waiting are charged at half rate, plus expenses. Expenses will typically include mileage and parking or public travel costs. Letters and telephone calls are charged at 6-minute units at the above rate.

A typical example of dealing with a guilty plea for a drink driving offence would be as follows:

  • 2 ½ hours attendance/preparation including considering the evidence, taking your instructions and advising you about plea, sentence and procedure
  • 2 hours attending/advocacy at court
  • 1 hour travel to and from court

No two cases are the same, but the above is a simple illustration of what you might expect in addition to any incidental correspondence and telephone calls but to avoid uncertainty we would be happy to agree on a fixed fee in advance if possible.

LEGAL AID

Legal aid is only available for the most serious motoring offence in which there is a significant risk of a custodial sentence. Therefore, if you wish to be legally represented you would have to engage the services of a solicitor on a private paying basis.

TIME TO PAY

We believe that everyone should have access to high-quality legal representation and if you have difficulties paying our fees immediately, we are happy to discuss stage payments on the basis that all payments agreed have been paid prior to the final hearing date.

UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES

If any unforeseen circumstances arise which means additional work to that already agreed, we will inform you of this and provide revised costs information. An example might be where your case does not proceed on the date of hearing due to circumstances beyond our control. In such an event, we will give you credit for any time saved in calculating the costs of any additional work.

NO WIN NO FEE

For the avoidance of doubt, we do not undertake this work on a no win no fee basis.

TIMESCALES

The majority of guilty pleas are dealt with on one occasion and therefore conclude on that day.

Trial cases for summary only motoring offences will usually conclude within 3 months of the first court appearance. Trial cases usually accommodate up to three hearings (1st appearance, case management hearing and trial).

That said, timescales can vary from case to case.

VAT & Disbursements

Our fees and some disbursements are subject to VAT at 20%. Disbursements are charges payable in addition to our fees, normally to a third party. They can include fees payable to the Land Registry, barristers or search providers. The amount charged for the disbursements depends upon a number of variables so we will be able to advise you of the correct charges when we have further information from you.

NB: There may also be rechargeable (travelling related) costs, such as mileage, parking, train fares, taxi fares, hotel fees. All subject to VAT at 20%.

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