PANEL OF SOLICITORS - curtisbanks.co.uk › app › uploads › 2019 › 12 › ... · Please be aware that the panel solicitor firms are separately regulated ... DWF has one of the

PANEL OF SOLICITORS

curtisbanks.co.uk

Focussed pension administration, by Curtis Banks

This document is part of a set, all of which should be read together:

• Terms and Conditions

• Schedule of Fees

• Schedule of Allowable Investments

• Privacy Information Notice

• Key Features

• Property Guide

• Property Form

• Panel of Solicitors• Panel of Surveyors

• Property Insurance Notes (where applicable)

• Group Investment Agreement (where applicable)

Your future, our focus.

Panel of Solicitors

2

Working with many different professionals has taught us the value that experience can add.

We’ve used that experience to assemble a panel of solicitors who are tried and trusted when it comes to commercial property and pension schemes.

To help you with your choice, we have included some information on the following pages.

The panel is available for properties in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Where the transaction is not required by regulation you can still use your own choice of solicitor and are not restricted to this panel, but please note an additional non panel fee of £200 will be payable.

Where it is confirmed to us that a panel firm is to act, but no specific firm details are provided by you, we will allocate a panel firm to act in the matter.

Please be aware that the panel solicitor firms are separately regulated and operated, and therefore once the firm has accepted our instructions, they are accountable for their work undertaken on the matter.

Panel of Solicitors

Panel of Solicitors

3

Ashfords is one of the UK’s leading law firms with over 70 partners and 500 staff spread across offices in London, Bristol, Taunton, Tiverton, Exeter and Plymouth.

We have a strong working relationship with the Curtis Banks Group, having advised them on their own commercial property requirements since its opening in 2009. Nowadays, our specialist SIPP and SSAS Real Estate team, led by Andrew Worley, work closely with the Curtis Banks Group to administer the SIPP and SSAS schemes for their members’ and beneficiaries’ specialist property investment and management requirements. Our advice includes real estate (both contentious and non-contentious) regulatory, banking, tax and corporate matters.

As a firm, we provide legal advice that is not just technically sound, but is rooted in a wider appreciation of the real world in which we all exist. A world that is constantly changing, frequently surprising and invariably hard to navigate.

We recognise that no two clients’ legal issues are the same and always aim to provide straightforward, timely advice, delivered in clear and simple language. Excellent client service is at the heart of everything we do.

Contact details Andrew Worley Tel 0117 321 8089 Email [email protected]

Birketts LLP is a long established and highly successful law firm, holding a place in the Lawyer’s Top 100 UK law firms and recognised in the industry’s leading independent directories as a top tier regional heavyweight. With a total headcount of 650, it is large enough to provide specialist skills in most areas of law but small enough to maintain a highly personalised service.

Birketts’ property team is one of the best regarded in the east of England, serving clients nationwide and is noted in Chambers as being “the strongest property team in East Anglia”.

It comprises over 100 specialists dealing with all types of commercial property transactions, supported by colleagues with construction, planning and commercial expertise. The depth and range of expertise means the team can work together on major and complex transactions on cost effective terms and also deal with high volume and bulk transactions, providing clients with true value for money.

Birketts’ specialist SIPP property team is led by Oliver Crichton. Its experience, knowledge and unique understanding of the issues (including SIPP rules, scheme structures and procedures and risks) results in a seamless process for all transactions.

Contact details Oliver Crichton, Partner Tel 01473 232 300 Email [email protected]

Panel of Solicitors for commercial property transactions

England and Wales

Panel of Solicitors

4


Coffin Mew is a bold and entrepreneurial law firm working across Sussex, Hampshire and the Thames Valley specialising in four key sectors: Real Estate, Care and Protection, Technology and Agriculture and Rural Business. Its team provides legal advice to individual clients, entrepreneurs, SMEs and corporate organisations across a wide range of legal matters. The firm prides itself on its innovative and modern culture, depth of legal and commercial expertise and exceptional client service.

Its services to the Real Estate sector include: commercial, residential and new homes transactions, investments and development, property finance, landlord and tenant, commercial agreements, corporate restructuring and insolvency, construction and property litigation advice, wealth management, estate planning and property pension investments.

Its specialist property pension investments team have spent many years as panel solicitors for some of the biggest and best known pension providers in the country.

Contact details Amanda Read Tel 0238 048 3787 Email [email protected]

Rivergate Legal, a Curtis Banks Company, is dedicated to providing specialised and experienced advice to SIPP and SSAS clients seeking to invest commercial property within their pension portfolios.

Their professional team draws on significant experience advising within the SIPP and SSAS market, from both private practice and in-house as part of the Curtis Banks Group.

They promote a clear, focused and progressive service to individuals, trustees and businesses on a full range of property transactions throughout England and Wales.

Contact details Gemma Millard Tel 0117 440 5000 Email [email protected]

England and Wales (continued)

Panel of Solicitors

5


As a leading business law firm, DWF is dedicated to offering robust legal advice rooted in specialised sector expertise. This approach enables them to understand the issues, anticipate obstacles and help their clients successfully negotiate the particular challenges of their business landscape. With DWF you will get a dedicated team with current, relevant experience and lawyers with a pragmatic approach and enthusiasm for delivering the highest quality service and ensuring the right solutions are delivered to meet your objectives.

DWF has one of the largest commercial real estate practices in the UK with the capacity to provide a wide range of property services. Combine this with their extensive sector knowledge and the result is a commercially focused approach to real estate matters, backed up with excellent service. Their Scottish Pensions Property team (working from offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh) is approachable and easy to work with and, wherever appropriate, they can call on expertise from colleagues in other disciplines to help you get the best results. This includes one of Scotland’s most well thought of pensions teams who have worked together for decades to build one of the most respected reputations in this field.

DWF’s Property Pensions team and Pension Specialists work together to provide a fully integrated SIPP/SSAS property service to a range of clients. Working together the teams secure for their clients efficient and compliant investment with appropriate risk control.

Experience includes advising many of the UK’s leading SIPP and SSAS providers on property investment and management matters. This includes more complex transactions involving multiple SIPP members or third parties.

Contact details Chris McLeish, Partner, Real Estate Tel 0141 2288 052 Email [email protected]

Morton Fraser is a top ten, full service independent Scottish Law firm. We’ve grown to become one of Scotland’s leading players, recognised by independent Legal directory Legal 500, who rank us in their top tier for commercial real estate in Scotland.

Our Property in Pensions Team which is one of the largest in the country completes hundreds of pension real estate transactions each year representing many of the UK’s leading SIPP and SSAS providers. We advise on all aspects of real estate transactions for providers across the UK from acquisition through management and disposal.

Contact details Fergus McDiarmid Tel 0141 375 0796 Mobile 07758 517 908 Email [email protected]

Scotland

Panel of Solicitors

6


Tughans is one of Northern Ireland’s longest established and most respected commercial law firms, recognised as being eminent across all commercial practice areas. Specialist partner-led teams are at the core of their business, offering bespoke client-focused solutions.

They place the same emphasis on commercial intelligence as legal expertise, which is why they are trusted advisers to many of Northern Ireland’s leading organisations and international companies investing in the region. They work alongside a diverse range of clients, from local entrepreneurial start-ups to pension funds, the public sector and large multi-national organisations.

Clients value how they work with them not just as legal counsel but as business partners, resulting in their strong reputation for providing pragmatic, commercially realistic guidance, with significant partner level involvement providing a personal touch.

To ensure their clients’ needs are met throughout the UK and Ireland they have a significant number of dual qualified lawyers working across the different jurisdictions and they work directly with leading Dublin law firm William Fry, while internationally they have strong ties with firms across Europe, the USA and Asia to ensure a seamless multi-jurisdictional service.

They have a dedicated team that focuses on providing the full range of property and banking legal services required by both large institutional and smaller personal pension funds, along with the specialist advice required in establishing trusts and dealing with governance issues. As a result, Tughans is the law firm of choice for a significant number of pension fund providers across the UK and Ireland.

Contact details David Jones, Partner Tel 0289 0820 531 Email [email protected]

Northern Ireland

Panel of Solicitors

7

Value of property Fee

£0 - £249,999 £1,200

£250,000 - £499,999 £1,400

£500,000 - £749,999 £1,750

£750,000 - £999,999 £2,100

£1m+ to be agreed on a case by case basis

Purchase or part-purchase of a commercial property (including a transfer of a property into your plan)1 Other charges

Condition Fee

If the property is a leasehold title or subject to an existing occupational lease

£250

If the property is a new build or unregistered

To be agreed at outset

If the property requires funding/mortgage via a high street lender

£350

If a new lease is required on completion (assuming the Tenant is connected and no negotiation of lease terms required)

£650

If the property purchase is by way of joint purchase/joint title with a declaration of trust required

£350

Additional charges will apply in the following cases:

Value of property Fee

£0 - £249,999 £1,150

£250,000 - £499,999 £1,500

£500,000 - £749,999 £1,700

£750,000 - £999,999 £2,050

£1m + to be agreed on a case by case basis

Sale or part-sale of a commercial property (including a transfer of a property out of your plan)

Condition Fee

If the property is a leasehold title or subject to an existing occupational lease

£250 per lease

If there is a mortgage to redeem on completion

£150

Additional charges will apply in the following cases:

Please note that all fees are subject to possible review, depending on the exact nature of the service provided, including but not limited to transactions of a more protracted/complex nature.

In the event a transaction aborts, fee will be charged in accordance with the value of time recorded subject to a cap equivalent to 80% of the solicitors’ fees for the particular transaction.

All fees are subject to VAT and any Stamp Duty Land Tax and disbursements (for example Land Registry fees and out of pocket expenses) will be payable in addition.

Type Fee

Surrender of a lease Deed £500

Agreement £850

Lease reports First lease report included in costs for

Property purchase, any additional occupational lease reports charged at

£150 per occupational

lease

Rent deposit deed £450

Additional charge if the lender’s consent is required for any of the above or below

£300

Re-mortgage (copy of report on Title from Property purchase to be provided)

£1,350

Deed of Covenant or third party consent

£350

Connected tenant3 Unconnected tenant

New lease or Farm Business Tenancy for a wholly or partially owned property (does not cover negotiation of terms within the lease)

£850 £1,250

Renewal of lease (does not cover negotiation of terms within the lease)

£850 £1,250

Exclusion of security of tenure under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954

£150 per declaration/statutory declaration

£150 per declaration statutory

declaration

License to assign a lease

£700 £850

License to underlet £700 £850

Deed of Variation £700 £850

License for alternations to premises under a lease £550 £650

Agreement for lease (minimum charge, fee to be confirmed once details of conditions known i.e. vacant possession, landlord’s works, planning permission, etc.)

£500 £750

Solicitor fees The panel solicitors will all charge the same fees.

Property What will I pay?

Please note:1 In Northern Ireland, if the property is unregistered, there will be an additional charge of £850.2 In Scotland, a Farm Business Tenancy will be substituted by a Short-

Form Limited Duration Tenancy (£1,000) or a Limited Duration Tenancy (£1,500).

3 A connected tenant is a connected party as defined in section 993 of the Income Tax Act 2007, and includes close members of your family and any business with which you are associated.

Panel of Solicitors

8

Panel of Solicitors for tenant arrears litigation

Thrings LLP is a Top 100 law firm with offices in Bristol, Bath, Swindon, Romsey and London. Our partner-led teams of specialist lawyers provide legal and strategic advice to pension funds, entrepreneurs, start-ups, SMEs, corporates and multinationals in a range of industry sectors. This includes litigation covering real estate, banking and finance, development of land and agriculture. With strong private client, succession and tax planning teams working alongside the firm’s commercial practice, the needs of both businesses and individuals are well provided for in the firm. As important as the legal work Thrings does is the relationship it builds with its clients, becoming long-term trusted advisers with the commercial acumen to enable businesses to prosper and grow. Thrings is recognised as a top-tier law firm by independent legal directories Chambers and Partners and Legal 500. In recent years, Thrings has won awards from prominent legal and business publications for its legal expertise, transparent pricing models and client-focused approach. Our specialist real estate litigation team, as part of our Pension Fund Property Team act for a number of the UK’s largest Self Invested Personal Pension providers who invest in Commercial Property and we advise on all aspects of commercial property management, including tenant default, rent arrears, termination of leases, lease renewals and dilapidations work for commercial property landlords. We have extensive experience in advising our Landlord clients on all aspects of property portfolio management and a detailed knowledge of the Inland Revenue regulations which govern Self Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs) and Small Self-Administered Scheme (SSASs). Our expertise also enables us to advise our clients on the Landlord and Tenant issues that arise during the life of a property investment, advise on the options available and the most appropriate way forward for the particular case. This specialised knowledge enables us to guide our clients through the process of enforcement after tenant default. Members of our team have been invited to speak at RICS seminars. We have genuine, in depth, industry expertise across our practice area and, we believe, offer a high standard and wide range of high quality services for our clients. Contact details Michael Tatters Tel 01793 412 633 Email [email protected]

Panel of Solicitors

9

Tenant arrears litigation What will I pay?

Thrings fees This page provides a description of the fees charged in association with legal action taken against tenants.

VAT will be added to all fees unless otherwise stated.

Please note that any solicitor fees are charged in addition to Curtis Banks’ fees.

Pre-Action

Action Our fee Anticipated disbursements

Letter before action £180 N/A

Providing standard recovery options following Letter Before Action No charge N/A

Providing tailored recovery options and advice on specific case with recommended enforcement option

£150 N/A

Liaising with tenant who has offered payment terms, discussing with you and then obtaining tenants agreement to comply with and sign an agreed payment plan in writing

£350 N/A

Trace Report £75 Approx £40

Asset Report £75 Approx £200

Tenant insolvency


Writing to and liaising with administrator/liquidator to request ad-ministration expenses to be paid as rent and/or to agree a surrender of the lease

£300 N/A

Writing to and liaising with Treasury Solicitor to disclaim lease of a struck off or insolvent company

£250 N/A

Enforcement Options


Statutory Demand £750Process Server fee of approx.

£85 per document

Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery £550

Bailiff fees:• Compliance Stage: £75• Enforcement Stage: £235 plus 7.5% of the debt above £1,500• Removal Stage: £110 plus 7.5% of the debt above £1,500

Forfeiture


Commercial property: terminating lease by peaceful re-entry with a bailiff and locksmith

£850 Bailiff/Locksmiths fees approx. £325

Commercial property with residential parts: terminating lease by court possession application through undefended Court proceedings resolved at first hearing

£2,500Court issue fee for possession

application: £355Advocate fee: £500-£1,000

If Court proceedings are defended and the matter proceeds via direc-tions to a final hearing

We would need to provide a detailed cost estimate for proceedings to trial, but as a guide, where a claim is defended and proceeds to a 2 day trial anticipated legal costs may be in the region of £55,000-£65,000 plus VAT, plus disbursements

Counsel fees (dependent on time/complexity of hearing)

Expert fees (dependent on complexity of hearing)

Panel of Solicitors

10

Debt recovery


Review of instructions and Matter inception £40 N/A

Telephone call to debtor (pre-issue if required) £10 N/A

Preparation and issue of Court proceedingsBetween £50 to £100 dependent

on the debt amountCourt fee

(dependant on the debt amount)

Correspondence:• Debtor payment in/letter• Telephone call in/email out• Letter out

• £5• £10• £15

N/A

Entering Judgment:• Default of acknowledgment• Default of Defence• Accepting admission filed at court• Rejecting admission/requesting determination• Instructing agents for determination

Dependent on amount of debt:• £22 (under £5,000) or £30 (over £5,000)• £25 (under £5,000) or £35 (over £5,000)• £40 (under £5,000) or £55 (over £5,000)• £55 (under £5,000) or £70 (over £5,000)• £70 (under £5,000) or £100 (over £5,000)

Application fee (dependent on type of application)

Enforcement of Judgment:• Instruction of bailiffs (debts up to £600• Instruction of HCEO (aka Sheriff) (debts over £600)• Protracted correspondence with Sheriff/debtor/third party: every 10 contracts or part thereof• Charging Order (per application)• Third Party Debt Order (per application)• Attachment of Earnings Order (per application)• Order to attend Court for questioning

• £15• £51.75• £50

• Fixed fee: £200• Fixed fee: £200• Fixed fee: £90• £96


Standard Applications:• Issuing standard applications e.g. application for alternative service• Responding to Defendant application (no defence)

• £80

• £175 (under £5,000) or £210 (over £5,000)


Tenant arrears litigation What will I pay? (continued)

Panel of Solicitors

11

Notes

Call charges will vary. We may monitor and record calls.If you’re contacting us by email, please remember not to send any personal, financial or banking information because email is not a secure method of communication.

Curtis Banks Pensions is a trading name of Suffolk Life Pensions Limited. Suffolk Life Pensions Limited is a company registered in England & Wales (registered number 1180742) with its registered address at 153 Princes Street, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 1QJ. Suffolk Life Pensions Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (number 116298). Suffolk Life Annuities Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority (number 110468) and is registered in England & Wales (number 1011674) with its registered address at 153 Princes Street, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 1QJ.

Curtis Banks Limited (registered number 6758825) and Colston Trustees Limited (registered number 6867955) are companies registered in England & Wales with their registered addresses at 3 Temple Quay, Bristol, BS1 6DZ. Curtis Banks Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. SL143.201912 December 2019

Curtis Banks Limited, 3 Temple Quay, Bristol, BS1 6DZ

T 0117 910 7910 F 0117 929 2514

curtisbanks.co.uk

Documents

PANEL OF SOLICITORS - curtisbanks.co.uk › app › uploads › 2019 › 12 › ... · Please be aware that the panel solicitor firms are separately regulated ... DWF has one of the