Case Management System

Client name Client Address

Dear Client Name,

Re: Your claim for Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) Terms of Engagement

Thank you for instructing Courmacs Legal Ltd (“CLL”) to act for you. We are required by our regulatory body to confirm certain matters to you. As a result, we apologise if some this Client Care letter seems quite formal.

Your Instructions

You have instructed us to pursue a claim for losses arising from the Personal Contact Purchase (PCP) in relation to your vehicle registration number []

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) investigated the Car Finance market that concluded that in many parts of the market consumers (customers) were not being offered the best deals for them particularly in relation to PCP. The FCA found that in some cases large amounts of undisclosed commission were being paid in relation to the PCP deals customers were encouraged to take out and also that the interest rates being offered were not always the best ones available to the customer but were beneficial to the dealers as they received higher commissions getting customers to sign deals at a higher interest rate. The courts have determined in other cases involving financial products that details of the commission should have been provided and or the best interest rate offered and the fact they were not made the relationship legally unfair. This means that subject to confirming the details you may be able to make a claim for undisclosed commissions and excessive interest arising from your PCP contract.

To succeed in your claim, we will be saying that the relationship with was legally unfair. In due course in addition to obtaining, as far as we can, relevant documents to support your claim we will need to take a detailed witness statement from you in support of your claim. We will send you shortly a witness statement questionnaire for you to fill in.

By law, you only have 6 years from the date contractual relationship ended to bring your claim. We will advise you in due course of any questions we have about this date and our opinion as to when that date to issue a claim in court actually is. Court Proceedings need to be issued or the claim resolved, prior to this time. It is important that you reply to our correspondence quickly and keep us up to date about any change in circumstances, for example if you change address.

We consider, based on the information that we currently have, that your claim for compensation has a reasonable prospect of success.

No Win No Fee Agreement

As your claim has been assessed as having a reasonable prospect of success, we would propose to act for you under a No Win No Fee Agreement, called a Damages Based Agreement (DBA). We enclose the following: -

• Costs and Funding Booklet • Damages Based Agreement (DBA)

The booklet encloses our terms of business and explains how the DBA works. Please read them carefully, especially the sections on Client money, Limitation of liability and Client satisfaction. The DBA and this letter will form the agreement between us.

We are willing to deal with this matter under a DBA as we expect the value of your claim to mean that it will need to be pursued in the small claims court process. This means that unlike other types of court claim, even if we are successful, the other side will not be responsible for paying any of your legal costs apart from some very small amounts they are obliged to pay. This means that the risk of our not being paid is too great to consider anything other than a damages-based agreement which means you will agree to share with us an agreed percentage of the amount we recover to reflect the risk we are taking in pursuing the claim.

There is some uncertainty as to the amount we will recover in your claim. As a result, we can confirm that we will guarantee that you will receive as a minimum 51% of the redress sum, we recover for you. You may receive more depending on the amount we recover. You will find on our website more details as to how this works in practice.

An agent will arrange to discuss with you the enclosed paperwork. They will make sure the paperwork is fully completed and they will then return the documents to us. They can answer any questions you have about the paperwork but if you want to talk to us about the papers or your claim then please contact us on the telephone number on this letter.

Your continuing instructions confirm acceptance of these terms. However, to make matters clear, please sign and return the enclosed declaration, as well as one copy of the Damages Based Agreement, to confirm that you would like us to start work immediately.

Scope of Work

The scope of the work we will undertake for you will include the following- • We can only take on your claim under a Damages Based Agreement. If you want to pursue the claim in any other way, we cannot help you. • Arranging an independent expert’s valuation of your claim after we have obtained all the relevant information about your relationship with the defendant(s). • Arranging funding of your disbursements. (Expenses we incur on your behalf) • Preparing a statement of your evidence. • Sending details of your claim to the defendant. They will then investigate your claim and confirm their interest in the matter. • Dealing with all enquiries made by the defendant or their representatives. • Issuing proceedings at Court, if necessary and taking all steps to act for you up to and including a final court hearing. • Advising you in relation to any settlement offer made.

Risk in Litigation

Even though we consider that your case has a reasonable prospect of success, all litigation carries a risk. If court rules, practice directions, court orders and litigation timetables are not strictly complied with, it is possible that extensions of time will not be granted by the court. The consequences of this may be that your claim will be struck out.

You need to be aware that if you provide us with false, late, or inadequate information, or if you in any way prevent a court rule, practice direction, court order or litigation deadline from being complied with, then your claim may be struck out by the court, with the result that your case could be discontinued. If this happened, you could become liable for the costs of the Defendant. Alternatively, you might be permitted to continue with the action, but you might be penalised by the court in some other way, such as by a costs award against you regardless of the eventual outcome of the case.

If any of the above happens or it is discovered that you have failed to tell us something relevant when asked, then we reserve the right to withdraw from the Damages Based Agreement. This could mean that you would have to pay the cost of the claim.

Costs

As explained, we do not expect to claim our fees from the defendant as we expect your claim to be pursued on the small claims track at court. We are required to tell you how our fees are calculated. Our fees are based on an hourly rate for the work undertaken. This will include the time spent with you, on the case, and all communications. The rates (exclusive of disbursements and VAT) are as follows: -

• Partners and Equivalent: £350 per hour • Other Senior Solicitors: £270 per hour • Experienced Legal Executives: £240 per hour • More Junior Solicitors: £220 per hour • Paralegals and Trainees: £110 per hour

We review our hourly rates annually and you will be notified of any changes.

The enclosed booklet contains more information on the costs of your claim and funding options available. The enclosed document entitled ‘DBA: What You Need To Know’ explains how the Damages Based Agreement works.

Timescale

We will do all we can to complete the matter as soon as possible. However due to Court backlogs caused by Covid-19 it is not possible to say when the matter may be completed. We hope the claim will be finalised in 18 to 24 months but could be longer if the case goes to court and timescales cannot be guaranteed. We will keep you informed as the case progresses, but this does mean that there may some quite long periods when we have nothing new to tell you.

Funding your claim

Your claim has come to us via White Collar Services.

White Collar Services have set up a scheme to assist people to pursue these claims.

The scheme involves financial institutions, an After the Event Legal Expense Insurer and solicitors. We are one of the Solicitors who are part of the scheme.

The financial institution (the funder) has agreed to lend money to pay for the disbursements (expenses) involved in pursuing your claim. These include the After the Event Legal Expense Bond, the experts’ fees and Court fees.

Once active, the After the Event Legal Expense Bond covers all the expenses and, if your claim fails, the Bond will pay the funders money back.

If your case fails, you will not have to pay us anything.

There are other ways of pursuing these cases involving other solicitors and/or insurers or even by paying privately by the hour for the services of the solicitor involved. If you have any doubts about this scheme, you should take independent legal advice before going any further.

We will only advise you on the terms of this scheme.

Although you have a relationship with White Collar Services, we do need you to confirm that we can share information about your claim with them. We may also need to share information with the ATE insurer and the funder to keep them fully up to date. If you have any concerns or would like to discuss this further, please get in touch as soon as possible.

We will take you signing the Damages Based Agreement as confirmation that we can provide information to White Collar Services. If you do not want this to happen, then you should not sign the Damages Based Agreement and we will close our file. You may still be able to bring a claim with other solicitors and insurers.

No information you give us will be disclosed to any third party other than as detailed above without your agreement. We cannot think of any reason at present why this arrangement would not be in your best interests.

Our regulators the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) state, we are under a duty not to acquire clients because of marketing or publicity or other activities which would be in breach of Chapter 8 of the SRA Code of Conduct. This means that you must not, for example, have been cold called or been the subject of other unsolicited approaches in person, including for example being approached in the street, or approached by people conducting a survey which involves collecting contact details of potential customers. Please let us know if you have any concerns about the way, you have been put in touch with us or if you believe any of the publicity or marketing materials, we use are misleading or inaccurate.

Our Liability

The total liability of Courmacs Legal Ltd for any claim in respect of services provided to you (whether in contract, negligence or otherwise) shall in no circumstances exceed £3,000,000.00 (three million pounds).

Further detail regarding our liability can be found in our Terms of Business.

Money Laundering and your identity.

Our Terms of Business contain information about our obligations under anti-money laundering legislation. In order to comply with those obligations, we have to obtain evidence identifying our clients. This information should come to us when we are first made aware of your claim. If we need further information, we will contact you.

Other Solicitors or claims handlers.

Although you will have been asked if you have instructed someone else to make a claim for you it is essential that you tell us now if you may have signed with someone else to make a claim for you. We need to know this so we can see whether we can help you or not. If you think you have may have instructed someone else before White Collar Services and us, we need to see whatever documents you have from them before we do anything else. Unless you tell us that it is possible that you have instructed someone else then we will assume that we can continue with your claim.

Client Care

We always aim to provide an outstanding service to our clients. Whilst we hope you will have no cause to complain, if, for any reason, you are unhappy with any aspect of the service we provide to you, please raise the matter with Darren Smith.

In the unlikely event that an issue arises that you feel that you cannot raise with Darren Smith, please contact Darren Smith, who is responsible for complaints handling within our practice. A copy of our complaint’s procedure is available on request.

Please note that a reference to Courmacs Legal Ltd also refers to any successor business or businesses that continue to carry on the legal practice of Courmacs Legal Ltd.

If you are not satisfied with our handling of your complaint, you may be able to ask the Legal Ombudsman to investigate. There are limitations to the availability of this service, which are detailed on their website, www.legalombudsman.org.uk. Further details of how to access this service, and the time limits which apply can be found at paragraph 17.3 of the enclosed Terms of Business.

What You Need to Do Now

We hope that this letter explains how we will proceed with your claim. To enable us to start work straight away, could you please:

1. Sign and return the enclosed declaration and authority form; 2. Sign and return the enclosed authority to enable us to obtain details regarding your dealings with the defendant(s) 3. Provide us with details of any legal expenses insurance policies which you have; and 4. Once you have read the enclosed information regarding funding, if you would like us to act under a Damages Based Agreement (DBA), please sign and return one copy of the enclosed DBA. 5. Sign and return the letter confirming that the details of the ATE Bond have been explained to you and agreeing to a Bond being purchased on your behalf

Once we receive the documents, we will obtain the further documents we need and make an application for the funds to pursue your claim. We will be in contact with you to explain the next steps we will take on your behalf. We expect to be in contact with you in 4 to 6 weeks from receipt of your signed DBA.

Once you have become our client anything to do with your claim should come through us. This means that if you are contacted by the potential defendants or someone on their behalf to discuss your claim you should politely tell them to contact us.

Please keep copies of all receipts and details of any expenses that you have relating to your claim as we may ask for them in the future.

If you have any questions about this letter or your claim, please do not hesitate to contact us

We look forward to working with you.

Yours faithfully,

Enclosure: Terms of Business

DBA: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. General Terms

1.1 If any of the following events occur, you will break the Agreement and you will be liable to pay our fees:

(I) You fail to co-operate with us. (ii) You fail to attend any pre-arranged appointment (e.g., expert examination) or Court hearing which we reasonably request you to attend. (iii) You fail to give us necessary instructions when we ask for them; or (iv) You withdraw instructions from us for any reason including the sale of your property.

1.2 In the event of your death, your claim can survive subject to your Personal Representatives agreeing to instruct us under the terms of a new conditional fee agreement.

1.3 If your Personal Representatives do not provide such instructions, this agreement will be deemed terminated pursuant to section above and we may seek recovery of our basic charges and expenses up to the date of your death from your estate.

2. Procedure

2.1 If your claim is successful, the court will make an order in your favour.

2.2 After the order has been made, we will seek to recover our fees, which will comprise our basic costs and disbursements made on your behalf.

3. Basic Charges

3.1 These are our charges for the legal work we do, based on the rate we charge which is set out in the enclosed Client Care Booklet

4. Disbursements

4.1 These are our expenses and fees that have to be paid on your behalf, by us, to others involved in the case. For example, these may be court fees, barristers’ fees experts’ fees and search fees.

5. What happens if you win

5.1 You will pay to us the agreed % of the total sums you recover from your opponent.

6. Part 36 Offers

6.1 It may be that your opponent makes a Part 36 offer or a payment which you reject on our advice and your claim goes ahead to trial where the award made is for less than that offer or payment. In such circumstances, you may be required to pay some of your opponent’s costs and disbursements. If you are insured against payment of these amounts by your Bond, we will make a claim on your behalf.

6.2 If you make a Part 36 offer which your opponent rejects and you go on to win your case and receive damages that are at least as advantageous as your Part 36 Offer, then the court may order the defendant to pay you an additional amount as an extra sanction. If the court does order this extra sanction, this additional amount will be calculated as 10% of damages (where the claim is or includes a money claim) or 10% of costs for non-monetary claims.

6.3 This will, however, be capped for larger claims as it will be calculated as 10% of amounts up to £500,000 and 5% of amounts between £500,000 and £1,000,000. The maximum uplift will be £75,000.

7. What Happens if you Lose

7.1 In the majority of cases, you do not have to pay any of our charges

(i) Your opponent’s Legal charges and disbursements. (ii) Your disbursements.

7.3 If you are insured against payment of these amounts by your Bond, we will make a claim on your behalf. If you are not already insured against such risks we may, at any stage of your claim, recommend an ATE Bond against this risk to you. Where any claim we make for your disbursements under such a Bond exceeds any indemnity provided, we agree to cap our claim for disbursements at a sum not exceeding the available indemnity. You may remain liable to pay any premium in respect of such a Bond.

8. Termination of this Agreement

8.1 We may end the Agreement if:

(i) You reject our opinion about making a settlement with your opponent. (A) If this happens, we can obtain a second opinion from an independent solicitor or barrister on the merits of the proposed settlement (this shall be at your expense). (ii) We believe that you are unlikely to win your claim. (iii) We believe you have not kept to your responsibilities (see). (A) If this happens, we have the right to decide whether you must either pay our basic charges and our disbursements including barristers’ fees but not the success fee when we ask for them or pay our basic charges and our disbursements including barristers’ fees and success fee if you go on to win your claim.

8.2 You may end this agreement at any time. However, we then have the right to decide whether you must pay our basic charges and our disbursements, including barristers’ fees but not the success fee when we ask for them or pay our basic charges and our disbursements including barristers’ fees and success fee if you go on to win your claim.

9. Interim Hearings

9.1 If on the way to winning or losing you win an interim hearing and are awarded costs for that hearing, then we are entitled to payment of our basic charges and disbursements related to that hearing insofar as the court orders them to be paid by the defendant and the defendant pays them, together with a success fee on those charges if you win overall.

9.2 If you win but, on the way, lose an interim hearing, you may be required to pay your opponent’s charges of that hearing. (See above).

10. Value Added Tax (VAT)

10.1 We add VAT at the rate that applies when the work is done, to the total of the Basic Costs

11.Win/Lose

11.1 Win means your claim is finally decided in your favour, whether by a court decision or an agreement to resolve the dispute. 'Finally,' means that your opponent:

(i) Is not allowed to appeal against the court decision; or (ii) Has not appealed in time; or (iii) Has lost any appeal.

11.2 Lose, means the court has dismissed your claim or you have stopped it on our advice.

12.Insurance

12.1 If you do not have suitable insurance in place to cover the risks of losing your case, we may recommend such cover to you.

12.2 This agreement complies with the requirements of the Access to Justice Act 1999, section 58 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 (as amended) and the SRA Handbook.

13. Our responsibilities - we must:

13.1 Always act in your best interests, subject to our duty to the court.

13.2 Explain to you the risks and benefits of taking legal action.

13.3 Give you our best advice about whether to accept any offer of settlement.

13.4 Give you the best information possible about the likely costs of your case.

13.5 Provide you with a proper standard of service.

14. Your responsibilities - you must:

14.1 Give us instructions that allow us to do our work properly.

14.2 Not ask us to work in an improper or unreasonable way.

14.3 Not deliberately mislead us.

14.4 Co-operate with us.

14.5 Attend as necessary on any expert and at any Court hearing.

14.6 Preserve documents relevant to your case even where harmful to it. We are duty bound to inform you that you are obliged to ensure that all hard copy and electronic documentation that may be relevant to this matter are preserved and not destroyed. Should you have any questions in respect of the deletion or destruction of electronic and / or hard copy documentation then please do speak with the solicitor dealing with your case before taking any action.

Cancellation Notice

This only applies if you sign the Damages Based Agreement:

(i) At your home, workplace or at someone else’s home; or (ii) At our offices but following a visit by us (or by someone acting on our behalf) to your home, workplace, or someone else’s home; or (iii) At our offices but following a meeting between us away from our offices.

You have the right to cancel this contract if you wish and can do so by delivering, sending (including electronic mail) a cancellation notice to the person mentioned below at any time within 14 days starting with the day of receipt of this Notice.

If you wish to cancel the contract you MUST DO SO IN WRITING and deliver personally or send (which may be by electronic mail) the notice to the person named below. You may use this form if you want to, but you do not have to.

COMPLETE, DETACH AND RETURN THIS FORM ONLY IF YOU WISH TO CANCEL THE CONTRACT.

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NB: THIS CANCELLATION NOTICE DOES NOT APPLY TO ANY ATE BOND YOU MAY HAVE TAKEN OUT. PLEASE REFER TO ANY POLICY DOCUMENT FOR ANY RIGHT TO CANCEL YOUR AFTER THE EVENT BOND.

To:

I hereby give notice that I wish to cancel my Damages Based Agreement under your reference

Courmacs Legal Ltd

Litigation and Dispute Resolution Cost and Funding Booklet

Terms of Business and important information concerning Costs, Funding and Expenses

Agreement Date:

Cancellation Period Ends: 14 days from the Agreement Date (if applicable)

INFORMATION ABOUT COSTS, FUNDING & EXPENSES......................................................................................................13

1. Introduction........................................................................................................................................................................13 2. Legal Aid...........................................................................................................................................................................13 3. Funding Your own claim on a private basis......................................................................................................................13 4. Funding through a third party.......................................................................................................................................................13 5. Legal Expenses Insurance............................................................................................................................................................13 6. Conditional Fee Agreement...........................................................................................................................................................13 7. Damages-Based Agreement.............................................................................................................................................................14 8. After the Event Insurance...........................................................................................................................................................14 9. Our Costs...........................................................................................................................................................................15 10. Your Opponent’s Costs...............................................................................................................................................................17

TERMS OF BUSINESS......................................................................................................18

1. Courmacs Legal Ltd..................................................................................................................................................................18 2. Terms of Business...................................................................................................................................................................18 3. Excluded Advice......................................................................................................................18 4. Your Duty to Retain and Preserve Documents..........................................................................................................................................19 5. Copyright............................................................................................................................................................19 6. Client Satisfaction...........................................................................................................................................................19 7. Storage of Documents.............................................................................................................................................................20 8. Financial Services...........................................................................................................................................................20 9. Limitation of Liability.............................................................................................................................................................21 10. Client Money...............................................................................................................................................................22 11. Confidentiality, Privacy & Data Protection..................................................................................................................................23 12. Referrals to Third Parties....................................................................................................................................................25

13. Hours of Business................................................................................................................................................................25 14. Equality & Diversity.............................................................................................................................................................26 15. Rights of Third Parties..........................................................................................................................................................26 16. Applicable Law, etc..............................................................................................................................................................26 17. Setting Standards................................................................................................................................................................27 18. Our Responsibilities - We Must...................................................................................................................................................27 19. Your Responsibilities - You Must:................................................................................................................................................27 20. Online Services..................................................................................................................................................................27 21. Termination......................................................................................................................................................................27 22. Cancellation Notice..............................................................................................................................................................28

CANCELLATION RIGHTS.........................................................................................................................29 ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF FUNDING CHECKLIST....................................................................................................30 REASONS FOR NOT USING ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF FUNDING........................................................................................31 FORM OF ASSIGNMENT..........................................................................................................................32 AUTHORITY TO DISCLOSE DOCUMENTS HELD BY THIRD PARTIES.......................................................................................33 DAMAGES BASED AGREEMENT (DBA) ORAL EXPLANATION..............................................................................................34 COSTS WHICH ARE NOT COVERED BY THE CFA/ATE INSURANCE........................................................................................35 SUMMARY.....................................................................................................................................36 YOUR SIGNATURE..............................................................................................................................37

INFORMATION ABOUT COSTS, FUNDING & EXPENSES

1. Introduction

(a) There are a number of different ways to fund litigation. This booklet provides an overview of the options, to help you to make an informed decision, about how your litigation. If you have any questions arising from this booklet, please let us know.

2. Legal Aid

(a) Legal Aid is not generally available to fund litigation. Legal Aid may be available in extremely limited circumstances for certain litigation relating to family matters or serious medical negligence resulting in the serious disability of a new-born child. We will have discussed this thoroughly with you if it applies to your claim.

3. Funding Your own claim on a private basis

(a) You may choose to fund your claim personally i.e., on a private basis. This method carries the risk that you will be liable to pay all of your costs and disbursements and all those of your opponent if you ultimately lose your claim or if the court orders or assesses costs in favour of your opponent. However, it may be possible to insure against this possibility (see below).

(b) We will have discussed the cost-benefit analysis with you and advised you as to whether we feel that this would not be in your best interests and is therefore an unnecessary financial risk. However, you are of course, free to ignore our advice and proceed as you see fit.

4. Funding through a third party

(a) You may be a member of a trade union or other affinity group, which may entitle you to have some, or all of your legal expenses funded by a third party. We recommend that you check the terms of any memberships to see if it will cover your claim. In some circumstances your employer may also be required or willing to contribute towards your legal expenses. If you have this type of entitlement, any work which we do on your behalf prior to receiving confirmation from the third party will be at your expense, regardless of whether you subsequently benefit from that entitlement.

5. Legal Expenses Insurance

(a) Legal Expenses Insurance may protect you against having to pay our fees and any charges we incur in acting for you such as Court fees (these charges are known as ‘disbursements’) and may also protect you against having to pay the legal fees and disbursements of your opponent.

(b) Legal Expenses Insurance is often contained within other types of insurance policies such as Home Contents or your motor policy. Please check whether your policies or any policies belonging to your spouse or partner contain legal expenses insurance. Some insurers have their own panel of solicitors, so you will need to check that your insurers will cover us for acting for you. If you have any doubts, then let us know and we will investigate it for you.

(c) It is very important that you do check any existing policies that you may have as this will avoid unnecessary expenditure for you. If you do not tell us that you may have existing cover, then we will proceed on the basis that you do not. As a result, we may, at any point during the case, advise you to take out a Legal Expenses Insurance Policy to cover the costs of your claim and you will have to pay the policy premium. If you have this type of cover, any work which we do on your behalf prior to confirmation of cover from your insurer will be at your expense, regardless of whether cover is subsequently granted or not.

6. Conditional Fee Agreement

(a) You may wish to fund you claim by entering into a Conditional Fee Agreement with us. These agreements are often referred to as ‘no win no fee’ agreements because under such an agreement you will not have to pay our legal costs if your claim is unsuccessful.

(b) If your claim is successful, you will be liable to pay our legal costs and disbursements plus a ‘success fee’ (to reward our firm for the risk we take when we make our fees conditional upon the success of your claim). You will usually be able to recover part or all of our costs and disbursements from your opponent, but you cannot recover our success fee, this must be paid for you.

(c) The success fee will never be more than 100% of our costs (i.e., you might pay double the amount of our fees if you cannot recover part of your costs from your opponent).

(d) If your claim is unsuccessful then in the majority of cases, you do not have to pay any of our basic charges or our success fee. You are likely to have to pay:

(i) Your opponent’s Legal charges and disbursements; and

(ii) Your disbursements.

7. Damages-Based Agreement

(a) A Damages-Based Agreement is also a ‘no win no fee’ agreement as under such an agreement you will not have to pay our legal costs if your claim is unsuccessful, and you do not recover any damages from your opponent.

(b) If your claim is successful and you are awarded damages, then you would pay us a percentage of the damages recovered as our payment. The law sets a limit on the percentage of your damages that we can take as our payment. The maximum percentage of your damages that we can take is 50%. You will also be expected to pay any disbursements that we incur on your behalf.

You will usually be able to recover some of the basic costs and some disbursements from your opponent. Where this happens, this amount will be payable to us and will reduce the amount of your damages that you will have to pay us.

(c) If your claim is unsuccessful, you do not pay us anything except any disbursements that we have incurred on your behalf. You are likely to have to pay:

(i) Your opponent’s Legal charges and disbursements; and

(ii) Your disbursements.

(d) We have assessed the strengths and weaknesses of your claim and we are prepared to enter into a Damages Based Agreement with you. Should the case change, and particularly if it transpires that you have failed to disclose any relevant information to us, we reserve the right to withdraw from the Damages Based Agreement and you may become liable to pay our past and future fees on a private basis.

(f) Substantial information about this type of funding is provided in the terms of our Damages Based Agreement and the attached document entitled ‘DBA: What You Need to Know’. If you are interested in this type of funding, then please read the terms carefully before signing the agreement. Please do not hesitate to ask us to clarify any term of this agreement for you.

8. After the Event Insurance

(a) If your claim is unsuccessful, you may still have to pay our disbursements and the fees and disbursements of the other side. Therefore, to protect you against this possibility we may recommend later that you take out an insurance policy known as an ‘After the Event’ policy (ATE) The Insurance for a claim of your type is in the form of a Bond as detailed in the information you have been given. This is of course, provided that you do not have any existing Legal Expenses Insurance in place (as discussed above).

(b) You will be liable for the cost of the ATE Bond premium should you accept our advice to take out After the Event Bond.

(c) If we do recommend that you obtain such a policy, we will recommend a suitable policy to you and, on your instructions, will arrange this policy. You are not obliged to take out the policy we recommend, and you should seek independent financial advice if you have any concerns about our recommendation. Similarly, if we do not believe that taking out a policy is in your best interests, we will advise you accordingly.

(d) We will set out the reasons why we believe that you need an ATE Bond and why we believe the Bond that we have recommended meets those needs in the letter explaining details of the ATE Bond. We are not financial advisers and do not conduct an analysis of the insurance market when making any recommendations and only do so because we are confident that that policy will meet your requirements.

(e) We are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. However, we are included on the register maintained by the Financial Conduct Authority so that we can carry on insurance mediation distribution activity, which is broadly the advising on, selling and administration of insurance contracts. This part of our business, including arrangements for complaints or redress if something goes wrong, is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The register can be accessed via the Financial Conduct Authority website at www.fca.org.uk/firms/financial-services-register.

(f) We are required to inform you that the Law Society is a designated professional body for the purposes of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, but responsibility for regulation and complaints handling has been separated from the Law Society’s representative functions. The Solicitors Regulation Authority is the independent regulatory body of the Law Society. Complaints are handled by the Legal Ombudsman.

9. Our Costs

(a) Fixed Fee Services

(i) Where our Client Care Letter states that we are charging on a fixed fee basis, additional services may be provided on request and (unless otherwise agreed by us in writing) will be charged at our standard hourly rates, plus expenses (if any) and VAT.

(b) Hourly Rate Services

(i) Where our Client Care Letter states that we are charging on an hourly basis, the hourly rate varies according to the experience and expertise of the person dealing with the matter. The rates which apply to each matter are set out in our Client Care Letter

(ii) The time spent on your matter for which you will be charged includes meetings with you and others, travelling, waiting, researching, and considering, writing, and receiving correspondence, making, and receiving telephone calls, preparing, and working on documents, and making file notes.

(iii)The time spent on your matter is recorded as units of one tenth of an hour. Therefore, this is the minimum amount of time we will charge for any piece of work undertaken on your matter.

(iv) Once a year we review our hourly rates. We will notify you in writing of any increase.

(v) We will add VAT to our fees at the rate that applies when the work is done.

(i) All expenses which we incur in working on your matter will be payable by you in addition to our fees.

Examples of these expenses include fees charged by experts, agents, couriers and barristers, court fees, travel expenses and subsistence, faxes, international telephone calls, use of on-line databases and telegraphic transfer fees. In addition, we may also charge you for photocopying and other document production. If we intend to make this charge, we will let you know the applicable costs prior to incurring them. VAT is payable on certain expenses, which you will need to pay in addition.

(ii) We will usually submit bills monthly but may choose to submit bills at other intervals during the course of working on your matter. We may also submit a bill on or at any time after conclusion of the matter or at the end of this Agreement. Unless otherwise agreed, our bills are payable within 28 days of the delivery of the bill. All bills, whenever they are submitted, will be for final bills for the period to which they relate but this does not prevent us from invoicing you for expenses for that period on a subsequent bill.

(iii) We may also ask you at any time to pay money in advance of any fees and expenses being incurred by us (known as ‘payment on account’). If we ask you to make a payment on account, we will not be obliged to undertake any further work on your matter until you have made that payment (and if you do not make the payment, we may cease acting for you).

(iv) Where we decide to extend credit to you by carrying out urgent work on your matter after the money you have paid on account has all been used, you agree to remain liable for our fees regardless of whether or not we give you advance notification that we are going to extend credit to you.

(v) You must tell us when first instructing us if there is a third party who may pay our fees. If a third party agrees to pay all or part of our bills, you will remain responsible to us for payment until those bills have been paid in full.

(vi) If we are advising more than one person (usually individuals, companies, or other entities) we will, unless otherwise agreed by us in writing, act for those persons jointly and severally. If we are asked to deliver bills only to one person, those bills will nevertheless be payable in full by all other persons we act for under this agreement.

vii)If you are instructing us jointly in relation to any matter it is your responsibility to tell us at the outset of the Agreement if you require more than one person to give us instructions in relation to that matter. Otherwise, we will accept instructions from any one person and will not be responsible to any other person for any losses they may suffer as a result.

(viii) If you are a company or other commercial entity it is your responsibility to tell us at the outset of the

Agreement if you require more than one Director (or equivalent) to give us instructions.

(ix) Late Payment of Bills

(A) Unless otherwise agreed, our bills are payable within 28 days of the delivery of the bill. If we do not receive payment during this time, we reserve the right to charge you interest thereafter as follows:

a. If you are a private client, we may charge you interest (on a daily basis) on the unpaid element of the bill (at a rate no higher than the rate payable on judgment debts at the date of this agreement).

b. If you are a commercial client, we may charge you interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 plus a fixed sum under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 as amended and supplemented by the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2002.

(B) We may refuse to undertake any further work for you (whether in respect of the matter to which the bill relates or any other matter on which we are acting for you) until that bill is paid and/or we may stop acting for you; and

(C) We may retain any papers or documents belonging to you, together with our own records.

(D) We may refer the collection of the debt and sufficient information about you and your matter to enable the recovery of the debt to an outside agency. Your acceptance of these terms of business amounts to your consent to this action being taken.

(x) Should you make a payment by way of cheque or credit card and that payment subsequently not be honoured then we will inform you in writing and request funds be made available for the payment to be re-

presented. We reserve the right to charge you a fee for administration and any charge imposed by the bank for re-presenting your payment. Until such time as the payment is cleared into our accounts, the provisions of term 9 (c) (ix) may apply.

(xi) If you have any queries in respect of any element of a bill, you should still promptly pay all other elements of the bill.

(xii) Where we hold money for you, whether because you have made a payment on account or we otherwise receive funds on your behalf, we may use this money toward payment of our bills. We will always advise you when this is being done. If we take any security for our fees, whether from you or any third party, this shall not affect any rights we have (or which we may have) to retain your papers.

(xiii) If you wish to make a complaint about one of our bills, you may do so by using the firm’s Complaints Procedure (copy available on request). You may also have a right to object to a bill by making a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman and/or applying to the court for an assessment of the bill under part III of the Solicitors Act (1974). The contact details for the Legal Ombudsman can be found at clause 6.9 of our Terms of Business (below).

10. Your Opponent’s Costs

(a) Even if you are successful, the other party is very unlikely to be ordered to pay all your costs and expenses.

Very often they may be ordered to pay a proportion and you will be responsible for paying the remainder.

(b) In ‘small claims’ cases (i.e., claims with a value of up to £10,000) you are unlikely to recover more than a nominal amount. In employment tribunal cases, or cases where the other party is publicly funded, you may recover nothing at all.

(c) If you are successful and the court orders the other party to pay some or all of our charges and expenses, interest may by claimed on them from the other party from the date of the court order. We will account to you for such interest to the extent that you have paid our charges or expenses account, but we are entitled to the rest of that interest.

(d)You will also be responsible for payment of the charges and expenses of seeking to recover any charges and expenses the court orders the other party to pay.

(e) In some circumstances, the court may order you to pay the other party’s legal charges and expenses; for example, if you lose the case or lose on certain issues. In addition, the court has the power to assess costs and make orders for immediate payment during the course of a case. This may take place following any hearing and will usually be made against the losing party at that hearing.

(f) Any money that the court orders you to pay will be payable by you in addition to our charges and expenses and, in the case of summary assessment costs, within 14 days of making of the order. We will discuss with you whether our charges and expenses and your liability for another party’s charges and expenses may be covered by insurance, and, if not, whether it would be advisable for you to have insurance to meet the other party’s charges and expenses.

(g) You remain liable to pay our bills in full to the extent that they have not been paid by any third party.

TERMS OF BUSINESS

11. Courmacs Legal Ltd

1.1 Courmacs Legal Ltd is an alternative business structure (ABS) legal practice.

(i) Registered Office: 13 Crofts Bank Road, Urmston, Manchester, England, M41 0TZ (ii) Phone Number: 0330 341 0481 (iii) Email: info@courmacslegal.co.uk (v) Authorised and Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) under Identity Number: 819044

1.2 In these Terms of Business all first-person terms such as ‘we’, ‘us’ and ‘our’ refer to Courmacs Legal Ltd and or any successor business that carries on the legal practice of Courmacs Legal Ltd. By entering into this Agreement, you are entering into a contract with Courmacs Legal Ltd and or any successor business.

1.3 We are bound by various professional rules of conduct which can be viewed at www.sra.org.uk or by writing to:

‘Solicitors Regulation Authority, The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN’ or calling the Solicitors. Regulation Authority’s contact centre on 0370 606 2555 (inside the UK), 09.00 to 17.00, Monday to Friday.

1.4 The SRA Indemnity Insurance Rules, in force from time to time, require us to take out and maintain Professional Indemnity Insurance with Qualifying Insurers. Information about the compulsory layer of Professional Indemnity Insurance we carry, including the contact details of our insurers and the territorial coverage of our insurance, are available in hard copy at our registered office.

12. Terms of Business

2.1 These Terms of Business may not be varied unless agreed in writing and signed by the Sole Practitioner. They should be read in conjunction with our Client Care Letter which sets out the basis on which we act for you and any documents referred to in that letter. Together these form the ‘Agreement’ between us relating to each matter on which we advise you.

2.2 These terms, including the limits on our liability in clause 9, shall apply to all work done by us for you (and any work to be done in the future) unless we otherwise notify you in writing.

2.3 If any term of this agreement is inconsistent with our legal obligations under the relevant laws, then the relevant laws shall apply instead of those terms.

Excluded Advice

3.1 We do not advise on the laws and regulations of jurisdictions other than England & Wales (which for these purposes includes the law of the European Union as applied in England & Wales).

3.2 Whilst we have a degree of understanding of taxation relevant to an individual or corporate entity or value added tax or other taxation, we are not qualified to give any taxation advice in any form, and you should take the professional advice of a taxation accountant or your own accountant. If you authorise us to proceed with the transaction, we will proceed on the basis you have sought appropriate professional advice. If you wish us to help you appoint an appropriate accountant, please ask.

3.3 We do not tolerate tax evasion, or the facilitation of tax evasion in any circumstances, whether committed by or facilitated by a client, our employees or associated persons or companies. We are committed to fighting tax evasion and have policies and procedures in place to detect and prevent the facilitation of tax evasion offences in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Finances Act 2017.

3.4 We do not advise on competition law, nor do we provide financial advice generally, or comment upon the commercial viability of any transactions upon which we advise.

14. Your Duty to Retain and Preserve Documents

4.1 If now, or at any time in the future, any matter on which we act for you is the subject of formally contested proceedings, whether in the courts or other tribunals, you will almost certainly have to disclose documents, including electronic documents, relevant to the matter. You should ensure that you do not destroy or allow to be destroyed any documents that relate to such matter in any way (however slight you believe the connection may be), as your position in such proceedings could be seriously compromised if you do so.

15. Copyright

5.1 Unless we agree otherwise, all copyright which exists in the documents and other materials that we create whilst carrying out work for you will remain our property. You have the right to use such documents and materials for the purposes for which they are created, but not otherwise.

5.2 If you use such documents for any purpose other than that for which they were created we are not responsible to you for any losses that you may suffer as a result.

5.3 Unless otherwise required by law or court order, you agree not to make our work, documents, or materials available to third parties without our prior written permission. Our work is undertaken for your benefit alone and we are not responsible to third parties for any aspect of our professional services or work that you make available to them.

16. Client Satisfaction

6.1 We operate strict client care and quality policies and always aim to provide you with the highest level of legal expertise and to be available, approachable, understandable, prompt, and courteous.

6.2 We will keep you informed about all important developments in your case, and we will respond to your letters, emails, and telephone calls promptly and efficiently.

6.3 The majority of our clients are very happy with the service we provide them, but in the event that you have any cause for concern, including about a bill, then please be aware that you are entitled to make a complaint, and that you can do so by contacting our designated complaints handler, Darren Smith. We take all feedback from clients seriously and operate a Complaints Handling Procedure, a copy of which is available upon request.

6.4 We are usually able to deal with any concerns you have promptly and to your satisfaction, but if this is not the case, you will be able to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman provided you do so within six months of the end of our internal complaints procedure or within six years of the act or omission about which you are complaining occurring (or if outside this period, within three years of when you should reasonably have been aware of it).

6.5 Further information about the time limits relating to the date you first became aware or should have become aware of the problem are set out in the version of the Legal Ombudsman’s Scheme Rules in force from time to time (which can be accessed at:http://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/aboutus/scheme_rules.html) and may only be extended by the Legal Ombudsman in exceptional circumstances.

6.6 You should also be aware that, when your complaint relates to a bill, the Legal Ombudsman will not consider your complaint while your bill is being assessed by a court.

6.7 A complainant to the Legal Ombudsman must be one of the following:

(i) An individual. (ii) A micro-enterprise as defined in European Recommendation 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003 (broadly, an enterprise with fewer than 10 staff and a turnover or balance sheet value not exceeding €2 million). (iii) A charity with an annual income less than £1 million. (iv) A club, association, or society with an annual income less than £1 million. (v) A trustee of a trust with a net asset value less than £1 million; or a personal representative or the residuary beneficiaries of an estate where a person with a complaint died before referring it to the Legal Ombudsman.

6.8 If you are not, you should be aware that you can only obtain redress by using our Complaints Handling Procedure or by mediation or arbitration, or by acting through the Courts.

6.9 Legal Ombudsman Contact Details:

(i) Address: PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ (ii) Telephone: 0300 555 0333 (iii) Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk (iv) Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

6.10 Courmacs Legal Ltd is committed to ensuring that all Employees give their full co-operation to the Legal Ombudsman in the event of any dispute or complaint against the firm.

17. Storage of Documents

7.1 We retain all documents relating to your matter (other than any documents which are in your possession or returned to you) for at least six years from the conclusion of our involvement in the matter and in accordance with the Law Society guidance and relevant legislation. You agree that we may destroy them after that time.

7.2 If you ask us to retrieve documents from storage there is a charge, which is normally £25 plus VAT for each matter, although we will not normally charge that fee if we retrieve documents to enable us to carry our further work for you. We will charge, however, for any work necessary to comply with instructions given by you in connection with retrieved documents. Unless otherwise agreed with you in writing, those charges will be at our hourly rates applicable at the relevant time and those charges will be applied on the same basis as set out in this agreement.

18. Financial Services

8.1 The Law Society of England and Wales is a designated professional body under Part XX of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 which means that we may carry on certain regulated activities without being regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. This means that we may be able to provide limited financial services to you where such services arise out of, or are complementary to, the provision of legal services.

8.2 The Law Society is the designated professional body for the purposes of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, but responsibility for regulation has been delegated to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (the independent regulatory body of the Law Society), and responsibility for handling complaints has been delegated to the Legal Ombudsman. The contact details for the Solicitors Regulation Authority can be found at clause 1.4 and the contact details for the Legal Ombudsman can be found at clause 6.9.

8.3 The limited regulated activities that we carry out are issuing certain insurance policies, such as after the event legal expenses insurance, defective title insurance and other property indemnity insurance (such as breach of covenant, absence of easement, lack of planning permission, unknown rights, and covenants policies).

8.4 We are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. However, we are included on the register maintained by the Financial Conduct Authority so that we can carry on insurance distribution activity, which is broadly the advising on, selling and administration of insurance contracts. This part of our business, including arrangements for complaints or redress if something goes wrong, is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The register can be accessed via the Financial Conduct Authority website at www.fca.org.uk/firms/financial-services-register.

8.5 Any insurance policy arranged by us on your behalf, shall, in our opinion, be adequate to meet your needs, but you are hereby informed that we do not recommend any policy over and above any other and that it is your responsibility to check that you are satisfied with the excess levels, exclusions, limitations and other policy terms. We do not conduct a fair analysis of the insurance market prior to arranging insurance policies. You can request details of the insurance undertakings with which we conduct business at any time.

8.6 You hereby agree to provide us with details of any relevant existing insurance policies you may have, and you agree that we shall not be liable to you for any losses you sustain as a result of your failure to provide us with such details.

19. Limitation of Liability

9.1 You agree that the limitations on our liability as set out in this agreement are reasonable having regard to the nature of your instructions and the work involved and the availability and cost of professional indemnity insurance. We are, however, happy to consider options to increase these limitations, should you so require (which may result in an increase to our fees).

9.2 We will undertake the work relating to your matter with reasonable skill and care.

9.3 We accept liability without limit for the consequences of fraud by us or any of our Employees which is affected in their capacity as Employees and for any other liability which we are not permitted by law or rules of professional conduct to limit or exclude. If any part of this agreement which seeks to exclude, limit, or restrict liability (including provisions limiting the amount we will be required to pay or limiting the time you have to bring a claim) is found by a court to be void or ineffective for any reason, the remaining provisions shall continue to be effective.

9.4 We will not be liable under this agreement or laws of negligence for any deficiencies in the work we have undertaken if and to the extent that deficiencies are due to any false, misleading, or incomplete information or documentation which has been provided to us (whether by you or any third party) or due to the acts or omissions of you or any third party. However, where any failure by us to identify any such false, misleading, or incomplete information (or any failure by us to inform you that we have identified such information or any failure to act on your resulting instructions) constitutes negligence then we shall, subject to the other provisions of this agreement, remain liable for such failure.

9.5 Despite anything else contained in this agreement, we are not under any obligation to act for you (or to continue to act for you) if to do so would breach any laws or professional rules. Therefore, we will not be responsible or liable to you for any loss which you or any other party may suffer as a result of our refusal to proceed with your matter where we would be in breach (or we reasonably believe that we would breach) of our legal obligations or our professional rules.

9.6 Except as stated in 9.3 and 9.12, the total aggregate liability of Courmacs Legal Ltd to you under or in connection with this agreement (including any addition or variation to it), whether for breach of contract, negligence, breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, shall not exceed £1,000,000.00 (one million pounds).

9.7 Where we are instructed jointly by more than one party, the limit on our liability applies, in total, to all of you collectively (including anyone claiming through you or on your behalf).

9.8 You agree that you will not bring any claims or proceedings in connection with this agreement against our Employees personally, unless (and to the extent that) you are otherwise permitted to do so by law or our professional rules. Our Employees may enforce this clause even though they are not parties to this agreement (but despite having such rights, this agreement may be varied or ended without their consent).

9.9 Proceedings in respect of any claim against us must be commenced within six years after you first had (or ought reasonably to have had) both the knowledge for bringing an action for damages and the knowledge that you had the right to bring such an action and, in any event, no later than six years after any alleged breach of contract, negligence or other cause of action. This provision expressly overrides any statutory provision which would otherwise apply; it will not increase the time within which proceedings may be commenced and may reduce it.

9.10 If we and any other party or parties are liable to you together in respect of the same claim, then we shall only be liable to pay you the portion which is found to be fair and reasonable having regard to the level of our default. Therefore, we shall not be liable to pay you the portion which is due to the fault of such party, even if you do not recover all or any money from such other party for any reason.

9.11 If we are liable to you and any other party or parties would have been found liable to you together with us in respect of the same claim if either:

(i) You had also brought proceedings or made a claim against them; or (ii) We had brought proceedings or made a claim against them for a contribution towards our liability, then any sum due from us to you shall be reduced by the proportion for which such other party or parties would have been found liable had those proceedings been brought or those claims been made.

9.12 Nothing in this agreement excludes or limits the liability of Courmacs Legal Ltd for:

(i) Death or personal Injury caused by negligence. (ii) Fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or (ii) (iii) Any liability if and to the extent that it is not permissible in law for such liability to be limited or excluded.

20 Client Money

10.1 Subject to certain conditions set out in the SRA Accounts Rules and our interest payment policy, a fair sum of interest will be accounted to you on client money held on your behalf.

10.2 Our policy seeks to provide for a fair and reasonable outcome for both our clients and this practice.

10.3 For cleared funds paid into general client accounts, the practice shall account for interest unless one of the following circumstances applies:

(i) The amount of interest calculated on the balance held is £20.00 or less; or (ii) The client money was held in cleared funds in client account for a period of five working days or less.

10.4 All other clients shall be paid interest at the rate payable upon the practice’s client account from time to time, unless there are specific circumstances which lead the client to contract out of the right to receive interest payments (for example where the client agrees the practice may keep interest payments to remunerate the practice for acting as stakeholder in the transaction or where the client’s religious beliefs prohibit the receipt of interest).

10.5 Where sums of money are held in relation to separate matters for the same client, the money relating to the different matters shall be treated separately unless it is fair and reasonable in the circumstances to consider the sums together.

10.6 Where a client fails to present a cheque to his or her bank for payment, we will not recalculate any amount due to the client unless it is fair and reasonable to do so, for example if the cheque has been sent to an incorrect address.

10.7 We will usually account to you for interest arising under our policy at the conclusion of your matter, but might, in some cases, consider it appropriate to account to you at intervals throughout.

10.8 Unless otherwise agreed by us in writing, if we receive any sums to hold on your behalf (whether received directly from you or from a third party) then we may deposit such money into an account or accounts with any bank or financial institution (a “deposit provider” which expression shall include bank, financial institution or clearing house through which transfers are made) of our choosing. We confirm that we comply with any applicable laws and any applicable rules of a regulatory authority in respect of the making of any such deposits.

10.9 We shall not be liable for any loss which you or any third party may suffer in connection with an Insolvency Event occurring in relation to any deposit provider with whom we have deposited funds or through whom transfers are made, save if and to the extent that any such loss was caused by or contributed to by any breach by us of clause 10.8.

10.10 In clause 10.9 an “Insolvency Event” means:

(i) Any deposit provider is unable or admits inability to pay its debts as they fall due (or is deemed to be or declared to be unable to pay its debts under applicable law), suspends or threatens to suspend making payments on any of its debts or, by reason of actual or anticipated financial difficulties or commences negotiations with one or more of its creditors with a view to rescheduling any of its indebtedness.

(ii) The value of the assets of any deposit provider is less than its liabilities (taking into account contingent or prospective liabilities).

(iii) A moratorium is declared in respect of any indebtedness of any deposit provider.

(iv) Any corporate or government action, legal proceedings or other procedure or steps taken in relation to:

(A) The suspension of payments, a moratorium of any indebtedness, winding-up, dissolution, administration, or reorganisation (by way of voluntary arrangement, scheme of arrangement or otherwise) of any deposit provider.

(B) A composition, compromise, assignment, or arrangement with any creditor of any deposit provider.

(C) The appointment of a liquidator, receiver, administrator, administrative receiver, compulsory manager, or other similar officer in respect of any deposit provider or any of its assets.

(D) Enforcement of any security interest (however so described) over any assets of any deposit provider; or

(E) The prevention or restriction (whether by way of freezing order or otherwise) of a deposit provider’s ability to dispose of, deal with or diminish the value of its assets or any of them.

(v) Any event analogous to those set out in clause 10.15(iv) occurs in any jurisdiction in respect of any deposit provider.

10.11If an Insolvency Event occurs in relation to any deposit provider which holds money that we have deposited on your behalf, you agree that we may, where applicable, disclose to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (“FSCS”) all relevant details in our possession about you and the money that we hold on to your behalf with such a deposit provider. However, if you do not wish us to make any such disclosure, please notify us by writing to our Data Protection Compliance Officer at our registered office. Please note that by withholding consent to our disclosure of your details to the FSCS in such circumstances, you may forfeit any right you may have to receive compensation from the FSCS where an Insolvency Event occurs in relation to a deposit provider holding money which we have deposited on your behalf. Compensation for deposits is limited to £85,000 for any individual’s total deposit with that service provider, including any personal finances. Further information regarding the FSCS can be found at www.fscs.org.uk, telephone number 020 7892 7300.

Confidentiality, Privacy & Data Protection

11.1 We are registered as a Data Controller with the Information Commissioner (ICO) – registration number ZA886741. The types of personal data that we process are listed under our registration records. All information that we hold concerning you as an individual will be held and processed by us strictly in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Regulations. You may raise any query that you have with regard to your confidentiality, privacy and data protection with our Data Protection Officer, Darren Smith, at the address noted above.

11.2 You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the ICO in the event that you believe we have mishandled your personal data. Please see the ICO’s website for details of their complaints handling process. https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/.

11.3 We keep information passed to us confidential and respect your right to privacy. We will keep your personal information confidential except for the extent that it is necessary to disclose it by law or to comply with a regulatory or legal process or where we need to process the information to provide a product or service that you have requested. We have procedures designed to ensure that personal data is used only by appropriately authorised and trained personnel and to safeguard such information against accidental loss or unauthorised disclosure.

11.4 If you are an individual, you have right un the Data Protection Regulations to obtain the personal data that we hold on to you. Should you have any queries concerning this right, please contact our Data Protection Officer, Darren Smith. We will comply with your access rights without delay and within a month in any event. Providing you with access to the personal data we hold about you is free of charge although we may charge or refuse a request it if is deemed to be manifestly unfounded or excessive. If we refuse a request, we will tell you why and how you may complain about our decision.

11.5 You also have the following rights as a data subject, which you can exercise free of charge. These are:

(i) Rectification - the right to require us to correct any mistakes in your personal data.

(ii) To be forgotten - the right to require us to delete your personal data in certain situations.

(iii) Restriction of processing - the right to require us to restrict processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.

(iv) Data portability - the right to receive the personal data you provided to us, in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and/or transmit that data to a third party in certain situations

(v) To object - the right to object: —at any time to your personal data being processed for direct marketing

(Including profiling) and in certain other situations to our continued processing of your personal data.

(vi) Not to be subject to automated individual decision making - the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing (including profiling) that produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you.

11.6 For further information on each of those rights, including the circumstances in which they apply, please contact us, or see the Guidance from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on individuals’ rights under the General Data Protection Regulations.

11.7 We will retain your personal data for a period in accordance with law Society guidance and relevant legislation.

11.8 If on your authority we are working with other professional advisers or lawyers, we will assume that we may disclose any relevant aspect of your matter to them.

11.9 We may in some cases consult credit reference agencies in order to assess your creditworthiness. If you are an individual, we require your consent before we do this. Your continuing instructions to us will constitute your consent to us carrying out such a search. Details of the credit agency we use are available on request. We have procedures designed to ensure that personal data is used only by appropriately authorised and trained personnel and to safeguard such information against accidental loss or unauthorised disclosure. We will keep that information strictly confidential unless otherwise required by law or court order.

11.10 During the course of the firm’s work it may be necessary to discuss your case with cost specialists, experts, or counsel. Your acceptance of these Terms of Business amounts to your consent to us to disclose information which we consider necessary to progress your case.

11.11 Where you provide us with fax or computer network addresses for sending material to, we will assume, unless you tell us otherwise, that your arrangements are sufficiently secure and confidential to protect your interests.

11.12 The Internet is not secure and there are risks if you send sensitive information in this manner or you ask us to do so. Data we send by email is not routinely encrypted, so please tell us if you do not want us to use email as a form of communication with you or if you require data to be encrypted.

11.13 We will take reasonable steps to protect the integrity of our computer systems by screening for viruses on email sent or received. We expect you to do the same for your computer systems.

11.14 We promise to respect the data we hold on to you. Your acceptance of these terms authorises us to keep your details on our database so that we can provide you with legal services and for administration and accounting purposes, so that we can make credit searches and send you relevant information on our services and on events that may interest you. All information that we hold concerning you as an individual will be held and processed by us strictly in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Regulations.

11.15 We will not, without your consent, supply your name and address to any third party except where:

(i) It is necessary as part of the legal services that we undertake; or (ii) We are required to do so by law or our professional rules; or (iii) It is necessary to refer the collection of any debt owed to us by you to enable the recovery of the debt.

11.16 The firm may become subject to periodic checks by Law Society approved Consultants and/or Assessors.

This could mean that your file is selected for checking, in which case we would need your consent for the checking to occur. All such checks are conducted by individuals who have provided the firm with a Confidentiality Agreement. Your acceptance of these Terms of Business amounts to your consent to make your file available for checking. If you do not want us to make your file available for checking, you must notify us immediately and we will mark your file accordingly. If you refuse to give us consent to checks, your refusal will not affect the way your case is handled in any way.

11.17 If you are an individual, you have a right under the Data Protection Regulations to obtain information from us, including a description of the data that we hold on to you. Should you have any queries concerning this right, please contact our Data Protection Compliance Officer, Darren Smith, at our registered office.

11.18 We may correspond with you by email unless you advise us in writing that you do not wish us to do so. You acknowledge that email may not be secure. Email will be treated as written correspondence, and we are entitled to assume that the purported sender of an email is the actual sender and that any express or implied approval or authority referred to in an email has been validly given. You consent to us monitoring and reading any email correspondence travelling between you and any mail recipient at Courmacs Legal Ltd.

11.19 We will aim to communicate with you by such method as you request. More often than not this will be in writing but may be by telephone if it is appropriate. We may need to virus check disks or e-mails, but unless you withdraw consent we may communicate with others when appropriate by e-mail or fax, but we cannot be responsible for the security of correspondence and documents sent by e-mail or fax.

22. Referrals to Third Parties

12.1If we recommend that you use a particular firm, agency, or business, we shall do so in good faith and because we believe it to be in your best interests. If we recommend that you use a particular firm, agency or business that can only offer products from one source, we shall notify you in writing of this limitation. We will pay to you any commission that we receive from any particular firm, agency, or business that we recommend you use.

12.2 If we recommend that you use a particular firm, agency or business, we shall not be liable to you for any advice you may be given by that firm, agency or business and you are advised that if that firm, agency or business is not another firm of solicitors you will not be afforded the regulatory protection of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) or of the SRA Code of Conduct and SRA Indemnity Insurance Rules, nor shall you be entitled to the benefit of the SRA Compensation Fund.

23. Hours of Business

13.1 Our offices are open between 9.00am and 5.00pm, Monday to Friday, excepting bank holidays. We do not provide an out of office or emergency service to clients. The person responsible for your matter may, at his or her absolute discretion, provide you with a mobile telephone number, and may endeavour to take your telephone calls outside of office hours, but nothing he or she says should be interpreted as an agreement to routinely deal with your matter or to take your telephone calls outside of office hours.

24. Equality & Diversity

14.1We are committed to promoting equality and diversity in all of our dealings with clients, third parties and employees. Please contact us if you would like a copy of our Equality and Diversity Policy.

14.2 If you have any special requirements in relation to the way in which you would like us to handle your work, (for example, if you consider yourself to have a disability) please let us know.

25. Rights of Third Parties

15.1 Except as stated otherwise in clause 9.7, a person who is not a party to this agreement shall not be entitled to enforce any of its terms.

26. Applicable Law, etc.

16.1 These terms and our Client Care Letter shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with English law. Any disputes or claims concerning this agreement and any matters arising from it shall be dealt with only by the courts of England and Wales.

16.2 If we or you do not enforce our respective rights under this agreement at any time it will not prevent either us or you from doing so later.

16.3 If any provision of this agreement is found by any court or administrative body of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unenforceable, such invalidity or unenforceability shall not affect the other provisions of this agreement which shall remain in full force and effect.

27. Setting Standards

17.1 We operate systems throughout our Office, insisting that all our staff meet certain standards with regard to Client care. These standards include:

(i) Sending you copies of all important correspondence. (ii) Returning your telephone calls during the course of the same day, if at all possible. (iii) Dealing with correspondence of any sort promptly. (iv) Writing letters to you and others in plain and concise language. (v) Giving appointments to you without any undue delay. (vi) Dealing with you and all persons with the same attention, courtesy, and consideration regardless of race, colour, ethnic or national origins, sex, creed, disability, or sexual orientation.

17.2 To assist us in providing an efficient and effective service we ask that you:

(i) In all communications quote the file reference number of your matter (which is set out at the top of each of our letters) and clearly address all written communications to your Legal Representative. (ii) Leave clear telephone messages with your Legal Representative’s secretary, or reception. (iii) Notify us immediately of any change of your address, telephone number or other material information. (iv) Notify us immediately if you are delayed or cannot attend an appointment. (v) Respond to our requests promptly. (vi) Pay our bills and disbursements without delay. (vii) Contact your Legal Representative immediately if you receive any communication from your opponent or solicitors on that person’s behalf. Do not reply without speaking to your Legal Representative.

28. Our Responsibilities - We Must:

18.1 Always act in your best interests, subject to our duty to the court.

18.2 Explain to you the risks and benefits of taking legal action.

18.3 Give you our best advice about whether to accept any offer of settlement.

18.4 Give you the best information possible about the likely costs of your claim.

29. Your Responsibilities - You Must:

19.1 Give us instructions that allow us to do our work properly.

19.2 Not ask us to work in an improper or unreasonable way.

19.3 Not deliberately mislead us.

19.4 Advise us of any changes in your circumstances that may result in you being unable to pay our fees.

19.5 Co-operate with us.

19.6 Go to any court hearing.

30. Online Services

(a) Please note that some of our other services, are available online through our website. For more details, please feel free to contact us at any time.

31. Termination

21.1 You may end this agreement (and therefore, your instructions to us) at any time by writing to us by post, fax, or email (see clause 1 of these terms for details). However, we may be entitled to keep all of your documents and deeds while there is money owing to us (including fees and expenses which have not yet been billed)

21.2 We may end this agreement (and, therefore, cease acting for you) in relation to any matter or all matters of yours but only on reasonable written notice and for good reason. Examples of a good reason include where you have not given us sufficient instructions, where you have not provided appropriate evidence of identification, or we reasonably believe that the relationship between you and us has broken down.

21.3 If your matter does not conclude, or we are prevented from continuing to act because of our legal obligations or our professional rules, we will charge you for any work we have actually done. Our charges will be based on our hourly rates set out in this Agreement (and where a fixed fee has been agreed, the charges will not exceed that fixed fee)

21.4 If we cease acting for you, we shall (where relevant) inform the court or tribunal that we no longer act for you and shall apply to be removed from their records. We may charge you for doing so at our hourly rates applicable at the relevant time and those charges will be applied on the same basis set out in section 9 ‘Our Costs’ of this booklet and for any expenses which we incur on the same basis – also set out in section 9.

21.5 If you are an individual consumer (and not a business entity) and we have not met with your prior to entering into this Agreement or, if we entered into this Agreement with you away from our business premises, you have the right to cancel this Agreement 14 days of conclusion of this agreement (the ‘Agreement Date’ at the beginning of this Agreement). This right exists in accordance with The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. Please refer to the ‘Cancellation Notice’ at clause 22 for further information about your right to cancel and the conditions attached to the same.

21.6 If clause 21.5 applies to you then we will not start work on your file within 14 days of the Agreement Date. If you would like our service to start within 14 days of the Agreement Date, please sign the enclosed Client Declaration, mark the relevant box stating your wishes and return a copy to us.

21.7 Once we have started work on your file within the cancellation period, on your instruction, you will be charged for any work done if you then cancel your instructions. You will have to pay us an amount which is proportionate to the work completed until we receive notice of cancellation from you, in comparison with the full coverage of this Agreement. These charges will be applied on the same basis as set out in our client care letter and where a fixed fee has been agreed, the charges will not exceed that fixed fee.

32. Cancellation Notice

22.1 This Notice is applicable to you if clause 21.5 also applies to you. If you are unsure, please contact us immediately upon receipt of these Terms.

A copy of these Terms of Business is available in larger print. Please contact us if you require a copy.

Your Declaration and Authority Form

Your Name: [Client Name] Your Address: [Client Address]

I acknowledge receipt of your Client Care Letter and Terms of Business and confirm that I understand and accept those terms and wish for Courmacs Legal Ltd to start work on my claim straight away.

I confirm that I have read the Alternative Methods of Funding Checklist regarding legal expenses insurance and that I either do not have alternative methods of funding or that I have chosen to not utilise the alternative methods of funding available to me.

I authorise any cheques in settlement of my claim to be issued in the name of Courmacs Legal Ltd and understand that any monies paid in respect of my damages will be paid into your client account even if the cheque is made payable to me. I hereby authorise you to deduct and retain from those monies any sums that fall due to Courmacs Legal Ltd by way of your legal costs and disbursements in accordance with the provisions of the aforementioned Terms of Business. I also hereby confirm that any monies paid to you on my behalf may be retained by you and utilised as a lien as to your costs in the event that I breach these terms and conditions.

I understand that you may instruct different experts and agencies to assist with progressing my claim. These will include the likes of Enquiry Agents, Surveyors, Costs Draftsmen, and Barristers but this is not an exhaustive list. I hereby consent to my personal data being provided to them and to any other person deemed necessary by my solicitor to assist with the progress of my claim.

I also consent to the disclosure of my personal data to third party managed databases used to help prevent fraud and to regulatory bodies for the purpose of monitoring and/or enforcing your compliance with any regulatory rules/codes. I also understand that it will be used to undertake credit and claims history searches on me. By signing this document, I am providing my consent for this to occur.

I hereby authorise Courmacs Legal Ltd to commence Court Proceedings on my behalf in such circumstances and in such manner as they deem appropriate and for this purpose to sign on my behalf, any Statement of Truth contained within those Proceedings.

CANCELLATION RIGHTS

IMPORTANT- PLEASE READ

Where cancellation rights apply (please see our ‘Termination’ clause of our Terms of Business), we will not start work for a period of 14 days from the ‘Agreement Date’ unless you expressly ask us to. This is because there are regulations in force that now prevent us from doing so. If you would like our service to start within 14 days of the Agreement Date, please tick the box below to confirm your instructions, sign and date the declaration and send a copy to us.

I wish to provide the following instructions:

Please start work on my matter straight away. I understand that by instructing the firm to start work before the 14-day (no obligation) cancellation period expires, I will become liable for any costs and expenses incurred during this time. I accept that this liability exists if I then choose to cancel this contract. I also understand that where, on my instruction, the full service agreed has been performed within the cancellation period, my cancellation rights will cease to exist in accordance with the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, as set out in the ‘Termination’ clause of the firm’s Terms of Business.

Confirmation of Consent to Send Marketing Materials

We promise to respect the data we hold on to you. Your acceptance of our terms of Business authorises us to keep your details on our database so that we can provide you with legal services and for administration and accounting purposes. We will never pass on any personal data to other parties without your permission. We would also be grateful if you would provide us with express permission to send to your relevant information about our services, legal updates and on our events that interest you by text, telephone, email and through the post.

You may withdraw your consent at any time by emailing us at the email address at the top of this letter.

I consent to receive information about your product and services.

ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF FUNDING CHECKLIST

We are required to investigate whether any alternative method of funding is available to you.

We are only able to accept your instructions if you agree to instruct us based on these terms. Other firms of solicitors may be willing to act for you based on an alternative method of funding.

The following table shows the most commonly available alternative methods of funding. You should consider whether you have access to any of these alternative methods of funding and put a cross in the relevant box.

REASONS FOR NOT USING ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF FUNDING

If you do have an alternative method of funding available to you, pursuing your claim using that alternative method of funding may cost you less money.

You are not under any obligation to use an alternative method of funding if you have one available to you. However, it is important for you to let us know why you would rather instruct us under these terms than use the alternative method of funding.

The following table shows the most common reasons we are given by our clients for why they would rather instruct us. You should put a cross in the box of all the relevant reasons.

Reason for not using alternative method of funding	Cross if Relevant
I would rather not make a claim on my insurance
I would prefer to instruct [name] solicitors to deal with my claim instead of a firm of solicitors which my trade union/BTE insurer would insist I must use
I do not want to risk my own capital on my claim
I feel it would be more straightforward to instruct you now
I have used my trade union/BTE (delete as appropriate) solicitors before and was not impressed by them
You have been recommended to me by someone who has used your services before
Other (please state)

Alternative methods of funding declaration

I have been taken through the different methods of funding my claim which may be available to me. I confirm that:

There are no alternative methods of funding my claim available to me; or

There is/are (an) alternative method(s) of funding my claim available to me but I do not wish to make use of it/them for the reasons which I have given above.

SCHEDULE 1

Claimant:

Dear:

1. I/We (further referred to as "Claimant") would like to confirm that the Claimant agrees and consents to you arranging for an ATE Bond underwritten by Talisman Casualty Insurance Company, LLC Protected Cell No.01 (the "Surety") through Woodville Consultants No. 2 Ltd ("Woodville") on the Claimants behalf to protect the Claimant against the risk of paying the defendant's costs.

2. The Claimant agrees to allow you to provide the Surety and allow Woodville complete access to the relevant files and to provide to them with ongoing information regarding the progress and outcome of the claim.

3. Claimant confirms that you have fully explained the terms and conditions of the ATE Bond and Claimant fully understands them, and as such have opted to instruct you to purchase the ATE BOND on the Claimants behalf. The Claimant also understands from you that there are many insurance policies available to the Claimant which you can access on the Claimants behalf, however the Claimant has chosen to elect the ATE Bond underwritten by The Surety.

The Claimant further agrees to allow you to act on their behalf to ensure that the terms and conditions of the ATE Bond are complied with. Further, the Claimant confirms and gives you irrevocable instructions to hold in trust and pay any premium due under the ATE Bond to The Surety. This includes consenting to the deduction and payment of any premium due and payable from any damages that are recovered from the defendant(s) on the Claimants behalf.

The Claimant confirms that you have advised Claimant that: -

1. Talisman Insurance Company, LLC /The Surety is incorporated and licensed under the laws of Nevada, USA and is regulated by and in accordance with the State of Nevada, and their liabilities under the ATE Bond are reinsured with A rated (as rated by Standard & Poor’s and/or AM Best) insurers/reinsurers.

2. The ATE Bond or any bond issued by The Surety will not fall within any compensation scheme within the UK or within the United States of America.

3. The ATE Bond is governed by the laws of England and Wales and I/we are able to refer any dispute to an arbitrator appointed and agreed to by me/us and The Surety in accordance with the "Arbitration" section of the ATE Bond.

4. I/we also have the option to refer any dispute under the ATE Bond to the Financial Ombudsman Service in the United Kingdom.

Claimant has been advised by you that given the financial strength of the reinsurance the ATE Bond is comparable with, and in some cases better than other similar products available to me/us.

You have further advised me/us that although you recommend the ATE Bond, nevertheless, Claimant shall have the right to choose an alternative product, but in doing so may mean you may not be able to represent us.

Claimant also confirms that you have explained to the Claimant that you have an ongoing relationship with Woodville and The Surety, and as a result you may be advising many of your clients to select the ATE Bond. Claimant understands that this relationship may, at some point, conflict with your ability to represent me/us fairly. Should these circumstances arise Claimant expects you to advise me/us, Woodville and the Surety of the circumstances immediately so that Claimant can take legal advice from counsel with regards to the ATE Bond and any other areas of conflict.

Claimant confirms that we have considered the above and authorise you to purchase an ATE Bond on my/our behalf.

Yours faithfully,

FORM OF ASSIGNMENT

Parties

Client Name

Defendant

Matter reference

Couramcs Legal Ltd ( Us)

Assignment by You to Us and Consent to Assignment by Us to Woodville Consultants Limited ('Woodville”); OR Horizon Legal Limited (‘Horizon’)

1 Assignment by You to Us

In consideration for the payment of £1 by Us to You (which will be offset against Your liabilities to Us) You by your signing below now assign to Us absolutely all of the right, title and interest You have against the Defendant for the payment of Your costs and disbursements and all VAT on any of the same under any settlement, agreement, judgment, award or order for costs reached or made in your favour in the above Matter and against any provider of any ATE policy as and when a claim is capable of being made under such a policy (Costs).

In this Assignment and Consent the term Defendant refers to the defendant in Your Matter or the other person we have brought (or propose to bring) a claim against or application for compensation from on your behalf or who is otherwise liable to meet that claim or pay the compensation due.

To the extent such assignment is ineffective for any reason, You agree to hold the right to Costs and any proceeds of such Costs entitlement in relation to the Matter on trust for Us absolutely.

Whenever requested by Us, You shall immediately execute and sign all such other documents and do all such things as We may reasonably require (at Our cost) for the purpose of ensuring that this assignment is fully effective and/or to facilitate Our financing or sale on of all or any part of the Costs.

All sums recovered from the Defendant in respect of Costs in the Matter will be credited against any amount owed by You to Us.

2 Consent to Assignment by Us to Woodville or Horizon

By signing below You also confirm your consent to Our selling to Woodville or Horizon (and Our assigning Our interest in) all Costs, all rights assigned to us by the above paragraph and all of Our rights against You arising from our retainer with You to be paid any amount by You in relation to the above Matter. In doing so we may disclose information about You and the Matter to Woodville or Horizon and its funders (including details of bills raised by Us on the Matter) and we may allow Woodville or Horizon or its funders to audit our files held by us (in whatever format) in relation to the Matter.

Woodville or Horizon and its funders shall not have any liability to You in respect of the Matter or be responsible for the performance of Our retainer.

This Assignment shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and You irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

AUTHORITY TO DISCLOSE DOCUMENTS HELD BY THIRD PARTIES

I, of , authorize and request , release to my solicitors Couramcs Legal Ltd copies of all documents held relating to the PCP contract I took out in relation to vehicle registration number This will include but is not limited to:-

• Correspondence between myself and being the finance provider under agreement • Correspondence between myself and being the vehicle dealer who acted as the agent or broker for • Records and/or transcripts of telephone conversations between myself and being the vehicle dealer which referred me to the ( finance provider) and between myself and (finance provider.) under agreement number • Correspondence and documents between ( dealership) , myself and (finance provider)relating to the finance provided including details of interest rates and any commission paid or received. • Copies of any or all documents created in relation to agreement number whether provided to me or internal documents created by either ( the dealership) and or ( the finance provider) • Documents relating to any Interest rate upward adjustment ( Increasing DiC) and or Interest Rate downward adjustment ( reducing DiC) , scaled commission or flat fee arrangement between ( dealership) and ( finance provider). • My address at the time of entering into this agreement was or • I confirm that my address at the time I entered into the agreement is the same as the one detailed below

The terms of the Damages Based Agreement (“DBA”) and accompanying documents have been

explained to me as set out on the previous pages of this document and I have had had an opportunity to ask questions about this.

I understand that:

I have agreed to take out an ATE Bond to protect me from having to pay my opponents costs if my claim fails.

If I mislead the solicitors, or do not act on their advice, or keep in contact with them, I may have to pay my solicitors costs and for any disbursements/expenses that have been spent on my behalf.

NAME:

ADDRESS:

FILE REFERENCE:

DATED

DAMAGES-BASED AGREEMENT

between

Courmacs Legal Ltd

and xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

CONTENTS

CLAUSE

1. Definitions ..................................................................................................................................................2 2. Information provided to you in advance ..................................................................................................................................................2 3. The purpose of this agreement 3 You enter this agreement with us for the pursuit of your claim xxxxxxxxxxx ..................................................................................................................................................3 4. What this agreement does not cover ..................................................................................................................................................3 5. Our duties under this agreement ..................................................................................................................................................3 6. Your duties under this agreement ..................................................................................................................................................3 7. Early termination of this agreement ..................................................................................................................................................3 8. Representation at hearings ..................................................................................................................................................4 9. If the court makes a costs order for or against you ..................................................................................................................................................4 1. Expenses ..................................................................................................................................................5 2. If you win ..................................................................................................................................................5 3. If you lose ..................................................................................................................................................6 4. Calculation of our costs ..................................................................................................................................................6 5. Governing law and jurisdiction ..................................................................................................................................................6

This agreement is dated this xxxxxxxx day of 2022

PARTIES

1. Courmacs Legal Ltd of 13 Crofts Bank Road, Urmston,Manchester, England,M41 0TZ;

2.

BACKGROUND

This agreement is a Non-Contentious Business Agreement within the meaning of section 57 of the Solicitors Act 1974, and a Damages-Based Agreement within the meaning of section 58AA of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 and the Damages-Based Agreements Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/609).

Agreed terms

1. Definitions

In this agreement, unless the context otherwise requires, the following words and expressions have the following meanings:

costs: our charges for the time we have spent on your case, calculated at the hourly rates set out in Schedule 1 plus VAT in accordance with paragraph 13 below.

expenses: the cost of instructing third parties, such as barristers and experts, and our disbursements incurred in connection with the pursuit of your claims.

lose: no settlement is reached between you and your Opponent and the court decides against you in respect of your claim.

opponent: the persons set out in paragraph 3 below.

we: Courmacs Legal Ltd.

win: either the court decides in your favour in respect of your claim or you accept an offer of settlement made by the Opponent

you: client name

your claims: the claims set out in paragraph 3.

2. Information provided to you in advance

2.1. In our letter dated xxxxxx 2022, we advised you about the following:

(a) possible alternative means of financing the claims you wish to pursue (including legal expenses insurance);

(b) your responsibility for payment of if you decide to enter into this agreement, including.

2.2 We confirmed that we would provide any further explanation, advice or information about any of these matters that you require.

3. The purpose of this agreement

You enter this agreement with us for the pursuit of your claim for mis-sold PCP.

4. What this agreement does not cover/span>

This agreement is limited to pursuit of your claims identified in paragraph 3 above. In particular, it does not cover any appeal that you may make or be subject to.

5. Our duties under this agreement

Subject to our professional duty to the court, we will act in your best interests in pursuit of your claims. We will discuss each step of the litigation process with you, advise you on how to proceed and whether to accept any offer of settlement that the Opponent may make.

6. Your duties under this agreement

6.1 So that we can do our job under this agreement, you must co-operate with us and promptly provide information and documents that we may ask for. You must not mislead us or ask us to work for you in an unreasonable or improper way.

6.2 You must attend court hearings when asked and pay expenses in accordance with the terms of this agreement.

7. Early termination of this agreement

7.1 In entering this agreement it is our intention to reach a successful conclusion of your claims either before the court or through settlement. However, there are circumstances in which either one of us may wish to end this agreement before then.

7.2 With the exception of the circumstances in paragraph 7.3 below (in which you agree not to terminate this agreement), you may terminate this agreement at any time. However, you are then liable to pay our costs and the expenses incurred up to the date of termination calculated as set out in paragraph 13 within 2 weeks of delivery of our bill to you.

7.3 You agree not to terminate this agreement after any settlement has been agreed or in the seven days before a court hearing.

7.4 We can end this agreement if we consider that you have not behaved reasonably, for example because you fail to meet your obligations as set out in paragraph 6. You will then be liable to pay our costs and the expenses incurred up to the date of termination calculated as set out in paragraph 13 within 2 weeks of delivery of our bill to you.

7.5 We can end this agreement early if we consider that the Opponent does not have sufficient assets against which enforcement action could be taken in order to recover the sums owed to you.

7.6 For the avoidance of doubt, we consider that failing to accept our advice on your prospects of success AND/OR whether any offer of settlement should be accepted AND/OR whether any offer of settlement should be made (and, if so, on what terms) will amount to unreasonable behaviour on your part.

7.7 If this agreement ends in any of the circumstances referred to in this paragraph 7, we will tell the court, your Opponent and anyone who may be representing it that we are no longer representing you. You will be free to deal with your claims on your own behalf or to instruct someone else to do so. However, until we are paid any money that you owe us under this agreement, we are entitled to a "lien" over any of your property that is in our possession. Therefore, until we are paid, we will be entitled to keep your case papers.

8. Representation at hearings

8.1 You agree that we can instruct a barrister to represent you at any court hearing.

8.2 You agree not to represent yourself or instruct anyone else to represent you at any court hearing unless we agree in advance.

9. If the court makes a costs order for or against you

9.1 While your case is proceeding before the court, a costs order may be made in your favour or one may be made against you.

9.2 If the court awards costs against you, you agree that the ATE that has been obtained will be used to pay those costs. .

9.3 If the court awards costs against your Opponent and you have not yet paid us in respect of those cost you agree for those costs to be paid direct to us. If the Opponent refuses to pay us direct, you agree to pay us those costs on receipt. If the Opponent pays us direct in circumstances where you have already paid us in respect of those costs we will refund those costs to you.

9.4 For the purpose of recovering costs from the Opponent our costs will be the amount ordered by the court or calculated in accordance with any court order. If the award includes payment of expenses that you are responsible for, as long as we receive payment from the Opponent, these will be repaid to you (if you have already paid them) or not charged to you (if you are yet to pay them).

9.5 We will also seek to recover from the Opponent the costs and expenses incurred in making any application and you agree that paragraph 9.3 will also apply to those costs and expenses. However, you further agree that you will be ultimately responsible for the costs and expenses so incurred, in which case our costs will be calculated in accordance with paragraph 13.

10. Expenses

10.1 You are responsible for paying expenses that are incurred on your behalf regardless of whether you win or you lose.

10.2 Expenses typically include:

a. Fees paid to a barrister. These may be for advice given in a conference and for representing you at hearings before the court. If your case settles shortly before a hearing and your barrister has started to prepare your case, you may still have to pay part of their fee. b. Fees paid to an expert. These may be for the production of an expert's report and for the expert's attendance at any court hearing. c. The expenses incurred by us in pursuing your claims. We expect that these will include travel and subsistence, expenses incurred in attending any conference with your barrister, attending court hearings and photocopying charges in respect of court hearing bundles.

10.3 We will provide an estimate of the expenses that you are likely to incur (inclusive of VAT) together with the time at which they will become payable in advance of them being incurred.

11. If you win

11.1 If you win, you agree to pay us a share of 40% + VAT of any money award or settlement received. In addition you agree to pay the ATE premium from the monies received. We guarantee that you will receive a minimum of 51% of any money award or settlement agreed in any event.

11.2 You agree that we may receive any financial award the Opponent is ordered to pay to you. If the Opponent refuses to make payment to us and insists on paying you direct, you agree that a cheque will be paid or money transferred into a bank account in our joint names. We will take our payment and any outstanding expenses from that account and you will take the balance.

11.3 You agree that if the Opponent fails to comply with an agreement or order to pay you a sum of money, you will use all reasonable endeavours in assisting us to recover the money due to you. You agree that this will include the right for us to act in your name to enforce an order or agreement. We will seek to recover the costs of any enforcement action taken.

12. If you lose

If you lose your claims, you only will pay nothing but agree to the ATE insurance being used to pay any expenses and costs incurred.

13. Calculation of our costs

13.1 If you are ordered to pay costs or we are entitled to claim costs from you under the terms of this agreement, those costs will be calculated in accordance with the hourly rates set out in Schedule 1 multiplied by the hours worked.

14. Governing law and jurisdiction

14.1 This agreement and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with it or its subject matter shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of England and Wales.

14.2 The parties irrevocably agree that the courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim that arises out of or in connection with this agreement or its subject matter.

This agreement is entered on date of

For and on behalf of Courmacs Legal Ltd

I, confirm that the rights and liabilities under this agreement and any possible alternative methods of funding the claim have been explained to me before entering into this agreement.

	SCHEDULE 1 – Hourly Rates
Partner	£350
Senior Associate	£270
Associate	£240
Solicitor	£220
Trainee /	£110
Paralegal/

AUTHORITY TO DISCLOSE DOCUMENTS HELD BY THIRD PARTIES

I, of , authorize and request , release to my solicitors Couramcs Legal Ltd copies of all documents held relating to the PCP contract I took out in relation to vehicle registration number This will include but is not limited to:-

• Correspondence between myself and being the finance provider under agreement • Correspondence between myself and being the vehicle dealer who acted as the agent or broker for • Records and/or transcripts of telephone conversations between myself and being the vehicle dealer which referred me to the ( finance provider) and between myself and (finance provider.) under agreement number • Correspondence and documents between ( dealership) , myself and (finance provider)relating to the finance provided including details of interest rates and any commission paid or received. • Copies of any or all documents created in relation to agreement number whether provided to me or internal documents created by either ( the dealership) and or ( the finance provider) • Documents relating to any Interest rate upward adjustment ( Increasing DiC) and or Interest Rate downward adjustment ( reducing DiC) , scaled commission or flat fee arrangement between ( dealership) and ( finance provider). • My address at the time of entering into this agreement was or • I confirm that my address at the time I entered into the agreement is the same as the one detailed below

Potential method of funding	Available	Not Available
Before the event legal expenses insurance (which is sometimes available with credit cards or other insurance products)
Trade Union membership
Personal funds (such as savings or investments)
Legal aid
Other (please state)