DAMAGES BASED AGREEMENT

Transcription

1 Employee Compensation Limited. Registered Office, 8 Delamere Street Manchester M11 1JY Registered in England No DAMAGES BASED AGREEMENT This agreement is a legally binding contract between you and Employee Compensation Limited. It will take effect from the Agreement Date below and stay in force until it is terminated by you or by us or the case is concluded or other court proceedings are issued whichever of these events takes place first. This agreement operates pursuant to the Damages-Based Agreement Regulations Wherever there is a dispute as to interpretation it is agreed that it should be read as to be consistent with the meaning of these regulations. The Client has been informed that ACAS offer a dispute resolution in regards to employment claims. Further they have been advised that advice can be sought from the Community Legal Service. The Client has been informed that if they have legal expenses insurance that they can contact their insurer and request that their claims can be funded by their insurer. The client has also been made aware that Trade Unions provide representation services and that some solicitors and barristers also provide assistance on a pro bono basis. Agreement Date: Between Employee Compensation Limited And you, the client 1) What is covered by this Agreement. All work on your claim up to the hearing of the claim in the Employment Tribunal subject to paragraph 2 below, for the following claims: This Agreement covers claims against the following Respondents: 2) What is not covered by the Agreement a) The issue fee and Hearing Fee. b) Any Deposit ordered by the Employment Tribunal. c) Any application to the Employment Appeal Tribunal or response from that Tribunal or any other Court. 1

2 d) Any reference to the European Court of Justice. e) Any Counterclaim. f) Any disbursements. g) Any costs incurred in connection with any separate court proceedings against the Respondents. N.B Disbursements are payments to others involved in the case. Disbursements include your travelling expenses; parking, and cost of medical or other reports required in pursuance of the claim. If your claim involves issues of ill health or disability discrimination, it may be necessary to obtain a medical report on your condition. A medical report in these circumstances will typically cost between depending on the complexity of the case. You will be responsible for payment of disbursements incurred as the case progresses. 3) Paying Us During Early Conciliation Early Conciliation is the period of negotiation with ACAS that takes place before a claim form is submitted to the Employment Tribunal. If we successfully negotiate a settlement on your behalf during any period of time before a claim form has been submitted, you agree to pay us 10% of any settlement sum inclusive of VAT if applicable. It is a condition of this agreement that you agree to provide ACAS with our details during this period so that we can negotiate on your behalf during Early Conciliation (see Paragraph 5) below. After Early Conciliation If after a claim form has been submitted to the Employment Tribunal, we receive an award of compensation either through negotiation, mediation or following an Employment Tribunal Hearing, then you agree to pay us the agreed sum (identified at Paragraph 13 below) inclusive of VAT if applicable of that sum. If you are unsuccessful in your claim you do not pay us anything. If for any reason you wish to review the costs and/or expenses incurred, we shall attempt to resolve any query you may have in accordance with our Internal Complaints Policy. If you remain dissatisfied you may complain to the Claims Management Regulator. The details of this are included in the Complaints policy provided to you and on our web-site. 4) Our Responsibilities. We will always act in your best interests in pursuing your claim for compensation. 5) Your Responsibilities You are responsible to be honest and co-operative and respond positively to our requests in a timely manner. It is an express condition of this agreement that when contacted by ACAS 2

3 you will provide ACAS with our contact details as your named representatives with whom you wish ACAS to deal with on your behalf during the period of Early Conciliation. You must give us clear and prompt instructions which allow us to do our work properly and enable us to comply with any deadlines given by the Employment Tribunal; you will not deliberately mislead us as to the facts pertinent to your claim. You will co-operate with our requests for documentation 6) What happens if you win. Any award or settlement will be made payable to Employee Compensation Limited Client Account. We will send you an invoice for our services at the Agreed Fee. This will be deducted from our client account and the remainder paid to you by bank transfer. Where the Respondent fails to pay the Award or Settlement monies to us we will discuss with you your options in respect to enforcement. If we agree to take your instructions in regards to enforcement we will suspend the date of the final invoice until payment(s) have been received. We reserve the right to issue an invoice if it is reasonable to conclude that no payments will be received. 7) What happens if you are unsuccessful If we advise you to settle your claim without receiving any settlement or you are unsuccessful at the Employment Tribunal you do not have to pay us anything but you will be responsible for paying the cost of any disbursements as mentioned above. 8) What happens if you end this agreement. There is a 14 day Cooling Off period in which you can cancel this agreement without any financial charges. You can end the Agreement by writing to our address at the top of this Agreement or by electronic mail to Cancel@employeecompensation.co.uk. If you end the agreement after the first 14 days and before any settlement or award has been made in respect to your claims then you are liable to pay our costs at the rate of 60 per hour with letters and telephone calls charged at 15 each unless they last for ten minutes or longer in which case they will be charged at the appropriate proportion of the hourly rate. If you end the agreement after a settlement or award is obtained then we will deduct from monies obtained the agreed sum at the relevant discounted rate as described below at Paragraph 13. We are not currently VAT registered so you will not have to pay VAT on any charges. 9) What happens if we end this Agreement. We can end the Agreement if you do not keep to your responsibilities as identified at Paragraph 5 above or have acted in such a manner as to undermine the relationship between us. You are then liable to pay us our costs at the rate of 60 per hour with letters and telephone calls charged at 15 each unless they last for ten minutes or longer in which case they will be charged at the appropriate proportion of the hourly rate. We are not currently VAT registered so you will not have to pay VAT on these charges. 3

4 We reserve the right to review your claim at regular stages. If at any stage, we believe the likely outcome of Employment Tribunal proceedings does not justify the expense or risk involved we can then end the Agreement. If we end the Agreement in these circumstances you are not required to pay us anything. You will be responsible for the payment of any outstanding disbursements. We can end the Agreement if you reject our opinion about making a settlement with your opponent. You are then liable to pay us our costs incurred up to the date the Agreement ends calculated at the hourly rate of 60 per hour plus any disbursements, but if you go on to recover compensation 20% more than the offer we advised you to accept we will refund 50% of the costs you have paid us (but not the disbursements). 10) What happens after the Agreement ends. We will have the right to retain all your papers until we have been paid in full. 11) Costs We are not responsible for any costs award made against you. You will be responsible for paying them. If costs are awarded against the other side they will belong to us. 12) Reinstatement/Re-engagement In the event that you are re-instated/re-engaged by your employer after the date of signing this agreement, then you agree to pay us the costs that we have incurred on the terms set out above, namely 60 per hour. 13) The Agreed Sum. The Agreed sum is the percentage of any agreed compensation obtained on your behalf during the proceedings of the claim whether the compensation is obtained via mediation, negotiation or award of Tribunal. The Agreed sum is capped at a maximum of 30%. By way of example if the Award or settlement was for 1000 the Agreed Sum would be 300. You are the sole Claimant in this matter and this has been taken into account in calculating the Agreed Sum. To provide you with some financial benefit where there is an early settlement, the agreed sum is subject to the following discount; a) To the rate of 20% of the settlement if the claim is settled within one calendar month of the date of this Agreement. The date of settlement being the date at which ACAS informs the Parties that there is a legally binding agreement. By way of example if the settlement was for 1000 the agreed sum would be 200. b) To the rate of 25% of the settlement if the claim is settled after one calendar month of the date of this agreement and before the date that the Tribunal orders for exchange of witness statements. The date of settlement being the date at which ACAS informs the Parties that there is a legally binding agreement. By way of example if the settlement was for 1000 the agreed sum would be 250. c) To the rate of 27.5% of the settlement if the claim is settled after the date ordered by the Tribunal for the exchange of witness statements and seven days before the date of the Full Hearing. The date of settlement being the date at which ACAS informs the Parties that there is a legally binding agreement. By way of example if an award or settlement was obtained for 1000 the agreed sum would be 275. SIGNATURES 4

5 Signed by the client:. date.. PRINT NAME.. Signed on behalf of Employee Compensation Ltd date PRINT NAME 5