Fixed Fees for Motoring Offences at the Magistrates’ Court
We want you to know in advance how much you should expect to pay to be represented, what it includes and just as importantly what is excludes:
If you are entitled to legal aid we shall advise you as it is a publicly funded scheme at no cost to you at the Magistrates’ court. Advice and Representation will be free of charge to you. Any additional reports which incur additional costs (called disbursements) will be free if prior authority is given by the Legal Aid Agency. The advice and representation once granted is limited in ‘scope’. We can explain this further should the issue arise.
If legal aid is not available because the tests applied under the scheme are not met then we want to set out details of the motoring offences fixed fees that we offer to deal with straightforward cases before the Magistrates’ Courts in the central London area courts. We will be able to cover other courts outside of this area but there will be additional fees that will be added to the core costs detailed below. These additional costs will include travel expenses at of £0.45p per mile and/or travel by public transport from our office.
What is included
Our fees include:
- VAT which is currently charged at 20%.
- Preparation for the hearing at the Magistrates court,
- Obtaining Initial Details of the Prosecution Case,
- Advice as to strength of evidence,
- Taking your instructions,
- Negotiating with the prosecutor and
- Advice on appeal should that be necessary.
What is NOT included:
Our fees do not include:
- Disbursements including travel and parking costs
- Obtaining expert’s reports and the work associated with such work,
- Advising you on the telephone out of hours, unless agreed in advance.
Timescales
Most cases take 3-6 months to complete at the Magistrates’ court while it may take up to 6-9 months at the Crown Court if appealed.
| Standard Appearances: | |
| Guilty plea (including sentence at the same hearing) | £600 (incl) |
| Guilty plea with subsequent hearing on a different day | £1,200 (incl) |
| Not guilty, half day trial | £1,800 (incl) |
| Not guilty, full day trial | £2,400 (incl) |
| Additional day or part while at trial | £600 (incl) |
| Specialist Appearances: Applications to avoid disqualification such as Exceptional hardship and Special Reasons attract additional fees to the core fees above. To make this simple we add the following fees as these types of hearing call for greater preparation and additional work: |
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| Exceptional Hardship: | Additional fee £420 (incl) |
| Special reasons: | Additional day £1,200 (incl) |
| Appeal to a London Crown Court against sentence | One Day Fee £1,200 (incl) |
| Disbursements, Expenses and Exceptional Cases Some cases will attract additional costs where we would need to instruct outside agencies that specialise in a particular discipline. The costs are simply passed on to you but we may charge a flat fee to prepare and consider the reports (maximum of £600 incl.). These are always agreed with you before they are incurred. |
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| Examples of Disbursements: ‘back calculation’ reports Technical inspection of equipment Mental health / Learning disability reports CCTV analysis Analysis and or reports on road furniture, cars, equipment etc. |
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| Examples of travel expenses: Parking Milage at £0.45p exclusive of vat Public transport (second class) |
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| If there are fees not agreed or specified above these as charged at £300 per hour inclusive of vat. These cover particularly complicated cases, but they are rare and any fees would be agreed with you before they are incurred. | |