The type of motoring offences we are talking about are:
Drink driving drug driving, careless driving, speeding, failing to comply with notices of intended prosecution, failing to stop, failing to report, driving without insurance, MOT or licence etc..
If the offence you face is not one of these, please contact us.
You should also be aware that legal aid funding may be available for motoring offences. The rules about this are complicated, so please contact us to discuss whether you may be eligible for legal aid.
Where you are not eligible for legal aid, we operate a fixed fee scheme for most cases, as follows:
For the first consultation prior to the first court hearing, at our office or over the phone ( for up to 1 hour of our time ), £150 plus VAT, total £180.
For the first ( plea/ sentence ) hearing at court, £400 plus VAT, total £480.
In other words, if you plead guilty at the first hearing and the case is concluded at that hearing, the fixed fee for that hearing will be £400 plus VAT, total £480 ( plus any disbursements – see below ).
If you plead guilty but the case is adjourned to another date for sentence, there will be a further fixed fee of £400 plus VAT, total £480 for any subsequent hearing.
If at the first hearing you plead not guilty, the case will be adjourned for a trial on another date, and there may also be a pre trial hearing. In this scenario, the fixed fees are:
For any other pre trial hearing, £400 plus VAT, total £480.
For a trial up to 1 day of court time, £1,000 plus VAT, total £1,200.
For trials lasting more than 1 day, £1,000 plus VAT for each day, or part day of trial.
Please note that the trial fee includes all preparation for trial and one pre trial meeting with you ( any further pre trial meetings will attract a fixed fee of £150 plus VAT ).
If you are found guilty after trial and the case is adjourned for sentence, there will be a further fixed fee of £400 plus VAT, total £480 for any subsequent hearing.
We have devised the fixed fee scheme based on the average time we spend on these type of cases, taking into account our standard hourly charging rate of £230 plus VAT.
For particularly complicated cases, fixed fees may not be appropriate. In such cases, we will charge you on the basis of our standard hourly rate of £230 plus VAT, and we will provide you in writing at the outset of the case (and subsequently if we need to revise the total amount of our fees ) with an estimate of our total fees plus VAT plus disbursements.
Disbursements are in addition to our fees – for example our travel expenses, the costs of any expert or medical reports, or any other relevant reports which we might need in your case.
The fixed fee scheme operates for all courts in the South Wales Police area. For courts outside this area, we will charge you on the basis of our standard hourly rate.
Your case will be dealt with by one of our experienced solicitors, and supervised by another, both of whom specialize in this type of work.
Our policy is to request payments on account from all clients and we will discuss how much money we require on account during our first consultation with you.