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Lambert Pugh LLP Privacy Policy
Lambert Pugh LLP is a limited liability partnership incorporated in England and Wales and is ‘controller’ under the General Data Protection Act 2018.
We may hold data about the following people:
- Employees
- Customers and clients
- Suppliers and service providers
- Adviser, consultants and other professional experts
- Complainants and enquirers
What data do we collect?
We will only collect information from you that is relevant to the matter that we are dealing with. In particular we may collect the following information from you which is defined as ‘personal data’:
- Personal details
- Family, lifestyle and social circumstances
- Financial details
- Business activities of the person whose details we are processing
Special categories
We may also collect information that is referred to as being in a ‘special category’. This could include:
- Physical or mental health details
- Racial or ethnic origin
- Religious beliefs or other beliefs of a similar nature
- Criminal convictions
Basis for processing
The basis on which we process your personal data is one or more of the following:
- It is necessary for the performance of our contract with you
- It is necessary for us to comply with a legal obligation
- It is in our legitimate interests to do so
- You have given us consent (this can be withdrawn at any time by advising our data protection officer)
How will we use your data
We may use your information for the following purposes:
- Provision of a legal service including advising and acting on behalf of clients
- Promotion of our goods and services
- Provision of education and training to customers and clients
- Maintaining accounts and records
- Supporting and managing staff
Who will we share your information with?
Under our code of conduct there are very strict rules about who we can share your information with and this will normally be limited to other people who will assist with your matter. This may include:
- Barristers
- Medical experts
- Private investigators
- Healthcare professional, social and welfare associations
- Court and tribunals
Where you authorise us we may also disclose your information to your family, associates or representatives and we may also disclose your information to debt collection agencies if you do not pay your bills
How long will we keep your information for?
- We will normally keep your information throughout the period of time that we do work for you and afterwards for a period of six years as we are required to do so by law and also by the regulations that apply to us
- In some cases (for example where we are prepared to have a will for you) we may retain your information for a longer period of time
- More information is set out in our data retention policy which is available on request from the data protection officer
Transfers to third countries
- We may from time to time transfer your personal data to a country outside of the EEA.
- Normally this will be necessary for the performance of your contract with us or for the defence of legal claims on your behalf
- Sometimes we may transfer for other reasons and we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place at all times
Security arrangements
- We shall ensure that all the information you provide to us is kept secret using technical and organisational measures
- In the event of a personal data breach we have in place procedures to ensure that the effects of such a breach are minimised and shall liaise with the ICO and with you as appropriate
- Much more information is available from the data protection officer
What rights do you have?
- Right to be informed
- Right of access
- Right to rectification
- Right to erasure
- Right to restriction of processing
- Right to data portability
- Right to object
- Rights concerning automation and decision-making and profiling
Right of access
- You have the right to see the information we hold about you
- To access this, you need to provide a request in writing to our data protection officer, together with proof of identity
- We will usually process your request free of charge and within 30 days however we reserve the right to charge a reasonable administration fee to extend the period of time by a further 2 months if the request is manifestly unfounded or vexatious and/or is very complex
- Full details are available in our data subject access policy which is available on request from the data protection officer
Right to erasure
- You have a right to erase your personal data in certain cases (details may be found in Article 17 of the GDPR)
- We will deal with your request free of charge and within 30 days but reserve the right to refuse to erase information the we are required to retain by law or regulation, or that is required to exercise or defend legal claims
- To exercise your right to erasure please contact our data protection officer
Who you can complain to?
- If you are unhappy about how we are using your information or how we have responded to your request then initially you should contact the data protection officer, Paul O'Flaherty: poflaherty@lambertpugh.co.uk
- If your complaint remains unresolved then you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office, details available at www.ico.org.uk
Email Policy
In this age of e-mails and scanning, we use these systems to improve our service to you. We are taught to be vigilant about items that we receive and would like you to do the same.
We will not e-mail our bank details to you and nor should you e-mail your bank details to us. We include our details in our original posted client care pack, these will not change. Before sending us any money for the first time you should telephone our office to confirm the validity of the details you are using. If you receive an e-mail containing bank details claiming to be from us please contact us immediately and DO NOT send any monies to them. Should you need to give us your bank details, please call us or send these via post to avoid your details being intercepted or amended by third parties.
E-mail scams are the biggest threat that we (both you and us) face so please check that e-mail addresses are correct before you send any form of response. Our e-mail addresses always end in ‘@lambertpugh.co.uk’. Should you receive an e-mail with any variation to this ending, it will not be from us. We will do our best to keep your information safe. Please make sure that you do too.
COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
We are committed to providing a high quality legal service to all our clients. When something goes wrong we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to improve our standards. We wish to deal with complaints in an efficient and fair manner and do not charge for dealing with complaints made against this firm.
If you have a complaint, please write to us with details, addressing your letter to Mr John Pugh, our Client Care Solicitor, at 19 Charing Cross Norwich NR2 4AX.
- We will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint and asking you to confirm or explain any additional details that may be needed. We will also let you know the name of the person who will be dealing with your complaint. You can expect to receive our letter within seven days of us receiving your complaint.
- We will, within three days of receiving your complaint, record your complaint in our central register and open a separate file for your complaint.
- We will then start to investigate your complaint. This will normally involve discussing your complaint with the person who dealt with your case and any other relevant parties and also examining all relevant files. If convenient you may be invited to a meeting at our offices to discuss your complaint.
- We will then, within 8 weeks of your complaint or at the meeting as above, send you a detailed written reply including our suggestions which we hope will resolve your complaint.
- At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, please let us know in writing and we will arrange to review our decision. This will happen in one of the following ways:
- A partner in the firm can review the decision if requested.
- We will ask our local Law Society or another local firm of solicitors to review your complaint. We will let you know how long this process will take;
- We will invite you to agree to independent mediation. We will let you know how long this process will take.
- We will let you know the result of the review within ten days of the end of the review. At this time, we will write to you confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons. We will also give you the name and the address of the Legal Ombudsman Service so that you may contact them if you are still not satisfied.
- If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.
Our Services include:
Our Customer’s Thoughts
At LP Law we pride ourselves on our outstanding customer service
“I was very impressed with the service Ashley provided. She always called me back promptly on the odd occasion I couldn’t get straight through, and was very prompt in returning my emails. Being a first time buyer, I was very anxious and had lots of questions but Ashley was so patient with me and took the time to make sure I was clear on everything. Thank you again for all of your help!”
Mr & Mrs B, Norwich
“Very impressed with the service provided by Christine – always thorough, very helpful and professional and promptly responded to any queries we had. We would certainly recommend her”
Mr S, London
“Olivia replied to emails quickly and responded on a Saturday. She was polite, friendly and we felt valued as a client. I particularly appreciated telephone communication with her when we faced challenges and felt that she acted in our best interests with patience and understanding.”
Mr & Mrs J, Lichfield
“The estate agents selling for us and the ones dealing with our purchase were both amazed at the speed that Jonathan got things done. We could not fault the service given to us. Well done and a very big thank you.”
Mr & Mrs I, Lincolnshire
“Our experience has been very positive and we don’t have anything we would have changed. All extremely polite and quick to respond to our needs. Thank you very much.“
Ms W & Mr G, Norwich
“I cannot speak highly enough of Vikki as she kept me up to date and when I was getting despondent she kept me going. Easy to talk to and easy to understand.”
Mrs W, Llandudno
We did have concerns to start with, due to you not being on our door step so to speak.
But, all business between our selves was actively done through email and telephone, and the process was effectively completed
I would like to place on record, my appreciation and thanks to Susie Dove.
Susie looked after us during the whole process, in a professional friendly manner.
Communication was clear, and responses to telephone calls and emails were replied to us efficiently.
Thanks again Susie!
Mr and Mrs J, Hereford
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Frequently Asked Questions
This is by far one of the most frequently asked questions. In most cases the conveyancing process for the purchase of a home can take between eight and twelve weeks. These time frames can and will alter depending on the circumstances that surround the purchase.
There can be many unknowns associated with conveyancing and this makes it particularly hard for a Solicitor to pinpoint an exact time and date for the house purchase to complete.
The team at L P Law will endeavour to ensure there are no unnecessary delays to the process and if there is, they guarantee to keep you informed of any such development with their transaction.
As soon as you have had an offer accepted on your property you are ready to appoint a Solicitor.
Usually not. There are certain rules in place that prevent the buyer and seller appointing the same Solicitor. This is because of what is known as a ‘conflict of interest’.
There are exceptions but if you are marketing the property you will require an EPC.
Your Solicitor will be able to advise you on the implications but there are 2 ways in which a property can be held. You can hold as tenants in common which is where you hold a share of the property, say 50%, and upon the death of that person he or she can pass it to another person. The other method by which one can hold a property is beneficial joint tenants. This is where a property is held jointly. Upon the death of one of them the other automatically becomes the owner.
Alternatively a Deed of Trust can be drawn up setting out the terms on which you hold the property. We are able to advise you on this and prepare the Deed for your approval.
This is another one of the most frequently asked questions that we get asked. In most cases, the process is no different than using a local solicitor. Everything can now be dealt with by post, e mail and telephone. The process has changed over the last 15 or so years enabling you to appoint a Solicitor with whom you have no face to face contact.
A disbursement is a payment in relation to the process and is payable to a third party. For example, if you are buying a land registry fee will need to be paid to the land registry. This is their fee for registering the property.
More information can be found on our conveyancing expenses page.
It is advisable to obtain a survey. If you are taking out a mortgage your lender may wish to procure one. It is worth checking what type of survey they will be completing as this may not be a full structural survey.
If you are taking out a mortgage your lender will require various searches to be purchased. These are usually a local search and a water & drainage search however, if you are buying in a coal or tin mining area an additional search would be required. There are other searches which may be relevant depending on the area in which you are buying. If you are not taking a mortgage to buy the property they are optional and it is therefore your choice as to whether you have them. We of course do strongly advise that they are purchased as they may reveal matters that will impact on your ownership of the property.
More information on searches can be found on our conveyancing expenses page.
If you are purchasing a property for over £125,000 then yes. How much you will have to pay will depend on how much you are paying for the property. Stamp Duty is worked out as a percentage of the property purchase price.
The rates of Stamp Duty payable on the property as as follows:
Property or lease premium or transfer value – SDLT Rate
Up to £125,000 – Zero
The next £125,000 (the portion from £125,001 to £250,000) – 2%
The next £675,000 (the portion from £250,001 to £925,000) – 5%
The next £575,000 (the portion from £925,001 to £1.5 million) – 10%
The remaining amount (the portion above £1.5 million) – 12%
If the property you are buying will not be the only property you own after completion, such as Buy to Let properties, then an additional 3% is payable on all purchases over £40,000.
For more information on Stamp Duty Land Tax, please see our conveyancing expenses page or visit the Governments guidance pages on Stamp Duty: https://www.gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax/residential-property-rates
Exchange of contracts is when the date for completion is fixed. The process of exchanging contracts is usually a telephone call between both sets of Solicitors.
Completion is the date when the money transfers occur and the keys are given to the buyer. As with exchange of contracts you do not need to attend the Solicitor’s office.