The impact of being accused of motoring offences can be extremely severe – particularly for busy business people.
Whether you’ve been accused of speeding, careless driving or driving without insurance our specialist motoring solicitors will give you the support you need.
How can we help?
At Woodcocks Haworth and Nuttall, our team of experienced specialists provide expert legal advice on your case, including representing you in court as required.
Our specialist motoring team handles matters including:
- Speeding
- Insurance
- Driving or being in charge of a motor vehicle whilst under the influence of alcohol/drugs
- Failing to stop/report after an accident
- Driving without due care and attention
- Failing to provide information on driver identity
- Dangerous driving (summary offence only)
- Using a mobile phone whilst driving
- Driving whilst disqualified
Our prices and costs explained
Our motoring team is made up of:
- David Connor – a director with over 30 years’ experience of dealing with such matters and a former duty solicitor.
- Jack Heyes – who is a senior paralegal.
Set out below is our pricing structure in relation to motoring matters. These are for road traffic matters where the proceedings are to take place in the Magistrates Court. It does not include parking matters.
Advice Only:
- In relation to the road traffic matters we offer a single diagnostic appointment for a fixed fee of £300 plus VAT of £60 totalling £360. This will allow us to take your instructions, advise you on the evidence and your chances of success. It will enable us to tell you whether or not further information or work is needed for which a further fee will be charged. We will advise you in relation to plea and the likely outcome. We will tell you whether or not you need to be aware of any issues concerning disqualification including whether or not you have a reasonable case for considering arguments for special reasons or exceptional hardship. It is on the basis that you have with you all of the prosecution evidence and necessary information so that we can advise you upon all of the above. If you have arguments for special reasons or exceptional hardship we may advise you to gather further evidence and consult us on another occasion. The further consultation will carry a further fixed fee of £300.00 plus VAT as above.
- You can choose to speak with us before such prosecution evidence or necessary information is available. The fee will remain at £300 plus VAT in the circumstances.
- Once you have the prosecution evidence or any other information we advise is required at (a) or (b) above you can return to us for a further appointment where we will consider the evidence in depth with you on that occasion and the issues arising from it so that all issues as outlined above are ultimately considered with you. The costs of this further appointment will be £300 plus VAT of £60 totalling £360.
- If you need any further appointments or attendances upon you for any other reason then we are willing to offer such further appointments or attendances upon you when needed for the same fixed fee as above and these attendances will include any necessary correspondence which needs to be sent on your behalf.
- Each appointment will allow us to spend up to one hour with you talking to you about the case and providing advice and afterwards writing to you to confirm your instructions, our advice and the next steps that need to be taken.
- If, as part of any advice, we recommend obtaining additional evidence and you instruct us to do so e.g. to take a witness statement from a witness to assist your case or to source and advance an expert witness we will do so at a rate of £300 plus VAT of £60 totalling £360 per hour. The amount of time to do this will depend upon the circumstances of your case. We will advise you on the likely time needed and give you an estimate of the likely range of costs. In general, to see a witness and take a statement will take about an hour unless the issues are complex and more time will be needed. Likewise assist you to source and instruct an expert and consider the advice with you will take between one and three hours in general. If complex it may take longer, meaning more time will be needed.
- If we recommend that you need expert evidence to advance your case we will discuss this with you and discuss the costs and benefits of such expert evidence.
Representation at Court
We offer representation at a court hearing for a fixed fee of £850 plus VAT of £170 totalling £1,020.00 per half day at court or part thereof. A half day is a morning session where the case is between 9.30 a.m. and 1.00 p.m. or an afternoon session between 1.00 p.m. and 5.00 p.m.
If we have not already seen you to undertake the advice stage then this will be done before representation at court for an additional fee of £300 plus VAT of £60 totalling £360 per interview and any further interview as outlined in (a) to (e) above. These appointments will allow us to determine with you what further evidence would be needed to advance your case. It will enable us to send relevant correspondence on your behalf. The fee assumes that the location of the court will be within a 15 mile radius of our Rawtenstall office. If it is further away than this, we may take the view that it is too far to travel and we cannot offer representation at courts located at a substantial distance from our Rawtenstall office. If we are able to attend at a more distant court, then we will need to negotiate an additional fee for you to take into account the additional travelling time in connection with your case. We will charge this at a rate of £150 per hour plus VAT of £30 totalling £180 per hour depending upon the time it will take us to travel to and from that court.
In connection with representation at court we will:
- Meet you at court on the day of the hearing to discuss the case with you.
- Have already carried out a review of the case in advance to discuss with you when we arrive and obtain any further details and instructions from you and to deal with any queries that you may have.
- We cannot provide a timescale of when your hearing will take place as this depends upon the court listings that day.
- Provide advocacy services to represent you before the court and set out any request to adjourn or any mitigation and other necessary information and present any arguments for exceptional hardship or alternatively deal with the trial of the issues.
- We will discuss the outcome with you and advise upon appeal. The price quoted does not include representation upon appeal or preparation of the appeal papers.
- At the end of a trial seek a contribution to your costs if your defence is successful.
Examples of likely Costs
Speeding charge – guilty plea to be entered where sentencing will take the points to 12 or more;
- Diagnostic interview to obtain instructions, advise on plea etc £300.00 plus VAT of £60.00 totalling £360.
- If at the diagnostic interview above it is advised we need an independent witness statement to assist your case taking an hour to interview, prepare and discuss with you £300 plus VAT of £60 totalling £360.
- Representation at a single hearing not exceeding half a day to present all mitigation to the court and advance arguments for special reasons and/or exceptional hardship arguments is £850 plus VAT of £170 totalling £1,020.
- Total costs for all elements of the case £1,450 plus VAT of £290 totalling £1,740.
Drink driving offence – guilty plea to be entered;
- Diagnostic interview to obtain instructions, advice on plea etc £300 plus VAT of £60 totalling £360.
- If at the diagnostic we advise that two witness statements are required and the time to take the statements is two hours £600 plus VAT of £120.00 totalling £720.
- Attendance at court not exceeding half a day to advance all mitigation and advance any special reasons arguments £850 plus VAT of £170 totalling £1,020.
- Total for dealing with the case £1,750 plus VAT of £350 totalling £2,100.
Representation in a fail to disclose information trial
- Diagnostic interview to obtain instructions etc £300 plus VAT of £60 totalling £360.
- At diagnostic interview we identify a witness who can corroborate your post has gone missing on a regular basis to show you never received a necessary notice from the police. That takes one hour – £300 plus VAT of £60 totalling £360.
- Representation at trial lasting a morning half day and part half day afternoon session where client and witness appear to give evidence £1,700 plus VAT of £340 totalling £2,040.00.
- Total cost of case £2,300 plus VAT of £460 totalling £2,760.
Written plea as opposed to actual representation
In some cases you may want to plead guilty to a driving matter and instruct us to enter a written plea with supporting mitigation so that you do not need to attend the hearing.
We can do this for you at a fixed cost of £300 plus VAT of £60 totalling £360. This will be additional to the diagnostic interview or any other interviews required at (a) to (g) above.
For example, if you would to plead guilty to a speeding matter by post in a simple case, where there is no argument for speed reasons or exceptional hardship.
- Diagnostic appointment to consider case £300 plus VAT of £60 totalling £360.
- Preparing and submitting written plea and mitigation £300 plus VAT of £60 totalling £360.
- Total for all elements of the case £600 plus VAT of £120 totalling £720.
Need expert advice? Let us help
To discuss any aspect of this area of law please contact David Connor or Jack Heyes at our Rawtenstall office on 01706 225621.
