Swiitch is a trading name of Shoosmiths LLP, a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with registration number OC374987. Our registered office is at 1 Bow Churchyard, London EC4M 9DQ. Further information on how we are regulated is provided below.

All references to ‘Swiitch’ on this website refer to Shoosmiths LLP.

Regulatory information

Swiitch is a trading name of Shoosmiths LLP which is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA number 529065). Our professional rules can be accessed from the Solicitors Regulation Authority website at www.sra.org.uk.

We use the word partner to refer to a member of Shoosmiths LLP, or an employee or consultant with equivalent standing and qualifications. A list of members’ names together with a list of non members who are designated as partners is available for inspection at our registered office.

Shoosmiths LLP, trading as Swiitch, is an ancillary insurance intermediary and is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. However, we are included on the register maintained by the Financial Conduct Authority so that we can carry on insurance distribution activity, which is broadly the advising on, selling and administration of insurance contracts. Our Exempt Professional Firm reference number is LS 569065. This part of our business, including arrangements for complaints or redress if something goes wrong, is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority

Our VAT registration number is GB119 5708 56.

Complaints

If you have any concerns about either our service or our bills please raise them in the first instance with the person handling your case, their supervisor or the client partner identified in our Terms and Conditions. In the event that you wish to take matters further then you should write to Suman Dally, the Partner with responsibility for Swiitch at The Lakes, Northampton NN4 7SH.

We will then acknowledge your complaint as soon as possible (but usually within 7 working days) and assign an independent person to investigate your concerns.  We will also let you know in our acknowledgement who will be investigating your concerns and will provide contact details.

We will find out what happened, usually by reviewing the file and by talking to the person who acted for you. Sometimes as a result, we will need further information which may mean we need to contact you to raise queries by email or in writing. We will inform you how long this will take which will take account of your personal circumstances.

We will conduct a thorough investigation, tell you what we have found out within the agreed timescale and, where appropriate, suggest a solution or remedy through a final response letter which will explain the reasons behind the decision and which we will issue to you within a reasonable time period as agreed.

We hope that you will be satisfied with our conclusion but if we are unable to resolve your complaint within 8 weeks of receiving full details, then you may be able to ask for it to be independently reviewed by the Legal Ombudsman. You should refer to their website, listed below, to check that you qualify for the scheme.

The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints about service issues with lawyers. The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you.

The Legal Ombudsman’s contact details are:

Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167,
Slough,
SL1 0EH

Telephone: 0300 555 0333 Minicom: 0300 555 1777
Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

The Legal Ombudsman deals with service issues. If you are concerned about our conduct or behaviour rather than our service, your complaint should be addressed to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Insurance

We maintain worldwide professional indemnity insurance in line with the SRA Indemnity Insurance Rules. Our primary layer is provided by Aviva Insurance Limited of St Helen’s, 1 Undershaft, London EC3P 3DQ.

Interest policy

Introduction

This policy sets out how Swiitch applies interest in relation to funds held in our client bank account, in accordance with regulatory requirements. Swiitch is committed to compliance with its obligations under the SRA Standards and Regulations.

Background

Our interest policy seeks to provide a fair outcome for clients whilst recognising that money must be immediately available, unless clear instructions are received to the contrary.

As required under the regulations, Swiitch must ensure that client money is kept safe, available for the purpose for which it is provided and separate from funds belonging to the firm.

Client money must be held in a client account as defined by the Banking Act. In doing this, funds are protected from being used to cover any liability to the bank by the firm.

There are two types of client account:

• A general client account where most client money is held. This is on an instant access basis to ensure immediate access to funds and means it is unlikely you will receive as much interest on money held as might have been obtained had you held and invested the funds yourself.
• A designated client account. This account is set up specifically for an individual client and will include in its title a reference to your identity. These are sometimes set up when there are specific contractual requirements to do so.

Application of interest for client funds held

For money held in a designated client account, we will account to you for all interest earned on that account, net of any tax deducted at source.

For money held in a general client account (or money under our control that should have been held in a client account but was not), we will account to you for interest when it is fair and reasonable to do so, having regard to the principles and practices detailed below.

• We will compound interest quarterly.
• We will normally calculate and pay interest once your matter has been concluded, however there may be instances where it might be more appropriate to account for interest at intervals throughout the matter.
• Due to regulatory requirements and administrative costs involved we will not pay interest if the sum calculated is less than £50 in total for the full period during which we hold your money in client account or if upon file closure there is less than £5 due.
• We reserve the right to set off any interest due to you against any amounts due to us.
• We will retain interest paid to us by the bank on the aggregate of all client money held in the general client account.
• We will not pay interest on money held:
  • For payment of a professional disbursement once counsel or other professional has requested a delay in settlement.
  • On an advance from us into our general client account to fund a payment on your behalf in excess of funds already held for you in that account.
  • If there is an agreement to contract out of the provisions of this policy.

Calculation of interest payable

Interest will be calculated and paid by reference to applicable rates over the period for which we hold cleared funds.

Unless otherwise agreed, where we are conducting more than one matter for you, balances will not be aggregated for calculation purposes.

Review

This policy will be reviewed from time to time to ensure that it continues to deliver a fair outcome to clients.

Terms of use

Your use of this website, documents, files and other information available through it is subject to the following terms and conditions, as amended by us from time to time.

By using our sites, you indicate that you accept these terms of use and you agree to abide by them.

Use of access to our sites does not of itself create a solicitor/client relationship between you and Swiitch and where such an arrangement does exist it is governed by our separate Terms & Conditions.

The content on our sites is for general information only and should not be regarded as an exhaustive analysis of the law. It is provided free of charge, does not constitute legal advice and must not be relied upon as such to make any decisions. For that reason, users should seek specific legal advice about any matter which concerns them.

Whilst we try to ensure that content on our sites is accurate at the date of publication, no warranties or representations are given as to its accuracy, completeness, reliability, suitability or quality. Content may subsequently be superseded and we give no guarantees that contents will be updated after the date of publication. As such, we accept no responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, reliability, suitability or quality of any content on our sites and to the fullest extent permissible by law.

We exclude all liability for any loss or damage caused by using or relying upon the content appearing on our sites. In particular, we will not be liable to you or any third party for any consequential loss or damage including any financial loss, loss of profit, revenue or business.

All intellectual property on or in our sites, including content, images, designs, trademarks, brand names, logos and software (our “Content”) is owned by us or our licensors and is protected by UK and international copyright, database rights, design rights and other intellectual property laws.

Save to the extent expressly permitted by applicable laws or in writing by us, you are not in any circumstances permitted to:

• copy, adapt, vary, edit, modify, download, distribute, translate, decipher, de-compile, transpose, interfere with or permanently store, in whole or part, any of our Content;
• make commercial use of our Content without obtaining a licence form us or our licensors;
• photograph or record as or convert into video or audio, all or any part of our Content; or
• remove, obscure or otherwise tamper with any copyright and proprietary notices that relate to or are contained within our Content.

It is our policy to virus check documents and files before they are posted on our sites. However, we cannot guarantee that documents or files downloaded from our sites will be free from viruses. Accordingly, for your own protection, you must use virus-checking software when using our sites.

You may only use our sites for lawful purposes.

All electronic links to any part of this site requires our permission. Where consent is not obtained we reserve the right to remove any link at any time.

We reserve the right to vary or amend these terms and conditions from time to time. Any changes shall take effect upon posting to our sites.

Please contact us if you have any questions regarding these terms.