TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The following are our Terms and Conditions for undertaking medico-legal work:

• Reports (Part 35 Compliant) for Liability, Causation and/or Condition and Prognosis are charged at £425 per hour (Consultant Ophthalmologist) and £175 per hour (Optometrist). Any medical records received after the client has attended for examination will only be incorporated into the report on receipt of a supplementary fee. The report will be submitted within approximately 6 to 8 weeks following the appointment provided that all medical/optometric records have been received.

• Screening / desktop reports (non- part 35 compliant) are accepted at a fixed rate of £790 (Consultant Ophthalmologist) and £ 250 (Optometrist). For this type of report, it is assumed that the medical/optometric records and any other documentation the expert needs to review and consider do not exceed 50 pages. If the records exceed 50 pages, additional fees may be charged with the agreement of the instructing solicitor. A report will be provided within approximately 2 to 3 weeks of receipt of the medical / optometric records.

• Client examination for the medical/optometric report will be arranged by us within 3 weeks of receiving your instructions and your acceptance of these Terms & Conditions. The consultation will take place in Manchester and, if required, any ophthalmic investigations will be undertaken at the same visit. The cost for the examination is £350, with a £350 fee for lack of attendance. In exceptional circumstances, a separate appointment for the ophthalmic investigations may have to be arranged. Your client will need to bring photographic proof of identity with them. Please arrange an independent interpreter for clients whose English is poor. If your client has any visual problems arising from the index injury/surgery/treatment, you should expect that a refraction and visual field testing will be required as per the costs outlined below. Any additional ophthalmic investigations e.g. Ocular Coherence Tomography (OCT), Corneal Topography, will be confirmed with you in advance. You should also expect that, where appropriate, clinical photographs of your client will be taken as per the costs below. Ideally, all medical records should be received prior to the client’s examination.

• Cancellation charges will not apply if you, or your client, cancels an appointment with more than 48 hours’ notice. The full consultation fee will be charged for appointments cancelled with less than 48 hours’ notice. Non-attendance by your client will also be charged the full examination report fee.

• VAT will be charged on all fees at the standard rate.

• Attendance at case conference will be charged at £425 per hour (a minimum total charge of £425 - Consultant Ophthalmologist) and £175 per hour (a minimum total charge of £175 - Optometrist). This will include travel time to and from our experts’ usual business address. Expenses for travel (1st class rail and taxi or petrol costs) and hotel accommodation, if overnight stay is deemed necessary, will also be charged. If the case conference is cancelled, any travel expenses already incurred will be charged to the instructing solicitor. No charge will be made for cancellations made 72 hours in advance of the case conference. Case conferences cancelled with less than 72 hours’ notice will be charged at 50% of the hourly rate for the estimated time our expert set aside to attend.

• Attendance at court will be charged at £425 per hour and charged at 8 hours per day or part thereof plus any expenses incurred. Expenses for travel (1st class rail and taxi or petrol costs) and hotel accommodation, if overnight stay is deemed necessary, will also be charged. If the court attendance is cancelled, any travel expenses already incurred will be charged to the instructing solicitor. Notification of any cancellation of Court appearances must be made by telephone/e-mail to our secretary at the address above.

  The following charges will apply in the event of cancellation:

  More than 28 days’ notice: No costs payable

  14-28 days’ notice: 50% of costs payable

  Less than 14 days’ notice: Full costs payable

• Medical records should be provided complete and in a legible format. Postal delivery of records is at the instructing solicitor’s own expense as is their return if requested. Paper medical records will be kept for 12 months and will then be destroyed as per our Data Protection Policy. Please send copy documents and scans rather than originals. If original documents or scans are to be sent, this must be clearly communicated to us. Original documents or scans will be returned to the instructing solicitor after 6 months at the solicitor’s own expense.

• Estimates of costs can be provided and are based on the information provided by the instructing solicitor. It is presumed that the medical records have been organised, are legible and are paginated.

• Acceptance of Instruction will be provided via email once we have written/email confirmation from the instructing solicitor that our Terms and Conditions have been accepted. If we feel that our experts do not have the necessary clinical background to best assist in your case, we will decline the case and where possible suggest alternative expert colleagues to you. If a conflict of interest is identified, our experts will inform the instructing solicitor before proceeding.

• Payments for all invoices submitted are required within 30 days. Invoices are issued and sent with the reports to the instructing solicitor. Where the invoice is overdue, we retain the right to release any further correspondence, addenda etc. only on receipt of payment for all further invoices issued. Invoices 60 days overdue will be subject to interest charges in line with UK law plus any additional fees incurred in the collection of the debt. We do not accept end of case payment terms.

  We require written/email confirmation of your acceptance of these terms and conditions along with confirmation that you, as the instructing solicitor, will be responsible for our fees in full. The fees for medico-legal reports (inclusive of conditional charges) are not subject to assessment and are not dependent up on the successful outcome of the case.

TABLE OF CHARGES

Consultant Ophthalmologist Expert Fees

Ophthalmic Investigation Charges

Optometrist Expert Fees