Interest Payments Policy

This policy sets out how we deal with interest earned on money held by Lionshead Law Ltd (the firm) for a client in its client account. In accordance with Rule 7 of the Solicitors’ Accounts Rules, it is the firm’s policy to account to its clients for interest on a fair and reasonable basis for both the client and the firm.

When monies are received on behalf of the client, it will be paid into the firm’s general client account, currently with Barclays Bank who are the firm’s bank. The general client account will hold pooled amounts for different matters for its clients.

Where clients receive interest under the terms of this policy, it is unlikely to be as much as they might have received if they had invested the money by themselves. In addition, the rate of interest we receive and are therefore able to pass on, can be lower than other investment rates available, and also lower than the Bank of England base rate.

  1. Interest is payable where we are holding qualifying funds of over £5000 for an individual client (Qualifying Funds) for the whole of a financial year ending on 31st March (Qualifying Period).
  2. Interest will be calculated on the monthly average of such Qualifying Funds over the Qualifying Period.
  3. The interest rate shall be the average interest rate paid to the firm in respect of its client account over the Qualifying Period.
  4. In the event that the calculated total interest accruing to a client over a Qualifying Period is less than £50.00 then no interest will be paid on the basis that it is a de minimis amount.
  5. Interest will be paid to the client at the end of the matter instruction.

We believe this is a fair policy, as required by Rule 7 of the SRA Accounts Rules, as:

  • Offering interest only for funds which are held by the firm for a longer term takes into account the cost, time and difficulty in calculating interest, particularly where the majority of the firm’s matters are completed quickly and funds only held on client account for short periods;
  • The starting point should be the level of interest we receive from our bank, which is significantly different to, for example, the Bank of England Base Rate; and
  • Where interest is paid for funds held on client account for longer periods, having a de minimis amount of £50.00 takes into account the cost and time expended in managing the client account.