Motoring Offences – Our Fees
We offer competitive fixed fee packages for driving offences proceedings dealt with in the magistrates’ court. These packages are set out below.
All of the prices set out below are exclusive of VAT. We charge VAT on our fees at a rate of 20%.
Initial telephone or email contact with us is free of charge. During this initial contact we will gain an understanding from you of the nature of the proceedings and will confirm if we are able to represent you. Unfortunately, without being formally instructed we will not be able to give you specific advice on the matters you are facing, but we will be able to explain in brief the general procedure at court.
Our Fees for Magistrates’ Court Proceedings
Hill Twine Solicitors & Barristers can represent you in the magistrates’ court on a fixed fee basis for both summary only offences and triable either way offences.
Please note, we cannot provide a timescale of when your hearing will take place as this depends on factors beyond our control primarily relating to the time it takes for the prosecution to commence proceedings against you and/or the court listing for the day on which your case is listed.
Summary Only Offences
Summary only offences are matters which can only be dealt with in the magistrates’ court. The majority of driving offences are summary only matters. All hearings will take place in the magistrates’ court and, in the event of conviction, that court will deal with sentence. Summary only offences include, careless driving (driving without due care and attention), drink driving (also known as driving with excess alcohol or driving whilst under the influence), drug driving, speeding, using a vehicle without insurance, driving without a licence, and driving whilst disqualified.
Triable Either Way Offences
Triable either way offences can be dealt with in the magistrates’ court or the Crown Court. The proceedings start in the magistrates’ court and that court will make a determination as to whether, in the event of conviction, it has sufficient sentencing powers to deal with the case itself. If it thinks the case is too serious for it to deal with then it will send/commit the matter to the Crown Court. Accordingly, there are extra procedural factors that need to be considered and advised on for triable either way offences.
The following are examples of triable either way driving offences: dangerous driving, causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving, and causing death by driving: unlicensed, disqualified or uninsured drivers.
Our Fixed Fee Packages
The fixed fee packages below are based upon the assumption that your case will be dealt with at a magistrates’ court in Dorset. Where this is not the case, the additional travelling time and expenses involved (e.g. mileage and parking) will necessarily need to be reflected in our fees quoted. We will advise you accordingly but travel is usually charged in accordance with the hourly rate of the person dealing with your case and mileage is charged at £0.45 per mile.
All of the prices set out below are exclusive of VAT. We charge VAT on our fees at a rate of 20%.
| Nature of Hearing | Fee Includes | Fee (excluding VAT*) |
|---|---|---|
| Initial Advice Prior to Court Proceedings | Initial consultation to provide legal advice (including consideration of the papers and any necessary research) on: o a fixed penalty notice you’ve received, or o a court summons/charge for a motoring offence (prior to you making a decision whether or not to instruct us for the court proceedings) | £200 – £400 |
| Summary Only Guilty Plea Package: Single hearing | 2 hours attendance/preparation: o conference prior to the hearing and taking your instructions o considering evidence o providing advice in relation to plea and likely sentence or, where the likely sentence cannot be anticipated, the options available to the court in relation to sentencing o advice on whether an exceptional hardship, or special reasons argument should be made (where appropriate) Attendance and representation at a single hearing at the magistrates’ court, including: o dealing with sentence (where no evidence is heard), and/or, where appropriate, making representations on committal for sentence, or, o the adjournment of the case for sentence/special reasons hearing/exceptional hardship argument o initial advice on appeal (against conviction and/or sentence) | £700 |
| Triable Either Way Guilty Plea Package: Single hearing | 2 hours attendance/preparation: o conference prior to the hearing and taking your instructions o considering evidence o consideration of the Allocation procedure and advising on whether the case is more likely to be dealt with in the magistrates’ court or the Crown Court o providing advice in relation to plea and likely sentence or, where the likely sentence cannot be anticipated, the options available to the court in relation to sentencing o advice on whether an exceptional hardship, or special reasons argument should be made (where appropriate) Attendance and representation at a single hearing at the magistrates’ court, including: o liaising with the prosecutor in relation to the Allocation procedure o dealing with sentence (where no evidence is heard), and/or, where appropriate, making representations on committal for sentence, or, o the adjournment of the case for sentence (including any committal for sentence decision)/special reasons hearing/exceptional hardship argument, o initial advice on appeal (against conviction and/or sentence), where the proceedings conclude in the magistrates’ court. | £800 |
| Adjourned Sentencing Hearings: where no evidence is heard | Attendance and representation at the adjourned hearing at the magistrates’ court (where we were instructed to represent at the hearing where a plea was entered and the matter was adjourned): o conference prior to the hearing and taking your instructions, o consideration of any pre-sentence report and advice on sentence o dealing with sentence | £300 |
| Not Guilty Plea Package: plea hearing and single trial hearing | Everything included in the guilty plea packages, plus: o preparing your case for trial, including dealing with any prosecution applications and taking your proof of evidence, o drafting a Defence Statement, if appropriate, o case management (but excluding attendance at additional Case Management Hearings – see below), o the instruction of one expert (but not the costs charged the expert), o taking up to two additional non-expert witness statements at our offices (out of office appointments may incur additional costs), o advocacy at trial o initial advice on appeal in the event of conviction | For trial of any length up to ½ day: £1,600 – £1,800 For trial of any length over 3 hours up to 1 day: £1,700 – £2,100 |
| Not Guilty Plea Package: single trial hearing where we did not represent you at the plea hearing | Everything included in the not guilty plea single day trial package (excluding what is included in the guilty plea packages), plus: o further consideration of plea, providing advice in relation to maintaining/changing plea and likely sentence or, where the likely sentence cannot be anticipated, the options available to the court in relation to sentencing o advice on whether an exceptional hardship, or special reasons argument should be made (where appropriate) in the event of conviction | For trial of any length up to ½ day: £1,400 – £1,600 For trial of any length over 3 hours up to 1 day: £1,500 – £1,800 |
| Additional Case Management & Interim Hearings: where no evidence is heard | Attendance and representation at the adjourned hearing at the magistrates’ court (where we were instructed to represent at the hearing where a plea was entered and the matter was adjourned): o conference prior to the hearing and taking your instructions, o consideration and advice on any further evidence/court directions/applications o dealing with prosecution applications, opposed and unopposed | £300 per hearing |
| Additional Attendance at Trial | Our daily rate for additional attendance at trial where the matter is adjourned part-heard | £500 per half day |
| Exceptional Hardship Hearing (in addition to any of the other packages above) | 3 hours attendance/preparation: o preparing your case for the hearing and taking instructions from you, o taking up to two additional non-expert witness statements at our offices (out of office appointments may incur additional costs), o dealing with the hearing and arguing your case before the court, o dealing with sentence, o initial advice on appeal | £500 – £750 |
| Special Reasons Hearing (in addition to any of the other packages above) | 3 hours attendance/preparation: o preparing your case for the hearing, including the consideration of prosecution evidence, and taking instructions from you, o the instruction of one expert (but not the costs charged by the expert) o taking up to two additional non-expert witness statements at our offices (out of office appointments may incur additional costs), o dealing with the hearing and arguing your case before the court, o dealing with sentence, o initial advice on appeal | £650 – £800 |
| Submitting a Claim for a Defence Costs Order | Full preparation of the claim includes: o liaising with the Court in relation to receipt of the Order, o completion of the claim form, o submission of the claim, o dealing with subsequent queries from the Central Funds team | £150 |
*VAT will be charged at 20%
Where a price range is given the final fee quoted will depend on factors, such as, the experience of the litigator/advocate dealing with your case, whether non-specialist external Counsel is required to be instructed, the additional preparation (for example where witness statements are required to be taken or there are evidential and non-evidential applications to consider).
What’s Not Included in the Fixed Fee Packages?
The fees quoted above do not include:
- Unforeseen complexities or client requests requiring additional work beyond the usual complexities of the offence/disputed issues
- Instruction of any expert witnesses (unless otherwise stated within the fixed fee package)
- Disbursements, for example, an expert’s fee for a report. A quote will always be provided to you for agreement in advance. An expert report is the most usual disbursement in motoring cases. The cost varies depending on the nature of the expert and the issues the report is required to address. An expert report usually costs in the region on £145 to £2,000, excluding VAT.
- Instruction of specialist Counsel, where required
- Taking statements from witnesses (unless otherwise stated within the fixed fee package)
- Drafting Defence applications for trial/contested hearing, e.g. hearsay, bad character, special measures, third-party disclosure application etc
- Full advice and/or assistance in relation to any appeal, e.g. preparing the case for appeal, lodging the appeal, representing you at the appeal hearing.
Key Stages
The key stages of your matter may vary based on the individual circumstances of your case. However, they usually include the following:
- Meeting with your solicitor to provide instructions on what happened.
- Consideration of initial disclosure and any other served evidence, providing advice and taking instructions on the same.
- Arranging to take any witness statements if necessary
- Explaining the court procedure to you so you know what to expect on the day of your hearing, and the sentencing options available to the court.
- Within the structures of the fixed fee packages, conducting any further preparatory work, obtaining further instructions from you if necessary, and answering any follow up queries you have.
- We cannot provide a timescale of when your hearing will take place, as this depends on the court listing for that day.
- We will attend court on the day and meet with you prior to going before the court.
- We will discuss the outcome with you, next steps, and any additional costs.
- In the event of conviction, we will provide initial advice on appeal. If full advice is required on appeal, this will carry an additional cost.
Our Fees for Crown Court Proceedings
Driving offences which are dealt with in the Crown Court are more serious and the proceedings are usually more complex than in the magistrates’ court. The fees we charge will depend on a number of factors, including, the nature of the offence(s), the volume of evidence (both prosecution and defence), whether we need to instruct external Counsel, decisions regarding expert evidence, and whether the matter will proceed to trial or not. Accordingly, we will provide you with a bespoke quotation for representing you in the Crown Court. Please contact us as soon as possible about this.
If you have any questions or need advice