Frequently asked questions

With the expansion of Which? Legal Service we can now advise you on the following:

Consumer law - problems with products and services you buy

Parking fines and clamping

Holiday rights

Advice for small business on goods and services they receive

Employment law for employees working in the UK

Tenancy advice to private residential tenants and private landlords

Civil neighbour disputes regarding hedges, light and boundaries

Pre-emptive advice - find out your rights before you buy

Our lawyers can advise you in respect of the above from an initial problem right to
the court door (provided your claim falls within the small claims procedure - with a
value of less than £5,000 in England, £3,000 in Scotland and £2,000 in Northern Ireland).

There are some areas of the law that we cannot currently advise on. These include:

Advice to employers

Property law

Financial advice

Foreign jurisdiction (something purchased abroad)

Criminal law

Claims against local authorities

Any matter falling outside the small claims procedure

Any appeals in the small claims court or employment tribunal

Bankruptcy/insolvency

Personal injury

Solicitor's negligence

The above is not an exclusive list but serves to outline the main issues that fall outside our scope of service

Which? Legal Service is pleased to announce extended working hours so you can call usbetween 8.30am and 6pm Monday to Friday. When you call we aim to connect you directly to a lawyer however, if this isn't possible, we will arrange to call you back.

If you do wish for us to call you back, the time taken by us will be dependant upon call volumes on a day-to-day basis but, we aim to return all calls within three hours.

In order to make dealing with your problem as straightforward as possible, you can call us as many times as you wish and we will provide step-by-step advice to help win your case.

Your call will be answered by our customer service team who will take brief details and then try to connect you to a lawyer. All of our lawyers are solicitors, non practising barristers or employment law specialists, each with on average 12 years' experience.

Although we can advise on issues over the small claims limit, we cannot advise if the matter progresses to court, or is already subject to court proceedings.

If your matter does fall within the small claims procedure then we can advise you on all procedural aspects up to the court door.

Claims that may not be in the small claims court include financial claims over £5000 in England, £3000 in Scotland and £2000 in Northern Ireland, enforcement proceedings, injunctive proceedings and any other proceedings not within our general scope of advice.

Unfortunately, we are unable to represent you in court but, try to ensure that you are prepared for the hearing. 

Most cases heard in the small claims court are held in a normal room within the court and not a court room.

Unfortunately, with the exception of employment law cases, we are unable to offer continuity of lawyer every time that you call. However, you will not be asked for the full story every-time just the last piece of advice you received and we can take it from there.

You should receive your confirmation email confirming your membership details soon after you have completed the registration process. Once you have received this, you can start using the service. If you do not receive your confirmation email straight away and you have a spam filter in place, please check that first, and if it is not there, call us on 01992 822828,8.30am-6pm Momday to Friday. Please ensure you quote your membership number in all correspondence.

If you choose to receive advice by email, we can only provide advice upon receipt of a written summary of the facts of your case.

The service covers you and all permanent members of your household for telephone advice but the email service is restricted to your personal use only.

You may e-mail us as many times as you need to resolve the issue, although we do operate a fair usage policy in order to give all of our members the opportunity to use the service. Where we encounter excessive usage or usage that is disruptive to the detriment of other members, we reserve the right to suspend or cancel membership.

We are governed by regulations placed upon us by the Solicitors Regulation Authority which prevents us from taking up your case for you.

The lawyers are happy to advise you on what information you will need to draft letters, such as advising on the relevant legislation applicable to your claim, but cannot actually draft the letters for you.

Due to restrictions placed upon us by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, our lawyers are not permitted to read any attachments or documents that may be submitted. We would, therefore, ask you to copy and paste any relevant points (not entire documents) into the body of the email.

Unfortunately not, as we wish to ensure that all our members have the opportunity to access our lawyers and this would be a duplication. So in the interests of fairness, you may receive advice by telephone only or by e-mail only on each occasion.

With the email service, we will always endeavour to ensure that you are referred back to the same lawyer, although there will be occasions when this cannot be guaranteed. To ensure that we make the optimum use of our lawyers' time, we are not able to guarantee continuity of the same lawyer for telephone advice, except for employment advice (and there will also be occasions when this cannot be guaranteed)

You will receive a reply, normally within three working days.

We can advise on a wide range of topics, as listed on the home page of the website. If you are unsure whether or not we can advise on your particular issue, do give us a call. If we are unable to help, we may be able to point you in another direction where you can get the advice you are looking for.

You may receive advice on more than one problem at a time, although you will need to bear in mind the fair usage policy.

Yes. We would never pass any of your details to another party and your correspondence is confidential between you and the lawyer advising you. We would also never publish any details of your case without your written consent.