Which? Legal Service Terms and Conditions

1. What we will do for you

Availability: our qualified lawyers and specialist employment advisors will be able to advise you Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays) between 8.30am and 6pm. We will always try to connect you directly with a lawyer but, if they are all helping other members when you call, we will arrange for you to be called back. We will always let you know when to expect your call back.

Different membership options: we may offer you different membership options, although we have no obligation to keep any offer open for a certain length of time. We currently offer two membership options: Which? Legal Service and Which? Legal Service Plus, as follows:

Legal advice: our team of qualified lawyers and specialist employment advisors will advise you in relation to any of the following issues, subject to the specific and general limitations and exclusions set out below:

General exclusions and limitations: we are only able to advise you in relation to civil claims. For claims in Scotland and Northern Ireland we can only assist in civil disputes that would fall within the small claims system (this means the value of your dispute must be less than £3,000 for us to help you).

Landlords renting out more than 2 properties at a commercial rent may only be given advice at our discretion

In addition, we cannot advise in relation to:

• Any aspect of another solicitor's advice, or where another solicitor is already advising you on that issue;
  
  
• Any claims against a local authority;
  
  
• Claims based on breach of a statutory duty;
  
  
• The appealing of any judgments, setting aside or enforcing judgements;
  
  
• The merits of a case if proceedings were issued before substantive advice
  was taken from us;
  
  
• Any aspect relating to insolvency and/or insolvency proceedings

We will only advise you by email if you are a member of W?LS Plus, but we can only advise you in relation to your own legal issues. We will:

• Only be able to advise you if you have e-mailed us a summary of the relevant facts, which we'd normally expect to be no more than 1000 words in length;
  
  
• Aim to respond to all emails within 3 working days (starting the day after receipt);
  
  
• Not advise on, or, review any other written documents or attachments you provide to us;
  
  
• Not provide a written or email summary of any telephone advice we provide.

2. What we cannot do for you

• Try to settle disputes directly: we will not intervene directly with a third party to try to settle your dispute.
  
  
• Speak to someone who telephones on your behalf, unless you have previously given us permission to do so.
  
  
• Review or draft any documents on your behalf.
  
  
• Guarantee you always speak to the same lawyer. If you are a member of Which? Legal Service Plus, we will try to ensure you are advised by the same lawyer, but we cannot guarantee this.
  
  
• Advise you where this could cause a conflict of interests between your interests and those of Which? or another Which? Legal Service member, for example neighbours in dispute or advice to a business selling goods to consumers. Where a conflict of interest arises, we will be unable to provide you with exact details due to data protection legislation.
  
  
• Assist you to recover sums to which you are not legally entitled. For us to advise you, you must have a genuine legal case.

3. Other important things you need to know

Professional conduct: our lawyers must comply with the Solicitors Regulation Authority Rules and/or the Bar Code of Conduct. If we think responding to your request may cause us to break these rules, our lawyers will be unable to advise you. If such a situation arises, we will always explain the position to you.

You can pay using most credit and debit cards (including Amex) and all such payments will be subject to validation checks and authorisation by the card issuer. If the issuer of your card refuses to authorise payment to us, then we will not be able to confirm your order and no contract will exist between us. We will usually collect your subscription by setting up a direct debit or continuous payment authority.

Cancellation: You may cancel your membership at any time by emailing wls@which.co.uk or calling us on 01992 822828: - If you cancel within the first 7 working days (starting the day after you join Which? Legal Service), you will be entitled to a full refund within 30 days providing you have not received any legal advice from us.

Otherwise, your cancellation will take effect from the day before your next payment would have been due, unless you request an earlier date. Please be aware that we are unable to provide refunds in respect of periods of less than 3 months, and that if we're in the process of advising you when your cancellation takes effect, such assistance will stop.

If we need to change the price of your membership, we will always provide you with at least 6 weeks' notice. If, as a result, you decide to change or cancel your membership, please let us know so we can amend your records accordingly.

Which? may vary any of its other terms at any time, although we will only make changes if we think these are either necessary or reasonable. If we think the changes are likely to be important to you, we shall always let you know in advance.

Fair Usage Policy. It is important that all our members have a fair opportunity to obtain legal advice from us, so where we think you are using Which? Legal Service excessively or in a disruptive manner such that our other members could be unfairly affected, we may suspend or cancel your membership.

What happens if you don't comply with these terms? We will treat any non-compliance as a serious issue, and if we think you

have breached any of these terms, we may take any action that we consider appropriate. This may include the temporary or permanent suspension of your use of Which? Legal Service.

Complaints

If you are unhappy about any aspect of Which? Legal Service, then please let us know by contacting the Manager of Which? Legal Service at:

Which? Legal Service, Castlemead, Gascoyne Way, Hertford, SG14 1LH

Email: wls@which.co.uk; or

Telephone: 01992 822828.

We will respond to your complaint fairly and usually within 7 working days. If we are unable to resolve your complaint and it relates to the legal advice you have received, we will explain how you can make a complaint about a particular lawyer to their professional body.

4. About Us

Our website is operated by Which? Limited, a subsidiary company of the Consumers' Association. We are required to provide you with the following information about our companies:

Name: Consumers' Association

Company number: 580128

Registered address: 2 Marylebone Road, London, NW1 4DF

Registered in: England and Wales

VAT number: n/a

Company type: Limited by guarantee

Email: which@which.co.uk

Name: Which? Limited

Company number: 677665

Registered address: 2 Marylebone Road, London, NW1 4DF

Registered in: England and Wales

VAT number: GB238534158

Company type: Private limited company

Email: which@which.co.uk

The Consumers' Association is a registered charity under number 296072.