1.1 Property Compensation Consultants Limited registered number 6105656, of Rookery View, Pexhill Road, Henbury, Macclesfield, SK11 9PY (PCC) VAT Number GB831744432 undertakes all services only on the basis of these terms of business and on the terms detailed in the Authority to Act, which shall apply to the exclusion of any other terms and conditions which the Client may seek to impose.
1.2 Where one owner signs the Authority to Act on behalf of joint owners his or her signature shall bind all joint owners;
1.3 Where an agent (such as a partner or close relative or professional adviser) signs the Authority to Act on behalf of the Owner the agent warrants that he is duly authorised so to act on behalf of the Owner and shall be liable to indemnify PCC against any loss PCC shall suffer through the agent lacking authority to so act.
1.4 No variation of these terms shall be binding unless agreed in writing between PCC and the Client.
2.1 PCC is undertaking this assignment on a contingency basis (ie: no win, no fee) and accordingly will in all circumstances be entitled to its fee whenever the Client obtains compensation from the Electricity Company following PCC commencing its work under this engagement. The Client acknowledges this engagement will not be completed within 30 days and is of indeterminate duration.
2.2 Very occasionally it may not be possible to claim successfully against the Electricity Company without either threatening to take or actually taking action in the Lands Tribunal. Legal proceedings are governed by strict rules as to liability for fees and PCC’s engagement does not provide for work undertaken in connection with such proceedings, which would be the subject of a supplemental engagement letter, nor for legal costs and expert or other professional advice in connection with such proceedings. The decision to take a case to the Lands Tribunal lies with the client; therefore a client will not be responsible for
any fees in this respect unless the client instructs any third parties to act on their behalf.
2.3 PCC shall be entitled to the benefit of any surveyors fee payable by the Electricity Company as a supplement to the compensation paid to the Client by the Electricity Company and the Client will reimburse any part of such fee paid by the Electricity Company to the Client. (This fee is often calculated under an old scale of fees called Ryde’s Scale).
3.1 PCC will only invoice the Client for fees due as set out in the Authority to Act when the amount of compensation payable by the Electricity Company has been received. If compensation is paid by instalments PCC shall be entitled to its fee, based on the aggregate of all instalments, out of the first instalment received from the Electricity Company. The Client shall be obliged to notify PCC of the amount of compensation agreed with the Electricity Company if the Client has determined PCC’s retainer before then.
3.2 Invoices are due for payment upon presentation, PCC shall be entitled to charge the Client interest (both before and after any judgment) on any unpaid invoice at a rate of 6% per annum over the basic rate for the time being of National Westminster Bank plc from the date which is 28 days after the date of invoice until payment is made.
3.3 In the event that the compensation is paid to PCC or your Solicitor, PCC’s fees will be deducted before the compensation is paid to the client.
4 PCC’s maximum liability to the Client and its agents under this engagement including where PCC has been negligent shall be limited to the lesser of the fee to which PCC would have been entitled had PCC performed its work to the expected standard and £1,000; this limitation shall not apply to any liability which at Law may not limited or excluded.
5.1 A person who is not a party to the contract (including without limitation any employee, officer, agent, representative or subcontractor of either party) shall not have the right to enforce any term of the contract which expressly or by implication confers a benefit on that person without the express prior agreement in writing of PCC and the Client.
5.2 PCC reserves the right to sell assign and howsoever otherwise deal in the benefit of this agreement without requiring the consent of the client and to subcontract or otherwise delegate performance of its obligations to the Client hereunder to any third party to whom PCC shall in its uncontrolled discretion decide to so subcontract or delegate performance of its obligations hereunder.
6 The Client shall have seven working days from the date PCC reports that the Property is not affected by an existing easement in favour of the Electricity Company to cancel this contract without liability to PCC.
7 These conditions are subject to English Law and the parties irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts for the resolution of all disputes arising between the parties save that as this clause is for the exclusive benefit of PCC.
8 In these conditions the words and expressions set out below have the respective meanings ascribed to them below “Apparatus” includes all plant belonging to the Electricity Company including without limitation power lines pylons and transmission and/or metering equipment. “Authority to Act” means the authority from the Client or his agent to PCC instructing PCC to pursue a claim for compensation against the Electricity Company in respect of Apparatus on or over the Property “Client” the party who issues the Authority to Act or if the Authority to Act is issued by an Agent the principal for whose benefit PCC will provide its services. “Electricity Company” means the owner of the apparatus or power lines affecting the Property; “Property” means the property where the apparatus are located;