Unclaimed balances

Your firm can make a big change, and it starts with your unclaimed balances change.

Whether your law firm only has a few pennies left over, or a larger sum, you can donate it to us (risk-free) to fund a better supported profession for all. No matter whether you refer to these funds as Residual Client Balances, RCBs, or unclaimed balances, it’s these donations which have enabled our charity to keep on helping solicitors since 1858. If you’d like more information on how to do this – please speak to our charity team about options.

Support from individuals and firms directly help solicitors and their families in need.

RCB donations are always 100% risk free.

One of the great benefits of supporting The Solicitors’ Charity in this way is that your donations are fully indemnified and 100% risk-free. That means that should you for any reason need to claim the funds back, we’ve got your back.

The ins and outs of how to donate unclaimed balances.

Preserve your clients’ interests and put your old balances to work. It is a fact of legal life that law firms of every shape and size carry old residual balances on their clients’ ledger.

These might be just a few pennies or quite a lot of pounds but, irrespective of the amount, they can still be a real headache because they have to be accounted for each year.

To do otherwise is to risk compliance problems under the SRA Accounts Rules. This is where The Solicitors Charity can help.

We know exactly how much of a burden unclaimed balances can be. We also know that law firms need to have complete confidence that the sums they pass on to charities will always be refunded, as and when they are reclaimed.
This is why we have sufficient safeguards in place to ensure that we can always re-pay old client balances. Moreover, we offer an indemnity in every case, irrespective of amount. These funds, which would otherwise be dormant, can then be put to charitable use to help solicitors and their families in need.

You do not need SRA approval to transfer amounts which do not exceed £500 in relation to any one client or trust matter, provided you have complied with Rule 20.2 of the Solicitors’ Accounts Rules:

You have made reasonable attempts to establish the identity of the money’s owner
You have made adequate attempts to ascertain the proper destination for the money and return it to the rightful owner, unless the reasonable costs of so doing are likely to be excessive in relation to the amount held
You record the steps you have taken above and keep all relevant documentation (such as attempted correspondence and the indemnity we will issue to you on receipt of funds) and
You keep a central register in accordance with rule 29.22.

For balances over £500 SRA authorisation is required under Rule 20(1)(k) but the process is straightforward.

Contact the Team at:

Professional Ethics

The Cube

199 Wharfside Street

Birmingham B1 1RN DX 720293 Birmingham 47

Tel: 0370 606 2577

Email: professional.ethics@sra.org.uk

Guidance and the relevant application form may be found here.

How to transfer funds.

Once you have checked whether your balance needs SRA approval or not – please email us at sec@thesolicitorscharity.org to start the process and let us know you will be donating an RCB.

There is due diligence carried out on all donations, particularly larger ones, and our policy can be found here.

Once your donation is cleared to be donated, you can do so by bank transfer and our bank details will be supplied on request.

Or, you can send a cheque made payable to The Solicitors’ Charity to:

The Solicitors’ Charity

1 Jaggard Way

London

SW12 8SG

You’ll need to provide a note or letter with payments (of £501 or more) which demonstrates that you have complied with SRA requirements.

On receipt of your bank transfer or cheque, we will send you a letter of indemnity which states that we will refund all or any part of the received sum when requested, in order that you might comply with your professional obligations to the entitled party, should a refund be needed in the future.

If you would like to have sight of the indemnity we offer in advance, please email sec@thesolicitorscharity.org so that you can check it meets your needs.

More information.

Many firms and law societies (and individuals) choose to give to us on a one-off or regular basis with RCB and voluntary donations; please do always let us know to expect donations so that we can acknowledge them fully and send indemnities out, where appropriate.

Information on the SRA website about withdrawal of residual client balances form can be found here, or you can download the form here.

Learn more about the prescribed circumstances in which you can withdraw client money from client account to pay to a charity of your choice here.