Highways Agency - Safe roads, Reliable journeys, Informed travellers

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• Compensation

Using an agent to act on your behalf

It is quite possible that one or more agents offering to act on your behalf have already approached you. It is not unusual for such approaches to be made well before the first claim day or even before the new or altered scheme has opened for public use.

We will need to be satisfied that an agent has been authorised to act for you. We do this by asking that either you sign the claim form or that your agent provides other signed evidence that you have authorised him/her to act on your behalf.

We can accept only one claim on your behalf. The settlement of your claim may be delayed if you or any other person you have authorised makes further claims on your behalf. This is because we may need to clarify with you which agent you wish to represent you.

We have no authority over the agent you employ or any responsibility for his actions or conduct. This includes the terms of any contract or agreement between you and your agent, the content of your agent's literature and the way in which your agent may ask for payment of fees from you. We cannot comment on the terms of an individual contract or agreement, which are private matters between you and your agent. For these reasons, it is important that you are clear about the contractual arrangements you enter into with your agent, which could be legally binding. You should also be clear about what your agent will actually do on your behalf and what payments and other costs you may be asked to meet. This includes any charges if your claim is not successful or if you choose no longer to employ the agent. It also includes any other payments in addition to the fee we will repay.

Paying for the services of an agent

We will refund what we consider to be reasonable valuation expenses incurred by you to employ an agent to prepare and negotiate your claim. We shall repay only one set of agent's fees. You need to keep this in mind if you consider changing your agent during the processing of your claim. The repayment of your agent's fee will only happen if your claim is successful and compensation is to be paid. When we make a formal offer of compensation to you, we will also ask whether you would like us to send the fee directly to your agent. Otherwise, the fee will be paid to you for you to settle with your agent at the time we pay you the agreed compensation.

The Highways Agency Method of calculating reasonable valuation expenses

We have worked closely with a number of the national firms of claims agents to develop a way of calculating the level of their fees. Using 'the Highways Agency Method', we will repay an amount to an agent for all the successful claims he/she has negotiated on a particular scheme. That way of working out fees recognises the increased costs an agent faces when working on a scheme with a small number of claims and the benefits obtained when negotiating a large number of claims. As it would not be reasonable to expect an agent to wait until all claims are settled, a notional fee per claim is calculated to be paid on the settlement of each claim. The amount of that fee is worked out by using the 'Highways Agency Fee Table'. The figures shown in the Table are inclusive of all costs and expenses incurred. The Table is reviewed not earlier than twelve months from the previous review and, in line with government policy, is revised in accordance with the Consumer Prices Index all items (CPI1).

• Highways Agency Fees Table (64KB PDF)

In calculating the recommended fee levels, we have taken into account the many activities agents tell us they carry out when negotiating claims. Namely:

• making pre-instruction enquiries;
• taking written instructions from a client and confirming those instructions, often several years before a scheme commences;
• researching and storing data both in relation to the scheme and also the subject properties;
• communicating with the Highways Agency and claimants to ensure claims are valid;
• dealing with correspondence during the course of the claim and obtaining, for example, any necessary documents, for example,  marriage/death certificates or those relating to divorce, dissolution of civil partnerships etc;
• handling those claims which can be submitted between road opening to traffic and first claim day;
• obtaining technical data (dust/noise impact studies etc) and comparable evidence of open market values before, during and after construction;
• inspecting property prior to the claim date;
• determining amount to claim, completing claim form and submission of claim to the Highways Agency;
• negotiating claims with the Highways Agency's independent valuer including  attending  meetings, undertaking site visits and submitting further/additional evidence of claim;
• submitting any offers of compensation to the claimant (including subsequent discussions and explanation of reasoning behind offer);
• considering whether to refer a dispute to the Lands Tribunal and discussions with the claimant on the appropriate action;
• dealing with final agreement by claimant and reporting provisional settlement to the Highways Agency;
• handling invoicing and payment enquiries.

The Highways Agency Method may be used for those schemes where no claims have been settled prior to 5 October 2009 or where first claim day has not yet happened. In all other cases, we shall normally repay a fee equivalent to Ryde's Scale.

• Ryde's Scale (357KB PDF)

Whatever method is used to determine the level of agent's fees, the Highways Agency recognises that it cannot prevent agents seeking additional fees from their clients - that is a private matter and one that must be left to the parties concerned.