We cannot guarantee we will pay your legal costs, but if we decide you should be paid trust money compensation from the Fidelity Fund, either in full or partly, we may agree to pay all or part of your legal costs too.

In special circumstances, we may accept a claim but decide not to pay any legal costs, or to pay only part of the legal costs. We will advise you of our reasons for this decision.

If we do not accept your claim, we may still decide to pay part or all of your legal costs, if we consider it appropriate to do so.

How much will be paid?

If we agree to pay your legal costs, these will be assessed on a ‘solicitor and client’ basis – that is, what your lawyer charges you for their legal services.

You may still have to pay the difference between those solicitor/client costs and the total costs charged to you by your lawyer.

The costs disclosure agreement you sign with your lawyer should detail how your costs are charged.

If you are unsure, ask your lawyer to explain the breakdown of their costs.

Any costs we pay will be paid directly to your lawyer.

What should I ask my lawyer before engaging them to help with my claim?

Some points to discuss with your lawyer include:

• how much they will charge for the work involved in making the claim
• which costs we might pay
• how much we might pay towards those costs
• what would happen if we decided to pay only part of those costs, and
• what would happen if we decided not to pay any costs.

Find out more about working with your lawyer.

Who can I contact for more information?

Call us on 1300 796 344 or email us at lsbc_investigations@lsbc.vic.gov.au