Existing firm applications

August 2017

Apply for a Waiver from the obligation to obtain an accountants report

Information you will need

Before granting a waiver, we will need to be satisfied that in the applicant’s specific circumstances, a waiver is compatible with the regulatory objectives in section 1 of the Legal Services Act 2007. These are listed in our waiver policy.

You will need to describe how your waiver meets one or more of these objectives and provide supporting evidence.

Make sure you read our complete your application for details of what you are required to submit.

Help with your application

How to apply

Complete the waiver form and return it to us by email.

You must be clear in your application how this waiver meets one or more of the regulatory objectives as outlined in the waiver policy. As well as explaining your reasoning, you will also need to provide supporting evidence. Without this evidence, we will be unable to make a decision. We would expect you to provide:

bank statements for the full accounting period for which the waiver is being sought
12 months of monthly reconciliation accounts
COFA's breaches report - if there are no breaches, confirm in writing
balance sheet
any other relevant evidence.

This form needs to be completed in full. Any incomplete forms will be returned.

Waivers application form

PDF 5 pages, 164KB

Form

Send us your completed waiver application form by email

Fee

There is no fee.

What you can expect from us

We will acknowledge your application form within one working day.

If your form isn't complete and doesn't explain how your waiver meets one or more of the regulatory objectives as set out in the waiver policy, it will be returned. It will also be returned if you haven't included relevant evidence to support your application

We may contact you if we have questions about your waiver application.

Timescales

We aim to make a decision within 90 days.