Escrow and Payment Protection
One of the most important protections eSolicitors provides is escrow. This page explains how your money is held, when it is released to your lawyer, and what happens if something goes wrong.
What Is Escrow?
Escrow means that when you pay for a matter, your money is not sent directly to your lawyer. Instead, it is held securely by the platform until work is completed and you approve it. Your lawyer cannot access your funds until you confirm that each piece of work has been delivered.
This protects you from paying for work that is not done, and gives your lawyer confidence that they will be paid once they deliver.
How Escrow Works on eSolicitors
Step 1: You accept the scope and pay upfront
After reviewing the scope your lawyer prepares, you click Accept and Hire. At this point, the full matter value is collected via Stripe and held in escrow. Your lawyer can see the funds are secured but cannot access them yet.
Step 2: Work proceeds by milestone
Your matter is divided into milestones -- defined stages of work with agreed deliverables and amounts. For example:
- Milestone 1: Initial legal advice -- £400
- Milestone 2: Draft contract -- £600
- Milestone 3: Final review and sign-off -- £300
Each milestone is completed independently. You only release payment for a milestone when you are satisfied with what was delivered.
Step 3: You approve each milestone
When your lawyer submits a completed milestone, you receive a notification. You can:
- Approve -- payment for that milestone is released to your lawyer
- Request changes -- you can raise a concern or ask for additional work before approving
- Dispute -- if there is a serious disagreement, you can open a formal dispute
Step 4: Funds are released progressively
As each milestone is approved, the corresponding amount is transferred to your lawyer. At no point does your lawyer receive the full amount before all milestones are complete.
What Happens If I Do Not Respond?
If a milestone is submitted and you do not respond within a set number of days, the platform will send you reminders. If you still do not respond after the full window has passed, the milestone payment is automatically released to your lawyer.
This prevents a lawyer from being left waiting indefinitely when they have completed the work.
If you have concerns about a milestone, raise a dispute before the auto-release window expires.
Raising a Dispute
If you are not satisfied with a delivered milestone, you can raise a dispute:
- Open the milestone in your portal
- Click Raise Dispute
- Describe the issue clearly
Once a dispute is raised, the milestone payment is frozen -- it will not be released automatically while the dispute is open. The platform will review the case and work towards a resolution.
For full details, see Safety and Security.
Refunds
Refunds are handled differently depending on the stage of the matter:
| Situation | What happens |
|---|---|
| Matter cancelled before any milestones are submitted | Full refund of the escrowed amount |
| Matter cancelled after some milestones approved | Refund of the remaining unapproved milestones only; approved milestones are not refundable |
| Dispute resolved in your favour | Relevant milestone amount refunded |
| Consultation cancelled by the lawyer | Full refund of the £15 consultation fee |
All refunds are processed back to your original payment method.
What About Disbursements?
Disbursements (third-party costs like court fees) are handled separately from the main escrow. They are charged as they arise, with your approval for each item. See Disbursements Explained for how these work.
How Is My Payment Data Protected?
All payments are processed by Stripe, one of the world's most widely used payment platforms. eSolicitors never stores your full card number. Stripe handles all card processing under PCI DSS compliance standards.
Your payment data and matter funds are never mixed with eSolicitors' operating funds.
Summary: Your Key Protections
- Your money is held in escrow until you approve each milestone
- You must confirm work is done before any payment is released
- Disputes freeze the relevant milestone payment
- Disputes are reviewed by the eSolicitors team
- Refunds are available for work not yet approved
- All payments are processed securely via Stripe
Related: Milestone Payments -- a full guide to how milestones work
Related: Safety and Security -- how the platform protects you