What do we do?

We give legal advice and assistance to deafblind individuals or their family members and supporters.

Where possible, we aim to provide you with enough information to be able to address the issues yourself, by advising you what the law says, how it applies to you and what action you can take.

Sometimes you may be unable to progress matters yourself and need Sense’s legal team to intervene. Where appropriate we can write letters or make phone calls on your behalf. This work is carried out by our caseworkers.

If matters cannot be resolved by Sense’s legal team and further action is needed we can refer your case to solicitors. We have an arrangement with Anthony Collins Solicitors, which means that you can be supported at all stages of your case, including negotiation and court hearings if needed. However, we can refer your case to other solicitors where this would be more appropriate

What areas do we advise on?

The legal support service gets involved in a variety of cases. The more common types of issues that we advise on relate to:

• Disability discrimination
• The right to adequate and appropriate health and social care
• The right to adequate and appropriate education
• The right to an adequate standard of living (includes welfare benefits)

However, we are happy to research most legal issues upon which advice is needed.

Do I have to pay for this service?

All legal advice provided by our caseworkers is free of charge to you.

If we refer your case to Anthony Collins Solicitors, you will not have to pay yourself for their advice
(if there are court proceedings they will advise you on the recovery of costs).

If we refer your case to other solicitors, their advice to you will be charged at their standard rates, unless you are eligible for legal aid. The solicitors will advise you about this.

If your case goes to court there will be additional costs associated with the case, such as court fees, any expert reports, etc. You may be asked to contribute towards these additional costs, unless you are eligible for legal aid. The solicitors will discuss this with you if it arises. In exceptional cases you can discuss with us whether Sense can offer any help with the costs. 

Will you always take on my case?

Due to our limited resources we may not be able to take on every case that is referred to us.  When your case is referred to us we will look at various factors, including the potential damage to you if action is not taken, what other sources of support you may have and whether your situation is one which affects other deafblind people as well.

If we cannot provide assistance ourselves we will do our best to point you towards other sources of legal support.

Contact us

If you would like advice please contact:

For general queries about the law:

Sense's information and advice service

For specific legal queries:

Legal Support service
Email: legal@sense.org.uk
Sense, 101 Pentonville Road, London, N1 9LG