While a law firm's client account acts, in many ways, just like an escrow, there some clear differences.
Firstly, a law firm acts for its client. This is no different when funds in a client account. While many transactions (principally, sale and purchase transactions) in the UK take place on an exchange of undertakings, law firms are no longer allowed to retain funds in their client accounts to satisfy post-completion obligations or the like.
As a consequence, escrow firms like ours are able to support law firms in all of their escrow requirements. We are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and we secure GBP funds at the Bank of England for the duration of the escrow agreements, safeguarded and segregated, so the security funds are kept available for their intended purpose.
We've written about "why can't law firms in the UK provide escrow services?" in detail. In summary, however:
For this reason, specialist escrow and TPMA providers like us support law firms by acting as independent, trusted third parties to hold client funds on escrow or as third-party managed accounts (TPMA's).
A Third-Party Managed Account (TPMA) is a client money account overseen by an independent party. Whether you are a law firm, an estate agent, an interior designer, or a party planner, you may find it beneficial to delegate your client account obligations. By doing so, you can lower both the regulatory burden and the risks associated with handling client funds directly.
Frequently called “escrow accounts” or “designated client accounts,” TPMAs are often used in sectors such as construction, property, and corporate dealings.
The introduction of the revised SRA Accounts Rules has brought TPMAs to the forefront as a viable alternative to traditional client accounts. Rule 11 explicitly permits the use of TPMAs, provided specific conditions are met.
Law firms must ensure:
Engagement terms must outline who is responsible for TPMA fees, typically treated as a disbursement payable by the client, and the client’s rights to dispute payments or terminate the agreement.
Regular statements must be obtained from the TPMA provider to maintain oversight of all transactions, and accurate records must be kept to satisfy the relevant requirements - our platform enables fee earners to self-serve this information at any time.
Our probate and executor accounts are independent Third Party Managed Accounts (TPMAs), set up under the deceased’s estate and held securely at the Bank of England throughout the executor’s administration process. These accounts are often opened more swiftly than traditional high-street accounts, and they deliver robust security without concerns about the bank’s financial stability
For smaller matters, with the more vanilla of clients, a security Third-Party Managed Account will usually suffice. For these accounts, if one envisages a £250,000 anticipated fee over 10 months, the firm might ask for three months' worth of fees (£75,000) to be placed on account before the matter gets underway.
This gives the firm confidence that the work can be started, the team resourced and progress can be made on the matter in earnest without the threat of non-payment.
Each month, the firm can send an invoice for their fees, and each month they are settled directly (not using the account). At the end of the matter, the client can elect to use the funds to settle the final few months of fees to the firm.
Pay-through Third-Party Managed Accounts are slightly different. They are more suitable for offshore clients, trusts, or those who may have a record of slow payment - for pay-through accounts, they are established in a similar way (with the deposit of an agreed baseline balance - possibly even the whole fee), and then each month the invoice is paid from the TPMA to the law firm directly, and the client must top up the account within an agreed period - by the end of the matter, all of the funds will have passed through the TPMA.
A Project Bank Account (PBA) is a ring-fenced, standalone account, usually administered by a bank or payment service provider, to manage and safeguard funds in construction projects. It simplifies the payment process, ensures faster disbursements, and protects all participants from insolvency risks higher up the supply chain.
Carillion’s collapse in January 2018, which left its supply chain owed millions, renewed interest in PBAs for large or complex schemes. Then, in 2024, ISG’s failure prompted a strong push within the construction sector for updated regulations, calling for ring-fenced funds to shield businesses from a repeat of these high-profile insolvency events. In light of these experiences, PBAs have never been more compelling as a means to guarantee prompt, secure payments.
An escrow account, sometimes referred to simply as “an escrow,” is effectively a standard transaction between two parties that includes an independent third party. The main purpose of this arrangement is to protect the buyer’s funds until all agreed conditions for payment are satisfied, at which point the funds are released to the seller.
From the earliest discussions and heads of terms right through to completion and beyond, trust can become a critical concern in any transaction. At multiple points—during planning, drafting, negotiations, and regulatory checks—enlisting an independent escrow agent for an M&A Escrow can address these trust issues and offer vital reassurance, openness, and security.
Corporate escrow arrangements, in particular, act as a safeguard against potential risks. They also ensure that deposited funds remain available after the deal concludes, ready to meet any outstanding liabilities. This structure provides all parties with the confidence that their interests are protected throughout the entire transaction process.
A construction escrow account is a third-party, segregated account in which the Employer of a construction project deposits some or all of the anticipated costs. These funds are supervised by an escrow agent and may be called upon by the Contractor should the Employer fail to pay.
Through this arrangement, the Contractor can confidently offer a line of credit to the Employer and move forward with the project without fearing a lack of payment for interim applications. This encourages smoother and faster project progress, as the Contractor has the reassurance of secure funding. Both parties benefit: the Contractor is paid promptly when performance certificates are issued, and the Employer retains assurance that the works will be completed to the required standard before any funds are released. The escrow agent remains impartial throughout, overseeing the release of payments in line with certificates issued by the Architect or Contract Administrator.
As land and property has become so valuable, the stakes have continued to grow for large land and real estate transactions. As with any high-stakes transaction, the use of escrow can help to mitigate and reduce, at low cost, the changes of the other's default costing them significantly.
Real estate escrow can support in providing security in various land transactions, but in particular for overage agreements and restoration bonds.
Whether the transaction involves buying an aircraft for commercial operations, acquiring a private jet for personal or business use, or leasing an aircraft, the amounts of money at stake are frequently immense. Moreover, one or more parties—or the country where the aircraft is registered or manufactured—may be based in a jurisdiction with limited regulatory oversight or less transparent corporate structures.
These factors can erode trust and often create a need for heightened due diligence and greater assurances throughout the transaction.
Our UK-based aviation escrow services support all stages of the aircraft transaction, but particularly provide support for aircraft sale and purchase, secured jet cards and closings that don't have to wait for Oklahoma to wake up.
For most people, yacht and ship transactions will be relatively rare events in their lifetime, yet their importance cannot be overstated.
Whether the deal involves acquiring a ship for commercial use or buying, chartering, or commissioning a yacht for leisure, the sums of money involved are often immense. In addition, one or more parties—or the vessel’s flag state, or the location of the shipyard—may be situated in a jurisdiction with less regulatory oversight or a less transparent corporate ownership register.
Taken together, these factors can erode trust and result in a need for heightened due diligence and assurance throughout the transaction. Our marine escrow services bridge this gap.
Escrow agents help to bridge these gaps by offering a reliable, independent, objective third party to handle the exchange of money and documents in accordance with the parties' wishes and the terms of the escrow agreement, without having to rely solely on trust to ensure the security and success of the transaction.
We offer escrow solutions to address all of the above issues and would be delighted to provide you with a quote for your specific requirements. You can also check out our detailed service pages listed above.
Some of the shortfalls outlined above can be addressed through the purchase of a contract of insurance or a bond. These typically involve the payment of a fee (a "premium"), and in the event of default, the beneficiary under the policy must make a claim from the insurer or bondsman for their loss.
This approach comes with four primary drawbacks:
Cash-backed escrow, by contrast, addresses all of these issues. It is generally cheaper to administer than the cost of a premium; in most cases, there is no credit risk because the funds are segregated and safeguarded by the escrow agent; payouts generally happen within a few days; and there will not be any circumstances in which a payout is excluded—the terms of the escrow agreement will make it very clear what circumstances need to exist to trigger a payment, rather than necessarily the reasons behind those circumstances.
We are an established, independent escrow agent not affiliated to any bank or trustee. We're based in London, in a time zone conveniently located for transactions taking place anywhere in the world. As a small team, we're easy to get hold of, responsive and dependable.
While our processes are systems are rigorous, they are also flexible. We make the effort to understand each transaction and its nuances, meaning that we can provide the perfect solution for the parties.
Through our technology partners, we are able to open custodial/escrow accounts at the Bank of England with the click of a button. Unlike a bank (who accepts your escrow funds as a "deposit", whereupon it becomes part of their balance sheet and can be loaned to others), our accounts are all segregated (kept separately from our own) and safeguarded (not used for any other purpose). This means we are probably the most secure escrow agent in the United Kingdom.
We simply hold the funds liquid and unencumbered at the Bank of England, ready for use in the transaction. Exactly as escrow should be.
Most banks and corporate trustees see escrow as a slightly painful service they need to offer in order to justify their moniker of being 'full-service' - it's a service that most clients will wish for, but compared to their lending, advisory and trustee fee revenues, few banks consider escrow to be a profitable exercise.
As a consequence, most will ask for at least one of the parties to be (or to become) a client of the bank or trust company going forward - very few will offer it to entirely unrelated parties with whom they have no opportunity to make money in future.
We're different. We only exist to provide escrow services, and those are frequently once-in-a-lifetime deals - while we are delighted to enjoy repeat custom, we haven't built our business model on it.
We don't carry the overheads of a large bank or trust corporation, or anything like them. As a small team, we've invested heavily in technology to do the heavy lifting and we have no legacy systems that make life difficult for us - it's all cutting-edge, encrypted, enterprise-level technology, but without the legacy costs.
We are therefore almost always cheaper, often by a considerable margin (and, if for any reason we're not, we're always happy to have a commercial conversation).
Our streamlined systems and processes lend themselves to fast account opening. Often, the detail of escrow arrangements is left until quite late in the transaction - this isn't a problem for us; indeed, we're used to it - it's what we do.
Our accounts can be opened same-day if we have all of the information, and the vast majority are opened within 3-5 business days (most of which time is taken up with us carrying out our mandatory compliance activities).
Unlike a bank or trust company that is required to operate on standard terms, with 3-5 day turnaround times for their internal legal teams to sign off any deviations, we can work either on our standard conditions or on the basis of a document agreed between the parties, and we're flexible about what that looks like.
Each transaction is different, so we don't try to shoe-horn them into chapters of legalese - the terms of our participation are clear, concise and flexible.
dospay is a trading name of DOS & Co. Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales with company number 08294966.
DOS & Co. Ltd. is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority under the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (FRN: 833374) for the provision of payment services.
All of our GBP escrow and third-party managed accounts are segregated and safeguarded at the Bank of England.
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