Are there minimum or exit fees?

A minimum fee is the least you pay whatever the claim produces. An exit fee is a charge for ending the engagement early. Both are terms an adviser can fairly propose, and both change the model you think you are signing. A success fee with a minimum is partly a fixed fee. A one-year engagement with an exit fee is partly a longer one. On the shared example, a 20% fee with a $35,000 minimum costs $35,000 on a $100,000 claim, not $20,000. Illustrative figures.

The adviser health check asks you: "Are there exit fees, or charges to get your records back?"

A plain yes or no, with the figures. A minimum that reflects real work, explained as such. An exit fee, if there is one, limited to work actually done. Records returned without charge in every case. An adviser who volunteers these terms rather than waiting to be asked.

A minimum that is not mentioned in the proposal and appears in the terms. An exit fee that applies however the engagement ends. Charges for returning your own records. A minimum fee on a claim the adviser advised you not to make.

• The clause: termination and exit fees
• The script: giving notice to end an engagement
• Red flag: exit fees that lock you in. Green flag: you can leave with your records
• Capped fees and the floor that sometimes comes with a cap. Adviser health check