NOTARIAL ADVICE, PETERBOROUGH

The following terms of business will apply to all matters handled on behalf of clients unless otherwise agreed in writing and my notarial contract with you shall be on the basis of these conditions only:

 

1. GENERAL MATTERS

I make every effort to ensure that your telephone calls, faxes and e-mails are returned as soon as possible. Occasionally it may not always be possible to return your telephone call the same day, particularly if I am in meetings all day or out of the office on business, but messages can also be left with Jayne Ball, my Assistant or on my voicemail system.

 

Although I need to operate on an appointment basis, I also try to be as flexible as possible to meet your needs

 

I want to ensure that you are kept fully updated on the progress of your matter and I will send you copies of all important correspondence, together with clear explanations of any action required by you, such as to sign and return documents, read them or provide your further instructions and comments. Please inform me immediately if you feel that I have in any way misunderstood your instructions. Please retain any papers that may have a bearing on the work I am handling for you. I will be reliant on you for the accuracy of the information and/or documentation you provide. I will not be liable to you for any losses caused wholly or in part by the provision by you of misleading, inaccurate or incomplete information or documents.

 

To help me to provide a good service, I also need your help and co-operation. Please be prompt in providing me with all relevant information, including documents and correspondence. If you are in any doubt, bring all relevant papers to meetings so that they can be reviewed - if I have not been able to verify all the facts of your particular matter, I will need to include a limitation or a disclaimer in any certificate I give and the effect of this may result in the final document either being ineffective or not having the desired effect. In such circumstances, I will not accept liability for any losses or the cost of putting the matter right.

 

2. CHARGES

My charges are calculated on the basis of the amount of time spent in dealing with your matter unless you are otherwise advised at the outset.

 

Routine letters sent and received, and routine telephone calls made and received will be charged as units of 1/10th of an hour and other letters and telephone calls will be charged on the basis of time spent.

 

My invoices will also include any costs or expenses which I have incurred on your behalf.

 

Currently, there is no Value Added Tax due on my fees.

 

My invoice will also include all disbursements and expenses (such as fees payable to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Foreign Embassies or agents dealing with the Legalisation of documents or courier charges).

 

I may also ask you to pay sums of money on account of future charges and expenses. If this should become necessary I will write to you and request a specified sum.

 

It is sometimes difficult to estimate what work will be necessary to complete a matter, bearing in mind the variety of circumstances which may arise or if your requirements or the circumstances change significantly during the matter. I will inform you if any unforeseen extra work becomes necessary and inform you in writing of the estimated cost of the extra work.

 

Routine overheads are included in my agreed charges. However, where I need to generate substantial numbers of documents, for example by printing, scanning or photocopying, and these documents exceed 500 pages in any one instance or cumulatively exceed 1,000 pages on any one retainer with you, I reserve the right to charge for that document production at the rate of £0.25 per A4 copy, £0.30 per A3 copy and £0.35 per colour A4 copy, plus VAT.

 

Where I need to travel for your work, actual costs are charged, with the exception of travel by car for which a standard mileage charge of 45 pence per mile applies.

 

Payment is due upon delivery of my invoice and in the event that my fees are not paid within 30 days, interest is payable at 4% over Barclays Bank plc base rate from time to time, together with an administration charge of £5.00 per reminder letter. Such interest shall accrue on a daily basis from the due date until the date of actual payment of the overdue amount, whether before or after judgment.

 

You are responsible for paying my invoice. If an insurer or other third party has agreed with you to pay the invoice for you, and in circumstances where I accept instructions from 2 or more clients in relation to the same matter, then liability for my fees will be on a joint and several basis which means that in the event of non-payment of fees I may seek payment of the full amount of outstanding fees from any one or more of the clients. Where I act for joint clients, each of you consents to the full sharing of information and advice between you.

 

When representing a limited company I reserve the right to require one or more directors and/or controlling shareholders to sign a personal guarantee for my costs and expenses. This requirement may arise at the outset of a matter or during the course of my involvement. If this request is not met I will be entitled to cease acting immediately and in these circumstances, I will be entitled to immediate payment of my costs.

 

3. CONFIDENTIALITY

All information in relation to your instructions will be kept confidential and will not be disclosed to anyone else except where you have authorised it or where it is required by law or by the Faculty Office.

 

I have various duties under the Terrorism Act 2000 and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

 

One of those key duties requires me to confirm the identity of all clients to prevent money laundering. As a result, personal clients will be asked to provide photo identification (original passport or photo driving licence) to confirm identity and a recent original utility bill or similar to confirm your address. Corporate clients will be asked to provide other suitable identification. In certain circumstances, I may also require evidence to establish the source of funds paid to me during your retainer.

 

The proceeds of crime are defined very widely and include, for example, money gained as a result of unlawful tax avoidance. If I suspect an activity may involve the proceeds of crime, I have a duty to report such suspicions. That duty may override any duty of confidentiality that I owe to you. 

 

4. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

My liability under or in connection with this agreement and the services provided by me to you shall be limited to £1,000,000.00 in total (that sum being the limit of my professional indemnity insurance) and shall under no circumstances exceed that amount. This limit shall apply however liability arises, including (but without limitation), any liability arising from breach of notarial contract, by tort (including the tort of negligence) or by breach of statutory duty, and relates to all loss or damage including (but without limitation) indirect loss, consequential loss, loss of profit, loss of business, loss of goodwill, failure to achieve anticipated savings or loss of chance, providing always that this clause shall not exclude or limit my liability for death or personal injury caused by my negligence, or fraud.

This clause shall not be taken as limiting my liability in such a way as to breach the provisions of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations or the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977.

 

Nothing in these Terms of Business shall be taken as restricting my liability in respect of any losses which cannot be excluded by English law.

A person who is not a party to this agreement has no right under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any of its terms.

 

All searches of public and commercial registers carried out by me are undertaken using online, telephone, email or postal services. To the extent that any provider or compiler of any public or commercial searched by me in relation to any work being carried out for you does not accept responsibility for any inaccuracies or omissions arising from use of such service, no responsibility or liability arising from reliance upon the results of such searches is accepted if they should subsequently be found to be inaccurate or incomplete.

 

5. COMPLAINTS

My notarial practice is regulated by the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury:

 

The Faculty Office

1, The Sanctuary

Westminster

London 

SW1P 3JT

Telephone 020 7222 5381

Email faculty.office@1thesanctuary.com

Website www.facultyoffice.org.uk

If you have any difficulty making a complaint in writing, please do not hesitate to call The Notaries Society for assistance.

Finally, even if you have your complaint considered under the Complaints Procedure, you may at the end of that procedure or after a period of eight weeks from the date you first notified me that you were dissatisfied, make your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, if you are not happy with the result:

​

Legal Ombudsman

P O Box 6167

Slough SL1 0EH

Tel : 0300 555 0333

Email :  enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Website :  www.legalombudsman.org.uk

 

If you decide to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, you must refer your matter to the Legal Ombudsman within six months from the conclusion of the complaint process.

 

6. YOUR DOCUMENTS AND DATA

All information I hold concerning you will be held and processed strictly in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998, the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 and the Electronic Commerce (RC Directive) Regulations 2002.

 

I may need to disclose information about you to our suppliers and agents.

 

For record purposes, I may keep your data beyond the date when I complete your matter.

 

Your signature on my Terms of Business and/or your continuing instructions to me demonstrate your consent to the data processing identified in these terms and also to any credit searches which I may carry out against your personal details.

 

 I am entitled to keep any papers and documents whilst there are monies due to me.

 

I will store your file in my archive for at least 7 years after the completion of your matter, after which I may destroy the file without further notice.

 

7. COMMUNICATION

I will communicate with you by post, telephone, fax or e-mail as appropriate. Whilst I have normal levels of security in place, you accept the risk that email communications may not be secure. If you would prefer me not to use a specific method of communication, for example, e-mail, please advise me of that fact. In the absence of your contrary instructions and to enable me to operate effectively and efficiently, you are taken to consent to me using any appropriate means to communicate with you. Please ensure that you update me immediately if any of your contact details change and confirm what action (if any) you require me to take if I cannot contact you. I shall not be liable for any losses resulting from my inability to contact you if this information has not been provided.

I will assume, unless you tell me otherwise in writing, that in the case of a company client, any director or employee of the company who gives me instructions is authorised to do so and that I may act on instructions given orally.

 

I will assume that where I act for more than one person but I receive instructions from only one, that person has the authority of the other to give those instructions.

 

8. CONSUMER CONTRACTS (INFORMATION, CANCELLATION AND ADDITIONAL CHARGES) REGULATIONS 2013 (CONSUMER CONTRACTS REGULATIONS)

Under the Consumer Contracts Regulations, for some non-business instructions, you may have the right to withdraw, without charge, within fourteen days starting the day after the date on which you asked us to act for you. However, if we start work with your consent within that period, you lose the right to withdraw. Your acceptance of these terms of business will amount to such a consent. If we begin providing the services you will be required to pay for the services for the period for which they are supplied. If you seek to withdraw instructions, you should give notice by telephone, email or letter to the person responsible for your work.

 

9. PROPER LAW

These Terms of Business shall be governed exclusively by English Law and the English courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction.

 

 

10. YOUR AGREEMENT

These Terms of Business govern my relationship with you and replace any earlier terms of business sent to you by me. It would assist me if you were to sign and return one copy of these terms of business but if you do not, your continuing instructions in this matter will signify your acceptance of them in any event.