Fees & Terms of Business                      

1. MY FEES: My minimum fee for a brief matter is £65.00. My hourly rate is £170. I reserve the right to vary the rate, particularly in respect of extremely urgent and/or complex or unusual matters or those that require particular expertise.

2. V.A.T: I am not registered for VAT.

3. DISBURSEMENTS: Additionally the client is responsible for all disbursements, including such of the following as are applicable: (1) legalisation fees payable to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and/or Embassies etc; (2) translators'/interpreters' fees; (3) Companies House search fees; (4) Agents; (5) travelling expenses where applicable; (6) couriers' and/or other transmission costs.

4. PAYMENT: My charges are normally payable upon signature/release of the notarised documentation, although subsequent work may remain to complete the matter. I accept payment by cash, debit card or credit card. If payment is made by credit card, there is an additional charge of between 1.7% and 2% of the value of transaction, depending on the card used.
    4.1 If you have negotiated a regular invoice account with me, I will issue my invoice to you with the completed documentation, for      payment within seven days.
    4.2 Any queries concerning an invoice should be raised immediately upon receipt.
    4.3 In the event of payment not being made as requested, I reserve the right to decline to act any further on your behalf and/or to exercise a lien on any papers or documents which are in my possession, until payment has been made.
    4.4 In the event of payment not being made as requested, Interest is chargeable from 7 days following the date of the invoice at a rate of 4% per annum above Barclays Bank Base Rate from time to time in force.

5. QUOTATIONS & ESTIMATES: Every effort will be made to provide you with a quotation for the total cost of undertaking the work on your behalf. Except in the most routine cases, it may be difficult to estimate how many hours of work will be required to complete a matter, bearing in mind the variety of circumstances that may arise. However, guidance as to likely costs will be given, where possible, on request. Any estimates given will be based on the information available to me at the time and, although given in good faith, will not be binding. Variations in the instructions given, including requests for additional work or unexpected developments and/or inexperience, incompetence or lack of co-operation on the part of other parties or their advisers may increase costs.

6. SPECIAL FACTORS may affect fee rate e.g. (1) complexity, difficulty or novelty; (2) skill, labour, specialised knowledge and responsibility; (3) time; (4) number and importance of documents prepared or perused; (5) place and circumstances in which the business or any part is done; (6) value of money or property involved; (7) importance of the matter to the client; (8) urgency, disruption, dislocation/re-arrangement of other work; (9) work unavoidably undertaken out-of-office hours.

7. TIME CHARGED: this applies to all work undertaken from start to finish including preliminary details and advice, preparation, attendances, drafting, phone calls, correspondence, fax, legalisation and terminal work including the Notarial Register and Protocol.

8. PLACE OF ATTENDANCE: Your personal attendance at my office is preferable where my own photocopying and experienced secretarial facilities are available as required. Arrangements can be made for me to attend your place of business. In cases justifying attendance at your own address - e.g. in the event of incapacitation – subject to my sole discretion, special arrangements can be made but this inevitably increases time and expense.

9. FUNDS ON ACCOUNT: I reserve the right to ask for money to be paid on account of work to be done, disbursements to be made or expenses to be incurred. Such funds are held in the Notary’s client account until such time as an invoice is submitted or a payment made on a client's behalf. Credits to the Notary's client account should be made in sufficient time to allow for bank clearance before they are required.

10. FOREIGN LAW: I do not advise on foreign law but act in an evidential, authentication capacity.

11. YOUR OWN PROFESSIONAL ADVISERS:

    11.1 In relation to certain transactions, I would expect you to have obtained advice from your own (a) English lawyer(s) and/or (b) relevant foreign lawyer(s), and/or (c) other competent professional advisers. You may potentially be taking a huge risk of relying on documents prepared by another party or its adviser(s), without yourself taking independent legal or other competent professional advice.
    11.2 If you have not done so, you may be advised to obtain advice from (a) English lawyer(s) and/or (b) relevant foreign lawyer(s), and/or (c) other competent professional advisers before the transaction proceeds.

12. URGENCY: Urgency and/or expense must not override essential accuracy and validity.

13. STANDARDS: Clients are requested to be mindful that Individual notaries do not write the Rules but have to follow internationally recognised and acceptable procedures. Also, professional requirements in the U.K. have become more stringent and onerous through progressive assimilation with European notarial standards, and global developments affecting notarial practice.

14. STRINGENT RESPONSIBILITIES: Whether you or your agents or other parties wish it or not, when acting as a Notary Public I must insist on satisfactory compliance with and/or reliable proof of all appropriate matters, e.g. relating to (1) your identity, (2) your legal capacity/authority, (3) your comprehension and approval, (4) interpretation/translation, (5) documentary objective, (6) form and substance, (7) voluntary act/undue influence etc. (8) alterations in the document, (9) due signature(s), (10) witnessing, (11) observance of other stipulated formalities at home and abroad, (12) Foreign & Commonwealth Office and/or Consular legalisation.

15. RECIPIENT'S REQUIREMENTS: If the foreign country/authority/ party with whom you are dealing stipulates that documents are to be notarised, then they will not settle for less. Short cuts should be avoided to ensure that the document is accepted and not rejected by the recipient country/authority. The cost of rejection is delay, missing a vital deadline, possible financial loss to you or others and having to start all over again, at greater expense/loss of time to you.

16. FOREIGN & COMMONWEALTH OFFICE AND/OR CONSULAR LEGALISATION: Most countries require notarised documents to receive further certification (usually termed "an Apostille") by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office; and/or legalisation by the relevant High Commission/Embassy/Consulate. Usually I arrange this by post; but clients may if they prefer deal with it themselves in person or by courier - especially if the matter is extremely urgent.

17. REGISTER & PROTOCOL: At the closing of the transaction, a formal register entry has to be made by me as a permanent record; and a protocol copy set of the notarised documentation is customarily kept. Frequently, a fully executed set of duplicate originals is required, or advisable, to be retained by me. In some instances, I may retain the original and issue a certified copy.

18. DATA PROTECTION: I comply with the Data Protection Act 1998. Your personal data may be used and disclosed to third parties in the course of providing services to you and marketing those and other services provided by me or Atkins Hope, Solicitors 74-78 North End, Croydon, Surrey, CR9 1SD e.g. seminar invitations and newsletters and for regulatory purposes. I am required to maintain personal data for regulatory and insurance purposes for a period of time after conclusion of provision of services to you. If you do not wish personal data to be used for marketing purposes as mentioned above, you should notify me in writing. Some clients' files (and personal data therein) may occasionally be made available on a confidential basis to an external quality assessor or auditor. I will be entitled to carry out such credit or other searches in respect of clients as I consider appropriate.

19. FORCE MAJEURE: I will not be liable for any loss or damage arising as a direct or indirect result of the supply of services being prevented, hindered, delayed or rendered uneconomic by reason of circumstances beyond my control, including but not limited to Act of God, war, riot, strike, lock out, trade dispute or labour disturbance, accident, breakdown of machinery, fire, flood, storm or difficulty or increased expense in obtaining information or services of any description.

20. DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY TO THIRD PARTIES: No liability whatsoever will be accepted on my part, agents or staff in relation to any loss, damage or liability whatsoever caused directly or indirectly to any party other than the client for whom I have agreed to act in connection with the relevant matter. No third party shall have any right to enforce any contract to provide advice or services or to rely upon any advice given or opinion expressed by me or on my behalf. The application of any legislation conferring on third parties contractual or other rights, including the Contract (Rights of Third Parties Act 1999) shall be excluded insofar as permitted by law.

21. DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY: In any event, no liability whatsoever will be accepted on my part, agents or staff where such liability either arises from any instructions or information given by the client or by any third party being incomplete, inaccurate or incorrect; or where such liability is for any indirect, economic or consequential loss or damage, costs, expenses or other claims for consequential compensation whatsoever or howsoever caused which arise out of or in connection with the services provided by the firm or for loss of profit, loss of business, loss of data, depletion of goodwill or loss occurring in the normal course of business or otherwise.

22. PROFESSIONAL INDEMNITY, LIMITATIONS ON LIABILITY: No liability for loss (including, but not limited to, damages, costs and interest) to clients or other parties, whether in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise will be accepted by the Notary, agents or staff in relation to any matter in the absence of specific written agreement to the contrary referring to this term and signed by Notary in excess of the lower of:

22.1 The sum of £250,000

22.2 The amount of the Notary's professional indemnity insurance cover from time to time. The present cover is for not less than £250,000. Specific cover for higher limits may be obtainable in certain circumstances at the expense of the client.

23. JURISDICTION: English law shall be the applicable law and the English courts shall have sole jurisdiction in the case of any dispute. If any provision of these terms is held by any court or other competent authority to be void or unenforceable in whole or part, these terms shall continue to be valid as to the other provisions thereof and the remainder of the affected provision.

24. CONFIDENTIALITY: I attach great importance to dealing with clients' affairs in strict confidence. However, the professional body regulating Notarial practice also has rights of inspection to ensure good practice and conduct.

25. E-MAIL: It is my policy to use e-mail wherever possible. Where a client has provided me with an e-mail address, e.g., by sending me an e-mail, I will assume that I may use that address for the sending of unencrypted sensitive or confidential correspondence or documents to the client. I may also, during the course of a matter, send unencrypted sensitive or confidential information to other persons involved, unless specifically requested by them or the client not to do so. All e-mails sent and the attachments thereto should be scanned for viruses by the recipient.

26. MONEY LAUNDERING REQUIREMENTS: I operate a money laundering reporting procedure as required by law whereby, in the event of any suspicion as to money laundering, information will be revealed to the appropriate authorities. All payments to my client account must be made via a UK clearing bank. Cash payment will be accepted where it falls below £500. Clients will be required to provide satisfactory proof of identity and full details of the source and proposed destination of funds. Pending this, funds may be frozen and I will not accept any responsibility for loss or delay caused by the failure of clients to provide such information promptly.

27. COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE: My notarial practice is regulated by the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the address being: The Faculty Office 1, The Sanctuary, Westminster, London SW1P 3JT, email Faculty.office@1thesanctuary.com, website www.facultyoffice.org.uk. Tel: 020 7222 5381.
27.1 If you have complaints about my work please do not hesitate to contact me and if the matter cannot be immediately resolved between us, I will refer your complaint to the Notaries Society of which I am a member, who have a Complaints Procedure which is approved by the Faculty Office.
27.2 Alternatively, you may complain to the Notaries Society direct. Please write (but do not enclose any original documents) with full details of your complaint to :- Christopher Vaughan, Secretary of The Notaries Society, Old Church Chambers, 23 Sandhill Road, St James, Northampton NN5 5LH, email secretary@thenotariessociety.org.uk.
27.3 Finally, even if you have your complaint considered under the Notaries Society Approved Complaints Procedure, you may at the end of that procedure or after a period of eight weeks from the date of making the complaint to me, make your complaint direct to the Legal Ombudsman (whose contact details are set out below) if the matter has not been resolved to your satisfaction: Legal Ombudsman Baskerville House, Centenary Square, Broad Street, Birmingham B1 2ND, Tel: 0300 555 0333, email enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk, website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk.