1. BASIS OF MY WORK FOR YOU
These conditions govern my relationship with you as a client. I can therefore only act for you on the following basis and when you have had sight of these conditions, then by instructing me to act you are accepting the following conditions.
2. ACCEPTING AND DECLINING INSTRUCTIONS
I will accept instructions from you in accordance with the Notaries Practice Rules 2009 and my oath of office.
I may therefore decline to accept instructions or conclude a matter on your behalf if I have reason to believe that there is any fraud, violence, illegality or lack of freewill involved in the matter. I may also cease to act if you cannot give clear or proper instructions on how I am to proceed, or if you do not pay a bill I have rendered.
3. FEES AND DISBURSEMENTS
I charge fees based principally on the time taken for the whole matter, and this is charged at the rate of £200 per hour. The time taken includes: making the appointment, travelling or waiting time meetings with you and others, considering preparing and working on papers and correspondence, including faxes and electronic mail. All letters and telephone calls will be charged on a time basis and the time needed to make the record) at the rate of £200 per hour.
In accordance with the Council of the Notaries' Society Guidelines (which stipulate that fees must be reasonable having regard to all of the circumstances of the case) my fees may be increased to reflect particular complexity, speed and special skills.
I charge a minimum fee of £80.
Although my charges take account of my ordinary business expenses, such as normal postage and telephone charges, I reserve the right to charge you for any unusual expenses I incur including printing, exceptional photocopying, overseas postage, overseas telephone and fax costs.
Fees may also be payable to third parties, for example fees payable to the Foreign Office, Foreign Embassies or agents dealing with legalisation of documents, Companies House search fees, translation fees or postage or courier charges.
My bill must be paid on presentation, and documents will not be released until it has been paid.
I reserve the right to request money to be paid to me in advance in relation to work where expenses charged by third parties are to be incurred on your behalf. I should receive payment in sufficient time to allow for bank clearance of funds.
4. VERIFICATION OF FACTS
Part of the Notary’s role is to check the facts in the documents he notarises for his clients, and this sometimes involves obtaining evidence or proof from sources independent of you. In this I need your full cooperation. If I have to add disclaimers to the document to make it clear that there are facts which I have not been able to verify the document may become useless or of less benefit to you and I will not accept liability if this is the case.
5. STORAGE OF DOCUMENTS
I will store, without charge to you, the original of any notarial act in the 'public form' and a copy of every act in the 'private form' as a permanent record. I will not always keep a full copy of your document but I reserve the right to do so.
6. CLIENTS' MONEY
If I am asked to hold a client’s money I will do so in accordance with the relevant Notaries’ Practice and Accounts Rules, paying interest when required to do so by the Rules. To comply with my obligations under the Criminal Justice Act 1993, the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and the Money Laundering Regulations 1993, 2001 and 2003 I reserve the right to ask for evidence of the source of any funds provided to me or involved in the transaction.
7. REGULATION AND COMPLIANCE
If you have any concern about how I deal with your matter please raise it with me in person, in writing, or by email.
I would hope to be able to resolve your concern, but if I cannot then you can raise the matter with the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury by whom I am regulated (the Solicitors Regulation Authority has no jurisdiction regarding complaints against notaries). The Faculty Office may be contacted at 1 The Sanctuary Westminster London SW1P 3JT telephone 020 7222 5381 email: faculty.office@1Thesanctuary.com.
This office may deal with your complaint or may invite the Notaries' Society to try to resolve the complaint under its Informal Complaints Procedure but this is a matter for the Faculty Office to decide.
Please note that my notarial practice has no connection whatsoever with Parrott and Coales LLP and my practice as a solicitor.
8. PROCEEDS OF CRIME ACT 2002 AND TERRORISM ACT 2000
I am prohibited by this legislation from acting for or advising a client in relation to terrorist financing or the acquisition, retention, use or control of the proceeds of any crime or any attempt to conceal, disguise, convert or transfer any criminal property or to remove it from the jurisdiction, or from being involved in arrangements relating to such activities.
The proceeds of crime and criminal property are widely defined for these purposes to include any activity (including tax evasion) carried on anywhere which would be illegal if carried on in the United Kingdom.
I have a legal obligation to report to the Serious Organised Crime Agency any person, including a client, that I have any reason to suspect is involved in activity covered by this legislation. As a result I must reserve the right to disclose all information to the relevant authorities that may be required by law without notice to you, and if appropriate to cease acting for you without giving any specific reason.
These obligations override my duty of confidentiality to you. I therefore cannot and will not accept any liability for any loss or damage that you or a third party may suffer or incur from any cause, arising from any action taken, or not taken, by me in order to comply with this or any related legislation.
I may also require confirmation from you of the source of any funds, in particular any sent from another country. In such cases I may require further information and supporting documentation to verify the source and legitimacy of such funds.
9. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
I maintain professional indemnity insurance in the sum of £5 million. Save as provided under the Unfair Contract Terms Acts 1977, my liability to you for any loss, injury or damage of any nature whatever whether direct or consequential, including, without limitation, in respect of negligence or breach of my duty to you, is hereby limited to such sum in respect of any one claim or series of related claims (save in the case of fraud, where no such limit shall apply).
10. NOTICES
Any notice to be given to me can only be validly given in writing by personal delivery or recorded delivery post to my current office address.
Any notice to be given by me to you is deemed to have been validly given to you at your last address known to me, in the following order of preference: a postal address, a fax number or an email address.
In the case of post such notices if sent by prepaid post to an address in the United Kingdom, will be deemed to have been delivered 7 days after posting, and if sent by prepaid post to an address outside the United Kingdom, within the period provided for in the Civil Procedure Rules relating to service of proceedings out of the jurisdiction. In the case of fax or email such notices will be deemed to have been delivered 24 hours after transmission or sending.
11. LAW AND JURISDICTION
The formal and material validity, performance and construction of these conditions and any agreement made, and whether any agreement is made subject to them, shall be governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any disputes shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of England and Wales.
