1. HOURS OF BUSINESS: Our office hours are 09:00 to 13:00 from Monday to Friday. In appropriate cases we can arrange to see you outside usual office hours, or away from the office. In such cases a reasonable fee for travelling time plus the costs of travel are added to the account. Please refer to our Table of Fees for more information.
2. RESPONSIBILITY: a Notary’s first duty is to the transaction as a whole. Notarial acts are relied upon by clients, third parties and foreign governments and officials worldwide. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, a Notary’s responsibility is limited to the notarial formalities and does not extend to advice on or drafting of documentation or in relation to substantive legal input on the matter under consideration. We do not give foreign law advice.
3. PAYMENT: (a) Corporate clients: Fees will be invoiced on completion of the documentation. (b) Individual clients: Fees are normally payable on presentation (usually at the meeting) by cash or cheque - payment is to be made 14 days from date of invoice. Notarised documents will not normally be released to individual clients until all fees and disbursements have been paid in full. Please refer to our Table of Fees for more information.
4. DISBURSEMENTS: All payments which we make on your behalf will be added to your invoice. Typical examples are legalisation fees paid to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and/or an Embassy, legalisation agents’ fees, Companies Registry fees, courier fees and special delivery postage charges. We do not incur these expenses without first obtaining your consent to do so.
5. PROOF OF IDENTITY: (a) Corporate clients: we will need to establish corporate identity and that the signatory has authority to represent it. We generally conduct our own checks at Companies House. (b) Individual clients: identification of individuals and proof of residential address is required. This is usually by way of a current passport, photo card driving licence or national identity card and a recent gas, electricity of other bill or bank statement. Exceptionally, other proof may be acceptable.
6. WRITTEN TRANSLATION: In cases where we do not have knowledge of the language in which the document is written, official translations may be required before and/or after execution of the documentation.
7. LIABILITY: We carry professional indemnity liability cover of £1,000,000 which is the level of cover specified by the Master of the Faculties. We therefore limit the level of our liability to you to £1,000,000.
8. COMPLAINTS: We aim to provide all clients with an efficient and high standard of service. However, in the unlikely event that you should wish to complain, then you should follow the complaints procedure set out below. Notaries are regulated by the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury: The Faculty Office, 1 The Sanctuary, Westminster, London, SW1 3JT, Telephone: 0207 222 5381, Email: faculty.office:1thesanctuary.com, Website: www.facultyoffice.org.uk
If you are dissatisfied about the service you have received, please do not hesitate to contact us. If we are unable to resolve the matter then you may complain to the Notaries Society of which we are members, who have a complaints Procedure which is approved by the Faculty Office. This procedure is free to use and is designed to provide a quick resolution to any dispute.
In that case please write (but do not enclose any original documents (with full details of your complaint to: The Secretary, PO Box 7655, Milton Keynes, MK11 9NR, telephone 01908 803527, email [email protected].
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 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, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ, Tel: 0300 555 0333, Email: [email protected], Website:
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.
*certain kinds of commercial entities are not eligible to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman – please refer to the Legal Ombudsman Scheme Rules or consult the Faculty Office.
9. RECORDS: At the end of the matter, a formal entry of the main details of your transaction together with copies of the notarised document may be kept. In particular, when notaries are requested to certify documents such as public deeds, the above details will also be kept in their notarial protocols.
10. DATA PROTECTION: We use the information you provide primarily for the provision of services to you and for related purposes including: updating and enhancing client records, analysis to help us manage our practice, statutory returns, legal and regulatory compliance. For more information, please refer to our Privacy Policy.
11. MONEY LAUNDERING: Notaries are obliged under the Money Laundering Legislation to take measures to protect against fraud and forgery. To ensure that we comply with this you acknowledge and agree that. We may make all such enquiries as we deem necessary or appropriate in order to comply with our duty, and you will provide us with such documents and information as we may request. Your failure to do so will entitle us to terminate our engagement and cease acting for you forthwith.
12. EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY: We are committed to promoting equality and diversity in all of our dealings with clients and third parties.
13. THE RELEVANT LAW: The law which governs our contract with you is English Law and it is agreed that any dispute relating to our services shall be resolved by the English Courts.