Terms of Business

1. INSTRUCTIONS FOR NOTARY SERVICES

Please provide me with clear instructions, including all relevant background information, at the outset and as the matter continues.

2. PROOF OF IDENTITY

I have to identify you and any organisation you are representing. This will involve providing me with as a minimum:

For individuals

Evidence of identity – this should normally be your passport or, if you have no passport, a government-issued document which bears your photograph, such as an EEA national identity card.

Proof of residence – a document which confirms where you live, such as a recent utility bill or bank statement.

If you have difficulty producing these documents please let me know and I shall discuss possible alternatives with you.

Please note that specific identity documents may be needed for your matter. I shall inform you if this is the case.

For businesses and organisations

For companies or other business entities registered in the United Kingdom, I will usually be able to conduct my own independent checks to identify the client and verify its status.

For companies or other business entities registered outside the United Kingdom I shall inform you of the requirements in each case, but you should expect to provide me with a certificate of good standing, extract from the commercial register, or equivalent document verifying the client’s identity and status.

For persons signing on behalf of companies or other business entities I need to verify on a positive basis the authority of that person. I shall inform you of the particular requirements in each case, but you should expect to provide me with an authorised signatory list, minutes of a meeting of the directors, power of attorney, or equivalent documents.

Evidence of the identity of the person who appears before me – this should normally be a valid passport or, if you have no passport, a government-issued document which bears your photograph, such as an EEA national identity card.

Please note that specific identity documents may be needed for your matter. I shall inform you if this is the case.

3. VERIFICATION OF IDENTITY DOCUMENTS

Please note that I use UV technology to verify the authenticity of identity documents.

4. BASIS OF CHARGING FOR NOTARIAL SERVICES

Unless there are exceptional or unusual circumstances I shall provide you with a fixed fee quote for each instruction. If your instructions change and it is necessary to adjust the fee quote, I shall inform you and obtain your consent before proceeding further. My fees are calculated by reference to my charging rate of £240 per hour. My minimum charge is £120.

I am not registered for Value Added Tax.

The time taken to provide notarial services includes considering initial instructions and corresponding with you and your foreign lawyers, advisors and/or agents, preparing the documents to be signed and/or certified, travelling or waiting time, meeting with you and others, completing the notarial act(s) under my seal of office, including sewing any multi-page documents for security, and creating a file record which includes a copy of the notarial act(s), your identity documents, and all correspondence and discussions.

Although my charges take account of ordinary business expenses, such as normal postage and telephone charges, I reserve the right to charge for any unusual expenses incurred including printing, exceptional photocopying, Royal Mail Special or Recorded Delivery, national courier or overseas courier or 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, fees of overseas company registries, translation fees or courier charges. I shall inform you in advance if any charges of this nature are likely to occur and obtain your approval.

My bill must be paid on presentation, which will normally be at our meeting when the notarial act(s) is/are issued, 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. An invoice will be presented listing those expenses. I should receive payment in sufficient time to allow for bank clearance of funds.

If instructions are terminated for any reason, a charge will be made for all work carried out to date.

5. VERIFICATION OF FACTS

Part of my role as a Notary is to check the facts in the documents I certify for you, and this sometimes involves obtaining evidence or proof from sources independent of you. In this I need your full cooperation.

6. STORAGE OF DOCUMENTS

I will store any evidence taken of identity and, without charge to you, a copy of the original of any notarial act I have completed. I will not always keep a full copy of your document but I reserve the right to do so.

7. PRIVACY AND DATA PROTECTION

Use of your personal information

I comply with the Data Protection Act 1998. I may use personal information provided by you or collected by me in the following ways:

to provide you (or the company on behalf of which you instruct me) with legal advice or other information that you have requested from me;
to invoice you for services I have provided to you (or the company on behalf of which you instruct me);
to keep records of the work I have carried out for you (or the company on behalf of which you instruct me);
to send you electronic and/or paper form marketing, unless you have declined to tick the box at the end of these terms consenting to send you electronic and/or paper form marketing);
to carry out a credit or other search in respect of you as I consider appropriate;
for regulatory or insurance purposes (including to a supervisor or inspector); and
in order to fulfil my anti-money laundering obligations, I may keep electronic copies of your passport, driving licence, birth certificate, national identity card or other identifying information required to be provided to me.

Disclosing your personal information

I will not share personal information with any third party except:

where you have expressly consented for me to share your personal information with third parties;
in order to provide you (or your company) with legal services, I may provide personal information to professional organisations (such as overseas law firms, patent agents, auditors or forensic accountants, or barristers, or other organisations such as translators or legalisation agents used in connection with the work I am carrying out for you);
where I am required to disclose information for insurance purposes or to an external auditor; or
where I am under a legal, regulatory or professional obligation to disclose your personal information, (for example, in order to fulfil my anti-money laundering obligations or to comply with requirements of my regulator)
in order to enforce or apply my terms of business; or
to protect the rights, property, or safety of my practice, my clients or others.

Please note that by continuing to use my services and by providing any personal information to me either offline or via www.nknotary.com or via email to me, you are consenting to my use of your personal information as set out in this paragraph 7. Please do not provide me with any personal information if you do not want that information to be used by me in this manner.

If you have any questions, need further information about my privacy practices, or would like to let me know that your details require updating, please contact me via email: nicola@nknotary.com.

8. TERMINATION OF NOTARY SERVICES RETAINER

You may terminate your instructions to me in writing at any time. Fees will be payable for any work undertaken by me prior to termination. In the event of payment not being made for an invoice or on account as requested, or if you become bankrupt, a conflict of interest becomes apparent, or if I do not receive sufficiently clear instructions, I may decline to carry out any further work.

9. LIABILITY FOR PAYMENT

If you request that an invoice is to be addressed to a third party on your behalf and that third party does not pay the invoice on presentation, you will immediately be liable to pay that invoice.

If I am instructed by two or more persons, each of you is jointly and severally liable to pay my invoice. This means that I may ask any one of you to pay the invoice in full.

10. REGULATION

The principal rules which govern my practice as a Notary are the Notaries Practice Rules 2014 (http://www.facultyoffice.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Notaries-Practice-Rules-2014.pdf) and the Code of Practice approved by the Master of the Faculties (http://www.facultyoffice.org.uk/notary/code-of-practice/). My notarial practice is regulated pursuant to the Legal Services Act 2007 by the Master of the Faculties through the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Faculty Office (www.facultyoffice.org.uk) may be contacted at 1 The Sanctuary, Westminster, London SW1P 3JT, by telephone on: 020 7222 5381 or by email: faculty.office@1thesanctuary.com.

11. QUALITY OF NOTARIAL SERVICE

Delivering excellent client service is of utmost importance to me and it is my aim to always provide a service to my clients which meets their expectations. Should you have any questions or concerns about my work for you, please do raise it with me either via telephone, in person or in writing. I will always endeavour to resolve any queries raised.

I would hope to be able to resolve any concerns, but if I cannot then you can complain to the Notaries Society of which I am a member, 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: Christopher Vaughan, Secretary of The Notaries Society, Old Church Chambers, 23 Sandhill Road, St James, Northampton, NN5 5LH. Tel: 01604 758908. Email: secretary@thenotariessociety.org.uk.

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 directly to the Legal Ombudsman (whose contact details are set out below) if the matter has not been resolved to your satisfaction. You must do so within 6 months of your last contact with me.

The Legal Ombudsman’s contact details are: P O Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ. 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 of receiving a final response to your complaint and either (i) six years from the date of act/omission; or (ii) three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint (only if the act or omission took place more than six years ago).

Please note that my notarial practice has no connection whatsoever with my practice as a solicitor.

12. E-MAIL

It is my policy to use e-mail wherever possible. Where you have 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 you. 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 you not to do so. All e-mails sent by me and attachments thereto should be scanned for viruses by the recipient.

13. MONEY LAUNDERING COMPLIANCE

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 account must be made via a UK clearing bank. I will need you 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 to provide such information promptly.

14. PROFESSIONAL INDEMNITY, LIMITATIONS ON LIABILITY

The Master of Faculties of the Faculty Office has ordered that Notaries obtain professional indemnity insurance for a minimum cover value of £1,000,000. My insurance covers that minimum amount and my liability to you is limited to £1,000,000 for any losses (including, but not limited to, damages, costs and interest) to clients or other parties, whether in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise.

15. FORCE MAJEURE

I will not be liable for any loss arising as a direct or indirect result of the supply of services being prevented, hindered or delayed by reason of circumstances beyond my control, including but not limited to delays in legalisation services (either by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, consulates or embassies, or legalisation agents), postal services or courier services.

16. INTERPRETATION

The law of England and Wales applies to these terms of business and the courts of England and Wales 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 in part, these terms shall continue to be valid as to the other provisions thereof and the remainder of the affected provision.

17. CONFIDENTIALITY

I attach great importance to dealing with clients' affairs in strict confidence. The professional body regulating my notarial practice, my notarial supervisor and an inspector appointed by the Master of the Faculties have a right of inspection to my files on a confidential basis to ensure good practice and conduct. Additionally, pursuant to Rule 23.6 of the Notaries Practice Rules 2014, a person or organisation with a proper interest in the notarial act may request a copy of the act.