Terms of Business

1. Why a notary? It is almost always the case that you have been asked to see a notary because you have a document that needs to be used abroad. Seeing a notary is never a mere rubber-stamping exercise. The international duty of a Notary involves a high standard of care.  This is not only towards the client but also to anyone who may rely on the document and to Governments or officials of other countries.  These people are entitled to assume that a Notary will ensure full compliance with the relevant requirements both here and abroad; and to rely on the Notary’s register and records. Great care is essential at every stage to minimise the risks of errors, omissions, alterations, fraud, forgery, money laundering, the use of false identity, and so on.

 

I offer appointments during business hours and occasionally outside of business hours in exceptional circumstances. I am also prepared to make home visits or visit corporate clients at their place of business. If the notarial appointments take place outside of my office I will make an additional charge to cover travelling time and expenses.  Occasionally I may not be able to see you within the timeframe you require, or I may decide that I am not able to act for you in which case I will advise you that that is the case and will provide you with the necessary information to locate an alternative notary.

 

2. Signatures: The Notary should normally witness your signature. Please do not sign the document in advance of your appointment with me.

3. Papers to be sent to me in advance: It will save time, expense and mistakes if, as long before the appointment as possible, you can let me have the originals or photocopies of:

• The documents to be notarised;
• Any letter or other form of instruction which you have received about what has to be done with the documents;
• Your evidence of identification.

4. Identification: I will need you to produce by way of formal identification the original of (in preferred order):

• Your current passport (or, if not available);
• A current new driving licence (with photo) or national identity card

If neither of the above options are available then I may accept a current government or police issue certificate bearing a photo or other formal means of identification.

I will require a recent address document which has been issued within the last 3 months which will usually be a utility bill, credit card or bank statement, or another government letter. Preferably if your driving licence contains your address this will be acceptable in place of an address document, provided that you also produce your passport.

You must also bring any other means of ID which may be referred to in the papers sent to you as being required such as a foreign Identity Card. I may also ask to see further evidence of identity such as marriage certificates etc and will advise you of this if necessary.

Please note that I will scrutinise your identity documents in our meeting to ensure that they are genuine.

5. Proof of names: In a case where the name on the document is different from the name you are currently using, or there has been a variation in the form of spelling of the name over the years, please provide me as appropriate with Certificates of Birth, Marriage or Divorce Decree or Change of Name Deed showing all the different names that you use.  If there has been a change of name, then I will need to see a copy of the Deed Poll or Statutory Declaration which dealt with it.

 

6. Advice on the document: If you bring a document to me for authorisation as a Notary, I will advise you as to the formalities required for completing it. However, I will not be attempting to advise you about the transaction itself. Usually, you will have a lawyer in the jurisdiction where the document is to be used who can advise you on the foreign law, and the effect of the documentation. It is your responsibility to make sure that you have taken competent professional legal advice from a qualified lawyer who practises the law where the documents are to be used. You should also make sure you have read and fully understand the documentation before you instruct me. It is not my responsibility to explain the effect of the document to you.

 

7. Written Translations: It is essential that you understand what you are signing. 

• If the document is in a foreign language which you do not understand sufficiently, I may have to insist that a translation be obtained. If I arrange for a translation, a further fee will be payable and I will provide you with details of this.
• If you arrange for a professional translation, the translator should add his/her name, address, relevant qualification, and a certificate stating: “Document X is a true and complete translation of document Y, to which this translation is attached.”

8. Oral Interpreter: If you and I cannot understand each other because of a language difficulty, we may have to make arrangements for a competent interpreter to be available at our interview and this may involve a further fee.

 

9. Companies, Partnerships etc: If a document is to be signed by you on behalf of a company, a partnership, a charity, club or other incorporated body, there are further requirements on which I may have to insist.  Please be prepared for these and telephone with any point of difficulty before attending on the appointment.

 

In each case: 

1. Evidence of identity of the authorised signatory (as listed above).
2. A copy of the current letterhead (showing the registered office if it is a company).
3. A Letter of Authority, Minute, Resolution or Power of Attorney, authorising you to sign the document.

Additionally, companies: Certificate of Incorporation and of any Change of Name, a copy of the Memorandum and Articles of Association, Details of Directors and Secretaries.  In all instances I will be carrying out various company searches, which may have an effect on the level of fees charged.

Additionally, partnerships, clubs, etc: A Partnership Agreement; or relevant Trust Deed; or Charter; or Constitution/Rules.

10. Notarial charges and expenses: Details of my charges are set out below. Please note that if I have to make payments on your behalf such as legalisation fees, translator or interpreter fees, or other costs such as travelling expenses, your approval to these will be obtained and you are normally required to make payment in advance of any such amounts.

 

Charges:

 

If the matter is simple I will endeavour to charge a fixed fee to include disbursements such as legalisation fees, postage, consular agent fees, courier fees, travelling expenses, translating costs and so on. I do not charge VAT.

For more complicated or time-consuming matters the fee will be based on my hourly rate of £300 subject to a minimum fee of £100, plus disbursements. The fee charged may include time spent on preliminary advice, drafting and preparation time, making and receiving telephone calls, correspondence written and received in all formats, arranging legalisation and record keeping.

Disbursements: Some documents require legalisation before they will be accepted for use in the receiving jurisdiction by obtaining an apostille through the UK Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office and, for some countries, additional legalisation is required through the relevant embassy or consulate.

I will endeavor to provide you with the costs for disbursements at the earliest opportunity. Some disbursements may not be discoverable at the outset. If this is the case then I will provide the cost once it is known. If your instructions change then so too may be the disbursements that are required, you will be responsible for the cost of all disbursements required to carryout your instructions.

Payment can be made by cash or bank transfer.  Payment of my fee and disbursements is due when the document has been prepared which I may retain pending payment in full.

Occasionally unforeseen or unusual issues arise during the course of the matter which may result in a revision of my fee estimate. Examples of this could include where additional documents are required to be notarised, additional translations or legalisations are needed to meet the requirements of the receiving jurisdiction, third party fees are adjusted to reflect external factors such as fuel price changes and so on. I will notify you of any changes in the fee estimate as soon as possible.

11. Typical Stages of a notarial transaction: Each notarial matter is different and the requirements and timescales will vary greatly according to whether the client is a private individual or a company and in particular according to the processing times of third parties such as the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office, legalisation agents, translating agencies and couriers, etc. [1] Some of the typical key stages are likely to include:

• Receiving and reviewing the documents to be notarised together with any instructions you may have received
• Liaising with your legal advisors or other bodies to obtain the necessary documentation to deal with the document (e.g. information from Companies House or foreign registries, powers of attorney etc)
• Checking the identity, capacity and authority of the person who is to sign the document
• If a document is to be certified, checking with the issuing authorities that the document/award is genuine. In the case of academic awards, this would entail checking with the appropriate academic institutions.
• Meeting with the signatory to verify their identity and to ascertain that they understand what they are signing and that they are doing so of their own free will and ensuring that the document is executed correctly
• Drafting and affixing or endorsing a notarial certificate to the document
• Arranging for the legalisation of the document as appropriate
• Arranging for the storage of copies of all notarised documents in accordance with the requirements of the Notarial Practice Rules 2019

12. Notarial Records and Data Protection: When I carry out my work for you, I am required to make an entry in a formal register, which is kept by me as a permanent record.  I will retain a copy of the notarised documentation with that record. My practice is a registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office. Personal data received from clients is held securely and not capable of being accessed externally. Data collected as part of notarial records is used solely for the purposes of meeting our professional legal responsibilities as Notaries Public. For full details of my PRIVACY POLICY and data processing terms please see my website: www.hilliernotarypublic.com

13. Insurance: In the interests of my clients I maintain professional indemnity insurance at a level of at least £1,500,000.00 per claim, except for claims arising from or in connection to the USA, or Canada where the total coverage is £1,500,000.00 for all claims which may arise during the term of the policy.

14. Limitation of liability:

 

You agree that as far as the law permits my liability to you whether such liability arises in contract or otherwise in law (including negligence, losses for loss of profit, loss of anticipated saving, loss of business opportunity) is limited to the lower amount of:

1. £1,000,000; or
2. Where such claims arises from, or in connection with the USA or Canada, even where the claim is made or enforced, or pursued in a separate country provided that the instruction had some connection to the USA or Canada then my total liability to all people or entities entitled to claim against me when a claim is made or pursued during the term of my professional indemnity insurance policy is limited to the maximum amount of my professional indemnity insurance cover being £1,500,000 (in total and not per claim) that is available for all claims whether a judgement has been made, or a settlement has been reached. You agree that there may be a total limitation of my liability to you, so that I have no liability to you where an earlier claim or a series of claims arising from or in connection with the USA or Canada has/have already been made during the term of the policy. You agree that you have no right to a pro-rata share in the total amount of my professional indemnity cover where an earlier claim has been settled or a judgement has been made. You agree that it is my total discretion (and my insurers discretion) whether or not we accept any claim from any of our other clients. The fact that we may accept a claim and enter into a settlement with any client, so as to not force a claim through a judicial process will not in any way cause this limitation not apply.

And to the extent that such liability is in respect of any one claim or a series of claims arising from the same act or omission, and limited to one claim per instruction. The amount of any liability is to be reduced so far as may be appropriate to take account of the degree of responsibility of any other professional or other advisors whom you have consulted in relation to the matter as if I had successfully claimed contribution from them under the Civil Liability (Contributions) Act 1978 paying no regard for any limitations agreed between you and such advisor, and assuming they had the resources to meet the same, provided however that I shall not be obliged to make or pursue any such claim for contribution.

If you request in writing the date which my professional indemnity insurance expires by email then I will confirm it to you responding to your email. 

No Liability whatsoever will be accepted on my part in relation to any loss, damage or liability whatsoever caused directly or indirectly to any party other than the person/organisation for whom I have agreed to act in connection with the relevant matter. No third party shall have any right to enforce any contract against me to provide advice or services or to rely upon any advice given or opinion expressed by or on behalf of me. No third party shall have any rights under any contract made by me whether pursuant to the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 or otherwise.

In any event, no liability whatsoever will be accepted on my part where such liability either arises from any instructions or information given by you or by a 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 however causes which arise out of or in connection with the services provided by me 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.

All searches of the Register of Companies carried out by me are effected using the Companies House on-line service. To the extent that the Registrar or other provider does not accept responsibility for any inaccuracies or omissions arising from use of the on-line services, I accept no responsibility or liability arising from reliance upon the results of such searches, if they should subsequently be found to be inaccurate or incomplete.

It is your responsibility to make sure that your Companies House filings, or other filings with other such registrars relevant to your entity are up to date and notified to the relevant registrar(s) in the appropriate way and in the time limits that the law provides for.  You agree to notify me of any matters which the law requires to be notified to a registrar which may have not have been notified to a registrar, or where a notification has been sent but the registrar has not processed the notification (so their on-line records have not been updated) you agree to provide me with the details of any notifications, and any documents provided to the registrar. In any event you promise to notify me where there has been any resolutions or other changes to a Company’s constitutional documents (including any other type of entity’s constitutional documents) such as but not including Articles of Association, Memorandum of Association, Special Resolutions, where such connotational documents are not available on the registrar’s on-line website. My client and so far as is possible any officers or where appropriate members of the entity which instruct me on the entity’s behalf agree to indemnify me (reimburse me) on a full indemnity basis (for my costs which do not have to be reasonable) for any liability I incur to any third party, including any costs, expenses damages, loss, injury which is caused whether partly or in whole because of a breach of the promises made by my client in this paragraph and any promises made in this agreement generally.

Where I agree to send documents on to third parties on your behalf I will use either first class, special delivery signed for or tracked, or an international courier, depending on the value of the documents and their country of destination. I am not liable for any mis-delivery of documents due to the failure to deliver of any postal service or courier company. If you do not wish for me to arrange for documents to be sent abroad once legalised then please let me know and once they are returned to me from the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office, or from a consular/embassy you can arrange to collect the documents from me personally to arrange delivery of the documents. 

These limitations will apply notwithstanding any express or implied term of business oir any collateral agreement or warranty, whether express or implied. If it is found that any term of this agreement is invalid then such parts that are invalid will be treated as being struck out but the remaining parts that are valid will remain.

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.

Nothing in these terms in these terms and conditions shall exclude or limit liability for fraud, death or personal injury.  

15. Termination/ Your Right to Cancel: You may terminate your instructions to me at any time by giving me reasonable written notice. All fees and disbursements incurred up to the date of termination will be charged.

Consumer Cooling Off Cancellation Period –Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 (“CCR”):

Where the CCR apply (typically where you are an individual consumer and my contract with you was concluded either at or following a meeting with you or by a form of distance communication) you have a cancellation period of 14 days after the date you sign my retainer letter or the date on which you continue to give me instructions, whichever is earlier.

You can cancel your contract within the cancellation period by giving me a clear statement and I will reimburse all payments received from you by the same method that you used, at no cost to you, without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which you inform me of the cancellation.

If you ask us to begin work during the cancellation period, you can still cancel but you must pay me an amount in proportion to the work which I have performed and this proportion will not be reimbursed to you.

16. Termination by me: I reserve the right to terminate my engagement by you if I have good reason to do so, for example, if you do not pay a bill or comply with my request for a payment on account or you fail to give me the co-operation which I am reasonably entitled to expect.

17. Complaints: My notarial practice is regulated through 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 are dissatisfied about the service you have received please do not hesitate to contact me. 

If we are unable to resolve the matter you may then 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 :- 

The Secretary of The Notaries Society

P O Box 876

Chichester PO19 9ZH

Email secretary@thenotariessociety.org.uk

If you have any difficulty in making a complaint in writing please do not hesitate to contact the Notaries Society/the Faculty Office for assistance. 

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 8 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 one year from the act/omission or within one year from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

18. Use of technology, devices and Artificial Intelligence:
19. To the extent that I use any automated decision-making technology, including artificial intelligence, in the course of my services, I do not rely upon the same without human intervention.
20. Before using any new technology including artificial intelligence, I carry out an appropriate risk assessment to ensure that your rights are not adversely affected by the same.

19. Email Correspondence: I use e-mail wherever possible. Where you have provided me with an e-mail address, e.g., by sending 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.

 

20. Governing Law and Jurisdiction: The terms and conditions of our arrangement and the provision of these Terms of Business shall be governed by English law and shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts 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.

 

I hope that these notes are of help to you in understanding what is expected of each of us.