Terms of Engagement

 

1. The Firm and our regulators

Saville Notaries LLP (the “Firm”) is a Limited Liability Partnership, registered with the Registrar of Companies for England and Wales under number OC420687, with VAT registration number GB 644 9714 10 and with registered office at 11 Old Jewry, London, EC2R 8DU, trading as Saville & Co. Scrivener Notaries. 

Notaries practising within the Firm are regulated by the Master of the Faculties (The Faculty Office, 1 The Sanctuary, Westminster, London SW1P 3JT; tel. 020 7222 5381) (the “Regulator”). Our practice is subject to Rules set by the Regulator governing all notaries in England and Wales, and a Code of Practice, which can be found at www.facultyoffice.org.uk/notaries. 

2. Definitions

References to “we” or “us” in these terms of engagement means the Firm.  References to “you” mean the person, business or organisation instructing us and any successor in title.   References to “Partners” in these terms and on our website mean the Members of the LLP. The terms “personal data” and “data subject” are as defined in our Privacy Notice at https://savillenotaries.com/regulatory-matters.

3. Scope of application and deemed acceptance

These terms of engagement apply to all services provided to you by the Firm (the “Services”). These terms of engagement are published on our website at https://savillenotaries.com/regulatory-matters and will be brought to your attention by means of links provided in the footers of our emails or by any other appropriate means. By continuing to instruct us, you are deemed to have accepted these terms of engagement, unless varied by mutual agreement.

4. Responsibility for work

The Partners are ultimately responsible for the provision of the Services and the conduct of business, although other staff will act on your instructions on a day-to-day basis.

What you should expect from us:

  • if you are a new client, to be advised of the cost and the likely time scale for the work as soon as it is clear what is needed;

  • if you are an existing client and are already familiar with the level of our fees, or if you have already been advised of these, to be informed of any change to these so that you can approve this before proceeding further;

  • to be informed which notary will be responsible for your matter and who is assisting him/her.

What we should expect from you:

  • to provide us with clear instructions;

  • to give us full and accurate information sufficient to enable us to carry out your instructions;

  • to provide us with the supporting evidence we need to provide the Services, including proofs of identity and (if relevant) your authority to sign on behalf of a company or other entity.

5. Legalisation

We frequently arrange for the legalisation of documents on behalf of clients. Government, consular and diplomatic offices are often indifferent to commercial pressures and cases of loss, delay or refusal to act are not unknown. Although we will make reasonable efforts to carry out your instructions and to keep you informed, we cannot accept liability for the acts or omissions of external offices and bodies.

6. Fees and payment

6.1  Our fees are calculated using our own scale. The nature of our work means that there are several variables that can affect the cost.  We will gladly inform you on request of the basis on which our fees are charged.  Except on a few larger matters, these are based on what we certify (including the number and nature of the documents involved) and other Services provided; our fees are not normally based on an hourly rate.

6.2  On occasion we may agree to a fixed price for certain work for carrying out certain Services. However, we reserve the right to apply additional charges if we are required to carry out extra work or if the matter proves to be unusually difficult or complex.

6.3  Our fees will accrue from the point at which you give us clear instructions to proceed. If you terminate our instructions before the work is completed, we will charge you a fair proportionate amount for any work that has been carried out, including any disbursements that we have paid on your behalf.

6.4  Fees and costs are subject to VAT at the relevant current rate.

6.5  Our payment terms for commercial clients are within 30 days from the date of our invoice. We expect private clients to settle our fees and costs prior to completion of the work. 

6.6  Should settlement not be forthcoming 30 days after the date of issue of the invoice, we reserve the right to charge interest at 8% per annum above the base lending rate of our clearing bankers accruing on a daily basis on all sums outstanding from the date of the issue of the invoice until payment in full.  We also reserve the right to suspend or terminate our services if any sum is overdue from you.

6.7  If you instruct us to act but expect a third party ultimately to bear the costs, we may address our invoice to you as the party instructing us and you will, in any event, be responsible for the prompt payment of our fees in accordance with these terms of engagement.  Whether or not we accept that any third party will pay any part of our invoices, we will not assume any contractual responsibility to them, unless we expressly agree to do so. If you do not wish to incur this liability, you must ensure that we are instructed directly by the third party and that such third party provides us with any due diligence information that we may require.

6.8  There are circumstances where we are entitled to retain property which belongs to you.  This right of lien may be exercised by us at any time while fees or expenses are unpaid.

6.9  If you will require any action from our side in order for an invoice to be processed and paid, please let us know at the point when you instruct us or as soon as practicable afterwards. We shall endeavour to meet such requests but if they are onerous in terms of time or potential liability we reserve the right to charge reasonable additional fees.  In any event, the completion or otherwise of such procedures has no effect on your contractual obligation to pay for services that we have otherwise rendered within these terms of engagement.

7. Place of business; applicable law and jurisdiction

We are a firm of notaries with an office in London. Our notaries are admitted to practise anywhere within, but not outside, England and Wales. All our Services are therefore carried out in England. If we address our invoice overseas, we expect such fees and costs to be paid in full without deduction of withholding or other taxes. 

The contractual relationship that arises when you instruct us shall be governed by the law of England and Wales. In the event of a dispute, the courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction. 

8. Third party rights

No third party shall have any right to enforce or rely on any provision pursuant to the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.  The notification or consent of third parties shall not be required in order to rescind or vary our contract with you.

9. Assignment

We may assign the performance and benefit of our contract with you to any person who continues all or part of our business. Subject to this, neither you nor we have the right to assign the performance and benefit of our contract with you without the written consent of the other.

10. Exclusions and limitations of liability

10.1   The contract you make is with the Firm. You agree to pursue only the Firm for any claim in connection with our Services, and you will not bring any claim, howsoever arising, against any of our individual employees, consultants or partners personally in respect of losses which you suffer or incur, howsoever arising, in connection with our Services. This does not limit or exclude our liability for the acts or omissions of our employees, consultants or partners. 

10.2   You agree that our aggregate liability towards you for claims in connection with our Services, howsoever arising, shall be limited to £1 million in total per engagement or, if greater, the amount recoverable under our professional indemnity insurance. We currently hold professional indemnity insurance up to £2 million for any one claim. The aggregate liability of the firm, its employees, consultants and partners collectively shall not exceed the aggregate liability of the Firm alone.

10.3   Rights as a consumer as defined in the Consumer Rights Act 2015 shall not be adversely affected by these terms to the extent prohibited by the Act. 

10.4   Nothing in these terms affects our liability for fraud or otherwise to the extent prohibited by law

11. Anti-Money Laundering, Data Protection, Confidentiality and Record-keeping

We owe a general duty of confidentiality to all our clients. We also have strict obligations relating to record-keeping, anti-money laundering and data protection, some of which can be over-riding.

We shall comply with our obligations under current Anti-Money Laundering legislation and guidance, the Rules as prescribed by the Regulator from time to time, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). 

The Firm is registered as a data controller with the Information Commissioner’s Office under registration number ZA349711.

When providing us with personal data, you warrant to us on a continuous basis that: 

  • where applicable, you are authorised to share such personal data with us in connection with our Services and that wherever another data subject is referred to, you have obtained the explicit and demonstrable consent from all relevant data subjects to the inclusion and use of any personal data concerning them;

  • to the extent this is required in connection with the Services, such personal data is accurate, complete and up to date; and

  • either you provide your explicit consent and warrant that each data subject has provided explicit consent for the transfer of personal data to foreign organisations in connection with the Services if applicable, or that an alternative legal gateway for such transfer (such as transfer necessary for the conclusion or performance of a contract concluded in the interest of the data subject) has been satisfied.

Please refer to our Privacy Notice below for more information on the ways in which we collect and control data.

12. Complaints

We are confident that we will provide you with a satisfactory service, but should you wish to complain, please refer to our Complaints Procedure below.

13. Severance of terms

Should any provision of these terms of engagement be held to be invalid or unenforceable in any respect, the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions shall not be affected