Notarial Terms, Conditions of Business and Regulatory Notice

Our fees are based on the type and number of documents you require to be notarised.

When you contact us, we will usually be able to give you a figure for our fees once we have established the type and number of documents if the matter is straightforward. We will also be able to provide you with information on the costs involved in having documents legalised at the Foreign,  Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and Embassies.  Our minimum fee is £120 (including VAT) . If the matter is more complicated, for example, if documents have to be reviewed or the matter concerns company or corporate documents, it is usually necessary for us to see the documents before we can give you a figure. If you would like us to attend at your office or home, we can usually arrange this and will inform you of the extra cost involved in us visiting you.  As mentioned above, for multiple copies and where documents have to be signed in the Notary’s presence, we will usually be able to give you a figure on the telephone. Where we have to prepare Notarial certificates, review documents for you or carry out other required work such as liaising  with your foreign lawyer, our fees will be based on an hourly rate of £360 (including VAT) and we will endeavour always to give you an accurate estimate of our fees which may be subject to us seeing the documents.

We require payment of our fees before we can release the notarised documents to you and also before we incur any other costs such as sending documents for legalisation, obtaining Companies House documents or similar We accept payment by credit and debit cards (except AMEX) and cash (max £500).

We use agents to deliver and collect documents to and from the FCDO and Embassies. We will be able to give you a time estimate for how long legalisation will take but we cannot guarantee that documents will be returned within such time estimates, particularly when documents have to go to an Embassy. When documents do require legalisation,  we will usually arrange for our agents to return the documents to you directly by Royal Mail next-day delivery .  Neither we nor our agents accept any liability for loss of documents during transit  between ourselves, our agents, FCDO, embassies, you or any third party or for any delays occurring during such transit.

When you bring a document to us to be notarised, we will advise you as to the formalities required for completing it. However, we will not be attempting to advise you about the transaction itself.

 

As mentioned above, each notarial matter is different and the requirements will vary for example according to whether the client is a private individual or a company. 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 an original document is to be certified, checking with the issuing authorities that the document/award is genuine.
  • 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 Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury.   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 on which you to give us instructions. You can cancel your contract within the cancellation period by giving a clear statement and we 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 us of the cancellation. If you ask us to begin work during the cancellation period, you can still cancel but you must pay an amount in proportion to the work which we have performed and this proportion will not be reimbursed to you.
  • We reserve the right to terminate our engagement by you if we have good reason to do so, for example, if you do not pay a bill or comply with a request for a payment on account or you fail to give clear and proper instructions.
  • Consumer Cooling Off Cancellation Period –Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 (“CCR”):
  • You may terminate your instructions at any time by giving reasonable written notice. All fees and disbursements incurred up to the date of termination will be charged.
  • We maintain professional indemnity insurance at a level of at least £1,000,000.00 per claim. Except so far as excluded by the Unfair Terms Act 1977, our liability for any loss, injury or damage of any nature whatsoever, whether direct or consequential including (without limitation) in respect of negligence or breach of duty of care is limited to £1,000,000.00 in respect of any one claim or series of related claims
  • When we carry out work for you, we are required to make an entry in a formal register, which is kept as a permanent record. We will retain a copy of the notarised documentation with that record. We are 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 the professional legal responsibilities of a Notary Public. For full details of our PRIVACY POLICY and data processing terms please see our website: www redkitelaw.co.uk

Regulatory and Complaint Information.

We aim to provide an efficient and prompt service to all our clients, but in the event of there being any aspect of our service with which you are unhappy, please note the following:

The notarial practice of Richard Fisher 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@thesanctuary.com Website www.facultyoffice.org.uk

If you are dissatisfied about the service you have received please do not hesitate to contact the notary concerned.

If the notary is unable to resolve the matter you may then complain to the Notaries Society, which has 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, PO Box 7655, Milton Keynes MK11 9NR

Email secretary@thenotariessociety.org.uk Tel: 07855 963323

If you have any difficulty in making a complaint in writing, please do not hesitate to call 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 eight weeks from the date you first notified the notary that you were dissatisfied, make your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman (certain kinds of commercial entities are not eligible to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman – please refer to the Legal Ombudsman Scheme Rules), if you are not happy with the result:

Legal Ombudsman, PO Box6167, 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.