Terms of business - Notary Public Services

Sukhpal Matharoo Notary Public

Independence 

Although I am a Partner with Doyle Clayton Solicitors Limited, I practice as a Notary Public independently of the solicitors firm, or any other business.

Instructions

I ask you to supply clear instructions, including all relevant background information, at the outset and as the matter continues. Company clients will usually be asked to nominate a suitable individual who is authorised to give instructions on the company’s behalf in relation to each matter.

Signatures

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

Before we meet

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.

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 are available, at least two of the following:

• A current government or police issue certificate bearing a photo or other formal means of identification;
• A utility bill, credit card or bank statement showing your current address which should not be more than three months old or a council tax bill.

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.

Advice on documents

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.

Corporate instructions

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 contact me if you have any questions in advance of our appointment.

Calculation of fees

My hourly rate is £400 plus VAT, although I usually work to an agreed fee. I base my fee on the requirements of the document(s) to be notarised, the time I expect to spend dealing with the matter, the complexity of the issues and the document(s) in question, the speed at which action must be taken, work done outside normal working hours, and the expertise or specialist knowledge that the case requires. My fee will also vary depending on whether other services, such as legalisation, translation, travel or courier services are required. My notarial practice is registered for Value Added Tax and expenses and charges will be subject to Value Added Tax.

Estimates

Where an estimate is given, it is given in good faith and in the light of my experience. However, costs can sometimes be increased for reasons outside my control, including unforeseen complications or delays by other parties to a transaction or case. I will inform you if it becomes apparent that an estimate is likely to be exceeded.

Costs on account

I reserve the right to ask for money to be paid on account of work to be done or expenses to be incurred. Such funds are held in our client account until such time as an invoice is submitted or a payment made on your behalf. Credits to the client account should be made in sufficient time to allow for bank clearance before they are required.

Invoices

Invoices are delivered where required for work carried out and expenses incurred during the conduct of a matter. All invoices are due for payment on delivery. I reserve the right to suspend work or to cease to act where an invoice is overdue for payment or in the event of a request for payment on account not being met. I will charge interest on the amount of any unpaid invoice from one month after its delivery at the rate payable on judgement debts.

Termination of instructions

You may terminate instructions to me at any time. I will ask you to settle all charges incurred to that date and am entitled to withhold your file until full payment has been made. I will only stop acting for a client with good reason and on reasonable notice. I reserve the right to stop acting for you in the event that you have outstanding charges one month or more after a bill has been delivered and/or in the event that you do not provide me with funds on account of costs as requested in accordance with these terms.

Liability for payment

If you request that an invoice is to be paid by a third party on your behalf, and that third party does not pay the invoice within seven days of issue of invoice, you will immediately be liable to discharge that invoice. Where I accept instructions from a limited company, I may require personal guarantees in relation to its fees and expenses from appropriate directors or shareholders (or other individuals or companies), unless the company has deposited sufficient funds on account as described. If you are instructing us on behalf of two or more persons, each of those persons shall be jointly and severally liable for the obligations imposed by these Terms.

Data protection

I comply with the Data Protection Act 2018. Your personal data may be used and disclosed to third parties in the course of providing our services, and marketing those and other services which Doyle Clayton provide (e.g. seminar invitations and newsletters), and for regulatory purposes. I may therefore contact you in my capacity as a Partner in the law firm Doyle Clayton, or otherwise pass your details onto colleagues within Doyle Clayton for them to contact you regarding the Firm’s other services. I may also pass your details and any documents relating to you to third parties, including legalisation agents, translators and couriers. I am required to maintain personal data for regulatory and insurance purposes provided by the firm for a period of time after conclusion of your matter. If you do not wish personal data to be used for marketing purposes as mentioned above, please notify me in writing. 

I will be entitled to carry out such credit or other searches in respect of clients as we consider appropriate. Unless you specifically request otherwise, I shall be entitled to make use of electronic mail (“email”) as a means of communication with you and/or with other parties with whom I am in touch on your work. In such cases you may wish to take steps to ensure that any email I send is received solely by the intended addressee. If any expected message has failed to reach you, please contact me immediately. Please be aware that there can be wide variations in the delivery time for email and that, exceptionally, some messages may fail to arrive. While I take reasonable steps to protect against viruses and to safeguard the security of our servers, you should also appreciate that there are additional risks (particularly with file attachments) of infection by virus and that use of email as a means of communication carries inherent security risks. I cannot therefore guarantee either the confidentiality or the security of any email communication.

My Data Protection Policy and Data Protection Privacy Notice may be viewed here. 

Where you provide me with personal data relating to third parties which is necessary for the fulfilment of my contract with you, you agree to provide a copy of my Data Protection Privacy Notice to those third parties so that they understand the purposes for which their personal data may be processed and also understand their rights as data subjects.

You must ensure that, for the purposes of data minimisation, you only provide me with the minimum personal data necessary for me to fulfil my contractual obligations with you.

You agree that any personal data provided in connection with the professional services sought is accurate, complete and up to date, as far as you are reasonably aware.

Money laundering precautions

I am required by law to apply procedures to guard against the risk of money laundering. It will help us to avoid any problems with your legal work if you bear in mind the following points.

Identification checks: I may need to obtain formal evidence of your identity and sometimes of those connected with you. This may be necessary even though I have acted for you before, or even if you are known personally to a member of staff. I will tell you if such evidence is necessary, but it may help me if you are able to bring evidence to our first meeting. Normally the evidence I ask for is a passport, plus one or more documents to establish your address, such as recent utility bills, council tax statements, or bank statements. The identification checks required for some transactions, for example property transfers, can be more extensive, in which case you might be asked to provide additional information and documents even when you have already provided some identification to me.

Cash: I am normally only able to accept cash up to a limit of £500 in any 30-day period and £250 in any one transaction. If you deposit money direct into our bank account, I may decide to charge you for any additional checks which we decide are necessary to prove the source of the funds.

Source of funds: At the start of any matter I will normally ask you to tell me the source of any funds you will be using. It is simplest for me if the source is an account, in your name, in a UK bank or building society. If the source is an unusual one, you should tell me as early as possible, including the reason.

Destination of funds: Where I am to pay money out to you, I will normally do so by cheque in your favour, or into an account in your name. If instead you want me to pay surplus money out into the name of someone else, please tell me as early as possible, including the reason.

Reporting offences: The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 can oblige me to report information about financial offences to the National Crime Agency (NCA). In particular, if it seems that any assets involved in your matter were derived from a crime, I may have to report it. If I have to make a report, I may not be able to tell you that I have done so and might not be able to continue to progress your matter until I have authority to do so from NCA. If you are concerned about how this may affect you, you can ask me to clarify.

Professional indemnity, limitation of liability

We limit our liability (including any liability for negligence, for breach of contract, or otherwise, or for any consequential loss) arising in respect of any act or omission to a sum at or greater than the minimum level of cover prescribed by the Master of Faculties of £1,000,000. For this purpose, “consequential loss” means any loss of anticipated profits or costs savings, loss of future business, damages, costs or expenses payable to any third party or any indirect losses. We will not be liable to repay to the client any money which is lost as a result of the liquidation, administration, insolvency or other failure of any bank or building society in which we have deposited that money, provided that the money has been deposited in accordance with the SRA Accounts Rules. We will not be liable for any losses sustained as a result of us complying with our statutory obligations to combat money laundering, including any delays or restrictions arising as a result of funds which are being provided to us from or via a country outside the UK. 

Complaints Information

If you are dissatisfied about the service you have received please do not hesitate to contact me at smatharoo@doyleclayton.co.uk.

My notarial practise is regulated through the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury: The Faculty Office 1, The Sanctuary, Westminster, London SW1P 3JT

Tel: +44 (0)20 7222 5381
Email: faculty.office@1thesanctuary.com
Website www.facultyoffice.org.uk

If I am unable to resolve any issues, 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 PO Box 7655 Milton Keynes MK11 9NR 

Tel: +44 (0)1604 758908
Email: secretary@thenotariessociety.org.uk. 

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

Even if you have your complaint considered under the Complaints Procedure, you may at the end of that procedure or after a period of eight weeks from the date you first notified us that you were dissatisfied, make your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, if you are not happy with the result: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH

Tel: +44 (0)300 555 0333
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

Finally, if you decide to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, you must refer to the Legal Ombudsman within one year from the act/omission, or within one year from when you should have reasonably known there was cause for complaint.

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 the firm’s control, including, but not limited to, an 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.

Confidentiality

I attach great importance to dealing with your affairs in strict confidence. However, some files may occasionally be made available on a confidential basis to an external quality assessor in connection with quality control. I can arrange to withhold any particular file from random selection for such inspection, upon request. The professional body regulating notarial practice also has rights of inspection to ensure good practice and conduct.

Foreign law

I do not advise on foreign law but act in an evidential, authentication capacity. For more information please call +44 (0)118 959 6839 or email smatharoo@doyleclayton.co.uk

Interpretation

English law shall be the applicable law and the English courts 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 part, these terms shall continue to be valid as to the other provisions thereof and the remainder of the affected provision.

Sukhpal Matharoo, Notary Public

Regulated through The Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Member of The Notaries Society
Commissioner for Oaths