Terms of Engagement

Terms of engagement

You are my client   My notarial services are provided to you, the person appearing before me, and to any company of other body you represent on these terms of engagement. Advice rendered is provided for your benefit and solely for the purpose of the instructions to which it relates.

My notarial services are provided through Jonathan Kemp Notary Public Ltd, a company incorporated in England with Company No. 09506931, whose trading name is Jonathan Kemp Notary Public. The registered office is set out at the top of this document.

Identity   Verifying the identity of clients and any person, company or other entity whom they represent is central to the principles of notarial work and is required by law.  Following the guidelines above in producing evidence of identity is essential to enable me to assist you.

Fees and disbursements   My basic charge for a notarial authentication is £100 plus VAT, which is £120. It will be adjusted to reflect variants such as multiple documents, more than one person signing, travel, drafting, company checks, unusual complexity, liaising with other professionals and disbursements such as legalisation and courier services that you have asked me to provide. Disbursements incurred on client’s behalf, such as legalisation and courier will be charged at cost, subject to VAT where applicable. My fee reflects the expertise of a lawyer experienced in international transactions.

Billing and payment   Payment must be received prior to releasing documents to you or before ordering apostilles, legalisation, translations and courier services on your behalf. I prefer to receive payment by debit or credit card or by bank transfer. Payments from overseas are accepted only if the sum received satisfies the full invoice figure after deduction of my bank’s charges arising from received an overseas or non-sterling currency.

I may lien all documents held pending settlement of all outstanding costs.  Statutory rights under late payment legislation to claim interest and debt recovery costs will be exercised if necessary.

I keep a record of documents I authenticate. Copies of my records can be provided to the parties to the transaction for a fee of £30 plus VAT per document.

If you terminate your instructions, I may make a charge for work carried out up to the point of termination and will charge for any disbursements or expenses incurred on your behalf.

Confidentiality, security, records and data protection   Notaries are under professional and legal obligations to keep client affairs confidential unless instructed to make disclosure or compelled to disclose information by law.  The professional body regulating notarial practice has rights of inspection.

Information held about you, including personal information such as your name, address and passport details, will be held in accordance with applicable data protection legislation including GDPR.  This information will be used to provide notarial services to you. Your name and contact details may be used to contact you about notarial services that may be of interest to you, unless you inform me that you do not wish to receive such information.

Unless instructed to the contrary, I may use ordinary e-mail and other electronic means to communicate with you and to exchange documents.  You should inform me of any specific security requirements.

Records of notarial acts are retained as required by notarial practice regulations.  You may request copies of notarial documents for a fee of £30 plus VAT.

Liability   Nothing in these terms of engagement will exclude or limit any liability that I may have to you in respect of any loss caused by fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation or reckless disregard of professional obligations or in any other situation where the law prohibits me from excluding or limiting my liability to you, including in respect of any death or personal injury resulting from my negligence.

In all other cases, you agree that my liability for any claim made in respect of negligence and/or breach of contract (including in respect of any omission) or in any other way arising from each notarial matter is limited to a maximum sum of GBP one million.

The extent to which any loss or damage will be recoverable by you will also be limited so as to be in proportion to my contribution to the overall fault for such loss and damage, taking into account any contributory negligence by you and any negligence by your other advisers and/or any third party responsible to you and/or liable in respect of such loss or damage.  No liability whatsoever will arise where your loss arises from inaccurate or incomplete instructions or information given by you or by any third party on your behalf.  No liability whatsoever will arise in relation to any indirect, economic or consequential loss, including but not limited to loss of profit or business that you may incur.

Searches of the Register of Companies and at other public bodies will be carried out using appropriate means including on-line searches.  No liability whatsoever will arise from any inaccuracy in the information so received.

If I agree to arrange third party services on your behalf, such as legalisation, translation, postage and courier services, you agree that I shall not be responsible for any failure by service providers to perform those services, whether due to COVID-19 reasons or otherwise. You also agree to reimburse me for any return courier charges resulting from an inability of a courier to deliver to the addressee overseas.

Notarial Regulatory Information   I aim to provide an exemplary service to clients.  If you have any concerns, please let me know immediately so that, if possible, any problem can be rectified. Please note:

My notarial practice is regulated by the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury :

The Faculty Office 1, The Sanctuary, Westminster, London, SW1P 3JT.                                                                                  Tel: 020 7222 5381     Email Faculty.office@1thesanctuary.com   Website www.facultyoffice.org.uk

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, PO Box 7655, Milton Keynes, MK11 9NR. Email: secretary@thenotariessociety.org.uk  Tel: 01604 758908.

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 6 months 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 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 :-  (a) Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint and (b) Six years from the date of act/omission; or (c) 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). (The act or omission, or when you should have reasonably known there was cause for complaint, must have been after 5th October 2010.) *certain kinds of commercial entities are not eligible to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman – please refer to the Legal Ombudsman Scheme Rules or consult the Faculty Office.

Law and Disputes   This retainer is governed by English law and the English courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction for the determination of any dispute arising out of or in connection with this Agreement (including (without limitation) in relation to any non-contractual obligations).

My practice as a notary public is separate from Muckle LLP, Solicitors, whose office I share.

DATA PROTECTION PRIVACY NOTICE

  1. Jonathan Kemp, Notary Public, of Time Central Room 6.6, 32 Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4BF, trading as Jonathan Kemp Notary Public, is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office under number Z1237397.
  2. This privacy notice explains how we use the personal data we collect from you when you use our notarial and related services (the “Services”).
  3. What is ‘personal data’? Any data that relates to a person (‘data subject’). For example, your email address, electronic co-ordinates, financial details or medical details.
  4. Overriding objective. To handle your data with confidentiality, care and diligence as if it was our own, in accordance with your instructions, and complying with the law.
  5. How do we use your personal data? We will only process or disclose personal data in order to provide notarial and related services to you and to act on your instructions, which includes enabling service providers, such as consular agents and couriers, to perform the functions you have requested, such as obtaining apostilles from the FCO. We will always comply with applicable law, including Notary Practice Rules, guidelines and regulations or in response to a lawful request from a court or regulatory body.
  6. International transfer of your personal data.  Our records are kept within the U.K. If your document is heading overseas, then you agree that we may (a) liaise with any lawyer or other party you have introduced to us, (b) arrange for it to be translated, if you have instructed us to do so, and (c) send it to the FCO’s Legalisation Office and any relevant embassy for legalisation and forward the document overseas in accordance with your instructions.
  7. Storage of personal data. Personal data will be retained for as long as is reasonably necessary for the purposes listed above and as required by law. The Notaries Practice Rules require that notarial acts in the public form shall be preserved permanently and other notarial acts shall be preserved for a minimum period of 12 years. Personal data may be retained in documentary form or electronic form, suitably encrypted. Hard-copy documents are disposed of when no longer required by commercial shredding.  Electronic documents are retained in encrypted form. They are not stored in cloud storage or outside the U.K.
  8. Electronic communications. Unless you give specific instructions to the contrary, we will communicate with you and with those parties that are necessary for the carrying out of your instructions and the provision of the Services by email and other electronic means. You should be aware that while we take prudent steps to secure our electronic communications, by their nature, they can never be considered to be without risk.
  9. Data subject rights. You have numerous legal rights in relation to data held by us. These are too numerous to list here, but please visit the website of the ICO: ico.org.uk.
  10. We may occasionally send you information about our notarial and related services that we feel may be relevant to your business or interests. Please inform us if you do not wish to receive such information.
  11. Cookies are text files placed on your computer to collect standard Internet log information and visitor behaviour information. When you visit our website, we may collect information from you automatically through cookies or similar technology. Further information may be found on the website of the ICO at https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-pecr/cookies-and-similar-technologies.
  12. Changes to our privacy notice. Our privacy policy and notice are reviewed periodically and any updates are placed on our website.
  13. How to contact us. If you have any questions about our privacy policy, the data we hold on you, or you would like to exercise one of your data protection rights, please do not hesitate to contact us. Call us: 0788 572 1559.  Email: notary@jrkemp.com.  Address: please see paragraph 1 above.
  14. How to contact the appropriate authority. Should you wish to report a complaint or if you feel that we have not addressed your concern satisfactorily, you may contact the Information Commissioner’s Office at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.  Tel: 0303 123 1113.   ico.org.uk.

Jonathan Kemp

Notary Public

April 2020