Our Regulator:
The work and procedures carried out by the notary lawyer who is instructed at the practice is regulated through the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the details of the notary officers at this practice can be found on the official website of the Regulator, see www.facultyoffice.org.uk.
Insurance:
This notarial practice has the required level of professional indemnity insurance in accordance with the regulatory requirements and the said indemnity insurance is limited to the required amount of £1,000,000 for any one claim and further, again in compliance with regulatory requirements, we have insurance through the Notaries Guarantee Scheme.
Our Fees and notary procedures:
Our notary fees are calculated on the basis of our scale of charges that start at £50.00 plus VAT and we would be pleased to explain and discuss these upon request, having first taken instructions as to your requirements. Fees vary depending on a number of factors including the complexity of the proposed work involved, whether the document is of a personal or commercial nature and factors, the number of documents requiring notarisation and costs and fees for any attendance of our staff if required at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for apostille stamping or Consulate for legalisation procedures.
You as the client will always be informed in a comprehensive and transparent manner our fees and their breakdown and costs such as translation costs and disbursements, delivery costs and onward administration and courier charges. If the quote is verbally given over the telephone or in writing in email correspondence and if you proceed to the appointment stage, the quote will be noted in the diary entry pertaining to your appointment. It will be reviewed and explained at the appointment before any work is commenced. If any further instructions are given by you that result in additional work being carried, then we reserve the right to review the fees and will inform you accordingly before any work further work is commenced.
Work will start at a time that is mutually agreed and we will inform you of the time scales involved for each procedure. Straight forward notarial matters are usually dealt with within 30 minutes to an hour but if we are required to obtain further information from third parties in order to complete the notarisation process, then the completion of work will depend on the response times of the third party. You will be kept informed of the progress of your case at each significant stage and we will provide an estimate of completion times at the start of the matter on a regular basis and the reasons for any delays.
Fees include Value Added Tax (VAT) at the current rate and you will be issued with a written VAT receipt upon payment with a breakdown of work carried out and other costs and disbursements will be listed within the invoice.
Complaints Procedure:
This notarial practice is regulated through the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury: The Faculty Office, 1, The Sanctuary, London, SW1P 3JT
Telephone 020 7222 5381
E-mail: Faculty.office@1thesanctuary.com
Website: www.facultyoffice.org.uk
1. If you are dissatisfied about the service you have received, please do not hesitate to contact our firm:
H&S Notary Practice Limited
Unit 4 Palace Court, 250 Finchley Road, London, NW3 6DN
Telephone: 0207 433 3338
E-mail: info@notarypractice.com
Website: www.notarypractice.com
2. If we are unable to resolve the matter you may then complain to The Notaries Society, of which all our notaries are members, 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.
3. 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, Old Church Chambers, 23 Sandhill Road St James, Northampton NN5 5LH, E-mail: secretary@thenotariessociety.org.uk. Tel: 01604 758908.
If you have any difficulty making a complaint in writing, please do not hesitate to call The Notaries Society/the Faculty Office for assistance.
4. 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 us that you were dissatisfied, make your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman*, if you are not happy with the result:
Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
Tel: 0300 555 0333
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
5. If you decide to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, you must refer your matter to the Legal Ombudsman:
- Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint and
- Six years from the date of act/omission; or
- 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.