The following Terms apply to all probate and will writing work accepted by Berg & Williams Limited, and govern our relationship with you.
All work is carried out under these terms except where changes are expressly agreed in writing.
Our Terms are governed by and should be construed in accordance with English law. Each party agrees that the courts of England will have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any claim, dispute or difference concerning our relationship with you and any matter arising from it on any basis. Each party irrevocably waives any right to object to any action being brought in those courts, to claim that the action has been brought in an inappropriate forum, or to claim that those courts do not have jurisdiction.
We will not accept responsibility if you act on advice previously given by us without first confirming with us that the advice is still valid in light of any change in the law or in your circumstances. We will accept no liability for losses arising from changes in the law, or interpretation thereof, that occur after the date on which the advice is given.
Unless we are authorised by you to disclose information on your behalf, we confirm that if you give us confidential information we will, at all times during and after our relationship with you, keep it confidential, except as required by law or as provided for in regulatory, ethical or other professional pronouncements applicable to us or our relationship.
We may, on occasion, subcontract work on your affairs to other professionals. The subcontractors will be bound by our client confidentiality terms.
We will inform you of the proposed use of a subcontractor before they commence work, except where your data will not be transferred out of our systems and the subcontractor is bound by confidentiality terms equivalent to an employee
We will inform you if we become aware of any conflict of interest in our relationship with you or in our relationship with you and another client, unless we are unable to do so because of our confidentiality obligations. If conflicts are identified which cannot be managed in a way that protects your interests, we regret that we will be unable to provide further services.
Under The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, you have the right to cancel within 14 days without giving any reason. The cancellation period will expire after 14 days from the date you enter into the contract.
To exercise your right to cancel, you must inform us of your decision to cancel this contract by a clear statement (eg, a letter sent by post, or email). You can email info@probate.bergandwilliams.com.
To meet the cancellation deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication before the cancellation period expires.
If you cancel this contract, we will reimburse you for all payments received from you. We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days from the day on which we are informed about your decision to cancel the engagement. We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of the reimbursement.
We will not begin work for you before the expiry of the cancellation period unless you specifically instruct us to do so. If, during the cancellation period, you asked us in writing to begin the performance of our services and then cancelled, you will pay us a proportional amount for our services performed up to the date of your cancellation, compared with the total amount for the whole assignment.
The firm is required to monitor the diversity of its team and we do this regularly. As a small team, we risk compromising the anonymity and confidence of our staff in publishing detailed diversity monitoring results. As a firm we are committed to being an inclusive organisation and welcome all as both clients and team members, regardless of any personal characteristic. We are pleased to operate with a diverse team as measured by a number of metrics.
We may, if appropriate, communicate with you and with third parties by email or other electronic means. The recipient is responsible for virus checking emails and any attachments.
With electronic communication, there is a risk of non-receipt, delayed receipt, inadvertent misdirection or interception by third parties. We use virus-scanning software to reduce the risk of viruses and similar damaging items being transmitted in emails or by electronic storage devices. Nevertheless, electronic communication is not totally secure and we cannot be held responsible for damage or loss caused by viruses or for communications which are corrupted or altered after despatch. Nor can we accept any liability for problems or accidental errors relating to this means of communication, especially in relation to commercially sensitive material. These are risks you must bear in return for greater efficiency and lower costs.
Any communication by us with you sent through the postal system is deemed to arrive at your postal address two working days after the day the document was sent.
Our fees may depend, not only upon the time spent on your affairs, but also on the level of skill and responsibility and the importance and value of the advice we provide, as well as the level of risk.
If we provide you with an estimate of our fees for any specific work, the estimate will not be contractually binding unless we explicitly state that will be the case. Otherwise, our fees will be calculated on the basis of the hours worked by each member of staff necessarily engaged on your affairs, multiplied by their charge-out rate per hour, VAT being charged thereon. Indicative hourly charge-out rates are as follows:
Director - £300
Other Staff - £75
We may indicate a fixed fee for the provision of specific services or an indicative range of fees for a particular assignment. If it becomes apparent to us, due to unforeseen circumstances, that a fee quote is inadequate, we reserve the right to notify you of a revised figure or range and to seek your agreement thereto.
In some cases, you may be entitled to assistance with your professional fees, particularly in relation to any investigation into your tax affairs by HMRC. Assistance may be provided through insurance policies you hold or via membership of a professional or trade body. Other than where such insurance was arranged through us, you will need to advise us of any such insurance cover you have. You will remain liable for our fees regardless of whether all or part are liable to be paid by your insurers.
We will bill on completion of work and our invoices will be due for payment upon presentation. Our fees are exclusive of VAT which will be added where it is chargeable. Any disbursements we incur on your behalf, and expenses incurred in the course of carrying out our work for you, will be added to our invoices where appropriate.
Some fees are charged in advance; where this is the case fees will be held on account subject to terms communicated with the payment.
Unless otherwise agreed to the contrary, our fees do not include the costs of any third party, counsel or other professional fees. If these costs are incurred to fulfil our engagement, such necessary additional charges may be payable by you.
We reserve the right to charge interest on late paid invoices at the rate of 8% above bank base rates under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. We also reserve the right to suspend our services or to cease to act for you, having given written notice, if payment of any fees is unduly delayed. We intend to exercise these rights only if it is fair and reasonable to do so.
If you do not accept that an invoiced fee is fair and reasonable, you must notify us within 21 days of receipt, failing which, you will be deemed to have accepted that payment is due.
We are committed to providing you with a high-quality service that is both efficient and effective. If, at any point you would like to discuss with us how our service to you could be improved, or if you are dissatisfied with the service you are receiving, please let us know by contacting Aaron Ferguson, Head of Legal Practice, via info@probate.bergandwilliams.com.
We will consider carefully any complaint you may make about our service as soon as we receive it and do all we can to explain the position to you. We will acknowledge your letter within five business days of its receipt and endeavour to deal with your complaint within eight weeks.
If we do not answer your complaint to your satisfaction, you may, of course, take up the matter with our professional body, ICAEW or the Legal Ombudsman.
Should we be unable to resolve your complaint you may also be able to refer your complaint to an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) provider to try and reach a resolution. We will provide details of an ADR provider if we cannot resolve your complaint using our internal procedures. This is in addition to your ability to complain to ICAEW and the Legal Ombudsman.
To make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, you must; a) refer the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman no later than: six years from the act/omission that forms the basis of your complaint; or three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint; and b) make the referral within six months of the date of our written response.
Contact details for the Legal Ombudsman: 0300 555 0333 | enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ
In the unlikely event that we cannot meet our liabilities to you, you may be able to seek a grant from ICAEW’s Probate Compensation Scheme. Generally, applications for a grant must be made to ICAEW within 12 months from the date you became aware, or reasonably ought to have become aware, of any loss.
Further information about the scheme and the circumstances in which grants may be made is available on ICAEW's website: www.icaew.com/probate.
We will retain all intellectual property rights in any document prepared by us during the course of our relationship except where the law specifically states otherwise.
You are not permitted to use our name in any statement or document you may issue unless our prior written consent has been obtained. The only exception to this restriction would be statements or documents that, in accordance with applicable law, are to be made public.
If any provision of our Terms is held to be void, that provision will be deemed not to form part of this contract. In the event of any conflict between these terms of business and the engagement letter or appendices, the relevant provision in the engagement letter or schedules will take precedence.
Insofar as we are permitted to so by law or by professional guidelines, we reserve the right to exercise a lien over all funds, documents and records in our possession relating to all relationships with you until all outstanding fees and disbursements are paid in full.
The advice and information we provide to you as part of our service is for your sole use, and not for any third party to whom you may communicate it, unless we have expressly agreed that a specified third party may rely on our work. We accept no responsibility to third parties for any advice, information or material produced as part of our work for you which you make available to them. A party to this agreement is the only person who has the right to enforce any of its terms, and no rights or benefits are conferred on any third party under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.
Unless otherwise agreed, our work will begin when we receive implicit or explicit acceptance of our Terms.
Each of us may terminate our agreement by giving not less than 21 days’ notice in writing to the other party except if you fail to cooperate with us or we have reason to believe that you have provided us or HMRC with misleading information, in which case we may terminate this agreement immediately. Termination will be without prejudice to any rights that may have accrued to either of us before termination.
We reserve the right to terminate the engagement between us with immediate effect in the event of:
In the event of termination of our contract, we will endeavour to agree with you the arrangements for the completion of work in progress at that time, unless we are required for legal or regulatory reasons to cease work immediately. In that event, we will not be required to carry out further work and shall not be responsible or liable for any consequences arising from termination.
We will observe and act in accordance with the Bye-laws, regulations and Code of Ethics of ICAEW including Professional Conduct in Relation to Taxation and will accept instructions to act for you on this basis. In particular, you give us the authority to correct errors made by HMRC if we become aware of them. We will not be liable for any loss, damage or cost arising from our compliance with statutory or regulatory obligations. The requirements are also online at icaew.com/en/membership/regulations-standards-and-guidance.
As part of our ongoing commitment to provide a quality service, our files are periodically reviewed by an independent regulatory or quality control body. These reviewers are highly experienced professionals and are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as our principals and staff.
When dealing with HMRC on your behalf we are required to be honest and to take reasonable care to ensure that your returns are correct. To enable us to do this, you are required to be honest with us and to provide us with all necessary information in a timely manner. For more information about ‘Your Charter’ for your dealings with HMRC, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-charter. To the best of our abilities, we will ensure that HMRC meet their side of the Charter in their dealings with you.
We will endeavour to record all advice on important matters in writing. Advice given orally is not intended to be relied upon unless confirmed in writing. Therefore, if we provide oral advice (for example, during the course of a meeting or a telephone conversation) and you wish to be able to rely on that advice, you must ask for the advice to be confirmed by us in writing. Advice is valid as at the date it was given.
You have a legal responsibility to retain documents and records relevant to your financial affairs. During the course of our work we may collect information from you and others relevant to your tax and financial affairs. We will return any original documents to you if requested. Documents and records relevant to your tax affairs are required by law to be retained for 22 months after the end of the tax year, unless you have trading or rental income in which case they must be retained for five years and 10 months after the end of the tax year.
Although certain documents may legally belong to you, we may destroy correspondence and other papers that we store electronically or otherwise that are more than seven years old, except documents we think may be of continuing significance. You must tell us if you wish us to keep any document for any longer period.
We are licensed by ICAEW to carry out the reserved legal activity of non-contentious probate in England and Wales. Details about our probate registration can be viewed at icaew.com/probate, under reference number C004576135.
Our professional indemnity insurers are Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's, Amtrust Europe Limited and Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE. The territorial coverage is worldwide, excluding professional business carried out from an office in the United States of America or Canada and excludes any action for a claim brought in any court in the United States of America or Canada.
If you provide us with all information and explanations on a timely basis in accordance with our requirements, we will plan to undertake the work within a reasonable period of time to meet any regulatory deadlines. However, failure to complete our services before any such regulatory deadline would not, of itself, mean that we are liable for any penalty or additional costs arising.
