All work undertaken for you and every document bought on-line from www.offtoseemylawyer.com (“Website”) is subject to the following terms:
1. Level of service
We wish to provide a high level of service at all times. Accordingly we will endeavour to respond to your letters, e-mails and telephone calls within 24 hours at the latest and if we are unable to do so, we will advise you of that fact. We will at all times act in accordance with the laws of England and Wales and the Solicitors Code of Conduct as applicable at the date of this letter.We will agree the details of the advice we will be giving and the fees in advance with you.
2. Our responsibilities
It is our responsibility to review those documents that you send us within the framework agreed. We will advise you as to the merits and risks presented by the contents of those documents and confirm our advice in writing. Any assumptions or limitations will be clearly spelt out. If you ask us to do so, we will discuss the relevant documents with designated third parties on your behalf. We will keep all information relating to your business and affairs confidential unless we are obliged to disclose it by a government body. This might happen, for example, if money laundering is suspected.
3. Your responsibilities
It is your responsibility to provide us with all relevant information to a transaction and to provide us with the information we ask for within the time frames requested as far as reasonably possible. We shall rely on that information as being true, correct and complete.
4. Fees
Our fees are charged either on a fixed fee or time-related basis, which we will agree with you before work starts. All prices are subject to VAT at the current rate.
If we agree a fixed fee the following will apply:-
- You will comply with any specific terms provided to you relating to the work.
- You will provide any information which we request promptly and in a clear and comprehensive manner.
- We will ask you for 50% of the fixed fee as a down payment before the work starts and then invoice you for the balance on completion of the work unless we agree otherwise.
- We reserve the right to charge extra at our normal hourly rates, if we have to change documents more than one month after we have delivered them to you or if you significantly change your instructions.
If we agree to work on a time-related basis, then the following applies:
- Fees will be calculated by reference to the time spent and the applicable hourly and/or daily rate. The rates will be agreed with you before the work starts.
- Invoices will usually be issued monthly and payment is due within 14 days from the invoice date. Each invoice will be accompanied by a brief summary of the work done.
- If any sums are payable to others, we will advise you of that fact.
- We will advise you if we need to incur any additional expenses such as for travel and accommodation and will agree the amount with you beforehand.
It is always open to you to agree an upper limit on fees and if you do, we will advise you in good time if we are nearing that limit.
Further work will not be undertaken if any fee remains outstanding beyond the 14 day period or such other settlement period that we agree on. We also reserve the right to terminate the engagement and cease acting if the account is unduly delayed in settlement. It is not our intention, however, to use these rights in a way which is unfair or unreasonable.
5. Buying documents on-line
- Any documents you buy online may be only used for personal (including immediate family) or business use by you or your business. The documents may not be re-sold, re-published, re-distributed or used in part or whole to create documents for any other party.
- The information and documents available on this Website are provided on an “as is” basis without any representations or endorsements made and without any warranty of any kind whether express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of fitness for purpose, merchantability and accuracy.
- Advice contained in the Website is only summary guidance and therefore should not be relied on without obtaining legal advice for your specific circumstances and requirements. Accordingly, we will have no liability to you at all if you use any information or document without obtaining appropriate legal advice nor will we have any responsibility at all for any alterations made to the document after you have received it.
- Your right to cancel: If you are a consumer customer, you have 14 days from the date of the order to change your mind and obtain a refund. However, in line with the Consumer Contracts Regulations, if you download one of our digital documents immediately, no cancellation right exists. We therefore regret that refunds are not normally possible and will only be made in exceptional circumstances.
By using the Website and the documents you agree that in no circumstance shall Trading Terms Limited be liable for any indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages, including, but not limited to, loss of business or profits or any other financial loss, arising out of or in any way connected with the use of the Website or the documents, under any law or on any basis whatsoever whether contractual or otherwise, except in relation to death or personal injury for which no limit shall apply. In addition you agree that if, for any reason, Trading Terms Limited is liable for any damages, other than those for death or personal injury, the total liability of Trading Terms Limited shall be limited to the amount of the document purchased.
6. Communicating with you
We are most likely to use e-mail to communicate with you. As with other means of delivery, this carries with it the risk of inadvertent misdirection or non-delivery. You must carry out a virus check on attachments received.
Internet communications are capable of data corruption. It may therefore be inappropriate to rely on advice contained in an e-mail without obtaining written confirmation of it. I do not accept responsibility for any errors or problems that my arise through the use of internet communication and all risks connected with sending commercially sensitive information relating to you are borne by you. If you do not accept this risk, you should notify me in writing that e-mail is not an acceptable means of communication.
7. Professional Indemnity Insurance
We are covered by professional indemnity insurance.
8. Quality of Service
We want to give you the best possible service. However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service, we have provided then you should inform us immediately, so that we can do our best to resolve the problem.
In the first instance it may be helpful to contact the person who is working on your case to discuss your concerns and we will do our best to resolve any issues . If you would like to make a formal complaint, please write to info@offtoseemylawyer.com and your complaint will be acknowledged within three working days. We will review your file carefully with the person handling the matter and make any wider enquiries within the firm as may be necessary. We will respond to your complaint fully as soon as practicable and within 21 days. Our response will usually be in writing, and we may suggest a meeting. We will inform you of our views about your complaint and how we propose to resolve it. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.
What to do if we cannot resolve your complaint
The Legal Ombudsman can help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves. They will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your case. Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:
- Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint
and
- No more than six years from the date of act/omission; or
- No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.
If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them.
Contact details
Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9.00 to 17.00.
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
What to do if you are unhappy with our behaviour
The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic.
Visit their website to see how you can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
9. Other professionals
If requested, we may introduce you to other professional consultants. In that event, the advice given to you by those consultants will be without any responsibility on our part and you will be responsible directly to them for the payment of all fees and expenses.
10. Agreement of terms
When you first instruct us, we will issue a Letter of Engagement which will set out the agreed fees and the matters to be advised on. You will be asked to sign and return this letter to us along with any payment on account. Either party may terminate the Letter of Engagement at any time without penalty by letting the other know in writing. Fees incurred up to the date of termination will become payable in full at the date of termination.
11. Applicable law
The agreement between us and any non-contractual obligations is governed by English law and in the event of any dispute you agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.
