We offer notarial services which are required for both companies and individuals. These encompass authenticating documents such as powers of attorney, or for purchases/ sales of land abroad. Your needs may be more tailored towards authenticating company and business documentation or providing certificates as to the authority of directors. Whatever they are - ask us.
Documents once notarised then, frequently, need to be legalised. We arrange for your notarised documents to be sent to the FCDO for this part of the process. The stamp they attach by way of a certificate is the Apostille- we then arrange for the document to be returned to you. Fees for this will be explained before any costs are incurred.
Some countries ( namely non Hague members) require steps to be taken beyond the Apostille. In these cases the documents are sent to the embassy or the consulate of that country for the extra authentification. We arrange that all for you with a clear cost structure.
1. TERMS AND CONDITIONS:
We ( namely AB Notaries limited, its employees and representatives) do not and cannot advise on the form, content or effect of any document nor on any aspect of any underlying transaction whether in this jurisdiction or elsewhere. Legal advice should always be sought from a lawyer qualified in the country for where the notarised document is to be received in respect of any document to be notarised and that advice is to be the advice relied upon. No warranty can or will be given that a notarised document by us whether or not legalised or apostilled , will be accepted by the receiving party in any country, or by any third party, nor is any warranty given that it will be suitable for the intended purpose. We cannot and do not advise on the requirements of receiving parties, nor on the form, content or effect of any document to be notarised, all of which must be ascertained by you. We do not give legal advice and the terms of acceptance of our services incorporate these terms and conditions.We are not nor will be liable for any loss or damage or delay or adverse consequences of any kind howsoever arising should the notarised/legalised documents be rejected by any receiving party or third party.If any document is drafted by us for you then it is your responsibility to obtain approval of the same from the receiving party and it is at all times your responsibility to satisfy yourself that it is suitable for the intended purpose and that it will be accepted in the receiving country or third party. We give no warranty in that regard.Timeframes if given are strictly indicative and are not, in any way, guaranteed. Instructions to legalise documents are accepted on the basis that we do not accept responsibility for meeting the requirements of any embassy/consulate or of the Foreign and Commonwealth and Development Office or any office which replaces it.
2. OUR FEES:
The present hourly rate starts at £90 no vat, for one document. We will in any event provide you with a fixed quote upon receipt of a scanned copy of the document(s) with information on exactly what is needed. We will rely on that request and if further work is required beyond that request then the quotation will be adjusted to reflect this. Often there are further legalisations required beyond notarisation and whilst we can do our best to advise ultimately the responsibility is yours to ascertain what exactly is required for your document to be accepted in the receiving jurisdiction. We can arrange apostilles for you from the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and further legalisation through Consulates/Embassies if required. The FCDO apostille cost will be notified to you at the time of instruction. We reserve the right to add a handling fee which will be notified to you in advance. Each embassy and consulate will charge its own prices and those fees will be made clear to you. The courier fees and postage fees are additional disbursements which will be added to our fee. Once we have posted or released the document(s) to a courier company we have no control over the document and will not be liable for any delay or loss incurred from that point. We reserve the right to vary the rate, in respect of extremely urgent work or work done outside ordinary office hours or at the weekend. These fees are based on you attending at our office. If we are required to travel to you then the hourly rate will be applied. Please note that even the simplest notarial act requires work beyond attendance on you.
We are obliged to keep detailed records of all the work that we undertake.
3. FIXED FEES:
We may in the case of straightforward matters agree with you beforehand a fixed fee. If however at the appointment the matter proves to be more complicated or there are more documents or more people involved than you indicated or legalisation is required , we reserve the right to renegotiate the fee or agree to charge you at the hourly rate.
4. DISBURSEMENTS:
You are responsible for all payments which we make on your behalf. Typical examples are legalisation fees paid to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and/or an Embassy or Consulate’s fee; legalisation agent’s fees, Company House fees, courier fees and special delivery postage charges. However, we shall not incur these expenses without first obtaining your consent to do so. By providing your consent you are also undertaking to discharge those costs and understand that you are responsible for them in full.
5. PAYMENT:
Our charges are normally payable upon completion of notarisation however we will not release any documents until payment is received in full.
6. TIME CHARGE:
This includes all work undertaken on your matter from start to finish including but not limited to, preliminary details and advice, preparation, attendances, drafting, phone calls, correspondence including e-mails, copying documents and the completion of our register and protocol. Letters, e-mails and phone calls are charged at a minimum of six-minute units or otherwise at the time taken.
7. PREPARATION:
This includes but is not limited to, checking and dealing with any documents presented by you, any instructions accompanying the documents, consideration and drafting of documents before, during or after attendances, attending to any amendments or completing any blanks in the documents and binding the documents securely.
8. AI
Use of Technology, Devices and Artificial Intelligence
(1) To the extent that I use any automated decision-making technology, including artificial intelligence, in the course of my services, I do not rely upon the same without human intervention.(2) Before using any new technology including artificial intelligence, I carry out an appropriate risk assessment to ensure that your rights are not adversely affected by the same.
9. OUR RESPONSIBILITIES:
We have to be satisfied as to your identity, your legal capacity, your authority and your understanding and approval; in certain instances we may insist on obtaining further evidence such as a medical report to confirm your capacity and understanding. We shall try to ensure that the document, in the manner of its execution, its form and substance will achieve its purpose. We must be satisfied that it is your voluntary act and that no fraud, violence or duress is involved and that other stipulated formalities either under English or foreign law are observed. If we are not satisfied about any one of those things, we can refuse to undertake the matter.
10. LIABILITY:
We carry professional indemnity liability cover of £1,000,000 which is the level of cover specified by the Master of the Faculty of Notaries. That amount is the limit of the level of our liability to you or to others.
11. THE RELEVANT LAW:
The law which governs our contract with you is English law and it is agreed that any dispute relating to our services shall be resolved by the English courts.
In order that you as a service provider and processor (referred to as “Processor” or “you” or “your”) may provide or continue to provide certain services (the “Services”) to us, the Notary Business and controller (referred to as “Notary Business” or “we”, “us” or “our”), you have agreed that these data processing terms (“Terms”) shall apply (notwithstanding any other terms and conditions applicable to the delivery of the Services to the contrary) in order to address the compliance obligations imposed upon the Notary Business and its clients pursuant to the Data Protection Law. These Terms shall constitute a separate agreement or they may be incorporated by reference in the relevant Services agreement, as the case may be.
BY ACCEPTING ANY MATERIALS FROM THE NOTARY BUSINESS OR OTHERWISE COMMENCING THE SERVICES (“EFFECTIVE DATE”), YOU AGREE THAT THE PROCESSOR WILL PROCESS NOTARY BUSINESS PERSONAL DATA IN ACCORDANCE WITH THESE TERMS, WHICH YOU HEREBY ACCEPT FOR AND ON BEHALF OF THE PROCESSOR.
NOW IT IS HEREBY AGREED as follows:
1. DEFINITIONS
1.1. In this Agreement, capitalised words shall have the meaning as set out below or, as the case may be, elsewhere in this Agreement:
“Affiliate” means any entity that directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with, a party from time to time during the Term;
“Data Protection Law” means the data privacy laws applicable to the processing in connection with the Services, including, where applicable, the Data Protection Act 2018, the UK and the EU General Data Protection Regulation or similar law, or the applicable data privacy laws of any other relevant jurisdiction;
“Client” means any client of the Notary Business; “Contractual Clauses” means the standard contractual clauses of the European Commission for the transfer of personal data across borders, as amended or replaced from time to time, or any equivalent set of contractual clauses approved for use under Data Protection Law; and
“Notary Business Personal Data” means the personal data processed by Processor in connection with the Services on behalf of the Notary Business during the Term. The processing may include activities auxiliary to our notarial services, such as postal, courier, legalisation, translation, hosting, administrative and other services. This will include names and other information about data subjects included in Client materials.
1.2. The words “Data Subject”, “Personal Data”, “processing” and variations, “Controller” and “Processor” shall have the meaning attributed to them in Data Protection Law.
2. APPOINTMENT
2.1. The Notary Business is designated by its Clients, Client Affiliates and Notary Business Affiliates (collectively “Instructing Parties”) to provide and manage various services, including the Services on their behalf. Accordingly, Notary Business Personal Data may contain personal data in relation to which Instructing Parties are Controllers. Notary Business confirms that it is authorised to communicate to Processor any instructions or other requirements on behalf of Instructing Parties in respect of processing of Notary Business Personal Data by Processor in connection with the Services.
2.2. Processor is appointed by Notary Business to process Notary Business Personal Data on behalf of the Notary Business and/or the Instructing Parties, as the case may be, as is necessary to provide the Services or as otherwise agreed by the parties in writing.
3. DURATION
The Terms shall commence on the Effective Date and shall continue in full force and effect until such time as all Services have ceased and all Notary Business Personal Data in the Processor’s possession or within its reasonable control (including those held by a Subprocessor) has been returned or destroyed (the “Term”).
4. DATA PROTECTION COMPLIANCE
4.1. In relation to its processing of Notary Business Personal Data, save as otherwise required by law, you agree to:
(a) process Notary Business Personal Data only as required in connection with the Services and in accordance with our documented lawful instructions from time to time;
(b) inform us if, in your opinion, an instruction infringes Data Protection Law;
(c) ensure that all personnel authorised by you to process Notary Business Personal Data have committed themselves to confidentiality or are under an appropriate statutory obligation of confidentiality;
(d) implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to appropriately safeguard Notary Business Personal Data having regard to the nature of the personal data which is to be protected and the risk of harm which might result from any Security Breach (as defined below), at a minimum the measures set out in the Schedule;
(e) promptly inform us of any data subject requests under Data Protection Law or regulatory or law enforcement requests relating to Notary Business Personal Data. You shall not acknowledge or otherwise respond to the subject access request except with our prior written approval, which shall not be unreasonably withheld;
(f) provide such assistance as the Notary Business may reasonably require in order to ensure our or the Instructing Parties’ compliance with Data Protection Law in relation to data security, data breach notifications, data protection impact assessments and prior consultations with the Information Commissioner’s Office or other competent authority;
(g) at our choice, without delay delete or return all Notary Business Personal Data to us, and delete existing copies of all Notary Business Personal Data in the Processor’s possession or within its reasonable control (including those held by a Subprocessor); and
(h) make available to Notary Business information reasonably necessary to demonstrate your compliance with these Terms and allow for, and contribute to, audits and inspections carried out by Notary Business.
5. SUBPROCESSORS
5.1. Processor will sub-contract, outsource, assign, novate or otherwise transfer obligations under these Terms or engage any subcontractors involved in the processing of Notary Business Personal Data (each a “Subprocessor”) only with Notary Business’s prior written consent and subject to clause 5.2.
5.2. When engaging a Subprocessor, Processor will:
(a) carry out reasonable due diligence;
(b) enter into a contract on terms, as far as practicable, same as those in these Terms, and which may include Contractual Clauses to provide adequate safeguards with respect to the processing of Notary Business Personal Data; and
(c) inform us of any intended changes concerning the addition or replacement of a Subprocessor from time to time. If we object to any such change on reasonable grounds, then acting in good faith the parties will work together to resolve such objection.
6. SECURITY INCIDENTS
6.1. “Security Breach” means a breach of security leading to the accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of, or access to, Notary Business Personal Data transmitted, stored or otherwise processed.
6.2. Processor will notify the Notary Business without undue delay if Processor aware of any Security Breach.
6.3. Processor will investigate the Security Breach and take reasonable action to identify, prevent and mitigate the effects of the Security Breach. Processor will take such further action as we may reasonably request in order to comply with Data Protection Law.
6.4. Processor may not release or publish any filing, communication, notice, press release, or report concerning any Security Breach (“Notices“) without our prior written approval; such approval shall not be unreasonably withheld.
7. INTERNATIONAL DATA TRANSFERS
7.1. Processor will ensure that no Notary Business Personal Data are transferred out of either:
(a) the United Kingdom;
(b) the European Economic Area; or
(c) any other territory in which restrictions are imposed on the transfer of Notary Business Personal Data across borders under Data Protection Laws, without the prior written consent of Notary Business and subject to clause 7.2.
7.2. Notary Business will ensure that Standard Contractual Clauses or other applicable transfer mechanism is in place to ensure adequate level of data protection.
8. INDEMNITY
Notwithstanding any provisions of the relevant Services agreement to the contrary, Processor shall and hereby agrees to indemnify Notary Business and Instructing Parties and their officers, employees, agents and subcontractors (each an “Indemnified Party”) from and against any claims, losses, demands, actions, liabilities, fines, penalties, reasonable expenses, damages and settlement amounts (including reasonable legal fees and costs) incurred by any Indemnified Party as a result of any gross negligence or wilful breach by Processor of these Terms.
9. MISCELLANEOUS
9.1. Clause and other headings in these Terms are for convenience only and shall not affect the meaning or interpretation of these Terms.
9.2. To the extent of any conflict, these Terms shall prevail over any Services agreement or other agreement.
9.3. Nothing in these Terms will exclude or limit the liability of either party which cannot be limited or excluded by applicable law. Subject to the foregoing sentence, (i) these Terms, including any appendices, constitutes the entire agreement between the parties pertaining to the subject matter hereof and supersedes all prior agreements, understandings, negotiations and discussions of the parties relating to its subject matter; and (ii) in relation to the subject matter of these Terms neither party has relied on, and neither party will have any right or remedy based on, any statement, representation or warranty, whether made negligently or innocently, except those expressly set out in these Terms.
9.4. Processor shall agree any amendment to these Terms that may be required from time to time for us and Instructing Parties to comply with any amended Data Protection Laws.
9.5. All notices of termination or breach must be in English, in writing and addressed to the other party’s primary contact person or legal department. Notice will be treated as given on receipt, as verified by a valid receipt or electronic log. Postal notices will be deemed received 48 hours from the date of posting by recorded delivery or registered post.
9.6. Subject to clause 9.2, the Notaries Society is not a party to these Terms and it shall have no liability whatsoever.
9.7. The provisions of these Terms are severable. If any phrase, clause or provision is invalid or unenforceable in whole or in part, such invalidity or unenforceability shall affect only such phrase, clause or provision, and the rest of these Terms shall remain in full force and effect.9.8. These Terms are governed by English law and the parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts in relation to any dispute (contractual or non-contractual) concerning these Terms save that either party may apply to any court for an injunction or other relief to protect its property or confidential information.
SCHEDULE: Security measures
Processor shall put in place the following measures, as applicable. Minimum technical measures
Firewalls which are properly configured and using the latest software;
user access control management;
unique passwords of sufficient complexity and regular expiry on all devices;
secure configuration on all devices;
regular software updates, if appropriate, by using patch management software;
timely decommissioning and secure wiping (that renders data unrecoverable) of old software and hardware;
real-time protection anti-virus, anti-malware and anti-spyware software;
https;
encryption of all portable devices ensuring appropriate protection of the key;
encryption of personal data in transit by using suitable encryption solutions;
multi-factor authentication for remote access;
WPA-TKIP secured WiFi access;
delinquent web filtering and other appropriate internet access restrictions;
intrusion detection and prevention systems;
appropriate and proportionate monitoring of personnel; and
data backup and disaster recovery measures and procedures.
Minimal organisational measures
Vet all personnel including staff, contractors, vendors and suppliers (including Subprocessors) on continuous basis;
non-disclosure agreements used with all personnel;
regular training of all personnel on confidentiality, data processing obligations, identification of Security Breaches and risks;
apply principle of least authority, including a restricted or strictly controlled transit of data and material outside of office;
physical security on premises including reception or front desk, security passes, clean desk policy, storage of documents in secure cabinets, secure disposal of materials, CCTV, etc.;
apply appropriate policies including Information Security Policy, Data Protection Policy, BYOD, Acceptable Use Policy;limited and monitored personal use of work resources, as appropriate.
The business is AB Notaries Limited Registered office Silver Rose Unit 21 East Lodge Village East Lodge Lane Enfield EN2 8AS(of England & Wales) (“Business”, “we”, “us”, “our”).
If you have any questions about this privacy notice (“Notice”), please contact us by email – abnotaries@outlook.com
The Business will process your and third parties’ personal data, as further explained below, in the course of providing you with notarial and associated services including access to our website and online features (“Services”).
We will let you know, by posting on our website or otherwise, if we make any changes to this Notice from time to time. Your continued use of the Services after notifying such changes will amount to your acknowledgement of the amended Notice.
PLEASE NOTE: You shall and you hereby agree to indemnify the Business and its affiliates and their officers, employees, agents and subcontractors (each an “Indemnified Party”) from and against any claims, losses, demands, actions, liabilities, fines, penalties, reasonable expenses, damages and settlement amounts (including reasonable legal fees and costs) incurred by any Indemnified Party arising out of or in connection with any breach by you of the warranties included in paragraphs 8 & 9.
What is Personal Data?
“Personal data” means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person, known as ‘data subject’, who can be identified directly or indirectly; it may include name, address, email address, phone number, IP address, location data, cookies and similar information. It may also include “special categories of personal data” such as racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, and the processing of genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a data subject, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation.
The Business may process personal data and special categories of personal data which you provide in connection with the Services about yourself and other data subjects, e.g. individuals whose details are included in any materials provided by you to the Business. The Business may obtain information about you and other data subjects from third party service providers, such as due diligence platforms. If you use our online Services, the Business may collect information about your devices including clickstream data.
The provision of certain personal data is mandatory in order for the Business to comply with mandatory client due diligence requirements and consequently to provide the Services. You warrant on a continuous basis that such personal data is accurate, complete and up to date. Failure to comply may result in documents being rejected by the relevant certification authorities, held invalid in the destination country or other difficulty to successfully completing the Services.
In relation to personal data of data subjects you warrant to the Business on a continuous basis that:
(a) where applicable, you are authorised to share such personal data with the Business in connection with the Services and that wherever another data subject is referred to, you have obtained the explicit and demonstrable consent from all relevant data subjects to the inclusion and use of any personal data concerning them;
(b) to the extent this is required in connection with the Services, such personal data is accurate, complete and up to date; and
(c) either you provide your explicit consent and warrant that each data subject has provided explicit consent for the transfer of personal data to foreign organisations in connection with the Services as set out at paragraph 18, or that an alternative legal gateway for such transfer (such as transfer necessary for the conclusion or performance of a contract concluded in the interest of the data subject) has been satisfied.
How do we use your personal data?
The Business will only process personal data, in accordance with applicable law, for the following purposes:(a) responding to your queries, requests and other communications;(b) providing the Services, including, where applicable, procuring acts from foreign organisations;(c) enabling suppliers and service providers to carry out certain functions on behalf of the Business in order to provide the Services, including webhosting, data storage, identity verification, technical, logistical, courier or other functions, as applicable;(d) allowing you to use features on our website when you choose to do so;
(e) sending you personalised marketing communications requested by you, as well as serving personalised advertising to your devices, based on your interests in accordance with our Cookie Statement below. You have the right to disable cookies as set out above or to unsubscribe by selecting no in the Cookie Bar below;
(f) ensuring the security of the Business and preventing or detecting fraud;
(g) administering our Business, including complaints resolution, troubleshooting of our website, data analysis, testing of new features, research, statistical and survey purposes;
(h) developing and improving our Services;
(i) complying with applicable law, including Notary Practice Rules, guidelines and regulations or in response to a lawful request from a court or regulatory body.
The legal basis for our processing of personal data for the purposes described above will typically include:
processing necessary to fulfil a contract that we have in place with you or other data subjects, such as processing for the purposes set out in paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d);
your consent, such as processing for the purposes set out in paragraph (e);
processing necessary for our or a third party’s legitimate interests, such as processing for the purposes set out in paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (f), (g) and (h), which is carried out on the basis of the legitimate interests of the Business to ensure that Services are properly provided, the security of the Business and its clients and the proper administration of the Business; and
processing necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, such as processing for the purposes set out in paragraph (i), and any other applicable legal grounds for processing from time to time.
Cancellation of the Agreement when dealing as a consumer
Pursuant to the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges)Regulations 2013, if you are a consumer and we have accepted instructions from you given by telephone or by electronic means or at a meeting away from our offices, such as your home or place of work, you have the right to cancel your instructions in writing within 14 days from the day on which those instructions were accepted. If you attend our offices for the requested service to be provided, we will consider that the contract for those services has been entered into at our offices.We will not consider that a contract has been established during the 14-day cancellation period unless you specifically request us to commence work within this period by means of a written form of authorisation.If you request that we begin the performance of Services during the cancellation period and then subsequently exercise your right to cancel, you will pay us a proportionate amount of our fees in respect of the period until you communicated to us your decision to cancel and any agreed disbursements paid on your behalf. Subject to that, if you exercise the right to cancel and we have received any payment from you in excess of amounts due to us, we will reimburse that payment to you, no later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to cancel this contract, by the same means used for the initial payment.
Consumer rights generally
This is a summary of your key legal rights if you are instructing us as a consumer. These rights are subject to certain exceptions. For detailed information, please visit the Citizens Advice website https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/.
a) You can ask us to repeat or fix a service if it is not carried out with reasonable care and skill, or receive some money back if we are unable to fix it.
b) If you haven't agreed a price beforehand, what you are asked to pay must be reasonable.
c) If you haven't agreed a time beforehand, services must be carried out within a reasonable time.
Complaints
This notarial practice is regulated through the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury: The Faculty Office, 1 The Sanctuary, Westminster London SW1P 3JT Telephone: 020 7222 5381
Email: Faculty.office@1thesanctuary.com Website: www.facultyoffice.org.uk
If you are dissatisfied about the service you have received please do not hesitate to contact us. If we are unable to resolve the matter you may then complain to the Notaries Society of which I Joanna Abrahams, am a member. They 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 SocietyP O Box 7655Milton Keynes MK11 9NR
Email: secretary@thenotariessociety.org.uk Tel: 01908 803527
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 8 weeks 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 to :
Legal Ombudsman
P O Box 6167
Slough SL1 0EH
Tel : 0300 555 0333
Email : enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Website : www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Please be aware that if you decide to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, you must refer your matter to the Legal Ombudsman within one year from the act/omission or within one year from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.