OUR HOURS OF BUSINESS

• The normal hours of opening at our offices are between 8.45am and 5.00 pm on weekdays.

PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR WORK

• The person responsible for dealing with your work will be Euan Temple who is a solicitor. He may be assisted by another solicitor in the team.  We will try to avoid changing the people who handle your work but if this cannot be avoided, we will tell you promptly of any change and why it may be necessary.

• If you do need to see someone about your matter please telephone to arrange a suitable appointment. Unfortunately we cannot guarantee to be available if an appointment has not been made although obviously we will do our best to assist you in cases of emergency.

CHARGES AND EXPENSES

• Our charges will be calculated mainly by reference to the time actually spent by the solicitors and other staff in respect of any work which they do on your behalf. This will include meetings with you and perhaps others, reading and working on papers, correspondence, preparation of any detailed costs calculations, and time spent travelling away from the office when this is necessary.
• Routine letters are charged as 6 minute units of time and we charge for time spent on making and taking telephone calls in 6 minute units and considering incoming letters at units of 3 minutes per page or 1 unit whichever is greater.
• The current hourly rates or a fixed fee structure will be given to you at the start of a matter. We will add VAT to these at the rate that applies when the work is done. At present, VAT is 15%. Hourly rates have to be reviewed periodically to reflect increases in overhead costs and inflation. Normally the rates are reviewed with effect from 1 September each year. If a review is carried out before this matter has been concluded, we will inform you of any variation in the rate before it takes effect.
• In addition to the time spent, we may take into account a number of factors including any need to carry out work outside our normal office hours, the complexity of the issues, the speed at which action has to be taken, any particularly specialist expertise when the case may demand. In particular, in property transactions, in the administration of estate and in matters involving a substantial financial value or benefit to a client, a charge reflecting, for example, the price of the property, the size of the estate, or the value of the financial benefit may be considered. It is not always possible to indicate how these aspects may arise but on present information we would expect them to be sufficiently taken into account in the rates which we have quoted. Where a charge reflecting any value element is to be added we will explain this to you.
• Solicitors have to pay out various other expenses on behalf of clients ranging from Land or Probate Registry fees, court fees, experts' fees, Stamp Duty Land Tax and so on. We have no obligation to make such payments unless you have provided us with the funds for that purpose. VAT is payable on certain expenses. We refer to such payments generally as ‘disbursements'.
• If for any reason, your matter does not proceed to completion, we will be entitled to charge you for work done and expenses incurred.

PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS

• Property transactions. We will normally send you our bill following the exchange of contracts and payment is required on a purchase prior to completion; and at completion on a sale. If sufficient funds are available on completion, and we have sent you a bill, we will deduct our charges and expenses from the funds.
• Administration of estates. We will normally submit an interim bill at regular stages during the administration, starting with the obtaining of a Grant. The final account will be prepared when the Estate Accounts are ready for approval.
• Other cases or transactions. It is normal practice to ask clients to pay sums of money from time to time on account of the charges and expenses which are expected in the following weeks or months. We find that this helps clients in budgeting for costs as well as keeping them information of the legal expenses which are being incurred. If such requests are not met with prompt payment, delay in the progress of a case may result. In the unlikely event of any bill or request for payment not being met, this firm must reserve the right to stop acting for you further.
• Payment is due to us within 14 days of our sending you a bill. Interest will be charged on a daily basis at 4% over HSBC plc's base rate from time to time from the date of the bill in cases where payment is not made within 14 days of delivery by us of the bill.

OTHER PARTIES CHARGES AND EXPENSES

• In some cases and transactions a client may be entitled to payment of costs by some other person. It is important that you understand that in such circumstances, the other person may not be required to pay all the charges and expenses which you incur with us. You have to pay our charges and expenses in the first place and any amounts which can be recovered will be a contribution towards them. If the other party is in receipt of legal aid no costs are likely to be recovered.
• If you are successful and a court orders another party to pay some or all of your charges and expenses, interest can be claimed on them from the other party from the date of the court order. We will account to you for such interest to the extent that you have paid our charges or expenses on account, but we are entitled to the rest of that interest.
• You will be responsible for paying our charges and expenses of seeking to recover any costs that the court orders the other party to pay to you.
• A client who is unsuccessful in a court case may be ordered to pay the other party's legal charges and expenses. That money would be payable in addition to our charges and expenses. Arrangements can be made to take out insurance to cover liability for such legal expenses. Please discuss this with us if you are interested in this possibility.

INTEREST PAYMENT

• Any money received on your behalf will be held in our Client Account. Subject to certain minimum amounts and periods of time set out in the Solicitors' Accounts Rules 1998, interest will be calculated and paid to you at the rate from time to time payable on HSBC plc's Designated Client Account. The period for which interest will be paid will normally run from the date(s) on which funds are received by us until the date(s) of issue of any cheque(s) from our Client Account. We may ask you to sign a separate letter of authority agreeing that we may retain the first £20 of each amount of interest as and when calculated to help us to cover the administrative expenses of arranging these calculations and payments to you.
• Where a client obtains borrowing from a lender in a property transaction, we will ask the lender to arrange that the loan cheque is received by us a minimum of 4 working days prior to the completion date. If the money can be telegraphed, we will request that we receive it the day before completion. This will enable us to ensure that the necessary funds are available in time for completion. Such clients need to be aware that the lender may charge interest from the date of issue of their loan cheque or the telegraphing of the payment.

CONVEYANCING MATTERS

• We cannot pay out money on your behalf until we are in possession of cleared funds . Any cheques must therefore be received by us at least seven days prior to the money being paid out. If a longer clearance period is required, we shall advise you nearer the date.
• Similarly, if we receive cheques for you, they have to be cleared through our bank before we can pay you.
• Where we hold funds on your behalf for any reason and you owe us money in the matter, we reserve the right to use such funds in settlement.
• If an indication of charges is given in advance, please note that it is an estimate and is approximate only. Estimates are given on the assumption that the matter is not, and does not, become unusually urgent, complicated or time consuming! Further, estimates are given on the basis of the information which you provide.
• As your matter progresses, we will need to pay out various expenses (known as disbursements) on your behalf. These include items such as search fees and Land Registry fees and fees due to other people. VAT is payable on certain disbursements. We will not be able to make such payments unless you have put us in funds to do so.
• Because of the above, and the fact that legal matters take time, it is our standard practice to obtain money in advance from clients to cover fees and disbursements. This covers the Local, Water and Environmental Search fees (as detailed in your estimate) and is due immediately, i.e. before we can commence work. Please make prompt payment to avoid any delay in the progress of your matter.
• Fees are payable whether or not the matter is successfully concluded or completed. If, for any reason, the matter does not proceed to completion, we are entitled to charge for the work done on the basis set out above.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

• Temple & Co is authorised by The Solicitors Regulation Authority to conduct investment business in accordance with the requirements of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Further Terms and Conditions of Business specific to Investment Business (by way of a separate Client Information Sheet or Client Agreement) will be issued in such cases.

STORAGE OF PAPERS AND DOCUMENTS

• After completing the work, we are entitled to keep all your papers and documents while there is money owing to us for our charges and expenses. In addition, we will keep your file of papers for you in storage for not less than 1 year. After that, storage is on the clear understanding that we have the right to destroy it after such period as we consider reasonable or to make a charge for storage if we ask you to collect your papers and you fail to do so. We will not of course destroy any documents such as Wills, Deeds and other securities, which you ask us to hold in safe custody. No charge will be made for you for such storage unless prior notice in writing is given to you of a charge to be made from a future date which may be specified in that notice.
• We will not destroy documents you ask us to deposit in safe custody, such as your Will but please note the act of storing your Will and any accompanying Codicils, does not impose on us any obligation to advise you of changes in the law or taxation which may necessitate a review of the terms of these documents. The responsibility for the conduct of a review remains with you. Any Will should be reviewed every 3 years and on the occasion of any material change in your circumstances, such as divorce, marriage, the birth of children, the inheritance of a large sum of money etc.
• If we retrieve papers or documents from storage in relation to continuing or new instructions to act in connection with your affairs, we will not normally charge for such retrieval. However, we may make a charge based on time spent for producing stored papers or documents to you or another at your request. We may also charge for reading correspondence or other work necessary to comply with your instructions.
• After completing your work, we are entitled to keep all your papers and documents while money is owing to us. We will not destroy documents you ask us to deposit in safe custody, such as your Will, but please note the act of storing your Will and any accompanying Codicils, does not impose on us any obligation to advise you of changes in the law or taxation which may necessitate a review of the terms of these documents. The responsibility for the conduct of a review remains with you. Any Will should be reviewed every 3 years and on the occasion of any material change in your circumstances, such as divorce, marriage, the birth of children, the inheritance of a large sum of money etc.

TERMINATION

• You may terminate your instructions to us in writing at any time but we will be entitled to keep all your papers and documents while there is money owing to us for our charges and expenses. If at any stage you do not with us to continue doing work and/or incurring charges and expenses on your behalf, you must tell us this clearly in writing.
• If we decide to stop acting for you, for example if you do not pay an interim bill or comply with the request for a payment on account, we will tell you the reason and give you notice in writing.

LIMITED COMPANIES

• When accepting instructions to act on behalf of a limited company, we require the Directors and/or controlling shareholders to sign personal guarantees in respect of the charges and expenses of this firm. All the signatories jointly and severally personally guarantee payment of our fees on demand as co-principals and not merely as sureties.
• If such a request is refused, we will be entitled to stop acting and we will be entitled to charge you for work done and expenses incurred.
• In the unlikely event of any bill or request for payment not being met, this firm must reserve the right to stop acting for you further.

COMMUNICATION BETWEEN YOU AND US

• Our aim is to offer all our clients an efficient and effective service at all times. Our clients and our staff are of first importance to us. We hope that you will be pleased with the work we do for you. However, should there be any aspect of our service with which you are unhappy, please raise your concern with Euan Temple .
• We will aim to communicate with you by such a method as you may request. We may need to virus-check discs or email. Unless you withdraw consent, we will communicate with others when appropriate by email or fax but we cannot be responsible for security of correspondence and documents which are sent by email or fax.
• The Data Protection Act requires us to advise you that your particulars are held on our database. We may, from time to time, use these details to send you information which we think might be of interest to you. You may under S 11 of the Act serve a notice on us at any time requiring us not to use your personal data for marketing purposes. Please indicate below if you wish to serve such a notice on us at this stage.

PROCEEDS OF CRIME ACT 2003

• As solicitors we are legally obliged to disclose to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) , the Police, HM Revenue and Customs, and the Benefits Agency, any instances of fraud, tax evasion or other crime which comes to our attention.
• This legal obligation overrides our duties of confidentiality to you.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS

• Unless otherwise agreed, and subject to the application of then current hourly rates, these Terms and Conditions of Business shall apply to any future instructions given by you to this firm.
• Although your continuing instructions in this matter will amount to an acceptance of these Terms and Conditions of Business, it may not be possible for us to start work on your behalf until one copy of them has been returned to us for us to keep on our file.

IDENTIFICATION

We are required by law to identify our clients and retain evidence of that identification. Please let us have the originals of one item from List A and one item from List B, shown at the Schedule to these terms. We need to have these documents as soon as possible, as we cannot continue working for you until I have obtained satisfactory identity. Please ensure that you send the correct documents, as incorrect documents will delay the transaction.

You can either: (1) bring the documents into the office where they will photocopied and certified while you wait; or (2) post them to us recorded delivery so that we can photocopy and certify them and then return them to you . Please note that there is a risk in posting originals, as they might get lost or stolen.

Alternatively, if you cannot get into the office and are concerned about posting original documents, you can ask a local solicitor, accountant, bank manager, independent financial adviser or doctor to photocopy and certify them for you and you can then post the copies to us. If you decide to do this, please make sure that the person certifying the copies uses the wording set out at the bottom of Schedule 1. They may make a charge for this, so it is always worth enquiring first. If you have any problems, please let us know.

Schedule

Temple & Co
Money Laundering Regulations 2007
Forms of Identification

Client name(s)

List A - identification of name

• Current signed passport; or
• Current UK or EEA photocard driving licence; or
• Current full UK driving licence (provisional driving licences are not acceptable);or
• Construction industry registration card with photograph
• Residence permit issued by the Home Office to EEA nationals

List B - identification of address (i.e. includes current address)

• Recent utility bill or statement (not a mobile phone bill)
• Local council tax bill for current year
• Current UK full driving licence (provisional driving licence not acceptable)

Certification

I certify that [this is a true likeness of and that] this is a true copy of the original document

Signed Dated
Full name
Address

Dated

Qualification
Insert words in square brackets if evidence includes a photo.

This document is a duplicate, and I confirm my acceptance of the Terms and Conditions of Engagement. I confirm that I have read and understood, and accept, these Terms and Conditions of Business. I have not received advice on these terms of business from Temple & Co, but have been offered the opportunity to seek independent advice. I agree to produce the required identification as soon as possible.

Name:

Signed:..........................................................................................................

Date: