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FOREMANS

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS

1.0 Our Obligations:


We will:

1.1 REPRESENT your interests and keep your business confidential
1.2 ADVISE you in relation to the accountancy, tax and administrative work which may be required
1.3 SUPPORT you with such professional and clerical services as you may require to fulfill your instructions
1.4 KEEP you informed and REPLY to your enquiries promptly


2.0 Our hours of business


The normal hours of opening at our offices are between 8.30 a.m.and 5.30 p.m. on weekdays. Messages can be left on the answerphone outside those hours and appointments or telephone advice can be arranged at other times when this is essential.


3.0 People responsible for your work


We reserve the right to determine which of our staff members are allocated to the different parts of our service. We will keep you informed of the name of your Primary Advisor.


4.0 Charges and expenses


4.1 The charges for our services are published annually and are available on request. The majority of our services are on a fixed fee basis. Where this is not the case we will notify you of the individuals who will be involved in delivering a specific time costed service to you.
4.2 If Time is recorded it will be charged as 6 minute units of time i.e as a decimal of 1 hour.
4.3 The fixed fees and hourly rates published from time to time do not include Value Added Tax. We will add VAT to these at the rate that applies when the tax point arises.
4.4 Our prices are reviewed annually with effect from 1st April in each year to reflect increases or projected increases in overhead costs, wage costs and inflation.
4.5 We may have to pay out various expenses on behalf of clients ranging from Companies House fees, Land or Probate Registry fees, to Court fees, and so on. Although we routinely advance funds to our clients for the payment of searches and the like, we have no obligation to make such payments unless you have provided us with the funds for that purpose. We refer to such payments generally as ‘disbursements’. VAT is payable on certain disbursements.


5.0 Payment arrangements


5.1 So far as possible and in order to keep costs to a minimum we arrange for our fees to be paid by Direct Debit or automated transfer on a weekly or monthly basis as the case may be.
5.2 Interest will be charged on a daily basis at 4% over National Westminster Bank base rate from time to time from the date of the bill in cases where payment is not made by Direct Debit or otherwise within seven days of the delivery of the bill.


6.0 Storage of papers and documents


6.1 During completion of, or after completing, work on your behalf, 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 three years. 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 reserve the right to store routine papers and correspondence electronically without physical copies being retained.
6.2 If we retrieve papers or documents from physical or electronic 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 retrieval or related instructions.


7.0 Termination


7.1 You may terminate your instructions to us in writing at any time. If at any stage you do not wish us to continue doing work and/or incurring charges and expenses on your behalf, you must tell us this clearly in writing.
7.2 If we decide to stop acting for you, for example if you do not follow our advice thereby placing either us or other clients at risk, or you do not pay our bill, or you persistently fail to give us proper instructions or in nay other circumstances where it appears that mutual trust and confidence has been lost, we will tell you the reason and give you notice in writing.
7.3 Under the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000, for some non-business instructions, you may have the right to withdraw, without charge, within seven working days of the date on which you asked us to act for you. However, if we start work with your consent within that period, you lose that right to withdraw. Your acceptance of these Terms and Conditions of Business will amount to such a consent. If you seek to withdraw instructions, you should give notice by telephone, e-mail or letter to the person named in the initial letter as being responsible for your work. The Regulations require us to inform you that the work involved is likely to take more than 30 days.
7.4 Termination of our agreement shall not release you from your obligation to pay our charges up to the time of termination. We will have the right to retain your files and other property in our possession (including in some cases, money) until any outstanding bills have been paid.


8.0 Tax advice


8.1 Any work that we do for you may involve tax implications or necessitate the consideration of tax planning strategies. We will not be responsible for the tax advice given to you if you have not made a full detailed disclosure of all matters that may have a bearing on that advice or if the information that you provide is false, misleading or incomplete.


9.0 Identity and disclosure requirements


9.1 We are entitled to refuse to act for you if you fail to supply appropriate proof of identity for yourself or for any principal whom you may represent. Similarly we may require proof of identity for the directors of any company for whom we act.
9.2 We are not allowed to disclose information about a client’s affairs without the client’s authority. By your continuing with your instructions to us you authorise us to disclose to HM Revenue and Customs and or the other parties in a transaction or chain of transactions and, if applicable, to their agents and advisers, all information which we have in relation to your business or your involvement in a transaction as the case may be. You may withdraw this authority at any time but if you do so you should appreciate that we will inform such third party that this authority has been withdrawn.
9.3 For the protection of all our clients we are now required by law to operate a money laundering/criminal property reporting procedure. In certain very limited circumstances, information could be revealed by us without your knowledge or consent to the appropriate authorities in relation to any suspicion of money laundering or other criminal activity as set out in the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. We will not be liable for any loss, damage or delay arising out of the firm’s compliance with this or any other statutory or regulatory requirement.


10.0 Liability provisions


10.1 We are confident 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 in the first place with your Primary Advisor. If you still have queries or concerns, please contact our Senior Partner who will investigate the matter on your behalf and who will provide you with details of our complaints policy and resolution procedure.
10.2 You authorise us to communicate with you and others in connection with your work by email or the Client gateway on this Website unless you instruct us to the contrary in writing. You understand that electronic transmission of information has inherent risks particularly of its unauthorised interception and of its not reaching the intended recipient. We shall have no liability to you in respect of any error, omission, claim or loss arising from or in connection with the use of electronic communications.
10.3 Our total liability, of whatever nature, whether in contract, tort (including, without limitation, negligence) under statute or otherwise to you for any and all losses arising from or in any way in conection with this Contract shall not exceed £250,000
10.4 We will not be liable for any fines levied by HMRC or Companies House where documents that require filing have at any stage in the process of a matter been retained by you for more than 14 days.
10.5 Foremans LLP is a Limited Liability Partnership. Although our members and some of our employees and consultants are referred to as “Partners”, they are not members of Foremans LLP. No member, partner, employee or consultant of Foremans LLP shall have any personal liability to you for advice given or services rendered by him or her. All liability to you is the sole reponsibilty of Foremans LLP as it is the firm that is advising you.
10.6 The Data Protection Act requires us to advise you that your particulars (and copies of your identity documents) 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.


11.0 Terms and conditions of business


11.1 The terms of use of our website, our Privacy Policy and our Statement on Insurance Mediation Activity are set out on our Website and shall be deemed to be set out in these Terms and Conditions of Business in full.
11.2 These Terms and Conditions of Business will apply to any future instructions given by you whether as a sole trader or as a director acting on behalf of a Limited Company owned or controlled by you.
11.3 Your continuing instructions will amount to an acceptance of these Terms and Conditions of Business unless or until you notify us in writing to the contrary.
11.4 In the event of any conflict between these terms and conditions and our service agreement or letter of engagement the terms of the service agreement or engagement letter shall prevail.


12.0 Law


12.1 The agreement between us is subject to the laws of England and Wales and we both agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.