his is intended to inform you of the terms and conditions of our professional services and to ensure that you are aware of the likely costs to be incurred. By answering and returning the questionnaire sent at the outset of a matter you will be deemed to have accepted these terms. Our office is open from 9.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday however, if you wish to leave a message after office hours you may do so on the answerphone. If you wish to see any of us please make an appointment. Ted Oakley and Frazer Shee specialise in property-related matters, and Amanda Woolven is a specialist in the field of wills, trusts and probate. All three partners have over 25 years’ experience in their respective specialities. A partner will deal with your matter personally throughout – at no time will you deal with any unqualified staff or assistants.
A Money Laundering
In accordance with the Money Laundering Regulations, we must check the identification of all clients: this is either done by a face to face meeting with you and inspection of your driving licence or passport. Alternatively, we will ask you to attend a local solicitors’ firm for them to provide written confirmation that they have checked your identity. A fee may well be charged by such firm for this service. In addition, we will require confirmation of the source of all funds received from you and we are now obliged to carry out an Anti Money Laundering search against your name which will usually cost £20 per individual or £30 per company/partnership plus VAT but may be increased subject to the circumstances/the charges made by any third-party agencies.
We operate a policy of strict compliance with the statutory regulations and therefore we cannot act upon your instructions until we have completed those procedures we deem necessary to satisfy the legislative and regulatory requirements to which we are subject. We may use a third-party search agency to verify your identity and validate your address solely for the purpose of fulfilling our anti money laundering obligations. You give us permission to use these third-party agencies and to obtain information about you for these purposes only. You also agree to be responsible for the cost of these items which will be a disbursement.
If we are able to accept your instructions we also reserve the right to recover fees(calculated on a time basis) together with expenses and disbursements which accrue or which we incur in complying with the legislation and regulations to which we are subject.
B During Your Matter
- Keep you informed of progress;
- Advise you of any delays and explain the reasons;
- Explain the effect of any important documents;
- Inform you if a costs forecast needs revision;
- Send you copies of important letters/emails
C How you can help us
- Give clear instructions;
- Inform us of the preferred time-frame within which you wish to complete a transaction/matter;
- Make sure you have understood what we have told you (never be afraid to ask if you are unsure about any advice or information we have given to you);
- Deal with any important questions that arise promptly;
- Provide us with all documentation required to complete the transaction in a timely manner;
- If an enquiry or information is not urgent, please email or write to us instead of telephoning and make an appointment if you need to see us. Remember that the more time we spend on a matter, the more it will cost you.
D What to do if you are dissatisfied with the service given to you:-
What will happen next;
- We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within five days of our receiving the complaint, enclosing a copy of this procedure.
- We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to our client care partner, Frazer Shee, who will review your matter file and speak to the partner who acted for you.
- Either Frazer or one of the other partners will then invite you to a meeting to discuss and, it is hoped, resolve your complaint. This will be done within 14 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
- Within three days of the meeting, Frazer or one of the other partners will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions he has agreed with you.
- If you do not want a meeting or it is not possible, Frazer or one of the other partners will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including his suggestions for resolving the matter, within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
- At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again to explain why you remain unhappy with our response and we will review your comments. Depending on the matter we may at this stage arrange for another partner to review the decision.
- We will write to you within 14 days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
- If you are still not satisfied, you can then contact the Legal Ombudsman at PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ or call 0300 555 0333 email: enquries@legalombudsman.org.uk about your complaint. Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must be made within six years from the date of the act or omission giving rise to the complaint or within three years from when you should have known about the complaint; and within six months of you receiving a final written response from us regarding your complaint. The Legal Ombudsman has provided further guidance on its service at www.legalombudsman.org.uk.
- If your complaint relates to misconduct, in respect of Amanda Woolven, you are entitled to contact Ilex Professional Standards of Kempston Manor, Kempston, Bedford MK42 7AB or call 01234 845 770 or email ips.temp@ilexstandards.org.uk. You are required to contact Ilex Professional Standards regarding your complaint within twelve months of the event that gave rise to the conduct.
E How much will it cost?
- Our hourly rates are reviewed annually in January. There will also be a charge for general expenditure such as telephone calls, postage and photocopying. These will be added to any figure estimated by way of our fees (i.e. they will be added to the figure for profit costs on the final invoice or may appear as a separate item). We usually charge telephone calls, postage and photocopying. These will be added to any figure estimated by way of our fees (i.e. they will be added to the figure for profit costs on the final invoice or may appear as a separate item). We usually charge £35 plus VAT for such expenditure, but this could be substantially increased if numerous calls are made to your telephone.
- You can set a limit on the costs to be incurred without the need for further agreement with you and can ask for details of what costs have accrued at any stage.
- Where a bank telegraphic transfer is required we will charge costs of £35 plus VAT.
- You will also be liable for payment of VAT and any disbursements incurred by us on your behalf.
- If our initial ID or Money Laundering Checks require further investigation we reserve the right to charge for the time and disbursements incurred in carrying out such further investigation.
Financial Arrangements:
- We do not accept cash from clients.
- If you try to avoid this policy by depositing cash directly with our bank, we may decide to charge you for any additional checks we decide are necessary to prove the source of the funds.
- Where we have to pay money to you, it will be paid by cheque or bank transfer. It will not be paid in cash or to a third party.
Payments from you – Administration Costs for Excessive Number of Payments:
If we are due to receive payments from you towards a deposit, redemption of a mortgage or the balance of a purchase price we expect to receive such payments in no more than two payments for each item E.g. If you are purchasing a property for which a deposit amount is required prior to exchange and the balance due thereafter, we expect no more than two payments for the deposit and no more than two payments in respect of the purchase price). Anything in excess of these payments results in additional administrative work for us. If the number of payments exceeds this amount we will charge an administration fee of £30 plus VAT per payment.
Interest
- We may charge interest on the unpaid amount of our costs, any paid disbursements and Value Added Tax in accordance with article 5 of the Solicitors’ (Non-Contentious Business) Remuneration Order 2009. Interest will be charged at the rate for the time being payable on judgement debts and will be charged from one month after the date of delivery of our bill until payment. If The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 applies (i.e. if you are a business or limited company) we will charge interest pursuant to the Act.
- If, for any reason, you feel a bill is too high or wish to have a breakdown of the costs involved we will be happy to discuss the matter and supply you with a breakdown of the time spent on the matter if necessary.
- If monies are held on your behalf, interest will only be payable to you if this exceeds the sum of £60. The interest will be calculated using the same net rate of interest payable to us by our bank on the sum held and will be ascertained at the close of a transaction or matter.
Disbursements/Expenditure on your behalf
Disbursements are expenses related to the matter which are payable to third parties. Usually we will require a payment in advance to cover any disbursements to be incurred on your behalf. If any expenditure is made by us on your behalf (for instance an application for official copies of the register of title or making a court application) and we do not hold funds on account we will make an administration charge of £15 plus VAT per item. This will only take place once we have notified you of the expenditure in advance and given you the opportunity to pay for the item in advance.
Property Matters
The following is subject to any express variation we may make in our first covering letter to you : we advise prospective clients to speak to one of the partners and request an estimate specific to the transaction as there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’: each property transaction is unique. QUITE OFTEN THE TAILORED ESTIMATED FEE WILL BE LOWER THAN THAT ASCERTAINED AS BELOW FOR RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY MATTERS.
Any estimate of costs regarding conveyancing will include all work one would usually expect to do in a straightforward sale or purchase of a freehold or head-leasehold property: there will be no ‘add-ons’, for matters which are part and parcel of the process (e.g. there would be no additional fee for completing a stamp duty return as an inextricable part of the process of purchasing). When a transaction is not a straightforward sale or purchase, there will be additional costs. Examples of these are given in the table below.
- Commercial property matters are billed by reference to the time spent on the matter. This can vary enormously subject to the complexity of the transaction and it is very difficult to provide an estimate of fees at the outset. For the acquisition of a new commercial lease you can expect to be charged a minimum of £3,000 plus VAT. The hourly rate applicable to commercial transactions is £275.
- In relation to residential property sales, purchases and remortgages we will provide an estimate of fees in our initial letter and these terms of retainer will be superseded by any terms we may set out in our initial letter to you in respect of costs.
- As a general rule, charges for residential property are based on 0.5 % of the purchase and/or sale price up to £100,000 plus 0.25% of the value thereafter (subject to a minimum fee of £950 for registered freehold and £1,000 for registered leasehold properties respectively). Remortgages are usually charged at £450 plus VAT but this is subject to alteration dependent on the amount of time spent on the matter. If the matter is taking longer than usual due to difficulties encountered, or the matter is more complex than originally expected, there will be a review of the costs forecast. The initial estimate will be based on a straightforward purchase or sale of a head lease or freehold. If other matters arise during the transaction there will be an additional charge. The costs for such items are set out in the schedule below. You will appreciate that it is extremely difficult to provide an accurate assessment of the costs involved at the outset of a transaction as the amount of time to be spent on the matter is unknown. An hourly rate of £200 applies to residential property transactions.
- If a property transaction should prove to be abortive, we will charge for the time spent on the matter at the appropriate rate but the abortive fee will not exceed 80% of the individual costs estimate supplied to you (at the outset or as varied during the transaction)
- We require payment on account for foreseeable disbursements (such as local authority searches) and on a purchase, we will not apply for such searches until we have cleared funds in advance from you.
- In property matters, the bill will be submitted to you shortly after exchange (unless the time between exchange and completion is protracted) together with a statement of account showing the amount due to you/required from you at the end of the transaction. If problems arise at completion of the transaction which results in our spending more time on the matter, we may submit an additional invoice for such time. In other matters, bills will be submitted either monthly or bi-monthly, subject to the nature of the matter.
- If a bill is rendered in respect of a conveyancing matter, we will require payment in full on or before completion of the transaction. As such transactions usually involve a mortgage, we will also require all post completion expenses (e.g. stamp duty and land registry fees) to be paid on or before completion so that we may fulfil our duty to the lender involved. If any enquiries are raised in respect of the property following completion we reserve the right to bill you based on the time spent on the matters.
- Occasionally we are asked to pay a referral fee to a third party such as a mortgage broker in respect of the introduction. We will inform you at the outset if we have been requested to pay such a fee and the amount of it.
- The ownership of any old documents of title no longer required to prove ownership of the property will be retained by us and ownership of these will pass to this firm. Note that we hold a lien on all documents until such time as all of our fees have been paid in full.
- The Land Registry fee payable is that quoted by the Land Registry for postal applications, however, as a member of the Land Registry’s conveyancing portal we are able to register the property electronically. An additional invoice will be rendered for the electronic registration as this in involves additional work on our part, but this will not exceed the amount of discount given (inclusive of VAT).
- The initial estimate given to you will be based on either a straightforward purchase or sale of a head-leasehold or freehold property and on the presumption that you or your managing agents (where you are selling a leasehold property) are able to supply the appropriate documents. Additional costs will be incurred where additional work arises because of the nature of the transaction, for instance, if the transaction involves a purchase of a share in the freehold interest when also acquiring a lease, or the purchase of an underlease. The following table illustrates the additional costs and matters that may arise in the transaction and is not exhaustive.
| MATTERS GIVING RISE TO ADDITIONAL COSTS (all costs are subject to VAT) | Costs |
|---|---|
| Purchase of an underlease (this will require a review of the headlease and any superior title) for the review of each superior lease: | £300.00 |
| Purchase or sale of a lease with a share in the freehold owning company (this requires review of the company’s memorandum and articles of association, obtaining a reviewing a company search, reviewing the company’s audited accounts and preparation of a stock transfer form). A separate charge will be made for the company search. | £300.00 |
| Purchase of a share in the freehold where a trust deed is required (this will require the preparation of an additional transfer deed, a review of the freehold title and a separate application to the land registry for registration of the transfer of the freehold). An additional land registry fee will also be payable | £300.00 |
| Purchasing or selling a lease where a licence to assign or certificate is required from the landlord (we will have to obtain references and review and approve the terms of the licence to assign) |
£350.00 |
| Purchasing a leasehold property where a licence for alterations has been granted (we will have to check the terms of the licence and to ensure that this has been complied with) | £200.00 |
| Sale of a property where more than one mortgage is to be redeemed or separate payments are to be made to recipients as a term of the mortgage offer – per payment | £100.00 |
| Obtaining indemnity insurance as required by you or your lender/buyer e.g. in respect of a defective lease, absence of planning permission/building regulations, potential chancel liability – there will be a separate premium payment due to the insurer | £40.00 |
| SPurchase of a newly built property (this usually entails a considerable amount of additional work, particularly in relation to planning and contract matters) | £300.00 |
| Purchase of a leasehold property involving a lease extension | £300.00 |
| Purchase of a leasehold property where more than one lease is being acquired (e.g. a lease of a flat and separate lease for a parking space) | £400.00 |
| Purchase of a leasehold property where the lease has been varied (this will require review of the deed of variation and advising on the impact of the same) | £20.00 |
| Purchase of a single property involving more than one registered title (per title) | £400.00 |
| Reviewing or preparing an exclusivity (Lock-out) agreement whether or not a preliminary deposit is paid (minimum fee) | £300.00 |
| Preparation of a Declaration of Trust where more than one buyer is involved | £400.00 |
| Preparation of a deed of variation where the lease to be purchased is defective and unmarketable – this is a minimum additional fee and may be higher as considerable work may be involved |
£300.00 |
| Purchase of a property where more than one lender is advancing funds – per additional lender | £250.00 |
| Purchase of a property where more than one lender is involved and a deed of priority is required | £250.00 |
| Dealing with the final post completion apportionments of service charges, insurance or rent (whether or not funds have been retained to cover such apportionments) | £250.00 |
| Any application to NHBC or other insurer, NIC EIC, FENSA, the local authority or any third party for copy r documentation | £35.00 |
| Duplication of advice – per letter/email | £15.00 |
| Drafting a statutory declaration – generally applicable to sales | £150.00 |
12. Typical disbursements encountered in a purchase are as follows:-
| Stamp Duty (varies subject to value and status of the buyer) | Variable |
| Fee payable to Land Registry to register the transfer – varies according to value – the usual postal application fee will be reduced by 50% if we are able to register the transfer electronically via the Land Registry Portal but we will charge £75 plus VAT for this service | Variable |
| Local Authority Search fee (approximately – varies subject to area) | £250.00 (approx) |
| Environmental, Flood, Chancel and Drainage Searches (approximately – varies subject to area) | £250.00 (approx) |
| Lawyer Check fee payable to Lender Exchange to verify vendor’s solicitors bank details (to avoid being the victim of fraud) and ID check required for Money Laundering (including VAT) |
£60.00 |
| Bankruptcy Search Fee (per person) | £2.00 |
| Land Registry search fees | £3.00 |
| Leaseholds only: Fee payable to the landlord in respect of notice of transfer and charge served on the landlord after completion (approx. – depends on the lease provisions) | £240.00 |
13. Typical disbursements encountered in a sale are as follows:-
| Land Registry fee for official copies of the title documents (plus £3 for each additional document referred to in the register) | £6.00 |
In addition to the disbursements referred to above for a leasehold sale, the following will apply to leasehold sales:-
| Land Registry fee for official copies of the lease and the landlord’s register if title | £12.00 |
| Landlord’s charge for answering pre-assignment enquiries (form LPE1) – varies greatly from £215 charged by some local authorities and can be as high as £500 plus VAT for private landlords | £400.00 (variable) |
The lists of disbursements above are by no means exhaustive: much depends on the nature of the title being acquired or disposed of. For instance, in a leasehold sale it may be a requirement of the lease to obtain a licence to assign, which will result in a liability to pay the landlord’s solicitors’ costs, which can vary greatly.
14 What does the costs estimate cover?
On a straight forward residential purchase (of a freehold or head-leasehold property) our costs estimate will include:
- Meeting you at our office or in a place agreed by us to check your passport/driving licence and obtain your bank details;
- Reviewing the documents of title and all other documents received from the seller’s solicitors;
- Acting for your lender on a single standard institutional mortgage;
- Raising additional enquiries;
- Commissioning searches (not the search fees – these are disbursements);
- Reviewing replies to enquiries and search results and reporting to you on the title;
- Preparing a statement of account for you;
- Preparing the deed of transfer;
- Effecting completion (note our additional costs for sending the completion funds by telegraphic transfer);
- Completing and submitting the stamp duty land tax return and paying the SDLT (the latter is a disbursement and will only be sent provided you have sent the funds to cover the SDLT);
- Applying for registration at HM Land Registry (not the Land Registry fee, which is a disbursement);
- Sending you and the Lender a copy of the amended register of title;
- In the case of a leasehold sale, to serve notice on the landlord of the transfer and any mortgage (but not the notice fee payable to the landlord, which is a disbursement
On a straight forward sale of a freehold property:-
- Meeting you at our office or in a place agreed by us to check your passport/driving licence and obtain your bank details;
- Obtaining official copes of the register from the Land Registry (not the Land Registry fees, which are disbursements);
- Reviewing the Property Information Form completed by you and the documents of title;
- Drafting the contract and submission to the buyer’s solicitors with all ancillary documents;
- Advising you on the terms of the contract;
- Replying to additional enquiries and reviewing any amendments to the contract;
- Effecting exchange of contracts;
- Obtaining a redemption statement from one institutional lender (if applicable);
- Effecting completion, redeeming the mortgage (if any) and sending the balance of sale proceeds to you (note our additional costs above per telegraphic transfer).
With a straightforward sale of a head-leasehold property, our costs will include all matters relating to the sale of a freehold together with the application to the landlord for the pre-assignment information pack (LPE1) (but our costs will not include the fee payable to the landlord, which is a disbursement).
Wills and lasting power of attorney
| Application for official copies of the registe rof titl eto establish ownership of property | £6.00 |
| Court Fee for registration of Lasting Power of Attorney | £82.00 currently for each lasting power of attorney |
Probate
All work is carried out by Amanda Woolven, who is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives with over twenty-five years’ experience dealing with Wills and Probate matters.
The following is subject to any express variation we may make in our first covering letter to you.
- Probate matters are billed by reference to the time spent on the matter at the usual hourly rate of £230 plus VAT. The time spent can vary enormously subject to the complexity of the matter but an estimate of our fees will be given at the outset based on the information available but subject to adjustment should the matter prove to be more complicated than originally thought.
- By way of example the cost for a straightforward estate is usually between £1,500 and £2,500 plus VAT.
- Our fees for probate matters do not include fees for dealing with the sale of any properties in an estate. Please see above regarding our costs for conveyancing.
Example of a straightforward estate:
- There is a valid will
- There are no more than 3 bank or building society accounts
- There are no other intangible assets
- There are 1 to 4 beneficiaries
- There are no disputes between beneficiaries on division of assets
- There is no inheritance tax to pay
- There are no claims made against the estate
Example of work included generally:-
- Identify the legally appointed executors or administrators and beneficiaries
- Identify the type of Probate application to be made
- Obtain the relevant information and documents required to make the application
- Complete the Probate application and relevant HMRC forms
- Draft a legal oath/statement of truth for executors or administrators
- Make application to the Probate Court
- Obtain the Probate
- Pay the debts and liabilities of the estate
- Collect and distribute the assets in the estate
Examples of potential additional costs:-
- Where there is no will
- Where the estate consists of a share portfolio
- Where more than one property is owned
- Where there are foreign assets
- Where the deceased made lifetime gifts
- Accountants fees for income tax and capital gains tax for period to date of death and administration
- Where professional executors are appointed
Typical disbursements in a Probate matter:-
Executors and administrators will need to obtain valuations of houses and personal effects and to pay the cost up front with repayment being made from the estate assets.
| Advertisements for creditors in the London Gazette and a local newspaper. | £200-300 (excluding VAT) |
| Will search | £95.00 (excluding VAT) |
| Assets search | £135.00 (excluding VAT) |
| Swearing of oath fee per executor or administrator | £5 -7 |
| Probate Court Fee and office copies of grant | £155.00 plus £1 per office copy |
| Bankruptcy Search | £2.00 |
| Application for official copies of the register of title to establish ownership of property | £6.00 |
NB all prices are subject to change. Probate Court Fees are due to increase substantially in April 2019
Litigation
We do not deal with legally aided matters. Costs are assessed on an hourly basis and we will normally require payment of some of your costs on account at the outset of the instruction from you. Interim bills will usually be rendered on a monthly or bi-monthly basis.
Tax Advice
Apart from general advice regarding the impact of Inheritance Tax in matters relating to wills or probate, our retainer will not include any obligation to advise on taxation. You should obtain advice from a chartered accountant as to the impact of taxation.
F Who is liable for the costs?
- If we receive instructions from two or more persons on a particular transaction the liability for the costs will be joint and several. This means that the whole amount of the costs will be the liability of each individual. For example, if instructions are given by A and B, we may look to either or both of A and B to pay the costs.
- Where we are instructed by a limited company, such instructions will be deemed to be received from both the company and the directors. Thus, if the company should fail to honour an invoice, we may take action against both the company and/or the directors to recoup such fees.
- Where we are instructed by more than one executor or administrator of an estate, all of the executors or administrators will be held jointly and severally liable.
G Files
Files will be retained for a period of 6 years from the completion of your matter, after which time they will be destroyed.
We will not destroy documents you ask us to deposit in safe custody. If you do require us to hold any documents after a matter has been completed, we reserve the right to charge for this service. If we are asked to retrieve a file from storage there will be an administration charge of £60 plus VAT, payment of which will be required before retrieval.
H Financial Services
- We are not authorised by the Financial Services Authority and so may refer you to someone who is authorised to provide any necessary investment advice. We can, however, provide certain limited services in relation to investments, provided that they are closely linked with the legal services we are providing you, as we are regulated by the Law Society of England and Wales, which is the designated professional body for the purposes of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
- The Solicitors Regulations Authority is the independent regulatory arm of the Law Society. The Legal Complaints Service is the independent complaints handing arm of the Law Society. If you are unhappy with any investments advice you receive from us, you should raise your concerns with either of those bodies.
I Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 (“the Regulations”)
- Clearly we will normally start work for you straight away unless you tell us otherwise at the outset. Where your transaction is for private purposes, you will therefore lose your right under the Regulations to withdraw without charge within 7 working days of instructing us.
- The Regulations also require us to inform you that most transactions are likely to take more than 30 days.
J Terminating the retainer
- You may end your instructions to us in writing at any time, but we can keep all your papers and documents whilst there is still money owed to us for fees and expenses.
- We may decide to stop acting for you only with good reason, e.g. if you do not pay an interim bill or there is a conflict of interest. We must give you reasonable notice that we will stop acting for you.
- If you or we decide that we should stop acting for you, you will pay our charges up until that point. These are calculated on an hourly basis plus expenses as set out in these terms and conditions.
K Equality and Diversity
The Oakley Shee Partnership is committed to promoting equality and diversity in all of its dealings with clients, third parties and employees. Please contact us if you could like a copy of our equality and diversity policy.
L The General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 – Privacy Policy
- The Oakley Shee Partnership may hold “personal data” (as defined in the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679) about clients in computerised and/or manual form. By instructing us, you consent to us holding and processing your personal data for the purposes of the provision of legal services to you, the maintenance and preservation of our records, analysis to help us manage our practice, statutory returns, legal and regulatory compliance and by any means, including the transfer of the data outside of the EU. We will not pass any such personal data to a third party (except when reasonably required in carrying out your instructions, or confidentially for audit, regulatory or quality control purposes) without your written consent and will respond, as soon as practicable, to any request in writing from you for information about your personal data held by the firm to the extent required by law.
- We may from time to time send you information which we think may be of interest to you. If you do not wish to receive that information, please notify our office in writing.
- A copy of our full Privacy Policy is available on our website.
M Applicable law
Any dispute or legal issue arising from our terms of business will be determined by the law of England and Wales, and considered exclusively by the English and Welsh courts.
N Referral Arrangements
We may pay a referral fee for work to be referred to us. In such a situation we will inform you in writing and will tell you what fee we have paid. The advice which we give to you will be independent and we will treat you the same as any other client. You are free to raise questions on all aspects of the transaction and any information which you disclose to us will be treated as confidential and not disclosed to the referrer or to any other third party without your consent. We will not act for the referrer in connection with the same transaction in any way at all and you are under no obligation to instruct us in connection with the transaction.
O Property disclaimers – matters outside our brief
- We will not provide advice in respect of the following matters – independent advice should be obtained from a suitably qualified professional:
- We will not carry out a physical inspection of the property: advice regarding the physical state and condition of a property should be obtained from a chartered surveyor;
- We will not advise on the valuation of the property, nor the suitability of your mortgage nor any other financial arrangements – advice should be sought from a chartered surveyor regarding valuations and an independent financial advisor in respect of financial matters;
- We will not advise on environmental liabilities where we shall assume, unless you tell us in writing to the contrary, that you are making your own arrangements for any appropriate environmental survey or investigations. We may, however, need to obtain an environmental search on behalf of your lender at your expense.
- We will not advise on the state and condition of any chattels included in a sale, nor as to whether such items comply with current health and safety legislation.
P Recording of Telephone Calls
Any telephone calls made to or from our office may be recorded.
Q General
If you require any further information relating to costs or require clarification of any of the matters mentioned above, or any other matter, please do not hesitate to contact one of the partners.
6th December 2018
