Regulatory Information
Price Information
Fees are calculated by reference to an hourly charging rate of £200 per hour which includes administrative time before and after the appointment, drawing up documents for you, travelling to and from the appointment if it is not at my office.
There is a considerable amount of administration required by legislation and professional rules requiring work beyond the face to face time with the client. I therefore charge a minimum fee of £65.
Please email or telephone direct for a more accurate estimate. Please note that a final fee cannot be agreed until I have had the opportunity to see you, the documentation and requirements of the overseas lawyers (if any are given)
Some documents will need to be sent to the Foreign Office (FCO) or to consular agencies. I charge a fixed fee of £25 for completing the application form including recorded delivery postage to the FCO or consular agency. This fee is in addition to the fees charged by the FCO and/or agency and their postage/courier fee.
Where I am acting purely as a Commissioner for Oaths and administering the oath at my office in relation to a statutory declaration or affidavit for use in England and Wales only there is a statutory fee of £5 for the document plus £2 per exhibit. If the document is not for England and Wales this restriction does not apply and if I need to travel to you
Services provided
As an English public notary my primary function is to draw up, witness or certify documents of all types for use anywhere in the world in order that the notary is accepted in the foreign jurisdiction.
It is necessary for you and me to understand documents to be signed. I am not fluent in any foreign languages and therefore if the document is not written in English I am likely to need a translation.
I am not experts in foreign laws and cannot provide legal advice on the contents of a document or foreign law beyond basic advice on signing formalities. If you require a document for use in a foreign country it is always advisable to instruct a lawyer in that country or who is qualified in that country. I can on occasions provide templates that have been drawn up by lawyers in other jurisdictions but cannot guarantee that the document will be accepted
I can verify copies of document but will always need to see the original document and may need to make my own copies. I may also need to verify that the original document is valid by careful examination or by independently verifying the documents with the person or institution who issued the document.
I have my own personal seal. I give my authority to the document by signing and attaching my official seal either directly to the document itself or to a certificate which he then securely attaches to the document.
I can usually see clients on 24hours notice and most documents can be notarised at that initial appointment. Once notarised many documents require legalisation via the FCO and/or the consulate of the country in which the documents are to be used. Legalisation is something that you can arrange yourself but if you so require I can (for a fee as mentioned above) send the documents off to the FCO or to CDN Consular Services (or similar agency) for you, via Royal Mail Signed For, at your risk as to postage.
Wherever possible I will post the documents the same day or if this is not possible then the next working day. The FCO usually take 2-3 working days to process and return the documents via courier. The Consular agents will usually hand deliver documents to the Foreign Office on the day of receipt and collect the day following before taking the documents by hand to the consulate. Turn around times vary from one consulate to another. If documents are more urgent I can send the document to CDN for apostille via the FCO Premium service via Royal Mail Special Delivery 9am service. The agents will take the documents to the FCO in London on the day of receipt obtain legalisation that day and post back via Royal Mail Special Delivery 1pm.
Redress Information
If there is a problem with any document I have notarised due to my failure to meet the correct requirements for notarisation I will put it right free of charge. If you have incurred legalisation costs I will obtain legalisation at my expense or reimburse legalisation costs.
In the unlikely event that there are serious consequential costs due directly to a failure on my part to correctly notarise a document I am obliged to maintain indemnity insurance.
The current minimum insurance is £1 million.
Complaints information
1. My notarial practice is regulated by 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
2. If you are dissatisfied about the service you have received please do not hesitate to contact me.
3. If we are unable to resolve the matter you may then complain to the Notaries Society of which I am a member, who 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.
4. In that case please write (but do not enclose any original documents) with full details of your complaint to :- The Secretary of The Notaries Society Old Church Chambers 23 Sandhill Road St James Northampton. NN5 5LH Email secretary@thenotariessociety.org.uk Tel : 01604 758908 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.
5. 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 6 months 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 : Legal Ombudsman P O Box 6806 Wolverhampton. WV1 9WJ Tel : 0300 555 0333 Email : enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk Website : www.legalombudsman.org.uk
6. If you decide to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman you must refer your matter to the Legal Ombudsman :- • Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint and • Six years from the date of act/omission; or • Three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint (only if the act or omission took place more than six years ago) The act or omission, or when you should have reasonably known there was cause for complaint, must have been after 5th October 2010. *certain kinds of commercial entities are not eligible to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman – please refer to the Legal Ombudsman Scheme Rules or consult the Faculty Office.
Regulatory Information
I am regulated through the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury