The purpose of this schedule is to set out the terms and conditions of business that apply to all engagements accepted. All work carried out is subject to these terms except where changes are expressly agreed in writing. Any reference to standard terms of business should be interpreted as being the same as the terms and conditions of business. It should be noted that for Probate Services, our client is the estate (unless we have agreed otherwise).
1.1 As required by the Provision of Services Regulations 2009 (SI 2009/2999), details of the firm’s professional registrations can be found on our website www.shipleys.com/POSR-2009.
1.2 We will observe and act in accordance with the bye-laws and regulations of our professional body the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) together with their code of ethics which can be found at www.icaew.com/regulations . We accept instructions to act for you on this basis. In particular you give us authority to correct errors made by HM Revenue & Customs where we become aware of them. We will not be liable for any loss, damage or cost arising from our compliance with statutory or regulatory obligations.
1.3 Professional indemnity insurance -In accordance with the disclosure requirements of the Provision of Services Regulations 2009, details of our professional indemnity insurer is provided on our website www.shipleys.com/POSR-2009
2.1 As we are licensed/authorised for the reserved legal activity of non-contentious probate, in the event that we cannot meet our liabilities to you, you may be able to seek a grant from ICAEW’s Probate Compensation Scheme. Generally, applications for a grant must be made to ICAEW within twelve months of the time you become aware, or reasonably ought to have been aware of the loss. Further information about the scheme and the circumstances in which grants may be made is available on ICAEW’s website: www.icaew.com/probate.
2.2 If you would like to talk to us about how we can improve our service to you, or if you are unhappy with the service you are receiving, please let us know by contacting Mike Luckett, Head of Legal Practice. We will consider carefully any complaint that you may make about our probate services as soon as we receive it and will do all we can to resolve the issue. We will acknowledge your complaint within five business days of its receipt and endeavour to deal with it within eight weeks. Any complaint should be submitted to us by letter.
2.3 If we do not deal with it within this timescale or you are unhappy with our response you may of course take the matter up with our professional body, the ICAEW and the Legal Ombudsman. Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman should be made within six years of the act or omission or within three years of you becoming aware of the issue and in either case within six months of our written response to your complaint to us. The contact details for the Legal Ombudsman are:
Letter: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
E-mail: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Telephone: 0300 555 0333
3.1 We are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority to conduct Investment Business. If you require investment business services we will refer you to a firm authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.
4.1 In some circumstances, commissions or other benefits may become payable to us or to one of our associates in respect of transactions we or such associates arrange for you, in which case you will be notified in writing of the amount and terms of payment. Your consent to such commission or other benefits being retained by us without being liable to account to you for any such amounts will be sought on each occasion. If we reduce the fees that we would otherwise charge by the amount of commission retained, we will apply the HMRC concession which allows VAT to be calculated on the net fee after deduction of the commission.
5.1 We may, from time to time, hold money on your behalf. Such money will be held in trust in a client bank account, which is segregated from the firm’s funds. The account will be operated, and all funds dealt with, in accordance with the Clients’ Money Regulations of our professional body, ICAEW.
5.2 In order to avoid an excessive amount of administration, interest will only be paid to you where the amount of interest that would be earned on the balances held on your behalf in any calendar year exceeds £25. Any such interest would be calculated using the prevailing rate applied by HSBC Bank Plc (HSBC) for small deposits subject to the minimum period of notice for withdrawals. Subject to any tax legislation, interest will be paid gross.
5.3 If the total sum of money held on your behalf is enough to give rise to a significant amount of interest or is likely to do so, then the money will be placed in a separate interest-bearing client bank account designated to you. All interest earned on such money will be paid to you. Subject to any tax legislation, interest will be paid gross.
5.4 Money held on your behalf in relation to probate services will be held in a separate client bank account ring-fenced for legal services. This will normally be a separate interest bearing client account for the estate in question.
5.5 We will return monies held on your behalf promptly as soon as there is no longer any reason to retain those funds. In the unlikely event of us holding any unclaimed monies we reserve the right to pay such monies to a registered charity in line with the guidelines set out in the Clients’ Money Regulations referred to above. We will not do this unless we have been unable to contact you for at least five years and we have taken reasonable steps to trace you and return the monies.
6.1 Our fees are computed on the basis of time spent on your affairs by the directors and our staff, including sub-contractors or consultants where necessary, on the levels of skill and responsibility involved, the importance and value of the advice provided to you and the level of risk. Disbursements represent travel, accommodation and other expenses incurred in dealing with your affairs. Information about our pricing for probate services can be found here: view page.
6.2 If it is necessary to carry out work that is outside the scope of the engagement currently in place with you, we will advise you in advance. Any additional work will involve additional fees. Accordingly we would like to point out that it is in your interests to ensure that the information you provide us with is completed to the agreed stage.
6.3 If we give you an estimate of our fees for carrying out any specific work, then that estimate will not be contractually binding unless we have explicitly stated that will be the case.
6.4 If we agree a fixed fee with you for providing a specific range of services this will be the subject of a separate agreement. This agreement will set out the period which the fixed fee relates to and the services covered by it.
6.5 Fee notes are payable in full (including disbursements) in accordance with the terms set out on the fee note. If you do not accept that the amount billed is fair and reasonable you must notify us within 21 days of receipt, failing which you will be deemed to have accepted that payment is due.
6.6 We reserve the right to charge interest on overdue accounts at the current rate under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. We also reserve the right to terminate our engagement and cease acting if payment of any fees billed is unduly delayed. We accept settlement of fees by certain credit cards.
6.7 If an estate is unable or unwilling to settle our fees, we reserve the right to seek payment from the individual giving us instructions on behalf of the client, and we shall be entitled to enforce any sums due against the individual nominated to act for you.
6.8 Insofar as we are permitted to so by law or by professional guidelines, we reserve the right to exercise a lien over all funds, documents and records in our possession relating to all engagements for you until all outstanding fees and disbursements are paid in full.
6.9 In the event that we cease to act in relation to the estate’s affairs you agree to meet all reasonable costs of providing information to the estate’s new advisers. In particular you agree to meet these costs where we are required by law to provide information to a successor firm.
7.1 The estate(s) has/have a legal responsibility to retain documents and records relevant to its financial affairs. During the course of our work we may collect information from the estate(s) and others relevant to its tax and financial affairs. We will return any original documents to the estate(s) if requested. Documents and records relevant to its tax affairs are required by law to be retained as follows:
Individuals, trustees and partnerships:
Companies, Limited Liability Partnerships, and other corporate entities:
7.3 Although certain documents may legally belong to the Estate(s), we may destroy correspondence and other papers that we store electronically or otherwise that are more than seven years old, except documents we think may be of continuing significance. The Estate(s) must notify us in writing if it wishes us to keep any document for a longer period.
8.1 We reserve the right during our engagement with you to deliver services to other clients whose interests might compete with yours or are, or may be, adverse to yours, subject to clause 8.2 below. We confirm that we will notify you immediately should we become aware of any conflict of interest involving us and affecting you unless we are unable to do so because of our confidentiality obligations. We have safeguards that can be implemented to protect the interests of different clients if a conflict arises. Where conflicts are identified which cannot be managed in a way that protects your interests then we regret that we will be unable to provide further services.
8.3 During and after our engagement, you agree that we reserve the right to act for other clients whose interests are or may compete with or be adverse to yours, subject of course, to our obligations of confidentiality and the safeguards set out in the paragraph on confidentiality below.
9.1 We confirm that where you give us confidential information we shall at all times keep it confidential, except as required by law or as provided for in regulatory, ethical or other professional statements relevant to our engagement.
9.2 You agree that, if we act for other clients who are or who become your competitors, to comply with our duty of confidentiality, it will be sufficient for us to take such steps as we think appropriate to preserve the confidentiality of information given to us by you, both during and after this engagement. These may include taking the same or similar steps as we take in respect of the confidentiality of our own information.
9.3 In addition, if we act for other clients whose interests are or may be adverse to yours, we will manage the conflict by implementing additional safeguards to preserve confidentiality. Safeguards may include measures such as separate teams, physical separation of teams, and separate arrangements for storage of, and access to, information.
9.4 You agree that the effective implementation of such steps or safeguards as described above will provide adequate measures to avoid any real risk of confidentiality being impaired.
9.5 We may, on occasions, subcontract work on your affairs to other tax or accounting professionals. The subcontractors will be bound by our client confidentiality terms.
9.6 If we use external or cloud based systems, we will ensure confidentiality of your information is maintained.
9.7 We reserve the right, for the purpose of promotional activity, training or other business purposes, to mention that you are a client. As stated above, we will not disclose any confidential information.
9.8 This whole clause (clause 9 ) applies in addition to our obligations as to data protection in clause 15.
10.1 As part of our ongoing commitment to providing a high quality service, our files are periodically subject to an independent regulatory or quality review. Our reviewers are highly experienced and professional people and are, of course, bound by the same requirements of confidentiality as our directors and staff.
Dealing with HM Revenue & Customs
10.2 When dealing with HMRC on your behalf we are required to be honest and to take reasonable care to ensure that your returns are correct. To enable us to do this, you are required to be honest with us and to provide us with all necessary information in a timely manner. For more information about ‘Your Charter’ for your dealings with HMRC, see www.gov.uk/government/publications/your-charter. To the best of our abilities, we will ensure that HMRC meet their side of the Charter in their dealings with you.
10.3 We will take account of the steps and checks suggested by HMRC in their ‘Agent Toolkits’. While use of the Toolkits is voluntary, we will ensure that our quality control procedures match or enhance the suggestions in the Toolkits so that, in the unlikely event that HMRC consider any of your tax returns with which we assist to be inaccurate, we will be able to help you demonstrate to HMRC that reasonable care has been taken in the preparation of the return, thereby significantly reducing the possibility of an inaccuracy penalty being imposed. To further reduce the possibility of an inaccuracy penalty, you will remain responsible for maintaining good quality supporting records for each return, for providing us with all relevant information and explanations and for acting on any advice that we give you.
11.1 We are committed to providing you with a high quality service that is both efficient and effective. If at any time you would like to discuss with us how our service to you could be improved, or if you are dissatisfied with the service you are receiving, please let us know by contacting Mike Luckett, Head of Legal Practice.
11.2 We undertake to look into any complaint carefully and promptly and do all we can to explain the position to you. If we do not answer your complaint to your satisfaction you may of course take up the matter with our professional body, ICAEW.
11.3 In order for us to provide you with a high quality service on an ongoing basis it is essential that you provide us with relevant records and information when requested, reply to correspondence in a timely manner and otherwise follow the terms of the agreement between us set out in this Terms and Conditions of Business and associated engagement appendices. We therefore reserve the right to cancel the engagement between us with immediate effect in the event of:
12.1 This engagement letter is governed by, and construed in accordance with English law. The Courts will have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any claim, dispute or difference concerning this engagement letter and any matter arising from it. Each party irrevocably waives any right it may have to object to any action being brought in those courts, to claim that the action has been brought in an inappropriate forum, or to claim that those courts do not have jurisdiction.
12.2 If any provision in this Terms and Conditions of Business or any associated engagement appendices, or its application, are found to be invalid, illegal or otherwise unenforceable in any respect, the validity, legality or enforceability of any other provisions shall not in any way be affected or impaired.
13.1 We will not accept responsibility if you act on advice previously given by us without first confirming with us that the advice is still valid in light of any change in the law, public policy or your circumstances.
13.2 We will accept no liability for losses arising from changes in the law or the interpretation thereof, practice, or public policy that are first published after the date on which the advice is given to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law.
14.1 Unless you instruct us otherwise we may, where appropriate, communicate with you and with third parties via email or by other electronic means. However, internet communications are capable of data corruption and therefore we do not accept any responsibility for changes made to such communications after their despatch. It may therefore be inappropriate to rely on advice contained in an e-mail without obtaining written confirmation of it. We do not accept responsibility for any errors or problems that may arise through the use of internet communication and all risks connected with sending commercially sensitive information relating to your business are borne by you. If you do not agree to accept this risk, you should notify us in writing that e-mail is not an acceptable means of communication. We will never change our bank details without confirming this to you by posted letter. Any emailed or telephoned communications appearing to be from us which are not confirmed by post are fake and we accept no liability for any loss caused to you through accepting such communications as genuine. Similarly, always give us by hand or by post (as well as by email) details of your bank account.
14.2 It is the responsibility of the recipient to carry out a virus check on any attachments received.
15.1 To enable us to discharge the services agreed under our engagement, and for other related purposes including updating and enhancing client records, analysis for management purposes and statutory returns, crime prevention and legal and regulatory compliance, we may obtain, use, process and disclose personal data about you/your business/company/partnership/its officers and employees and shareholders (‘personal data’).
15.2 In the course of providing services to you and processing personal data, we may disclose personal data to other firms in our association, a regulatory body or a third party. We may use a sub-processor and/or export personal data you supply to us outside the EU/EEA/UK if necessary (subject to your prior written consent, which will not be unreasonably withheld where we are a processor). We will ensure all such data disclosure/export is compliant with relevant data protection legislation in the EU/EEA/UK and will use our reasonable endeavours to ensure that any agreement entered into with sub-processors include similar terms to those set out in this clause 14. Where cloud-based services are to be used you may be subject to our cloud services terms and conditions, and cloud storage may be outside the EU/EEA/UK.
15.3 We confirm we have adequate security measures in place to protect personal data provided to us, including administrative, physical and technical safeguards.
15.4 We will notify you within 10 working days if an individual asks for copies of their personal data, makes a complaint about the processing of personal data or serves a notice from a relevant data protection authority where this relates to you. You and we will consult and co-operate with each other when responding to any such request, complaint or notice. If an individual whose data you have supplied to us or which we are processing on your behalf asks us to remove or cease processing that data, we shall be entitled to do so where required by law.
15.5 We will answer your reasonable enquiries to enable you to monitor compliance with this clause. We will also allow for, and contribute to, audits or inspections conducted by the ICO or their auditor to demonstrate compliance with this clause.
Data controller
15.6 We confirm that we are each considered an independent data controller in relation to personal data and that we will each comply with the relevant provisions of applicable data protection legislation.
15.7 You will also ensure that any disclosure of personal data to us complies with such legislation. If you supply us with any personal data or confidential information you shall ensure you have a lawful basis to pass it to us and will fully indemnify and hold us harmless if you do not have such a basis and that causes us loss. If you are supplying us with personal data on the basis of a power of attorney for anyone, you must produce to us an original or certified power of attorney on demand. You must ensure you have provided the necessary information to the relevant data subjects regarding its use. You may refer to our privacy notice on our website for this purpose.
Data processor
15.8 Applicable data protection legislation places express obligations on you as a data controller where we as a data processor undertake the processing of personal data on your behalf. We therefore confirm that we will at all times use our reasonable endeavours to comply with the requirements of applicable EU/EEA/UK data protection legislation when processing data on your behalf. In particular we confirm that we will aim to comply with any obligations equivalent to those placed on you as a data controller. You will also comply with applicable data protection legislation, including but not restricted to, ensuring that you have all appropriate consents and notices or another lawful basis in place to enable the lawful transfer of personal data to us. You will fully indemnify and hold us harmless if you do not have a lawful basis and that causes us loss.
15.9 All appendices form part of this engagement letter and will set out where necessary the subject matter and duration of the processing, the nature and purpose of the processing, the type of personal data and the categories of data subjects.
15.10 As the data processor we shall;
15.11 If you need to contact us about any data protection issue please contact Nancy Cruickshanks who can be contacted on 020 7312 0000.
16.1 Persons who are not party to this agreement shall have no rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any term of this agreement. This clause does not affect any right or remedy of any person which exists or is available otherwise than pursuant to that Act.
16.2 The advice we give you is for your sole use and is confidential to you and will not constitute advice for any third party to whom you may communicate it, unless we have expressly agreed in writing that a specified third party may rely on our work. We will accept no responsibility to third parties, including any group company to whom the engagement letter is not addressed, your spouse nor any family member of yours or your employer, for any aspect of our professional services or work that is made available to them.
17.1 In common with other professional services firms, we are required by the Proceeds to Crime Act 2002 and the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 to:
17.2 We may request from you, and retain, such information and documentation as we require for these purposes and/or make searches of appropriate databases including ID verification software.
17.3 We have a statutory obligation under the above legislation to report to the National Crime Agency (NCA) any reasonable knowledge or suspicion of money laundering. Any such report must be made in the strictest confidence. In fulfilment of our legal obligations, neither the firm’s directors nor staff may enter into any correspondence or discussions with you regarding such matters.
17.4 If we are not able to obtain satisfactory evidence of your identity and where applicable that of the beneficial owners, we will not be able to proceed with the engagement.
18.1 Unless agreed specifically in a separate engagement appendix, we are not responsible for your compliance with the International Tax Compliance (United States of America) Regulations 2013, produced as a result of FATCA. In particular, we are not responsible for the categorisation of any UK entity into either a Financial Institution (FI) or an active or passive Non-Financial Foreign Entity (NFFE) nor, if a Financial Institution, for its registration with the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and subsequent submission of the required annual returns to HM Revenue & Customs.
18.2 However, if requested to do so we can provide advice on the completion of the forms supplied by Financial Institutions under these Regulations, or under Common Reporting Standards, and used by them to determine the status of an entity. We can also provide advice on setting up the appropriate systems to identify and report on your clients or beneficiaries who are foreign citizens affected by FATCA or Common Reporting Standards.
19.1 We will provide our services with reasonable care and skill. Our liability to you is limited to losses, damages, costs and expenses caused by our negligence or wilful default. However, to the fullest extent permitted by law, we will not be responsible for any losses, penalties, surcharges, interest or additional tax liabilities where you or others supply incorrect or incomplete information, or fail to supply any appropriate information or where you fail to act on our advice or respond promptly to communications from us or the tax authorities. Further, we will not be liable to you for any delay or failure to perform our obligations if the delay or failure is caused by circumstances outside our reasonable control. Subject to clause 19.5 below, our liability to you shall be limited as set out in our engagement or other client letter.
19.2 You will not hold us, our directors and staff, responsible, to the fullest extent permitted by law, for any loss suffered by you arising from any misrepresentation (intentional or unintentional) supplied to us orally or in writing. This applies equally to fraudulent acts, misrepresentation or wilful default on the part of any party to the transaction and their directors, officers, employees, agents or advisers. However, this exclusion shall not apply where such misrepresentation, withholding or concealment is or should (in carrying out the procedures which we have agreed to perform with reasonable care and skill) have been evident to us without further enquiry.
19.3 You agree that you will not bring any claim in connection with services we provide to you against any of our directors or employees personally.
19.4 Our work is not, unless there is a legal or regulatory requirement, to be made available to third parties without our written permission and we will accept no responsibility to third parties for any aspect of our professional services or work that is made available to them. You agree to indemnify us and our agents in respect of any claim (including any claim for negligence) arising out of any unauthorised disclosure by you or by any person for whom you are responsible of our advice and opinions, whether in writing or otherwise. This indemnity will extend to the cost of defending any such claim, including payment at our usual rates for the time that we spend in defending it and our legal fees on an indemnity basis.
19.5 Nothing in this agreement shall exclude or limit our liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence nor for fraudulent misrepresentation or other fraud which may not as a matter of applicable law be excluded or limited.
20.1 We will retain all intellectual property rights in any document prepared by us during the course of carrying out the engagement except where the law specifically states otherwise. You may only use such rights to the extent we agreed when engaged to provide services to you and may not resell or sublicense such rights without our further prior consent.
20.2 You are not permitted to use our name in any statement or document that you may issue unless our prior written consent has been obtained. The only exception to this restriction would be statements or documents that in accordance with applicable law are to be made public.
21.1 In the course of our providing services to you we may provide advice or reports or other work products in draft or interim form, or orally. However, final written work products will always prevail over any draft, interim or oral statements. Where you request it, we will provide you with written confirmation of matters stated orally.
22.1 If any provision of our engagement letter or terms and conditions of business is held to be void for whatever reason, then that provision will be deemed not to form part of this contract, and no other provisions will be affected or impaired in any way. In the event of any conflict between these terms of business and the engagement letter or appendices, the relevant provision in the engagement letter or schedules will take precedence.
23.1 If we become aware of a dispute between the parties who are in some way involved in the estate and its management, it should be noted that our client is the estate (unless we have agreed otherwise) and we would not provide information or services to one party without the express knowledge and permission of all parties. Unless otherwise agreed by all parties, we will continue to supply information to the normal place of business for the attention of the executors. If conflicting advice, information or instructions are received from different executors of the estate, we will cease to act and refer the executors to a solicitor who can act for the reserved legal activity of contentious probate work.
24.1 If we resign or are asked to resign, we will issue a disengagement letter where appropriate to ensure that our respective responsibilities are clear.
