Unless our letter of engagement states otherwise, it will not be our responsibility to advise on matters outside the scope of the work we have identified or to alert you to changes in tax law introduced or to critical dates occurring after our work is completed.

We retain the copyright in all written materials we produce for you, including e-mail communications. You may of course use our copyright material for the purposes for which it is provided, but the advice and any documents we provide to you are not to be disclosed to third parties and we will not be responsible if they are used for other purposes or by other people. These terms and the work we carry out on your behalf are not intended to confer any rights or benefits on any third party.

As the Work Progresses

We will require your regular instructions. You must tell us if you are moving home, going away or changing your telephone number. Usually we will tell you what we need to know but we rely on you to tell us of any developments or other changes which might matter. If we are engaged by two or more clients together, we will assume that any one of them has the authority to instruct us on behalf of the others, unless we are told otherwise. They will each be responsible for the full amount of our charges.

We will keep you informed of developments and send you copies of important correspondence. We may send you brochures and guidance notes dealing with a number of types of work.

You can call to see us by appointment and telephone us during office hours and at other times by prior arrangement. If the person you wish to talk to is not available, you may speak to an assistant or secretary or leave a recorded message. We will then contact you as soon as practicable.

If you give us your e-mail address we will assume we can use it to send you mail and other documents unless you ask us not to. Please remember that the internet is not secure and that some confidential and sensitive material is best sent by other media.

Our Charges

The amount of our charges will depend on a number of factors. They must cover the costs of running the business and reflect the importance, value and urgency of the work undertaken. They must also reflect the seniority, skills and specialism of the person who carries out any work on your behalf. We may quote an hourly rate or different rates for different members of staff and estimate the number of hours required for the job or part thereof. We will tell you about any changes in the hourly rates or the estimate of the time taken to complete work. We may, in certain circumstances, be able to fix a price for the whole of the work. We will be bound by quotations only if they are in writing. Any estimate or quotation for the cost of work will apply only if we receive instructions within one month and there is no material change in your requirements or other circumstances.

Expenses

Many of our disbursements such as postage and telephone calls are included in our estimates of charges. Exceptional amounts of copying, faxing, long-distance, mobile and foreign calls and other costs such as travelling and subsistence and the fees of counsel and other experts are chargeable separately.

We will advise you about certain taxes and duties that you will be required to pay. In addition, we may recommend that you instruct other professionals such as lawyers, accountants or valuers and you will be responsible for engaging their services and paying their fees.

Funding Our Work

Unless we agree a special arrangement with you, we will expect you to pay for our work as we go along. We may ask you to make a payment on account of our costs and disbursements at the beginning and again when necessary. We will also account for the cost of our work by delivering bills regularly. You will have to provide money to cover certain specific disbursements before we incur them. If you do not provide us with sufficient funds to cover the cost of our work, we will be able to terminate our retainer and we have the right to keep your papers until you have paid any outstanding note of fee.

If your transaction involves a substantial payment at any stage, we will not progress with any work on your behalf unless we are placed in sufficient funds.

Please remember that we require cleared funds and a cheque must be with us at least five working days before any funds are required. We may make a handling charge for large amounts of cash, for arranging banker's drafts, for sending money by bank transfer or for dealing with any dishonoured cheques.

Paying Our Bills

If you do not have funds immediately available to provide for your costs, we may be able to agree credit facilities. They must be agreed in advance and can be withdrawn at our discretion. Our invoices will still be payable on receipt and if payment is not made within 30 days, interest is payable at the rate payable on High Court judgements. We accept payments by cash, cheque and standing order.

A final invoice will be delivered on completion of our work and we will then account to you for all money passing through our hands. Interim invoices will reflect the basic costs incurred to date but not necessarily cover any adjustment related to the value of the completed work.

If we have to close our file in circumstances other than the natural conclusion of our work, there may be additional charges for the work involved. If money is due to you at the end of a transaction, we will deduct our outstanding charges and any other money due to us before sending you the balance.

If You are Dissatisfied with Our Service

In the unlikely event that you become dissatisfied with the work that we undertake on your behalf, you should first talk to the person carrying out the work. He or she will be pleased to discuss the problem and will try to resolve it. If that fails, or if you prefer, please speak to another member of our team or the individual, whose name we will give you on request, responsible for resolving such problems.

Confidentiality

We will of course keep your affairs confidential and will not disclose them to anyone without your consent unless the law requires us to do so. That can happen if you are suspected of committing a serious offence such as fraud or money laundering or if you become insolvent.

We are required under provisions of the Data Protection Act to keep personal details in our records. Our files will be kept by us for a period of time before they are destroyed confidentially. Please tell us when we close our file if there is any paperwork you wish us to send to you.