Beswicks Online - Terms & conditions
1. Our Limited Terms of Engagement
These are the terms of our Limited Engagement (LE) with you and they explain to you the work we will do for you under our online website based service and contain key information about our terms of business.
Unless we state otherwise, any terms have the same meaning as given to them in the Terms and Conditions on our website which also apply. Our general web site terms and conditions can be viewed here. Your use of our web based service signifies your consent and agreement to our Limited Engagement and it is the only basis on which we will provide web based services to you.
2. Our work
Subject to any information to the contrary relating to how our services will be provided, which is set out on our website, our Limited Engagement will only cover:
- Review of the answers you gave;
- Review of any draft document produced by us following your session on our website;
- Communications with you via email; where we believe necessary, discussion either over the telephone and/or in person relating to the service you purchased;
- Confirmation to you based on such communications and/or interview that we are satisfied our draft document meets your requirements, as well as answering any reasonable and proportionate questions you may have raised when sending the document to us for review;
- A reasonable number of amendments (but not more than 3 revisions) based on your answers to ensure the draft document is suitable for your particular circumstances. We expect that in most cases the work we undertake as part of the LE will take no more than one hour in total.
We will limit the time we spend in carrying out our work as set out on our website relating to the service you have purchased.
Our Limited Engagement is based on the assumption that all communications with us via email and/or telephone will be limited to those of importance and those which are wholly necessary for the purpose of enabling our Limited Engagement to be carried out quickly and efficiently.
If we are of the opinion that we will be unable to complete our work within the scope of our Limited Engagement, we will advise you as soon as possible.
If you wish to instruct us outside of the scope of our Limited Engagement we will agree with you the scope of the extra work you require us to carry out, and provide you with an engagement letter setting out the additional work together with an estimate of our fees for carrying it out.
We will not undertake any work outside of the scope of our Limited Engagement without your express authority.
The Limited Engagement does not include:
- Undertaking any investigation of your particular circumstances beyond those that you disclose in your answers;
- The provision of legal advice about the suitability of the document to your particular circumstances save to the extent that they are disclosed by the answers that you gave us;
- Verifying the answers or any information given by you. You alone are responsible for ensuring the answers, and any information that you give, are correct. This includes information in relation to the identity of any parties or signatories, their age or capacity. We rely on you providing the correct information;
- Proof reading data you have input for typographical errors;
- Supervising or checking the due and proper execution of the document. It is your responsibility to ensure that the document is properly executed, and (if any person or entity who is to sign it is outside the jurisdiction in which we operate) it is your responsibility to ensure that the document is properly executed in accordance with the requirements of that jurisdiction where those requirements prevail;
- Undertaking any future review of the document or providing any ongoing advice, legal or otherwise, as to the continued effectiveness for legal, taxation or any other purpose of the document.
4. Exclusions
We do not have any liability for:
- Any alterations made by you or on your behalf to the document once it has been returned to you by us unless such alteration has been approved by us
- Any use of the document or execution of the document by a person or entity outside of the jurisdiction in which we operate
- Any adverse consequences resulting from the use of the document which are attributable to circumstances pertaining to you which were not disclosed in the answers that you gave to us.
5. Client identity and Money Laundering Regulations
Along with other businesses conducting legal and financial work we have a statutory obligation to comply with Money Laundering Regulations (the "Regulations"). This Limited Engagement is subject to the Regulations.
Pursuant to the Regulations we are required to:
- confirm the identity and address of all our clients; and
- disclose to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) any activity concerning a client who we know or suspect, or have reasonable grounds for knowing or suspecting, is a money laundering activity for the purposes of the Regulations.
Under the Regulations we may be prohibited from telling a client that we have made a disclosure.
If circumstances apply to you where we are required to make a disclosure to the SOCA pursuant to the Regulations then we may not be able to continue acting on your matter unless and until we receive the appropriate consent from SOCA to continue. We will not be liable for any loss you may suffer as a result of our having to comply with the Regulations. A full text of the Regulations is available on request.
For identification purposes we may need to see your passport or other form of photographic evidence of your identity together with a recent utilities bill or bank statement confirming your present address. In conveyancing matters we will also require your national insurance number. We will carry out an internet based check on your identity. You agree to reimburse us the cost of such a check, and further consent to such a check being made as part of us accepting your instructions.
Apart from our statutory obligation to comply with the Regulations we shall keep confidential all information that you provide to us.
6. Conflict
Before we start work for you we will undertake a conflict check to ensure there are no reasons why we would not be able to act for you. We will let you know as quickly as we can if we are unable to do so. If we are unable to act for you we will credit in full the debit or credit card that you used to purchase our service.
7. Responsibility for the work
We will advise you of the name of the person who will be assigned to doing most of your work as well as the identity of the partner with overall responsibility for your relationship with us.
From time to time it may be necessary for us to involve other staff and paralegals, with different levels of experience or with other areas of expertise. If we consider it to be of importance in relation to our work for you, we will let you know in advance why we consider it necessary, what the area of specialisation is, and the name of that person or persons.
8. Confidentiality
In some cases we may be already in possession, or come into, possession of information which could be relevant to you but which we are under a duty to keep confidential for another party. We shall have no obligation to disclose such information to you.
9. Limitation of liability
Our liability to you will at all times be limited to:
- £3,000,000 in respect of any one claim.
- £3,000,000 where a series of claims arise out of one transaction or set of circumstances or instructions.
- £5,000,000 maximum total liability in the event that the preceding paragraphs are found for any reason to be unenforceable. In this circumstance our liability will be limited to any loss suffered proportionate to our responsibility and taking account of the overall loss and the responsibility of any third parties in any contributory negligence.
We shall not be liable for any loss or liability, cost or expense arising from negligence of any third parties instructed on your behalf.
10. Taxation
Whilst we may make general comments concerning taxation we do not hold ourselves out as experts in this field and we will have no liability to you in respect of the taxation treatment of any transaction or proposed transaction. It will be for you to obtain appropriate advice concerning taxation. We are happy to introduce you to advisers in this area if you wish us to do so. You agree that taxation issues will not fall within our retainer when we act for you under the Limited Engagement or otherwise.
11. Client Care
In the unlikely event you are unhappy with the service provided please raise this with us. In the event that you are not satisfied with the outcome we do operate an internal complaints procedure (a copy of our Complaints Handling Procedure is available on request) and you may refer the matter to Simon Woodings our client care partner.
In the event you remain dissatisfied following exhausting our internal complaints procedure you may have the right to contact the Legal Ombudsman at www.legalombudsman.org.uk or PO Box 15870 Birmingham B30 9EB.
We are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority under registration number 533645
Beswicks Solicitors is the trading name of Beswicks Solicitors LLP (OC322184) authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority SRA number 533645 and whose registered office is at Sigma House Lakeside Festival Park Stoke on Trent ST1 5RY. A list of Members is available for inspection at the registered office . We use the word Partner to denote a member of the Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) or a person of equivalent qualification and status employed by the LLP
