Terms and Conditions
DAVORA TERMS OF BUSINESS – JANUARY 2023
THIS IS A STATEMENT OF THE TERMS ON WHICH WE PROVIDE SERVICES FOR YOU. PLEASE READ IT CAREFULLY AND NOTIFY US AS SOON AS POSSIBLE IF THERE IS ANYTHING, WHICH YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND OR WITH WHICH YOU DO NOT AGREE. IF YOU REQUIRE THESE TERMS IN A LARGER PRINT, PLEASE CONTACT US.
Introduction
We aim to offer our clients quality advice with a personal service at a fair cost. Unless otherwise agreed these Terms will apply to any future matter in which you may instruct us. We will treat your continuing instructions as acceptance of these Terms.
Hours of Business
Our normal hours of opening are between 8.00 and 18.00GMT on weekdays. We also provide services outside these hours and will accept phone calls on Saturdays, Sundays and home visits or other visits out of the office.
Responsibility
We will try to avoid changing the people who handle your work but if this cannot be avoided we will tell you promptly of any change and why it may be necessary.
Payments on Account
It is our practice to ask clients to pay sums of money in advance to cover the cost of products & future charges and expenses. To help you budget, we may send you regular interim invoices for charges and expenses. We are entitled to offset any funds held against those invoices accordingly and may require you to provide us with further payments on account. By using this website for purchasing goods & services you agree to these payment terms, failure to pay for goods & services ordered may result in legal action to recover costs incurred for non-payment.
Forms of Funding
Please ask us if you would like information on Funding or other forms of funding such as Conditional Fee Agreements, Business and Property funding.
Conduct of the Matter
Unless otherwise instructed by you we will proceed on the basis that we have your authority to take all necessary action to progress the matter in the normal way and to incur any usual expenses.
Costs
The basis of our charges is set out in our estimates. VAT will be added at the prevailing rate if applicable. At present VAT is 20%. Where charges are raised on a time basis routine correspondence and telephone calls are charged at units of one tenth of an hour. Hourly charge-out rates are normally reviewed with effect from 1 April every year and if the matter has not been completed before the next review we will inform you of any variation in the rate before it takes effect.
The hourly rate is designed to cover only the work that we have been instructed to undertake. If we are instructed to do additional work or the nature of the work substantially changes or requires urgent attention we may need to increase the hourly charge out rate, but we will discuss and agree this with you at the time.
Any expenses incurred by us on your behalf (“expenses”) such as court fees, search fees, legal fees, travel costs etc will be charged in addition to the hourly rate or fixed fee. If, for any reason, a matter does not proceed to completion, we will be entitled to charge you for work done and expenses incurred.
Estimates and fixed fees
Any estimate is not intended to be fixed unless expressly stated to be so. Any agreement to charge a fixed fee is only binding if it is confirmed in writing. A fixed fee will cover only the work that we have been specifically instructed to undertake. If we are instructed to do additional work or the nature of the work substantially changes or requires urgent attention we will make additional charges.
You may agree with us an upper limit for the fees and expenses that may be incurred by us without further authority in a particular case. This means that you must pay those incurred up to the agreed limit without our needing to refer to you further. Depending on the nature of the work, it may be necessary to review that upper limit with you as work or the transaction progresses.
Payment of our charges and expenses by another party
We will discuss with you whether (and the extent to which) another person might pay our charges and expenses. In all cases, you remain responsible for our charges and expenses.
If you succeed in litigation, the court may order the other party to pay some or all of our charges and expenses. In that case, you can claim interest on them from the other party from the date of the court order. We will retain the interest on the costs unless all of the costs have been paid by you as they accrue.
You will also be responsible for paying any additional charges and expenses that we incur in seeking to recover any of our charges and expenses that the court orders the other party to pay.
Concerns about our costs
If you are not satisfied with the basis of our costs or with an invoice, please raise the matter as soon as possible with the director or proprietor. You also have the right within one month from the date on which you receive the invoice to ask us to explain that our charges are fair and reasonable or what lesser sum would be fair and reasonable.
Interest on Unpaid Costs
Interest will be charged at the current County Court Judgment rate on any fees remaining unpaid after 7 (seven) days from the date of our invoice.
Interest on monies held
Any money received on your behalf will be held in either our client account or a designated account depending on the amount of money which we are holding and the amount of time for which we need to hold the money. Where it is beneficial for clients, money is placed in an interest bearing deposit account. Subject to certain minimum amounts and periods of time. Interest will be calculated by us and paid to your account at the rate from time to time payable on these designated client accounts. The period for which interest will be paid will normally run from the date on which funds are received until the date of issue of any cheque or bank transfer issued from our client account.
Please note that interest on your deposit account is paid gross and where necessary tax on this should be declared by you to HM Revenue & Customs.
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Conflicts
In certain cases we are prepared to act for more than one client in a matter where we are satisfied that no conflict arises. For example in a house sale or purchase we frequently advise both for the buyer and the seller of the property. We can act for both seller and buyer only when both are established clients or in a few special cases and where written consent has been given by both. If a conflict might arise we will immediately discuss the problem with all concerned.
Storage of Papers
After completing work for you we are entitled to keep all your papers and documents whilst there is still money owing to us for our charges and our expenses. We will keep your file of papers for at least one year from completion of the matter or from the date of the last invoice if later on the understanding that we have authority to destroy the file after that time (unless we advise you otherwise) or to make a charge for storage if we ask you to collect your papers and you fail to do so. We will not destroy documents that you have asked us to deposit in safe custody. We may also charge for reading or translating correspondence or other work necessary to comply with instructions given by you or on your behalf.
Confidentiality and Data Protection
All members of our staff will treat information concerning you and your matter as confidential. In acting for you, we compile and hold personal data relating to you in electronic form and as part of a paper filing system. Data of this sort is covered by the Data Protection Act 1998. Such data may be retained by us but will not be shared or sold to a third party. Our obligations under the Act are in addition to our duty of confidentiality.
We may be required to produce client files to assessors or similar, as part of an audit or quality check. If it is necessary for us to send confidential information to a person or organisation outside the European Union, we will require them to maintain confidentiality even if privacy obligations similar to the Data Protection Act would not apply to them.
Termination of Instructions
You may terminate your instructions to us in writing at any time except in relation to distance selling, but we will be entitled to keep all your papers and documents while there is money owing to us for our charges and expenses. If at any stage you do not wish us to continue work and/or incur charges and expenses on your behalf, you must notify us this clearly in writing.
We may decide to stop working for you, for example if you do not pay an interim bill, comply with the request for a payment on account, fail to give us the co-operation which we are reasonably entitled to expect or where we in our sole discretion consider there is a conflict of interest. We will notify you formally in writing and notify you of the consequences of the termination. We will not be liable for any loss, damage or delay arising out of this firm’s compliance with any statutory or regulatory requirements
Money Laundering
Under the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 (as of 15 December 2007), the Terrorism Act 2000 and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 we have an obligation to verify the identity and place of residence of our clients and we will therefore require you to produce suitable documentary evidence of these. If we cannot satisfy ourselves as to a client’s identity, we reserve the right not to act or carry out work requested by you.
If we suspect that a client has received any asset or benefit derived from any criminal activity we are required to report our suspicion to the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (“SOCA”). This statutory obligation overrides the duty of confidentiality that we owe our clients. We are then prohibited from taking any action until we have received clearance from SOCA (usually 7 days).
While awaiting clearance, we are also prohibited from notifying the client that we have made the report. If, while we are waiting for a report from SOCA, you are unable to meet crucial deadlines then we will not be negligent.
We will not accept cash from you of more than £250. Money due to you will be paid by us by cheque (or by bank transfer if agreed with you). We will not pay in cash. A payment to a third party of money due to you will only be made with your written authority.
Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000
Where the regulations apply you may have the right to withdraw, without charge, within 7 working days of the date on which you asked us to work for you. However, if we start work with your consent within that period, you lose that right to withdraw. Your acceptance of these Terms will amount to such a consent. You should give notice by telephone, email or letter to the person responsible for your work. The Regulations require us to inform you that the work involved is likely to take more than 30 days.
Copyright
We own the copyright in all papers that we have created on your behalf. You may use these papers for the particular purpose for which they were created but only if you have paid all our costs, expenses and any other money that may be due to us. If you wish to use the papers for any other purpose, you should obtain our permission first. No part of these terms and conditions are to be copied in part or whole, should this be breached we will seek financial compensation.
Financial Services
We are not authorised by the Financial Services Authority. We may advise on activity, which is broadly the advising on, selling and administration of insurance and buy/sell contracts of land or property and this part of our normal business activity.
Non discrimination
We will avoid discrimination in all our professional dealings with clients, members of the firm and third parties.
Use of email
We take no responsibility in the event of any email communication made by us whether to you or a third party being intercepted by an unauthorised person.
Quality of our Service
Should you have any complaint about the way in which a matter is being handled you should as soon as possible notify the company immediately. If you are still not satisfied having done this you should make a formal complaint in writing addressed to Mr D Wellen who will implement the firm’s complaints procedure.
Negligence
Unfortunately in any matter errors can occur. Although this happens only seldom it has to be remembered that we work in an increasingly complicated and difficult world. If a serious problem does arise we will inform you and advise you to seek further advice from a solicitor.