This document explains the terms on which Together We Plan Ltd (‘The Company’) will provide estate planning services to a customer (You).
We’d like you to understand how we work, so please do read it carefully.
Embedded Files
The Company’s obligations
The Company’s obligation is to provide you with the documents or service selected.
Unless directed otherwise, The Company will always endeavour to obtain only as much information as is needed to enable us to deal with your planning needs accurately.
The Company will provide instructions and guides to enable you to correctly attest (sign) your documents but is under no legal obligation to ensure they are attested fully.
The Company’s activities are protected by a Professional Indemnity Policy which provides £2 million indemnity against proven negligent acts of an employee in their conduct of the provision of approved and scheduled products of The Company. You may request a copy of the policy from The Company by making a written application to the address listed within this document.
Any Solicitor, Barrister or product provider that are partners of The Company must also carry their own Professional Indemnity Insurance and details of their cover can be obtained by contacting The Company.
The Company reserves the right to withdraw from any transaction if they are unable to complete the transaction in whole, or in part, but if they do so, they will write to you, and you will not be liable to pay any fees to them for that aspect of the instruction. You may however remain liable to pay the cost of any third-party fees or expenses that have been incurred with your consent up to the date they withdraw. The costs of correcting any error made by The Company or omission on the part of The Company shall be borne entirely by The Company.
Limit of Liability
Where advice is sought on products or services procured previously from other firms, The Company may provide advice, but will accept no liability for the effectiveness products or services procured previously from other firms or any advice given by other firms.
Your obligations
The validity, accuracy and suitability of any documents or services that The Company provides will partly depend upon the completeness and accuracy of your answers to the questions posed. Your obligation is to be open and honest with the information that you provide. The Company will not be held responsible for consequences arising from inaccurate or incomplete information provided by you. You are requested to make prompt payment of agreed fees and the Company reserves the right to pursue any unpaid fees.
Fees & Payment
The Company may charge for consultation or advice given regardless of whether a product or service is bought. However, any fees chargeable for consultation, preparing or administering your elected products or advising on products or services previously procured from a separate source will be agreed with you and provided by email or letter prior to instruction.
Regrettably, due to too many instances of non-payment of fees after advice, products or services have been delivered in good faith, unless agreed with The Company, a minimum of 50% of The Company fees are payable at the time of your instructions subject to a minimum initial fee of £450 plus any third-party fees or disbursements. Any remaining fees will become due on Approval of Drafts, or 14 days after the drafts have been provided, whichever is soonest.
For clarity, invoiced fees of £450 or less are payable on instruction.
Occasionally part of the fee may be paid to a third party by way of a marketing fee and similarly The Company may receive a fee for introducing you to a third party who provides services to you. If required, further details can be obtained upon request.
Definitions:
DRAFT documents are provided to you before FINAL documents are prepared and their purpose is to ensure that any spelling errors or omissions by you or by The Company can be rectified before the issue of FINAL documents.
AMENDMENTS are alterations to DRAFTS that can include changes to planning requirements, correction of spelling errors or addition of omissions.
APPROVAL of DRAFT documents is made by you and is confirmation that you accept and understand the documents and are ready for FINALS to be printed. APPROVAL must be made either by email or by letter.
FINAL documents are printed and, where appropriate, bound, or riveted documents and should reflect any amendments and additions you have requested to the DRAFT documents.
Timescales
If you are unable to provide all the information that The Company and/or a Barrister requires to draft your documents within the timescales, then this will adversely affect the agreed service standards and timescales.
DRAFT documents will typically be sent within 7 days of receipt of all necessary information and after it is agreed The Company will start work on your instructions.
When FINAL documents are being prepared, these will typically be sent within 14 days following the APPROVAL by you of your DRAFT documents. In the absence of APPROVAL of DRAFTS or other communication from you, FINAL documents will be issued after 14 days, and any amendments may be subject to fees.
The timescales may vary depending on the complexity of your instructions or, in very extreme circumstances, where The Company experiences extraordinary volumes of work, but The Company will endeavour to advise and keep you informed of any difference.
Amendments to documents
The Company will make any AMENDMENTS you request up until FINAL documents are issued at no cost.
After the APPROVAL of documents, unless by prior agreement, if you change your mind on any of the details The Company reserves the right to charge an administration fee of £10 per minor change per document and £35 per planning change per document.
Minor Changes are typically spelling errors, incorrect addresses, or titles of parties.
Planning Changes are changes to your wishes or of the parties involved in your planning.
AMENDMENTS required after FINALS have been delivered that were reported by email or by letter to The Company at DRAFT Stage will be rectified at no cost.
The Company reserves the right to charge £35 per document for re-issuing FINAL documents where signatures, dates or other errors have occurred that are not the fault of the Company.
Disclosure of information and confidentiality
Where necessary, and to complete your instruction, The Company will provide relevant information to one of more of the following:
The Office of the Public Guardian – for the registration of Lasting Powers of Attorney.
His Majesty’s Land Registry – for updating the register after the transference of a property.
A Barrister or Solicitor from Hayden Solicitors– for document drafting.
The Company undertakes to maintain the strictest confidentiality and, with the exception of the above, will only pass on your name and/or details to any other organisations if they need to and only with your permission.
Cancellations
You have the right to cancel this agreement with us within 14 days of the date of your instruction by writing to The Company at the postal address or email address provided and receive a full refund of fees within 14 days of notice of cancelation.
Where you agree with The Company to start work on your instructions immediately, you will still have a right to cancel this agreement within 14 days of the date of your instruction by writing to The Company at the postal address or email addresses provided and The Company will refund any fees you have paid but reserves the right to charge administration fees of £250 and any third-party costs incurred for work already started.
The Company will also consider a cancellation of this agreement with us later than 14 days after the date of your instruction by writing to us at the postal address or the email addresses provided, however, work will have commenced on your instruction and processing costs will have been incurred so, unless the cancellation is due to a delay on the part of The Company, The Company reserves the right to refuse a refund of fees or retain fees sufficient to cover any work undertaken.
Where notice of cancellation is posted, it is recommended that it is sent by Recorded Delivery.
Document storage.
The Company will keep an electronic copy of all documents provided to you. The Company will maintain client files but only for as long as required to do so by in accordance with applicable data protection legislation and retention requirements, or until you have asked us to remove any data they may hold. You will be able to access copies of your electronically stored documents by writing to The Company at the address provided. Any physical document storage will always be facilitated through a third-party document storage provider.
Right not to act.
The Company and any other instructed third party reserve the right to refuse to process some or all the legal documents for you at its absolute discretion.
If The Company declines to act or declines to prepare a specific document, then The Company will inform you in writing or email and no fee will be payable.
Complaint procedure.
The Company is committed to providing services of the highest standards. In the unlikely event that you feel you need to make a complaint you should address the complaint in writing to the Complaints Manager at the address provided.
The Company will make all attempts to acknowledge your letter within 5 working days of receipt. The Company will then investigate your complaint and seek to resolve it with a mutually satisfactory agreement within 14 days of acknowledgement. These complaints procedures do not prevent you from seeking other means of redress and you have the right to complain about any third party instructed on your behalf either directly with them, to The Company and/or to any regulatory body that the third party belongs to.
Force majeure
The Company, shall not have any liability whatsoever or be deemed to be in default for any delays or failure in performance under these Term of Engagement resulting from acts beyond its control, including but not limited to delays within government departments, Acts of God, acts or regulations of any government or supranational authority, war or national emergency, terrorist activities, drone attack, accident, or fire.
Legal notice and third-party liability
Any provision of this Terms of Engagement which is declared void or unenforceable by any competent authority or court shall to the extent of such invalidity or unenforceability be deemed servable and the other provisions of the Terms of Engagement shall continue unaffected. The Company regards you as their client and as such these Terms of Engagement set out the relationship between The Company and you. The Company does not accept any liability for any claim made by a third party who is not their client.
Jurisdiction
The terms of this agreement are governed by English laws and any dispute shall be resolved within the jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales. Any advice that is given by The Company is based on a current understanding of law, practices, and procedure at the date of this agreement.
The Company is not responsible for any consequences arising from any future changes in law, practices or procedures and the consequences of any such changes are specifically excluded from any liability The Company may otherwise hold.
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