Terms & Conditions of Business

1. Acknowledgement and Acceptance of Terms

These Terms & Conditions of Business (Terms) (as updated from time to date) apply to all work we do on your behalf. It is an important document. Please read these Terms and keep them in a safe place for future reference.

We regard the electronic/email or verbal acceptance of our quoted fees as your acceptance of our Terms. If there is more than one party to the transaction, we regard this acceptance to be on behalf of all of those involved.

Your continuing instructions will amount to your acceptance of these Terms as amplified or amended by our client care letter (Client Care Letter). If there is any inconsistency between our Terms and our Client Care Letter, the Client Care Letter will take priority.

Unless otherwise agreed these Terms will apply to any future instructions you give us.

Unless advised otherwise, we will assume that we are authorised to accept instructions from any person who we reasonably believe to have your authority to give us instructions (for example a spouse or partner on behalf of the other) and that we may act on instructions given orally. If this is not the case, please give us your instructions in writing.

These Terms are governed by English and Welsh Law, and any dispute between you and us shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English and Welsh courts.

2. About Us and the Team Responsible for your Work

New Homes Law Limited trading as New Homes Law is a company incorporated in England and Wales with registered number 7715242. Its registered office is at Parkview House, Victoria Road South, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1BT. We use the term ‘partner’ to refer to a director of New Homes Law. 

The team responsible for your work are the Conveyancer and any assistants named in our Client Care Letter.

We realise that it is important not to change the people who are handling your work but sometimes this cannot be avoided. If a change is necessary, we will inform you promptly of the reason and confirm who will take responsibility for your work. We may substitute staff on a short term basis to cover work in absence or at times of high demand.

New Homes Law is authorised and regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC). The CLC’s address is WeWork, 120 Moorgate, London EC2M 6UR. Further details can be found at www.clc-uk.org.uk . We are periodically inspected by the CLC to ensure we are compliant with our regulatory and legislative obligations. 

We are registered for VAT purposes. Our VAT registration number is 123 904 238.

Where we say ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘our’ in these Terms, we mean New Homes Law. 

3. Scope of Work

The scope of work that these Terms relate to is for residential conveyancing only and the works to be undertaken will be covered in more detail in our Client Care Letter.

We will provide you with legal advice and assistance at all stages of the transaction. We will review the matter regularly and we will notify you of the various options available to you as the matter progresses.

In return, we would ask that you deal promptly and accurately with any requests we may make and provide us with such information and documentation as we may reasonably require from time to time.

Please be aware that on some occasions we will act for both buyer and seller in a transaction. This will be dealt with in accordance with the CLC’s Code of Conduct, you will be notified in writing before we commence your transaction, and we will seek your consent. You will have to confirm in writing you are happy to proceed on this basis. 

4. Charges, Expenses, and VAT

Our fee estimate and/or our Client Care Letter will include confirmation of anticipated fees and disbursements to cover the expected work involved in the proposed transaction.

Sometimes we will have to change our fee estimate. This might be because:

• the value of the transaction, or the nature of the work, turns out to be different from what we expected; or
• the amount of time, work, or skilled required to carry out the transaction is significantly more than we initially expected, or something complex arises; or
• the work needs to be done more quickly than normal.

We will tell you in writing about any need to revise the original fee estimate, when any such is appropriate, or as soon as practicable afterwards. If you disagree with the change in fees, you should notify us in writing immediately setting your reasons why. 

Referrals: should your matter have been referred to us by a third party we will disclose any referral payment during the course of your transaction in accordance with our CLC regulatory obligations.

We also reserve the right to charge any increase in HM Land Registry fees where an application has not completed within a set time due to HM Land Registry delays.

Should you require an expedition of your application at any point in time we will charge a minimum of £100.00 VAT to carry out the additional work and communication involved.

Please note that New Homes Law are on all mainstream lender panels. If you choose a non mainstream lender that we are not panelled with, you may be billed for works carried out prior to your mortgage offer being received. Please check with your conveyancer before any work is undertaken.

We confirm that we will initially interim bill on your transaction as follows:

4.1 Purchases

Upon instruction of any purchase you will be asked to pay the sum of £395 inc VAT on account of costs and disbursements.

We will look to bill your file on an interim basis. Following instruction, the first bill will be produced to cover the opening of your file, Anti Money Laundering (AML) checks, Land Registry Searches and work undertaken up to the point of producing a report on your contract. This will amount to £395 inc VAT and disbursements. The second bill will be issued when contract papers have been issued to you. This bill will be £580 inc VAT. At this point we will also look to request the balance of any outstanding costs and disbursements including searches. 

4.2 Sales

Upon instruction of any sale you will be asked to pay the sum of £295 inc VAT on account of costs and disbursements.

We will look to bill your file on an interim basis. Following instruction, the first bill will be produced to cover the opening of your file, AML checks, Land Registry Searches, and work undertaken up to the point of sending draft contract pack. This bill will be for £295 inc VAT. Once contract papers have been issued and we receive legal enquiries we will issue the second bill, this will be for £500 inc VAT. At this point we will also look to request balance for any outstanding disbursements.

4.3 Any other type of transaction

Upon instruction of any other type of transaction you will be asked to pay the sum of £295 inc VAT on account of costs and disbursements.

Dependant on the type of transaction being undertaken you will be interim billed upon sending documents for signing. This bill will be up to 80% of the outstanding bill balance due. 

Following initial interim billing:

It is standard legal practice that the fees and disbursements due to us will be cleared on or before the date of completion. If we hold money belonging to you, we will deduct payment of our bill from it after sending you a financial statement. You agree to this practice by accepting these Terms. If we do not hold your money, or not enough of it to pay our bill, then you must provide us with the required additional sums as ‘cleared funds’ before the date of completion. If you delay paying us any money we need from you, as shown on our financial statement to you, by seven days or more, then we may charge you daily interest. This will be at the rate of 2% above base rate per month, or part month, compounded monthly, from the rate of the financial statement until the date we receive the outstanding money from you as cleared funds.

We may require further documentation from you after completion. If this is the case, we will contact you. If you do not provide the necessary documentation to us in good time and we have cause to apply for an Official Search with Land Registry to protect you or a Lender’s or Equity Charge Holder’s position, there will be an additional charge of £35 inc VAT per instance. These charges will need to be paid prior to registration of your property. 

Please remember that this firm does not accept payment in cash under any circumstances and that if you have any query over our invoice/financial statement you should contact the person dealing with your work straight away. Where we have to pay money to you it will be paid by cheque or bank transfer. It will not be paid in cash or to a third party.

4.4 Aborted Transactions

If for any reason, a transaction does not proceed to completion, we will tell you in writing of our charges made for the work we have done and the disbursements that we have paid out. Our charges will reflect the amount of work carried out on your transaction and the time taken. They will be based either on the notified rate of charge or a proportion of the estimated fee, corresponding how much work was done. 

4.5 Refunds

Our refund policy is as follows:

• If a purchase transaction fails before we have received contracts and we have only undertaken limited work such as undertaking AML checks and opening communications with others we will limit our charges to £150 plus any disbursements. If we have received contracts and undertaken more extensive work, we will limit our charges to £395, plus any searches and disbursements. If we have prepared a report on contract, we reserve the right to charge 75% of our overall fee plus searches and disbursements less items not yet undertaken, such as SDLT return and Land Registry Transaction.

• If a sale transaction fails before we have issued contracts and we have only undertaken limited work such as undertaking AML checks and opening communications with others we will limit our charges to £150 plus any disbursements. If we receive your protocol forms and prepare contract papers and/or undertaken more extensive work, we will limit our charges to £295, plus any disbursements. If we receive and begin dealing with legal enquiries, we reserve the right to charge 75% of our overall fee plus disbursements.

In the event that a transaction fails, and no substantive work has been undertaken, we reserve the right to charge an administration fee of £90 to cover the initial administrative costs. 

Our fee invoice is payable when you received it, and you agree that we may deduct it from any money we hold on completion of your transaction, such as the proceeds of sale. If not paid after 30 days we will be entitled to charge you interest.

5. Interest

The CLC’s Accounts Code requires interest to be payable on money received from you, or on your behalf unless you agree otherwise. In signing these Terms you confirm your consent to our Terms which are that we will not be required to open any specific deposit account.

Under the CLC Code of Conduct, we are required to keep client money safe and separate from office money. We operate a no interest policy. If you feel you are entitled to interest on the money we hold on your behalf, please contact the CLC.

6. Changes to our Bank Details

We will never tell you about changes to important business information, such as bank account details, by email. Please inform us immediately if you receive any email or other communication purporting to be from the firm stating that we have changed our bank details or payment arrangements.

7. Bank Failure

We are not liable for any losses you suffer as a result of any bank in which we hold client money being unable to repay depositors in full. You may, however, be protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). The FSCS is the UK’s statutory fund of last resort for customers of banking institutions. The FSCS can pay compensation up to £85,000 if a banking institution is unable, or likely to be unable, to pay claims against it.

The limit is £85,000 per banking institution. If you hold other personal money in the same banking institution as our client account[s], the limit remains £85,000 in total. Some banking institutions have several brands. The compensation limit is £85,000 per institution, not per brand.

The FSCS also provides up to £1m of short-term protection for certain high balances, e.g relating to property transactions, inheritance, divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership, unfair dismissal, redundancy, and personal injury compensation (there is no financial limit on protection for personal injury compensation). This is called the temporary high balance scheme and, if it applies, protection lasts for a maximum of six months.

The FSCS (including the temporary high balance scheme) will apply to qualifying balances held in our client account. In the unlikely event of a deposit-taking institution failure, we will presume (unless we hear from you in writing to the contrary) we have your consent to disclose necessary client details to the FSCS. 

More information about the FSCS can be found at https://www.fscs.org.uk

8. Liabilities

A licensed conveyancer is a specialist property lawyer, qualified to advise on conveyancing law, probate and will writing only. If you need advice on other legal or non legal matters, such as any possible litigation arising from the transaction, the physical condition of a property and its connected services, or its market value, or on investment and financial matters, you should consult appropriately qualified professionals such as a litigation lawyer, a surveyor or a financial advisor.

Before exchanging contract to buy or take a lease of a property, you should have an appropriate structural survey by a qualified surveyor, and obtain any further information recommended by the survey report. It is not part of our work to consider or comment on any non legal aspects of a survey. or valuation reports.

Unless explicitly agreed otherwise in writing, we do not owe, nor do we accept, any duty to any person other than you, and we do not accept any liability or responsibility for an consequence arising from reliance on our advice by an person other than you. We are not responsible for any failure to advise or comment on matters falling outside of the scope of our instructions as set out in these Terms and our Client Care Letter. 

In regard to Stamp Duty Land Tax, we give our estimate as to your tax liability, however, this is a personal tax and we accept no liability in regard to the accuracy of the estimate given. If you have concerns in this area, you should consult a suitably qualified accountant.

We will not be liable to you for any loss, damage or delay arising out of the firm’s compliance with any statutory or regulatory requirement. Equally, we will not be liable for any consequential, special, indirect or exemplary damages, costs or losses or any damages costs or losses attributable to lost profits or opportunities.

We maintain professional indemnity insurance and are insured by insurers who have joined the CLC’s Participating Insurers Agreement.

If you make a valid claim against us for a loss arising out of work for which we are legally responsible, and we are unable to meet our liability in full, you may be entitled to claim from the Compensation Fund administered by the CLC (from whom details can be obtained).

In these times of financial uncertainty, we will take reasonable action to protect funds held in our client account. However, we advise you that provided we deal with such funds in accordance with the CLC Accounts Code, we accept no liability to repay money lost through a failure or collapse of any banking institution.

9. Leasehold Property and Service Charges

If you are purchasing or selling a leasehold property, the following will also apply:

• The lease will require your landlord, management company or managing agent to provide services such as repairing the structure and common parts of the building, and things such as caretaking and cleaning of the building as set out in the lease.

• It is important to appreciate that the lease will permit the landlord to recover the expenses incurred in connection with the provision of these services from you as a leaseholder.

There are a number of important things to understand:

• In entering into a new lease with the landlord or developer or buying an existing flat (this means the lease will be transferred to you from the previous owner) you will be contractually bound to pay the service charge and any failure to do so could lead to the landlord bringing court proceedings or even being entitled to bring your lease to an end by a process called forfeiture. 

• This means that you will be repossessed and lose the property entirely.

• You need to appreciate that in committing to the obligations to pay a service charge within the lease you are committing to payments that are unascertainable at this stage.

• Where estimated service charge accounts are produced by a developer or landlord on a new build property or three years’ service charge accounts are produced where you are buying an existing flat it is vital that you understand that these estimates or accounts for previous years are not to be taken as indicators or guides as to what the service charges will be during your ownership. Buildings can require repairs and remediation at any time and the cost of those repairs can be included in a service charge. Costs for the provision of services can increase from year to year due to inflation or due to supply and demand. 

• The lease will provide how the service charge will be apportioned between leaseholders and the accounts should confirm this and although it can be assumed this will be on a fair and reasonable basis, we will report to you as to how the lease apportions service charge but will be unable to check whether the service charge has in fact been apportioned by the landlord as the lease requires. 

• You must undertake your own investigations. 

There are a number of ways you are protected from excessive service charges. 

The landlord can only provide services and charge for those services if the lease contains provisions to enable it to do so. 

• Section 19 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 states that a service charge is only recoverable by a landlord so far as the costs have been reasonably incurred. The section also states that a service charge is only recoverable if works carried out for the charge are of a reasonable standard. An application can be made to the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) or the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal in Wales. A fee is payable which is recoverable if the application is successful. The Tribunal has the power to find whether a service charge is payable at all or how much of the claimed service charge is payable.

• Section 20 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 states imposes an obligation on the landlord to consult with leaseholders where the cost of an individual item of service charge is more than £250.00 per flat or more than £200.00 per flat where a long term contract is envisaged. If the landlord has failed to go through the consultation process properly or at all the liability of each leaseholder is capped at £250.00 or £200.00. A landlord can apply in certain circumstances to the Tribunal to dispense with the need to consult but must obtain permission before the expenditure is incurred except in exceptional circumstances.

• Section 20B of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 requires a landlord to notify a leaseholder within 18 months of service charge costs being incurred or to demand payment from the leaseholder. Where a landlord fails to comply with this timescale the landlord will not be able to recover the charges.

• The landlord will only be entitled to recover any service charge from you where the demand for payment includes the landlord`s name and address and must also include a “summary of leaseholders’ rights and obligations” (as set out in the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002) which will include details of your right to Tribunal to assess the reasonableness of the service charge being claimed. Where the demand does not comply, the leaseholder has a legal right not to pay unless and until the service charge is demanded in the proper manner.

The Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA 2022) provides protection against certain types of service charge costs. The BSA 2022 is only partly in force, but it is important that it could affect a service charge that you are required to pay in three ways:-

1. Your landlord might be required to undertake additional works in order to comply with the Act and the requirements of the newly formed Building Safety Regulator and this is likely to increase the costs incurred by the landlord relating to the management of the building which can be passed on in the service charge.
2. Section 112 of the BSA 2022 introduces a new Section 30C into The Housing Act 1985 which in turn implies covenants imposed on the landlord into your lease where the lease exceeds 18 metres in height or has in excess of seven storeys. 

1. 1. Where the landlord is an accountable person for the higher-risk building, to comply with their building safety duties.

1. 2. To cooperate with any person in connection with a relevant person complying with their building safety duties.

1. 3. Where a special measures order in relation to the higher-risk building is in force, to comply with that order so far as it relates to the landlord.

The same Act implies covenants which are imposed on you as the leaseholder:

1. To allow the landlord, a relevant person or a person authorised in writing by the landlord or a relevant person to enter the premises for a relevant building safety purpose.

2. To comply with duties under sections 95 and 97 of the BSA 2022 which apply to you as a leaseholder and any resident of your property over the age of 16.

Section 95 BSA 2022 states you or a relevant resident:

• must not act in a way that creates a significant risk of a building safety risk materialising.

• must not interfere with a relevant safety item which means damaging it, removing it or doing anything with it which would interfere with its intended function.

• must comply with a request, made by the landlord, for information reasonably required for the purposes of complying with their duties under Section 112 mentioned in 2 above.

Section 97 BSA 2022 states you or a relevant resident must allow the landlord to enter the flat or apartment where a request is made to enter your flat or apartment where the request to a relevant person to enter relevant premises for the purpose of assessing a building safety risk etc) or whether you or a resident has breached your duty under Section 95.

Where a special measures order is made by a Court or Tribunal in relation to the higher risk building is in force, to comply with that order so far as it relates to the tenant. 

3. It is important that you understand that the Building Safety Act 2022 could apply to your lease where the building in which your flat or apartment is situated is within a building that exceeds 11 metres or 5 storeys and where the owner of the flat or apartment at the 14 February 2022 or a subsequent owner has provided a valid leaseholder deed of certificate which confirms that the lease you are buying was a relevant lease as at the 14 February 2022 and the landlord has produced a landlord certificate that provides information that the landlord is liable for remediation costs incurred.
    

If the above conditions are satisfied, then some or all of the protection below will apply:

• The landlord will be unable to add to the service charge costs incurred resulting from remediation work undertaken by the landlord for defective works which had been performed by the landlord or party connected to the landlord.

• The landlord will be unable to add to the service charge costs it incurs resulting from remediation work undertaken by the landlord in connection with cladding.

• The landlord will be required to pursue contractors or third parties who have done work to the building where your property is located where that work requires remediation for the cost incurred before compelling you to pay for it by way of service charge.

• The landlord will be required to attempt to recover costs incurred for remediation work from government schemes and funds established to meet remediation costs before compelling you to pay for those costs by way of service charge.

• The landlord will not be able to include remediation costs in the service charge where the landlord under the lease at 14 February 2022 had a net worth of more than £2,000,000 multiplied by the number of relevant buildings owned by the relevant landlord.

• The landlord will not be able to include remediation costs within a service charge where your property was at 14 February 2022 worth less than:

1. 1. £325,000, if the flat or apartment is in Greater London.
   2. £175,000, in all other cases.

There will be a cap on service charge costs incurred relating to remediation where the BSA 2022 applies:

1. 1. If the premises are in Greater London the cap is £15,000;
   2. Otherwise, £10,000.
   3. Where the value of the flat or apartment as of 14 February 2023 exceeded £1,000,000 but did not exceed £2,000,000, the cap is set at £50,000.
   4. Where the value of a flat or apartment as of 14 February 2023 exceeded £2,000,000, the cap is set at £100,000.
   5. Where the flat or apartment is protected by the BSA 2022 the remediation costs recoverable by way of service charge are limited to one-tenth of the service charge cap mentioned above.

Please note that where your flat or apartment is within a building where the height exceeds five storeys, or 11 metres and your lease is not protected by the BSA 2022 in connection with remediation costs the landlord cannot add to your service charge any service charge this is irrecoverable from leaseholders whose leases are protected under the BSA 2022.

It is important that from the outset of our instructions, you understand that we are unable to confirm whether your property is protected by the BSA 2022 because we:

• Are unable to confirm whether the building within which your flat or apartment is situated is more than 11 metres in height or exceeds five storeys or for higher risk buildings whether the building within which your flat or apartment is situated is more than 18 metres in height or exceeds seven storeys. 

• Are unable to confirm whether the landlord certificate or the leaseholder deed of certificate that has been provided contains information which can be safely relied upon by you or this firm to enable us to decide that your lease is protected.

• In any event, we are unable as part of the conveyancing process to advise you as to what your liability will be in connection with the future annual service charge which you are obliged to pay as a leaseholder. A surveyor or valuer might be able to provide an opinion as to future service charge costs, whether the state or condition of the building in which your flat or apartment is situated is likely to lead to additional service charge costs or whether remediation works and costs are likely to be incurred which could be subject to the BSA 2022 and the protection we have explained in this document. 

• Where you are concerned as to future remediation costs and the impact of those costs on a service charge, we may be able to undertake further investigative work or to provide advice relating to investigative work undertaken by you or a third party on your behalf, but this is not part of our current work and retainer. It would warrant additional fees to be paid to us and would require us to expressly agree to do that work and for our retainer to be extended for that purpose.

• It is extremely important that you are aware that our firm is unable to advise you on the Building Safety Act, which is a complex and evolving piece of legislation. The above is given on an information basis only and cannot be relied upon as legal advice. The provisions of the BSA (including the relevant certificates) extend beyond the scope of our retainer. This means we are not instructed to advise you on this aspect of your purchase, and you must therefore seek specialist advice.

• Where you independently of this firm obtain additional information or external advice on any of the issues specified above and provide this to us, we will consider it however, we will not be able to provide you with any advice upon it. If you have any questions or queries arising from the additional information or advice you will need to raise it with the advisor who provided it.

In agreeing for this firm to act on your behalf in this transaction you acknowledge that our firm cannot be held liable for any loss, diminution, or inconvenience that you may experience as a result of:

1. This retainer in connection with the explanation provided by this firm or advice given concerning the application and implications of the BSA 2022.
2. Not obtaining the surveying, valuation or other specialist advice that might be necessary to determine whether the building where your new flat or apartment is situated requires remediation work to which the BSA 2022 applies.
3. Relying on where appropriate the leaseholder deed of certificate and any information within it provided by the seller or the landlord or the landlord certificate and any information within it provided by the seller or the landlord as we are unable to warrant or verify that the information provided in either is correct or accurate.

By signing a copy of this document you are declaring that you understand the above information and waive your right to bring about any action for professional negligence or breach of contract against this firm should you experience any loss or detriment of any kind resulting from or relating to the BSA 2022 or any information, explanation or advice from this firm on the BSA 202 (including but not limited remediation costs) following completion of your purchase.

It is important that you understand and acknowledge that this firm does not owe you a duty of care and that there can be no contractual liability arising from this retainer from any loss or damage you sustain concerning the application of the BSA 2022 to your acquisition or any service charge liability arising from your acquisition.

You proceed on you at your own risk with regard to future remediation costs or additional service charge costs arising from the BSA 2022 or due to the lack of protection afforded to you by the BSA 2022.

10. Storage of Papers and Deeds

Upon receiving payment in respect of our final invoice, our policy is to store your file for a minimum period of six years on a sale, but all other files will be retained for 15 years, after which it will automatically be destroyed. “Store” means either (at our option) the simple storage of any paper on the file or scanning that paper and retaining it electronically (and destroying the paper immediately thereafter). Information gathered electronically in the course of the transaction will continue to be stored.

By instructing us to act on your behalf, you thereby expressly consent to us destroying your file as set out above unless you notify us otherwise.

If you require a copy of any document after completion of your matter, we reserve the right to make a reasonable charge for its retrieval and supply.

Naturally we will not destroy documents which you have asked us to retain in safe custody.

11. Data Protection

We use the information you provide primarily for the provision of legal services to you and for related purposes including updating and enhancing client records, analysis to help us manage our practice, statutory returns and legal/regulatory compliance. We also confirm that we record all calls. We have a legal obligation to protection your information. Our use of that information is subject to your instructions, the Data Protection Act 2018, the EU General Data Protection Regulation and other relevant UK and EU legislation and our professional duty of confidentiality. 

Please note that our work for you may require us to give information to third parties e.g. defective title insurers, estate agents, regulatory bodies. We may publish the progress of your transaction on an online case tracking website. You are consenting to this arrangement and authorise us to pass information on the progress of your transaction which may be controlled by the Data Protection Act 2018, to a third party.

You consent to your rights of confidentiality and legal professional privilege being waived, if information on your file of papers is requested by such third parties. 

We also act in your best interests and independently of any third party. If a conflict of interest arises, we will advise you immediately and may have to cease acting.

Please also note that external firms or organisations, such as the CLC and the Information Commissioner’s Office may conduct audit or quality checks on our practice. These external firms and organisations are required to comply with our data protection and privacy policies, controls and procedures. They are also required to maintain confidentiality in relation to your file(s).

You have the right of access under data protection legislation to the personal data that we hold about you on request.

Upon receiving payment in respect of our final invoice, our policy is to store your complete file for a minimum period of six years on a sale, and fifteen years for all other file types such as purchases, remortgages, transfer of equity’s etc. 

12. Prevention of Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Proliferation Financing

To comply with anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing and counter-proliferation financing requirements, we will ask you for proof of your identity and we may conduct searches or enquiries for this purpose. We may also be required to identify and verify the identity of other persons such as directors or beneficial owners. If you or they do not provide us with the required information promptly, your matter may be delayed.

You agree that we may make checks using online electronic verification systems or other databases as we may decide. Please note, New Homes Law charge an electronic ID verification fee of £75 inc VAT per person for each check completed.

You should not send us any deposit monies until we have told you these checks have been completed.

We may ask you to confirm the source of any money you have sent us or will send us. If you do not provide us with that information promptly, your matter may be delayed.

Any personal data we receive from you for the purpose of preventing money laundering, terrorist financing or proliferation financing will be used only for that purpose or with your consent; or as permitted by or under another enactment.

We are professionally and legally obliged to keep your affairs confidential. However, we may be required by law to make a disclosure to the National Crime Agency( NCA) where we know or suspect that a transaction may involve money laundering, terrorist financing or proliferation financing. If we make a disclosure in relation to your matter, we may not be able to tell you that a disclosure has been made. We may have to stop working on your matter for a period of time and may not be able to tell you why.

Subject to section 8, we shall not be liable for any loss arising from or connected with our compliance with any statutory obligation, or reasonable belief we may have, to report matters to the relevant authorities under the provisions of the money laundering, terrorist financing and/or proliferation financing legislation.

New Homes Law have partnered with Thirdfort to give our clients the flexibility to complete the necessary identity checks in an efficient, timely and secure manner. Thirdfort is an FCA regulated business that use cutting edge ID verification technology and bank level encryption to allow you to complete the enhanced ID verification process from the comfort of your own home in a matter of minutes using your smartphone. We have enclosed an information sheet giving you more details about the process. Upon instruction you will receive a notification from Thirdfort to initiate the ID verification process.

13. Confidentiality

As lawyers, we are under a general professional and legal obligation to keep your affairs private. However, we are required, by current legislation, to make a report to the NCA where we know or suspect that a transaction involves Money Laundering or Terrorist Financing. By instructing us to act on your behalf in accordance with these Terms you give us irrevocable authority to make a disclosure to NCA if we consider it appropriate.

You agree that this authority overrides any confidentiality or entitlement to legal professional privilege. We shall be unable to tell you if we have made a report.

14. Raising Queries or Concerns

We aim to give you a high-quality service. However, as mentioned in our Client Care Letter, if you do have any queries or concerns about our work for you (including billing related matters) then please take the matter up immediately, first with your Conveyancer referred to in the Client Care Letter. If that does not resolve the problem to your satisfaction or you would prefer not to speak to your conveyancer, then please take it up with our Customer Care Team who will handle your complaint. We will aim to contact you within seven days of receipt of your complaint to confirm how your complaint will be dealt with. We aim to resolve your compliant within 28 days. A copy of our complaints’ procedure is available upon request.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint, then you have the right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman. Your complaint can only be referred to the Legal Ombudsman if the complaint has not been resolved to your satisfaction within eight weeks of your complaint being made to us.

You must make your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of the date of our final written response to your complaint, and no later than a year from the problem happening, or a year from the date that you should reasonably have known that there was cause for complaint. The Legal Ombudsman can be contacted by post at PO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH or by telephone on 0300 555 0333 between 8.30am and 5.30pm or by email on enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk.

If you have any form of disability which makes it difficult or impossible for you to make use of our service, please let us know so we can take immediate steps, as far as it is possible for us to do so, to enable you to receive the service.

15. Termination

You may terminate our appointment at any time by giving us notice in writing. We can keep all your papers and documents while there is still money owed to us for our charges or disbursements.

We will only decide to stop acting for you with good reason, eg where we feel that the relationship has broken down, if you do not pay a bill, if you provide us with misleading information, or if you act in an abusive or offensive manner. We will give you reasonable notice before we stop acting for you.

If the relationship of trust and mutual respect that needs to exist between a lawyer and a client irretrievably breaks down, and we cannot reasonably obtain instructions from you, then we can ask you to appoint alternative legal representatives, and we will take no further steps for you on the transaction, provided that in doing so your transaction is not seriously prejudiced. If we stop acting for you in this way, we will send you an invoice for our fees and charges up until that point.

If you or we decide that we should stop acting for you, we will charge you for the work we have done and, where appropriate, for transferring the matter to another adviser if you so request. This will be calculated on the basis set out in the Client Care Letter.

We are not responsible for reminding you about important dates and/or any deadlines after our appointment has been terminated.

16. Your Right to Cancel

The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Payments) Regulations 2013 provides you with the right to cancel your instructions with us within 14 days without providing us any reason. The cancellation period will expire after 14 days from the date given in our Client Care Letter. To exercise the right to cancel, you must inform us of your decision to cancel this contract by a clear statement (such as a letter sent by post, email or fax).

You may use the following wording:

I/We [*] herby give notice that I/We [*] can my/our [*] contract for the provision of the following conveyancing of [*property address] received on [*date of Client Care Letter].

Name and Address of Client[s]:

Date:

Signature of Client[s]:

If you cancel this contract immediately after instruction within the 14 days, we will repay you all payments received from you. We will make the repayment without undue delay, and not later than 14 days from the day on which you tell us that you wish to cancel this contract. We will make the repayment to you using BACS transfer or bank transfer, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise. In any event, we will not charge you for making the repayment. However, the nature of conveyancing work is such that we will need to start work, and therefore incur charges on your behalf before the cancellation time period has expired.

So that we can start the work, you must sign these Terms where indicated to confirm that you expressly request us to start working on your transaction during the cancellation period, and that you agree that we will incur third party costs on your behalf, and that these costs will not be repaid to you if you subsequently cancel the contract. 

17. Professional Indemnity Insurance

We have professional indemnity insurance giving cover for claims against us. Details of this insurance, including contact details of our insurer and the territorial coverage of the policy, are available on our website, or can be provided on request.

It is a condition of our professional indemnity insurance that we notify our insurer and/or broker of any circumstances which may give rise to a claim against us. In doing so, we may disclose documents and information to our insurer, broker and insurance advisers on a confidential basis. Our insurers and brokers are contractually obliged to keep all information we pass to them strictly confidential.

18. Email Communication

Please note that we do not currently encrypt our outgoing email messages. If you provide us with an email address, we assume that you are happy for us to communicate with you via email. If you do not wish us to store your emails, please do not correspond with us by email.

19. Equality and Diversity

This firm is committed to promoting equality and diversity in all of its dealings with clients, third parties and employees. Please contact us if you would like a copy of our Equality and Diversity Policy.

20. Investment Advice

We are not authorised by the FCA. If, whilst we are acting for you, you need advice on investments we may have to refer you to someone who is authorised to provide the necessary advice.

 

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