Terms of Use
TERMS OF BUSINESS
The following are the terms and conditions under which you are instructing us to act for you in connection with your property transaction.
ADVICE
Yellow Conveyancing is a trading style of Yellow Conveyancing Limited who are Licensed Conveyancers meaning that we are specialist property lawyers qualified to give advice on conveyancing law. We are regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) under Licence Number: 14102 and you can find full details of the CLC Regulations at www.clc-uk.org (“the Regulations”). We are insured via the Council for Licensed Conveyancers participating insurers scheme with cover to £2,000,000.
We are neither qualified nor insured to advise you on your financial arrangements, the structure of the property, the tax implications or other aspects of the law outside of conveyancing, and you will need to instruct a specialist to advise you on these areas e.g. a Financial Adviser, Surveyor, Tax Adviser etc.
BUSINESS HOURS & APPOINTMENTS
Our hours of business are 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday. We are always happy to see our clients however, if you wish to see a Conveyancer instead of an administrator, an appointment must be booked in advance.
PAYMENT OF BILLS
We will provide you with a financial statement as soon as possible. We will submit our bill at the conclusion of the matter unless we have agreed an arrangement, or the matter continues for a period longer than three months. We may ask you to make a payment on account of costs and disbursements generally and to keep us covered for costs from time to time as the matter proceeds. We reserve the right to stop work on any matter for which we have not received the payment on account of costs requested. You agree that money held on your behalf may be applied to such bills.
Bills are payable on presentation and interest is payable at 4% above Bank base rate for any part of the bill remaining unpaid for more than seven days after delivery.
On completion, we must be in receipt of cleared funds to pay any balance due to complete the transaction, our fees and disbursements and any third party fees and disbursements e.g. Estate Agents’ fees. You agree that it is your responsibility to arrange for the amount required to be cleared in our account the day before completion.
We recommend that you make all payments to us through the electronic banking systems. Telegraphic Transfer or CHAPS payments are the only payments which are guaranteed to arrive on the same day. We will also accept Bankers’ Drafts or Building Society cheques. Personal cheques are not recommended and will take six workings days to clear (workings days do not include Saturday, Sunday, Bank Holidays or Statutory Holidays).
We do not accept cash payments. You must not pay money into our account over the counter. If you do, this will undoubtedly lead to a report to the NCA (National Crime Agency) and the inability to utilise or return the funds to you. This could also render you liable for penalties for late completion.
We reserve the right to charge for late payment of our invoice and by signing this form you agree to pay £20 per letter for any letters we send requesting payment of any outstanding invoice.
We reserve the right to retain all documents in our possession until all invoices are paid in full. Any dispute that may arise out of or in connection with our service to you, including recovery of fees, shall be governed by English Law and the Courts of England shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine any proceedings, subject to our sole right to institute proceedings in any other Court of competent jurisdiction.
PAYMENT OF INTEREST
Unless specifically agreed with you, we shall be under no obligation to you to open a deposit account for monies held on your behalf. We will account to you for interest earned by us on cleared funds held on your behalf in a separate designated deposit account, where such interest would be in excess of £20.00 net of tax. By signing this form you consent to us retaining amounts payable up to £20 net of tax. We will pay you an equivalent amount in relation to any cleared funds not kept in a separate designated deposit account and this will be paid gross where deduction of tax is required by statute.
PAYMENT OF YOUR COSTS BY OTHERS
Even if some other person agrees to pay your costs, you remain primarily liable for all our costs and disbursements as they become due.
COMPLAINTS
We aim to provide an efficient and professional service. Please contact us if you have any concerns or queries about the service or bill you receive from us.
If there is any aspect of our service with which you are unhappy, please contact the person dealing with your case to discuss the problem, and your concerns will be investigated.
If you are still dissatisfied then contact Jane Fiddes to discuss the problem. Your complaint will be fully investigated and dealt with properly and promptly. All decisions will be based upon a sufficient investigation of the circumstances, and redress will be provided where appropriate. This procedure will not involve any extra cost to you. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of our Complaints Procedure, then you have the right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman. You must make such a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman no later than:
- one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about; or
- one year from the date when the complainant should have realised that there was cause for complaint and three years from the date that you should reasonably know that there are grounds for complaint.
There is a requirement to refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you regarding your complaint.
The Legal Ombudsman contact details are:
Legal Ombudsman Tel: 0300 555 0333
PO Box 6806
Wolverhampton
WV1 9WJ
Tel: 0300 555 0333
E-mail: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
If you make a valid claim against us for 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 Council for Licensed Conveyancers (from whom details can be obtained).
FINANCE
It is your responsibility to arrange your finances and ensure that we are in receipt of all required monies by way of cleared funds, prior to exchange or completion as appropriate. We will not be liable for any loss you incur if we are not in receipt of your monies, by way of cleared funds, prior to exchange or completion as appropriate.
You are responsible for all financial charges affecting the property whether or not you have made us or your buyer aware of them.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
We are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. However, we are included in the register maintained by the Financial Conduct Authority so that we can carry on Insurance Distribution Activities, which is broadly advising on, selling and administration of insurance contracts. This part of our business, including arrangements for complaints or redress if something goes wrong, is regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers. The register can be accessed via the Financial Conduct Authority website at https://register.fca.org.uk/s/
You authorise us to settle your estate agency fees out of the proceeds of sale on completion, and in the event that you instruct us to pay less than the full amount invoiced by the estate agent for any reason you authorise us to inform the estate agent prior to completion of the amount we are instructed to pay.
EVIDENCE OF IDENTITY AND MONEY LAUNDERING
We are legally obliged to require you to provide evidence of your identity and the identity of any one you are acting on behalf of, if you are acting as agent.
In order to stop money laundering (the movement of money that has been obtained illegally), we may be required to share with the authorities information which you have given to us confidentially. We have to tell the government if we suspect that any money laundering is going on in any case with which we are dealing. The law also says that we are not allowed to tell you if we have reported any suspicions in your case.
You consent to us reporting to the appropriate authorities any suspicious activities or your involvement in crime, fraud or tax evasion which you reveal to us, as required by the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
MORTGAGE REDEMPTION STATEMENTS / SETTLEMENT FIGURES
When you sell a property, you have to pay off any monies secured against the property. You authorise us to obtain confirmation of the amount required to repay these monies on your behalf from the sale proceeds. However, if the figure we are given is inaccurate, you agree that you will be responsible for the payment of the shortfall which you will settle immediately you are made aware of it.
We reserve the right to retain an amount approximately equal to one month’s repayments until we receive the all clear from the Lender (approx 6 weeks).
REFERRAL FEES AND COMMISSIONS
Under the Council for Licensed Conveyancers Code of Conduct we must give you information about this firm’s financial arrangements with the introducer who has referred you to us to act in your conveyancing and mortgage transactions. We shall pay your introducer a fee which is confirmed in our covering letter. This arrangement between the Practice and your introducer does not affect your case in any way. We are independent and will advise you and act for you in your best interests, using our professional judgement. Notwithstanding this instruction, you have the right to choose any provider of legal services before any work commences.
ELECTRONIC MAIL AND FAX
It is our normal practice to use electronic mail, SMS, internet-based services and facsimile transmissions throughout your case to communicate with any or all parties concerned, such as Banks, HM Revenue & Customs, HM Land Registry, other party Solicitors etc. You consent to this practice and agree that we cannot be held responsible in connection with any confidentiality and security issues that arise.
If you provide us with an email address, either as a point of contact or by sending an email to us, we will assume that the senders address belongs to you and that you agree to us using it.
AUDIT & QUALITY CHECK
Our Company may be subject to audit or quality checks by external firms or organisations. Information from your file may therefore be made available in such circumstances. We will always aim to obtain a confidentiality agreement.
RETENTION OF PAPERS – CONVEYANCING
After completion of your matter/s you consent to us destroying the file of papers 6 years after the matter has been completed for a sale, and 15 years after the matter has completed for a purchase
THE CONSUMER CONTRACTS (INFORMATION, CANCELLATION AND ADDITIONAL PAYMENTS) REGULATIONS 2013
You should be aware that The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Payments) Regulations 2013 provide you with a right to cancel your instructions to us within 14 days without giving any reason. The cancellation period will expire after 14 days from the date given on the covering letter. To exercise the right to cancel, you must inform us of your decision to cancel this contract by a clear statement (e.g. letter sent by post, fax or email). You may use the model cancellation form (as set out below), but this is not obligatory:
To Yellow Conveyancing
I/We * hereby give notice that I/We * cancel my/our * contract for the provision of the conveyancing of (insert address of sale and/or purchase property), received on {enter date of the covering letter} Name of consumer(s),
Address of consumer(s),
Signature of consumer(s) (only if this form is notified on paper), Date
* Delete as appropriate.
If you cancel this contract within the 14 day cancellation period, we will reimburse all payments received from you. We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days from the day on which we are informed about your decision to cancel this contract. We will make the reimbursement using BACS transfer or bank transfer, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of the reimbursement. The nature of your case is such that we will need to start work immediately, and therefore incur charges on your behalf before the cancellation period has expired. Please note that by signing the Terms of Business you are expressly requesting that we start working on your case during the cancellation period and that you are aware that third party costs will be incurred, and these will not be reimbursed to you if you subsequently cancel the contract.
FINANCIAL SERVICES COMPENSATION SCHEME (FSCS)
In the event of a banking failure, it is unlikely that we would be held liable for any losses of client account money. If a corporate body is not considered a small company by FSCS then they will not be eligible for compensation. We currently hold our client account funds with Lloyds Bank. The £85,000.00 FSCS limit will apply to each individual clients so if you hold other personal monies yourself in the same bank as our client account, the limit remains £85,000.00 in total.
PRIVACY NOTICE
In order to provide you with legal services, for the administration of our files and records and, if you agree, we will be processing (using and storing) your personal data, which includes information that identifies you, such as your name, address and contact information. In some cases, we may also process special categories of personal data, such as your health records and/or criminal conviction and offence records.
We may be required to process your personal data in order to comply with our obligations under legislation such as the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, the Criminal Finances Act 2017, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act 2010 (for clients with US ‘person’ status) and under common law. We may, on occasion, be required to share your personal data with the relevant authorities. This processing of your personal data is to comply with the law, and we would be unable to act for you without doing so.
In addition, we may process your personal data on the basis that we have a contract with you. Alternatively, in some instances we may have a legitimate interest in processing your personal data.
Whenever we are processing special categories of personal data, and/or criminal conviction and offence records, we will only use that data to deliver the services you have instructed us to provide.
All your personal data will be stored, processed, and erased, in accordance with our Data Retention and Erasure Policy, a copy of which is available upon request from our Data Protection Manager, Jane Fiddes.
In addition to our Practice we may, when required and necessary, share your personal data with other organisations. Depending on the work we are undertaking for you the other organisations may include:
- Our firm’s ‘data processors’ who are contractors from whom we obtain operational services including IT support, secure document storage and shredding.
- Other ‘data controllers’ that provide professional or commercial services, such as Counsel, other solicitors and lawyers, accountants, surveyors, and estate and letting agents.
- Providers of insurance, financial and banking services to you and/or to our firm.
- HMRC, HM Land Registry, Councils, and other national and local government bodies.
- The Council of Licenced Conveyancers, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and organisations involved with the preparation, assessment, and certification of quality standards for which our Practice is seeking or maintaining accreditation.
- If you agree, to organisations providing marketing services to our firm.
All of the above are located in the UK.
You have the right of access to your personal data and to verify the lawfulness of the processing. If you would like a copy of your personal data that we are processing please contact our Data Protection Manager, Jane Fiddes. Kindly note, we will need to verify your identity before responding to your request. Normally we make no charge for doing this and will endeavour to send it to you within one month of receipt of your request. If you notice that any of the information we send you is inaccurate or incomplete, please tell us and we will rectify it promptly.
If you are dissatisfied with our response you may complain to a supervisory authority which, in the UK, is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF. The ICO’s Helpline is 0303 123 1113. The ICO’s website is at https://ico.org.uk/. There may also be judicial remedies available to you.
We will not erase or restrict the processing of your personal data during the period in which we have a legal obligation to retain that data under the applicable Act, Regulations or in common law.
Where we obtained your personal data to fulfil our contractual obligations to you, or if we have a legitimate interest for processing your personal data for the exercise or defence of legal claims, we will erase that data as soon as it is no longer necessary to retain it in relation to the purpose for which it was originally collected. Please see our Data Retention and Erasure Policy for timescales.
We are committed to ensuring that all information we hold about you is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure we have implemented appropriate physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and protect that information.
Other data controller recipients of your personal data are each responsible for implementing appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and protect that information, and to keep it secure.
Data processor recipients of your personal data have provided sufficient guarantees that they have implemented measures to ensure compliance with data protection regulations and to protect your rights.
We will not transfer your personal data overseas.
YOUR AGREEMENT
These Terms of Business shall be deemed to have been accepted upon our subsequent receipt from you or your agent instructions, whether verbal or written, in any matter.