Our engagement letter, the schedule of services and our standard terms and
conditions of business are governed by, and should be construed in
accordance with English law. Each party agrees that the courts of England
will have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any claim, dispute or difference
concerning this engagement letter and any matter arising from it. Each party
irrevocably waives any right to object to any action being brought in those
Courts, to claim that the action has been brought in an inappropriate forum,
or to claim that those Courts do not have jurisdiction.
2. Client identification
As with other professional services firms, we are required to identify our
clients for the purposes of the UK anti-money laundering legislation. We may
request from you, and retain, such information and documentation as we
require for these purposes and/or make searches of appropriate databases.
3. Client money
If we hold money on your behalf, such money will be held in trust in a client
bank account, which is segregated from the firm’s funds. The account will be
operated and all funds dealt with in accordance with the Association of
Accounting Technicians.
4. Commissions and other benefits
In some circumstances we may receive commissions and/or other benefits
for introductions to other professionals or in respect of transactions which
we arrange for you. Where this happens we will notify you in writing of the
amount and terms of payment and receipt of any such commissions or
benefits. The same will apply where the payment is made to or the
transactions are arranged by a person or business connected with ours. The
fees you would otherwise pay will not be reduced by the amount of the
commissions or benefits.
5. Complaints
We are committed to providing you with a high quality service that is both
efficient and effective. However, should there be any cause for complaint in
relation to any aspect of our service please contact Martin Caruana. We agree
to look into any complaint carefully and promptly and do everything
reasonable to put it right. If you are still not satisfied you can refer your
complaint to our professional body, the Association of Accounting
Technicians.
6. Confidentiality
Communication between us is confidential. We shall take all reasonable
steps not to disclose your information except where we are required to and
as set out in our privacy notice. Unless we are authorised by you to disclose
information on your behalf, this undertaking will apply during and after this
engagement.
We may, on occasions, subcontract work on your affairs to other tax or
accounting professionals. The subcontractors will be bound by our client
confidentiality and security terms.
7. Conflicts of interest
If there is a conflict of interest in our relationship with you or in our
relationship with you and another client that is capable of being addressed
successfully by the adoption of suitable safeguards to protect your interests,
then we will adopt those safeguards.
Where conflicts are identified that cannot be managed in a way that protects
your interests then we regret that we will be unable to provide further
services. If this arises, we will inform you promptly. We reserve the right to
act for other clients whose interests are not the same as or are adverse to
yours, subject, of course, to the obligations of confidentiality referred to
above.
8. Data Protection
You acknowledge that we will act in accordance with the privacy notice we
have supplied to you.
9. Disengagement
Should we resign or be requested to resign we will normally issue a
disengagement letter to ensure that our respective responsibilities are clear.
Should we have no contact with you for a period of one year or more we may
issue to your last known address a disengagement letter and thereafter
cease to act.
We reserve the right following termination for any reason to destroy any of
your documents that we have not been able to return to you after a period of
six months unless other laws or regulations require otherwise.
10. Electronic and other communication
As instructed, we will communicate with you and with any third parties you
instruct us to as set out in our covering letter and privacy notice via email or
by other electronic means. The recipient is responsible for virus-checking
emails and any attachments.
With electronic communication there is a risk of non-receipt, delayed receipt,
inadvertent misdirection or interception by third parties. We use virusscanning software to reduce the risk of viruses and similar damaging items
being transmitted through emails or electronic storage devices. However,
electronic communication is not totally secure and we cannot be held
responsible for damage or loss caused by viruses, nor for communications
that are corrupted or altered after despatch. Nor can we accept any liability
for problems or accidental errors relating to this means of communication,
especially in relation to commercially sensitive material. These are risks you
must accept in return for greater efficiency and lower costs. If you do not
wish to accept these risks, please let us know and we will communicate by
hard copy, other than where electronic submission is mandatory.
Any communication by us with you sent through the post or DX system is
deemed to arrive at your postal address two working days after the day that
the document was sent.
When accessing information held electronically by HMRC, we may have
access to more information than we need and will only access records
reasonably required to carry out the contract.
You are required to keep us up to date with accurate contact details at all
times. This is important to ensure that communications and papers are not
sent to the incorrect address.
11. Fees and payment terms
Our fees may depend not only upon the time spent on your affairs but also
on the level of skill and responsibility and the importance and value of the
advice that we provide, as well as the level of risk.
If we provide you with an estimate of our fees for any specific work, then the
estimate will not be contractually binding unless we explicitly state that that
will be the case.
Where requested we may indicate a fixed fee for the provision of specific
services or an indicative range of fees for a particular assignment. It is not
our practice to identify fixed fees for more than a year ahead as such fee
quotes need to be reviewed in the light of events. If it becomes apparent to
us, due to unforeseen circumstances, that a fee quote is inadequate, we
reserve the right to notify you of a revised figure or range and to seek your
agreement thereto.
In some cases, you may be entitled to assistance with your professional fees,
particularly in relation to any investigation into your tax affairs by HMRC.
Assistance may be provided through insurance policies you hold or via
membership of a professional or trade body. Other than where such
insurance was arranged through us you will need to advise us of any such
insurance cover that you have. You will remain liable for our fees regardless
of whether all or part are liable to be paid by your insurers.
We will bill as agreed and our invoices are due for payment upon presentation
and by the due date shown on the invoice. Our fees are exclusive of VAT
which will be added where it is chargeable. Any disbursements we incur on
your behalf and expenses incurred in the course of carrying out our work for
you will be added to our invoices where appropriate.
Unless otherwise agreed to the contrary our fees do not include the costs of
any third party, counsel or other professional fees.
Where this contract exists between us and a purchaser acting in the course
of a business we reserve the right to charge interest on late-paid invoices at
the rate of 8% above the Bank of England base rate under the Late Payment
of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. We also reserve the right to
suspend our services or to cease to act for you on giving written notice if
payment of any fees is unduly delayed. We intend to exercise these rights
only where it is fair and reasonable to do so.
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If you do not accept that an invoiced fee is fair and reasonable you mus
