Important Regulatory Information
How will my case be handled?
As you can appreciate, each notarial work is different and the requirements will vary according to whether the client is a private individual or a company. That said, typical key stages of our notarial work are likely to include:
(1) Receiving and reviewing the document in question;
(2) liaising with your legal advisors or other bodies to obtain the necessary documentation to deal with the document (e.g. information from Companies House or foreign registries, powers of attorney etc);
(3) Checking the identity, capacity and authority of the person who is to sign the document;
(4) verifying with the relevant issuing authorities that the document/award in question is genuine. Please note that in the case of academic awards, this would entail checking with the appropriate academic institutions;
(5) Meeting with the signatory to verify their identity and to ascertain that they understand what they are signing and that they are doing so of their own free will and ensuring that the document is executed;
(6) drafting and affixing or endorsing a notarial certificate to the document;
(7) arranging for the legalisation of the document as appropriate; and
(8) Arranging for the storage of copies of all notarised documents in accordance with the requirements of the Notarial Practice Rules 2019.
Insurance and redress information
In the interests of our clients, and in line with regulatory requirements, our notarial practice maintains professional indemnity insurance at a level of £1,000,000.00 per claim. Our notarial work is also protected by fidelity insurance through the Notaries Guarantee scheme.
Complaints
Our notarial practice is regulated through the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury:
The Faculty Office 1
The Sanctuary
Westminster
London
SW1P 3JT
Telephone: 020 7222 5381
Email: Faculty.office@1thesanctuary.com
Website: www.facultyoffice.org.uk
In the event that you are dissatisfied about any aspects of our services then please do not hesitate to contact us in the first instance.
If we are unable to resolve the matter you may then complain to the Notaries Society of which our principal Notary, Tom Ginot is a member. The Notaries Society has a Complaints Procedure which is approved by the Faculty Office. This Complaints Procedure is free to use and is designed to provide a quick resolution to any dispute. In that case please write (but do not enclose any original documents) with full details of your complaint to:-
The Secretary of The Notaries Society
P O Box 1023
Ipswich
IP1 9XB
Email: secretary@thenotariessociety.org.uk
If you have any difficulty in making a complaint in writing, please do not hesitate to call the Notaries Society / the Faculty Office for assistance.
Finally, even if you have your complaint considered under the Notaries Society Approved Complaints Procedure, you may at the end of that procedure or after a period of 8 weeks from the date you first notified us that you were dissatisfied, make your complaint directly to the Legal Ombudsman, if you are not happy with the result:
Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6806
Wolverhampton
WV1 9WJ
Tel : 0300 555 0333
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
If you decide to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, you must refer your matter to the Legal Ombudsman within one year from the act/omission or within one year from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.