Standard terms of business and limitation of liability

The purpose of this schedule is to set out the standard terms of business that apply to all engagements accepted.  All work carried out is subject to these terms except where changes are expressly agreed in writing. 

These standard terms of business are applicable to all types of entities (e.g. companies, LLPs, charities, friendly  societies, academies, pension schemes, etc.). Any reference therefore to ‘director’ or ‘company’ should be  interpreted as appropriate for the entity type (e.g. partner, trustee, governor, charity, LLP, etc.).  

1 Professional obligations 

1.1 As required by the Provision of Services Regulations 2009 (SI 2009/2999), details of the firm’s professional  registrations, including audit registration where applicable, can be found at www.auditregister.org.uk, under  the reference C008843521 or at our offices at Knoll House, Knoll Road, Camberley, Surrey, GU15 3SY.  

1.2 We will observe and act in accordance with the bye-laws and regulations of our professional body, the  Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, together with their code of ethics. We accept  instructions to act for you on this basis. In particular you give us authority to correct errors made by HM  Revenue & Customs where we become aware of them. We will not be liable for any loss, damage or cost  arising from our compliance with statutory or regulatory obligations. 

Professional indemnity insurance 

1.3 In accordance with the disclosure requirements of the Provision of Services Regulations 2009, details of  our professional indemnity insurer is NBS Underwriting, One Fleet Place, London, EC4M 7WS. The  territorial coverage is worldwide excluding professional business carried out from an office in the United  States of America or Canada and excludes any action for a claim brought in any court in the United States  of America or Canada. 

2 Investment services 

2.1 Since we are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority then we may have to refer you to someone  who is authorised if you need advice on investments. However, as we are licensed by our professional  body, we may be able to provide certain investment services that are complementary to, or arise out of, the  professional services we are providing to you. 

2.2 Such advice may include: 

  • advise you on investments generally, but not recommend a particular investment or type of investment; refer you to a Permitted Third Party (PTP) (an independent firm authorised by the FCA), assist you and  the PTP during the course of any advice given by that party and comment on, or explain, the advice  received (but not make alternative recommendations). The PTP will issue you with his own terms and 

conditions letter, will be remunerated separately for his services and will take full responsibility for  compliance with the requirements of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000;  

  • advise you in connection with the disposal of an investment, other than your rights in a pension policy  or scheme; 
  • advise and assist you in transactions concerning shares or other securities not quoted on a recognised  exchange;  
  • assist you in making arrangements for transactions in investments in certain circumstances; and manage investments or act as trustee (or donee of a power of attorney) where decisions to invest are  taken on the advice of an authorised person. 

2.3 For corporate clients we may also, on the understanding that the shares or other securities of the company  are not publicly traded: 

  • advise the company, existing or prospective shareholders in relation to exercising rights, taking benefits  or share options, valuations and methods of such valuations; 
  • arrange any agreements in connection with the issue, sale or transfer of the company’s shares or other  securities; 
  • arrange for the issue of new shares; and 
  • act as the addressee to receive confirmation of acceptance of offer documents etc. 

2.4 In the unlikely event that we cannot meet our liabilities to you, you may be able to claim compensation  under the Chartered Accountants’ Compensation Scheme in respect of exempt regulated activities  undertaken. 

2.5 In relation to the conduct of insurance distribution activities, we are an ancillary insurance intermediary.  Where the firm is providing insurance distribution services (including fee protection), we are not authorised  by the Financial Conduct Authority. However, we are included on the Register maintained by the Financial  Conduct Authority so that we can carry on insurance distribution activity, which is broadly the 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 our professional body. The register can be  accessed via the Financial Conduct Authority website at http://www.fca.org.uk/register .  

Financial Promotions 

2.6 To enable us to provide you with a proper service, there may be occasions when we will need to contact  you without your express permission concerning investment business matters. For example, it may be in  your interests to sell a particular investment and we would wish to inform you of this. We may therefore  contact you in such circumstances, but would only do so in our normal office hours. We shall of course  comply with any restrictions you may wish to impose which you notify to us in writing. 

3 Commissions or other benefits 

3.1 In some circumstances, commissions or other benefits may become payable to us or to one of our  associates in respect of transactions we or such associates arrange for you, in which case you will be  notified in writing of the amount and terms of payment. If we agree to reduce the fees that we would  otherwise charge by the amount of commission retained, we will apply the HMRC concession which allows  VAT to be calculated on the net fee after deduction of the commission. You consent to such commission or  other benefits being retained by us or, as the case may be, by our associates, without our, or their, being  liable to account to you for any such amounts. 

4 Client monies 

4.1 We may, from time to time, 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 Clients’ Money Regulations of our professional body. 

4.2 In order to avoid an excessive amount of administration, interest will only be paid to you where the amount  of interest that would be earned on the balances held on your behalf in any calendar year exceeds £25.  Any such interest would be calculated using the prevailing rate applied by Lloyds for small deposits subject  to the minimum period of notice for withdrawals. Subject to any tax legislation, interest will be paid gross. 

4.3 If the total sum of money held on your behalf is enough to give rise to a significant amount of interest or is  likely to do so, then the money will be placed in a separate interest-bearing client bank account designated  to you. All interest earned on such money will be paid to you. Subject to any tax legislation, interest will be  paid gross.

4.4 We will return monies held on your behalf promptly as soon as there is no longer any reason to retain those  funds. In the unlikely event of us holding any unclaimed monies we reserve the right to pay such monies to  a registered charity in line with the guidelines set out in the Clients’ Money Regulations referred to above.  We will not do this unless we have been unable to contact you for at least five years and we have taken  reasonable steps to trace you and return the monies. 

5 Fees 

5.1 Our fees are computed on the basis of time spent on your affairs by the principals and our staff, including  sub-contractors or consultants where necessary, and on the levels of skill and responsibility involved.  Disbursements represent travel, accommodation and other expenses incurred in dealing with your affairs.  

5.2 If it is necessary to carry out work outside the responsibilities agreed with you for each service, we will  advise you in advance. Any additional work will involve additional fees. Accordingly, we would like to point  out that it is in your interests to ensure that your records etc. are completed to the agreed stage. 

5.3 Invoices are payable in full (including disbursements) in accordance with the terms set out on the invoice.  If you do not accept that an invoiced fee is fair and reasonable you must notify us within 21 days of receipt,  failing which you will be deemed to have accepted that payment is due. 

5.4 It is our normal practice to request that clients make arrangements to pay a proportion of their fee on a  monthly standing order. These standing orders will be applied to fees arising from work agreed in this letter  of engagement for the current and ensuing years. Once we have been able to assess the amount of work  and time involved we would be grateful if you would agree to pay an amount to us on a regular basis. 

5.5 We reserve the right to charge interest on overdue accounts at the current rate under the Late Payment of  Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. We also reserve the right to terminate our engagement and cease  acting if payment of any fees billed is unduly delayed. We accept settlement of fees by certain credit cards. 

5.6 If a client company, trust or other entity is unable or unwilling to settle our fees, we reserve the right to seek  payment from the individual (or parent company) giving us instructions on behalf of the client, and we shall  be entitled to enforce any sums due against the group company or individual nominated to act for you. 

5.7 Insofar as we are permitted to so by law or by professional guidelines, we reserve the right to exercise a  lien over all funds, documents and records in our possession relating to all engagements for you until all  outstanding fees and disbursements are paid in full. 

5.8 In the event that we cease to act in relation to your company’s affairs you agree to meet all reasonable  costs of providing information to the company’s new advisors. In particular you agree to meet these costs  where we are required by law to provide information to a successor firm. 

6 Retention of papers 

6.1 You have a legal responsibility to retain documents and records relevant to your financial affairs. During the  course of our work we may collect information from you and others relevant to your tax and financial affairs.  We will return any original documents to you if requested. Documents and records relevant to your tax  affairs are required by law to be retained as follows: 

Individuals, trustees and partnerships: 

  • with trading or rental income: five years and 10 months after the end of the tax year; otherwise: 22 months after the end of the tax year. 

Companies, Limited Liability Partnerships, and other corporate entities: 

  • six years from the end of the accounting period. 

6.2 Although certain documents may legally belong to you, we may destroy correspondence and other papers  that we store electronically or otherwise that are more than seven years old, except documents we think  may be of continuing significance. You must notify us in writing if you wish us to keep any document for a  longer period. 

7 Conflicts of interest and independence 

7.1 We reserve the right during our engagement with you to deliver services to other clients whose interests  might compete with yours or are or may be adverse to yours, subject to clause 8 below. We confirm that  we will notify you immediately should we become aware of any conflict of interest involving us and affecting  you unless we are unable to do so because of our confidentiality obligations. We have safeguards that can  be implemented to protect the interests of different clients if a conflict arises. Where conflicts are identified  which cannot be managed in a way that protects your interests then we regret that we will be unable to  provide further services.

7.2 During and after our engagement, you agree that we reserve the right to act for other clients whose interests  are or may compete with or be adverse to yours, subject, of course, to our obligations of confidentiality and  the safeguards set out in the paragraph on confidentiality below.  

8 Confidentiality 

8.1 We confirm that where you give us confidential information we shall at all times keep it confidential, except  as required by law or as provided for in regulatory, ethical or other professional statements relevant to our  engagement. 

8.2 You agree that, if we act for other clients who are or who become your competitors, to comply with our duty  of confidentiality, it will be sufficient for us to take such steps as we think appropriate to preserve the  confidentiality of information given to us by you, both during and after this engagement. These may include  taking the same or similar steps as we take in respect of the confidentiality of our own information. 

8.3 In addition, if we act for other clients whose interests are or may be adverse to yours, we will manage the  conflict by implementing additional safeguards to preserve confidentiality. Safeguards may include  measures such as separate teams, physical separation of teams, and separate arrangements for storage  of, and access to, information.  

8.4 You agree that the effective implementation of such steps or safeguards as described above will provide  adequate measures to avoid any real risk of confidentiality being impaired.  

8.5 We may, on occasions, subcontract work on your affairs to other tax or accounting professionals. The  subcontractors will be bound by our client confidentiality terms. You may additionally need to consider your  data protection responsibilities. 

8.6 We will inform you of the proposed use of a subcontractor before they commence work, except where your  data will not be transferred out of our systems and the subcontractor is bound by the confidentiality terms  equivalent to an employee. 

8.7 If we use external or cloud-based systems, we will ensure confidentiality of your information is maintained. 8.8 This clause applies in addition to our obligations as to data protection below. 

9 Quality control 

9.1 As part of our ongoing commitment to providing a high quality service, our files are periodically subject to  an independent regulatory or quality review. Our reviewers are highly experienced and professional people  and are, of course, bound by the same requirements of confidentiality as our principals and staff.  

Dealing with HM Revenue & Customs 

9.2 When dealing with HMRC on your behalf we are required to be honest and to take reasonable care to  ensure that your returns are correct. To enable us to do this, you are required to be honest with us and to  provide us with all necessary information in a timely manner. For more information about ‘Your Charter’ for  your dealings with HMRC, see https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-charter . To the best  of our abilities, we will ensure that HMRC meet their side of the Charter in their dealings with you. 

9.3 We will take account of the steps and checks suggested by HMRC in their ‘Agent Toolkits’. While use of  the Toolkits is voluntary, we will ensure that our quality control procedures match or enhance the  suggestions in the Toolkits so that, in the unlikely event that HMRC consider any of your tax returns with  which we assist to be inaccurate, we will be able to help you demonstrate to HMRC that reasonable care  has been taken in the preparation of the return, thereby significantly reducing the possibility of an inaccuracy  penalty being imposed. To further reduce the possibility of an inaccuracy penalty, you will remain  responsible for maintaining good quality supporting records for each return, for providing us with all relevant  information and explanations and for acting on any advice that we give you. 

10 Help us to give you the right service 

10.1 We are committed to providing you with a high quality service that is both efficient and effective. If at any  time you would like to discuss with us how our service to you could be improved, or if you are dissatisfied  with the service you are receiving, please let us know, by contacting one of the Partners at the Camberley  office or on 01276 61203. 

10.2 We undertake to look into any complaint carefully and promptly and do all we can to explain the position to  you. We will acknowledge your letter within five working days of its receipt and endeavour to deal with your  complaint within eight weeks. If we do not answer your complaint to your satisfaction you may of course  take up the matter with our professional body.

10.3 In order for us to provide you with a high quality service on an ongoing basis it is essential that you provide  us with relevant records and information when requested, reply to correspondence in a timely manner and  otherwise follow the terms of the agreement between us set out in this Standard Terms of Business and  associated Engagement schedules. We therefore reserve the right to cancel the engagement between us  with immediate effect in the event of: 

  • your insolvency, bankruptcy or other arrangement being reached with creditors; 
  • failure to pay our fees by the due dates; 
  • either party being in breach of their obligations where this is not corrected within 30 days of being asked  to do so. 

11 Applicable law 

11.1 This engagement letter is governed by, and construed in accordance with English law. The Courts 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 it may have 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. 

11.2 If any provision in this Standard Terms of Business or any associated engagement schedules, or its  application, are found to be invalid, illegal or otherwise unenforceable in any respect, the validity, legality or  enforceability of any other provisions shall not in any way be affected or impaired. 

12 Changes in the law, in practice or in public policy 

12.1 We will not accept responsibility if you act on advice previously given by us without first confirming with us  that the advice is still valid in light of any change in the law, public policy or your circumstances. 

12.2 We will accept no liability for losses arising from changes in the law or the interpretation thereof, practice,  or public policy that are first published after the date on which the advice is given to the fullest extent  permitted by applicable law. 

13 Internet communication 

13.1 Unless you instruct us otherwise we may, where appropriate, communicate with you and with third parties  via email or by other electronic means. However, internet communications are capable of data corruption  and therefore we do not accept any responsibility for changes made to such communications after their  despatch. It may therefore be inappropriate to rely on advice contained in an e-mail without obtaining  written confirmation of it. We do not accept responsibility for any errors or problems that may arise through  the use of internet communication and all risks connected with sending commercially sensitive information  relating to your business are borne by you. If you do not agree to accept this risk, you should notify us in  writing that e-mail is not an acceptable means of communication.  

13.2 We will never change our bank details without confirming this to you by posted letter. Any emailed or  telephoned communications appearing to be from us which are not confirmed by post are fake and we  accept no liability for any loss caused to you through accepting such communications as genuine. Similarly,  always give us by hand or by post (as well as by email) details of your bank account. 

13.3 It is the responsibility of the recipient to carry out a virus check on any attachments received. 14 Data Protection 

14.1 To enable us to discharge the services agreed under our engagement, and for other related purposes  including updating and enhancing client records, analysis for management purposes and statutory returns,  crime prevention and legal and regulatory compliance, we may obtain, use, process and disclose personal  data about you / your business / company / partnership / its officers and employees and shareholders  (‘personal data’).  

Data controller 

14.2 Unless otherwise specified in our engagement letter, we shall each be considered an independent data  controller in relation to the client personal data. We will each comply with the relevant provisions of  applicable data protection legislation.  

14.3 You will also ensure that any disclosure of personal data to us complies with such legislation. If you supply  us with any personal data or confidential information you shall ensure you have a lawful basis to pass it to  us and will fully indemnify and hold us harmless if you do not have such a basis and that causes us loss. If  you are supplying us with personal data on the basis of a power of attorney for anyone you must produce  to us an original or certified copy of the power of attorney on demand. You must ensure you have provided the necessary information to the relevant data subjects regarding its use. You may refer to our privacy  notice https://www.stewartco.co.uk/privacy-policy/ for this purpose. 

14.4 We will notify you within 10 working days if an individual asks for copies of their personal data, makes a  complaint about the processing of personal data or serves a notice from a relevant data protection authority  where this relates to you. You and we will consult and cooperate with each other when responding to any  such request, complaint or notice. If an individual whose data you have supplied to us or which we are  processing on your behalf asks us to remove or cease processing that data we shall be entitled to do so  where required to by law. 

14.5 In the course of providing services to you, we may disclose personal data to other firms in our network, a  regulatory body, a third party or a buyer of our business. As part of our operational service, personal data  supplied to us may be transferred between us and EEA/UK/USA where necessary. We will ensure that  where any such data transfer takes place, it is covered by an appropriate safeguard such as an adequacy  decision. Where an adequacy decision is not applicable another safeguard mechanism will be implemented,  such as a standard contractual clause (SCC) to ensure that the transfer remains legal. Where cloud-based  services are used the relevant cloud services terms and conditions will apply. In some instances, the  location of data stored in the cloud may reside outside of the EEA/UK. 

On 19 December 2025, the European Commission renewed the UK adequacy decision. This means that  the continuation of data flows between the UK and the EU will remain unaffected and we can rely on this  mechanism for the terms under this agreement over the next six years until its review on 27 December  2031. 

14.6 We confirm we have adequate security measures in place to protect personal data provided to us, including  administrative, physical and technical safeguards. 

14.7 We will answer your reasonable enquiries to enable you to monitor compliance with this clause. If you need  to contact us about any data protection issue call, please contact us on 01276 61203 and speak to our Data  Protection representative. 

15 Limitation of third-party rights 

15.1 Persons who are not party to this agreement shall have no rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third  Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any term of this agreement. This clause does not affect any right or remedy of  any person which exists or is available otherwise than pursuant to that Act. 

15.2 The advice we give you is for your sole use and is confidential to you and will not constitute advice for any  third party to whom you may communicate it, unless we have expressly agreed in writing that a specified  third party may rely on our work. We will accept no responsibility to third parties, including any group  company to whom the engagement letter is not addressed, your spouse nor any family member of yours or  your employer, for any aspect of our professional services or work that is made available to them. 

16 Client identification 

16.1 In common with other professional firms, we are required by the Proceeds to Crime Act 2002 and the Money  Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer for Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLR  2017) to: 

  • Maintain identification procedures for clients, beneficial owners of clients, and persons purporting to act  on behalf of clients; 
  • Maintain records of identification evidence and the work undertaken for the client; and Report in accordance with the relevant legislation and regulations. 

We have a statutory obligation under the above legislation to report to the National Crime Agency (NCA)  any reasonable knowledge or suspicion of money laundering. Any such report must be made in the strictest  confidence. In fulfilment of our legal obligations, neither the firm’s principals nor may staff enter into any  correspondence or discussions with you regarding such matters. 

16.2 If we are not able to obtain satisfactory evidence of your identity and where applicable that of the beneficial  owners, we will not be able to proceed with the engagement. 

16.3 Any personal data received from you to comply with our obligations under the MLR 2017 will be processed  only for the purposes of preventing money laundering or terrorist financing. No other use will be made of  this personal data unless use of the data is permitted by or under enactment other than the MLR 2017, or  we have obtained the consent of the data subject to the proposed use of the data.

17 Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and Common Reporting Standards 

17.1 Financial Institutions are required under Finance Act 2013, s. 222 (International agreements to improve tax  compliance) and the International Tax Compliance Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/878), to carry out due  diligence and reporting obligations in respect of: 

  • arrangements between the UK and another territory for the exchange of tax information for the purposes  of the adoption and implementation of the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) developed by the  Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD); and 
  • the agreement between the UK and the USA to improve international tax compliance and to implement  the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). 

17.2 Under the regulations, Financial Institutions are required to collect and maintain information about the  residence, and in the case of the USA the citizenship as well, of individuals and entities for whom they  maintain financial accounts, and to report information to HMRC. 

17.3 The firm may offer corporate trustee services as a Financial Institution and so will have responsibility for  compliance with the CRS and FATCA requirements for those trusts for which it provides a corporate trustee  service.  

Most other firms will not be Financial Institutions, but may have clients that are Financial Institutions.  

17.4 Other Financial Institutions will require their clients to verify their tax residence for CRS and tax status under  FATCA.  

17.5 If any member of the firm acts as a trustee, or the firm itself is a corporate trustee, the firm may have  responsibility for compliance with the Regulations. 

17.6 Further guidance can be obtained from the HMRC, OECD and IRS websites. 

18 General Limitation of liability 

18.1 We will provide our services with reasonable care and skill. Our liability to you is limited to losses, damages,  costs and expenses caused by our negligence or wilful default. However, to the fullest extent permitted by  law, we will not be responsible for any losses, penalties, surcharges, interest or additional tax liabilities  where you or others supply incorrect or incomplete information, or fail to supply any appropriate information  or where you fail to act on our advice or respond promptly to communications from us or the tax authorities.  Further, we will not be liable to you for any delay or failure to perform our obligations if the delay or failure  is caused by circumstances outside our reasonable control. Subject to clause18.5 below our liability to you  shall be limited as set out in our engagement or other client letter. 

18.2 You will not hold us, our principal(s)/director(s), shareholders and staff, responsible, to the fullest extent  permitted by law, for any loss suffered by you arising from any misrepresentation (intentional or  unintentional) supplied to us orally or in writing. This applies equally to fraudulent acts, misrepresentation  or wilful default on the part of any party to the transaction and their directors, officers, employees, agents  or advisors. However, this exclusion shall not apply where such misrepresentation, withholding or  concealment is or should (in carrying out the procedures which we have agreed to perform with reasonable  care and skill) have been evident to us without further enquiry. 

18.3 You agree that you will not bring any claim in connection with services we provide to you against any of our  partners, shareholders, directors or employees personally. 

18.4 Our work is not, unless there is a legal or regulatory requirement, to be made available to third parties  without our written permission and we will accept no responsibility to third parties for any aspect of our  professional services or work that is made available to them. You agree to indemnify us and our agents in  respect of any claim (including any claim for negligence) arising out of any unauthorised disclosure by you  or by any person for whom you are responsible of our advice and opinions, whether in writing or otherwise.  This indemnity will extend to the cost of defending any such claim, including payment at our usual rates for  the time that we spend in defending it and our legal fees on an indemnity basis. 

18.5 Nothing in this agreement shall exclude or limit our liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence  nor for fraudulent misrepresentation or other fraud which may not as a matter of applicable law be excluded  or limited.  

19 Intellectual property rights and use of our name 

19.1 We will retain all intellectual property rights in any document prepared by us during the course of carrying  out the engagement except where the law specifically states otherwise. You may only use such rights to the extent we agreed when engaged to provide services to you and may not resell or sublicense such rights  without our further prior consent. 

19.2 You are not permitted to use our name in any statement or document that you may issue unless our prior  written consent has been obtained. The only exception to this restriction would be statements or documents  that in accordance with applicable law are to be made public. 

20 Draft/interim work or oral advice 

20.1 In the course of our providing services to you we may provide advice or reports or other work products in  draft or interim form, or orally. However, final written work products will always prevail over any draft, interim  or oral statements. Where you request it, we will provide you with written confirmation of matters stated  orally. 

21 Interpretation  

21.1 If any provision of our engagement letter or terms of business is held to be void for whatever reason, then  that provision will be deemed not to form part of this contract, and no other provisions will be affected or  impaired in any way. In the event of any conflict between these terms of business and the engagement  letter or appendices, the relevant provision in the engagement letter or schedules will take precedence. 

22 Internal disputes within a client 

22.1 If we become aware of a dispute between the parties who own the business. or who are in some way  involved in its ownership and management, it should be noted that our client is the business (unless we  have agreed otherwise) and we would not provide information or services to one party without the express  knowledge and permission of all parties. Unless otherwise agreed by all parties, we will continue to supply  information to the registered office/normal place of business for the attention of the  directors/proprietors/partners/trustees. If conflicting advice, information or instructions are received from  different directors/principals in the business, we will refer the matter back to the board of directors/the  partnership and take no further action until the board/partnership has agreed the action to be taken. In  certain cases we reserve the right to cease acting for the business/client entirely. 

23 Disengagement 

23.1 If we resign or are asked to resign, we will normally issue a disengagement letter to ensure that our  respective responsibilities are clear. 

24 Inheritance Tax and estate planning 

24.1 Whilst we are able to undertake a range of services, tax computations, returns and advice in connection  with Inheritance Tax (IHT) and estate planning, please be aware that due to the inherent complexities  associated with IHT and also that it can be affected by a vast range of factors and changes in circumstances  and personal considerations, unless specifically instructed we will not be responsible for any Inheritance  Tax planning or mitigation. 

25 Probate-type services 

25.1 As we are licensed by the ICAEW for the reserved legal activity of non-contentious probate (Firm Number  C008843521), in the unlikely event that we cannot meet our liabilities to you, you may be able to seek a  grant from ICAEW’s Probate Compensation Scheme. Generally, applications for a grant must be made to  ICAEW within 12 months of the time you become aware, or reasonably ought to have been aware of the  loss. Further information about the scheme and the circumstances in which grants may be made is available  on ICAEW’s website: www.icaew.com/probate and the regulations we operate under can be found here  www.icaew.com/regulation/probate-services 

25.2 If you would like to talk to us about how we can improve our service to you, or if you are unhappy with the  service you are receiving, please let us know by contacting the Head of Legal Practice, Charlotte Ryan. We  will consider carefully any complaint that you may make about our probate services as soon as we receive  it and will do all we can to resolve the issue. We will acknowledge your complaint within five business days  of its receipt and endeavour to deal with it within 8 weeks. Any complaint should be submitted to us by  letter.  

25.3 If we do not deal with it within this timescale or you are unhappy with our response you may of course take  the matter up with our professional body and the Legal Ombudsman. Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman  should be made within six years of the act or omission or within three years of you becoming aware of the  issue, and in either case within six months of our written response to your complaint to us. The contact  details for the Legal Ombudsman are: 

Letter: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ,  

Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk  

Telephone: 0300 555 0333. 

26 Limited Liability Partnership  

As an English Limited Liability Partnership (“LLP”) we have “Members” not “Partners”. However, it is more usual  for senior professionals to refer to themselves as “Partners” and our members have decided to retain this  terminology. Accordingly, in engagement letters, these terms of business and in correspondence generally (letters  and e-mails) we refer to our members as “Partners”. However, the Engagement Contract is between you and the  LLP and you agree to pursue only the LLP for any claim in connection with our services. Similarly some of our  senior staff are designated “Director” however we must make it clear that they are neither statutory members of  the LLP not registered statutory Directors of any registered company.  

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY 

The purpose of this schedule is to set out the basis for limitation of liability as agreed with you.  

1.1 We have discussed with you the extent of our liability to you in respect of the professional services described  within the engagement letter (the professional services), comprising the Provision of Professional  Services and the relevant Engagement Schedules

1.2 Having considered both your circumstances and our own, we consider that ten times the annual recurring  fee represents a fair maximum limit to our liability as a firm in the event of any one claim arising in respect  of the professional services set out in the engagement letter, excluding audit services where applicable.  This maximum total liability includes any claims for loss or damage, however caused, whether in respect of  breaches of contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise in respect of the professional services and  shall also include all other related costs including legal fees, interest, etc. 

1.3 We acknowledge that the limit in respect of our total aggregate liability will not apply to any acts, omissions  or representations that are in any way criminal, dishonest or fraudulent on the part of the firm, its  principals/directors/members or employees.

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