Complaints Procedure & Information

Mandatory Information for Clients

James Bowyer LL.B., Notary Public. 77 West Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE15 6PR.

Email: james.bowyer@notary-public.org.uk

The service provided by me is that of a Notary Public carrying out all permitted notarial activities including, where appropriate, advising you on your arranging legalisation of documents and your sending them on. An essential part of a notary’s role is to maintain and keep records. You can view details of how I handle your data , including my Data Protection Privacy Notice, on my website: www.notary-public.org.uk

Price:

The notarial fee for this transaction will be £ (varies). This does NOT include disbursements/legalisation fees/postage/consular agent fees/courier/travelling fees/translating costs/VAT. The notarial fee charged may include time spent on preliminary advice, drafting and preparation time, making and receiving telephone calls, correspondence written and received in all formats,and record keeping.

Some documents require legalisation before they will be accepted for use in the receiving jurisdiction by obtaining an apostille through the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and, for some countries, additional legalisation is required through the relevant embassy or consulate.

I do not provide or arrange any legalisation services

You can visit www.fco.gov.uk/legalisation. The UK government Legalisation Office currently charges you £40 for one Apostille plus return postage to you. You instruct them and pay them direct.

For a faster service you can send your notarised documents to Legalisation Agents, “ The Apostille Service” (www.apostille.org.uk). They currently charge £82 for one apostille which includes return postage to you. You instruct them and pay them direct.

Both the Legalisation Office and The Apostille Service can post or courier your legalised documents abroad. Their charges for that depend on the level of service requested, and can be seen on their websites.

My notarial fees are not subject to VAT.

Payment for my notarial fees can be made by cash or debit (not credit) card. Payment of my fee is due when the document has been prepared which I may retain pending payment in full.

Occasionally unforeseen or unusual issues arise during the course of the matter which may result in a revision of my fee estimate. Examples of this could include where additional documents are required to be notarised, additional translations are needed to meet the requirements of the receiving jurisdiction, third party fees are adjusted to reflect external factors such as fuel price changes and so on. I will notify you of any changes in the fee estimate as soon as possible.

Service Information

Each notarial matter is different and the requirements will vary according to whether the client is a private individual or a company. Some of the typical key stages are likely to include:

Receiving and reviewing the documents to be notarised together with any instructions you may have received
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)
Checking the identity, capacity and authority of the person who is to sign the document
If a document is to be certified, checking with the issuing authorities that the document/award is genuine. In the case of academic awards, this would entail checking with the appropriate academic institutions.
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 correctly
Drafting and affixing or endorsing a notarial certificate to the document
Advising you how you can arrange for the legalisation of the document as appropriate
Arranging for the storage of copies of notarised documents when required by the Notarial Practice Rules 2019

Redress

I am insured under a professional indemnity policy for £1,000,000.00.

Complaints and Regulatory Information

My 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
If you are dissatisfied about the service you have received please do not hesitate to contact me.
If we are unable to resolve the matter you may then complain to the Notaries Society of which I am a member, who have a Complaints Procedure which is approved by the Faculty Office. This 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
Old Church Chambers
23 Sandhill Road
St James
Northampton.
NN5 5LH
Email: secretary@thenotariessociety.org.uk
Tel : 01604 758908
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 6 months from the date you first notified me that you were dissatisfied, make your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman*, if you are not happy with the result :
Legal Ombudsman P O Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH
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 when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

*certain kinds of commercial entities are not eligible to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman – please refer to the Legal Ombudsman Scheme Rules or consult the Faculty Office.

Mandatory Client Information Sheet 291223