Thank you for your interest in our services.

1. About us

MyLawyer Solicitors LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales. The term 'partner' indicates a member of MyLawyer Solicitors LLP or an employee or consultant of equivalent standing. Our registered office address is at Middlesex House, 29 - 45 High Street, Edgware, Middlesex, HA8 7UU.

Our company number is OC376661.

Our VAT number is 153 7512 16.

We are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Our SRA number is 569955.

The standards and requirements that we are expected to achieve and to observe can be found in the SRA Handbook http://www.sra.org.uk/handbook/.

You are entitled to the protections offered by the SRA Compensation Fund http://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/handbook/compfund/.

We hold professional indemnity insurance with W R Berkley Insurance (Europe) Limited, policy number IKD120A7E663. The insurance covers our practice carried out from offices in England and Wales and will extend to acts or omissions wherever in the world they occur.

Financial services

We are not authorised by the Financial Services Authority.

However, we are permitted to carry on certain incidental financial services for our clients because the Law Society is a designated professional body for the purposes of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

We are included on the register maintained by the Financial Services Authority so that we can carry on insurance mediation activity, which is, broadly, the advising on, selling and administration of insurance contracts. The register can be accessed via the Financial Services Authority website http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register/.

This part of our business, including arrangements for complaints or redress if something goes wrong, is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, which is the independent regulatory arm of the Law Society. The Legal Ombudsman deals with complaints against lawyers.

2. This communication

This communication explains:

• the work we will undertake on your behalf in connection with any document(s) ("the Document(s)") created by you on the MyLawyer website ("the Website") or using the Telephone Document Preparation Service, assuming that we are able to accept your instructions, including the limitations on the work we will do;
• the operation of the Telephone Document Preparation Service; and
• the operation of the legal helpline ("the Helpline") where you have access to that service.

Prior to carrying out any work on your behalf, there are certain steps which we are required to take in order to be sure that it is proper and in your best interests for us to act for you. We will notify you by separate email, after completing these steps, if we are unable to accept your instructions. Further information can be found below under 'Acceptance of instructions'.

We shall not be obliged to carry out any work on your behalf unless and until:

• you have signified your consent and agreement to these terms of engagement either expressly or impliedly by you telephoning us to make use of the Helpline or in order to proceed with the Telephone Document Preparation Service (if applicable) or by you submitting the Document(s) to us for review; and
• we have accepted your instructions.

3. Acceptance of instructions

Money Laundering Regulations 2007

Before we can accept your instructions and begin work on your behalf, we may be required to obtain information and documents to enable us to verify your identity and to understand the nature and purpose of the work you want us to do for you. Unless you are an existing client of the firm and we hold all relevant and required information about you already, we will tell you separately which information and documents we need you to provide, and will be obliged if you will kindly supply us with them as soon as possible. We do hope that the impact on you will be minimal and that you will promptly provide all requested documents so that we may commence our work on your behalf.

If we are unable to complete the verification process to our satisfaction because of any failure on your part to supply any requested information or documents, we will not be able to carry out any work for you and will be required to refuse your instructions. If this should occur, any payment (if applicable) already made with respect to those instructions will not be refundable.

Conflict

Similarly, before we can accept your instructions and begin work on your behalf, we are required to undertake a conflict check to ensure there are no reasons why we may not or should not accept your instructions because either the interests of another client may be in conflict with your interests, or our own interests may be in conflict with your best interests. We will let you know as quickly as we can if we are unable to act for you, and in that event (if applicable) any payment already made with respect to your instructions will be refunded in full.

Joint instructions

If you want us to act for both you and another person, we will need to conduct a similar verification and checking process in relation to that other person before we can accept instructions from, and begin work on behalf of, both of you. We will also need to assess the risk of a conflict of interests arising between the two of you. If we are satisfied that it is proper and appropriate for us to act for both of you, we will inform you and send a separate engagement letter to the other person. Otherwise, we will contact you to discuss your options.

4. Our work in connection with the Document(s)

The work that we do for you in connection with the Document(s) will be governed by these terms of engagement and either by the Terms of use appearing on the Website or the Terms of use relating to the Telephone Document Preparation Service sent to you by email (as applicable).

The work that we do may, depending on the service(s) that you have purchased, comprise the Telephone Document Preparation Service and/or work on the Document(s) under a Limited Engagement (see below).

5. The Telephone Document Preparation Service

The purpose of the Telephone Document Preparation Service is to collect by telephone the relevant information required to create the Document(s).

Our telephone operatives will either collect that information, if appropriate, when you telephone, or book an appointment for that purpose. In the latter case, one of our telephone operatives will call you at the appointed time. If you do not have available all the information required to complete the Document(s) during the call, the operative will arrange for you to call back or email in with the missing information.

If you are not available at the appointed time, the operative will leave telephone messages and/or send email messages to advise you to arrange another appointment.

Our telephone operatives will not enter into correspondence with you other than as indicated herein.

The Document(s) will be sent by a telephone operative for review under a Limited Engagement when complete.

Our telephone operatives will provide general information relevant to the creation of the Document(s), but it is not part of the Telephone Document Preparation Service for our operatives to suggest any particular choice or course of action, or to give any other advice (legal or otherwise).

However, we would be very happy to provide such advice under a Limited Engagement, where appropriate.

6. The Limited Engagement

We call the work that we will do for you on the Document(s) a Limited Engagement because there are limitations on that work. This is reflected (where applicable) in the pricing of the Service.

What we will do

The scope of our work is:

• To indicate to you whether or not we are satisfied, based on the answers that you gave the System or one of our telephone operatives, that the Document(s) is effective, so far as has been disclosed, to meet your requirements and suitable for your circumstances.
• If necessary, to amend the Document(s) to ensure that it is suitable for your disclosed requirements and circumstances.

This means that it is very important that you inform us about any information that you think may be material to the preparation of the Document(s) or about the purpose for which the Document(s) are to be used. The possible damage to you or to your interests if the Document(s) are not correct is one such important material piece of information that you should disclose to us.

How we will perform our work

We shall:

• Review the answers you gave the System or one of our telephone operatives;
• Review the Document(s);
• Engage in reasonable correspondence and/or communications with you. Subject to our fair usage policy (see below), we will endeavour to respond to your correspondence and communications as fast as we can, but do not guarantee any particular response time.

What we will not do

The Limited Engagement does not include:

• Undertaking any investigation of your particular circumstances beyond those that you disclosed in the answers you gave the System or one of our telephone operatives, or that you informed us of via subsequent communications;
• The provision of legal advice about the suitability of the Document(s) to your particular circumstances save to the extent that they are disclosed by the answers you gave the System or one of our telephone operatives and/or in any subsequent communications;
• Verifying your answers or any information given by you when using the System or the Telephone Document Preparation Service. You alone are responsible for ensuring the answers, and any information you give, are correct (this includes information in relation to the identity of any parties or signatories, their age and capacity). We rely on you providing the correct information;
• Proofreading data you have inputted for typographical errors;
• Supervising or checking the due and proper execution of the Document(s). It is your responsibility to ensure that the Document(s) are properly executed, and, if any person or entity who is to sign it is outside the jurisdiction in which we operate, it is your responsibility to ensure that the Document(s) are properly executed in accordance with the requirements of that jurisdiction where those requirements prevail;
• Undertaking any future review of the Document(s) or providing any ongoing advice, legal or otherwise, as to the continued effectiveness for legal, taxation or any other purpose of the Document(s).

Exclusions

Where the Document is a Will or a trust

We do not give personal, corporate or specialised tax advice and we strongly recommend that you engage a specialist to provide this advice for you.

We will not supervise the execution of any Will or take responsibility for the Will being correctly executed. You will be provided with instructions on how to sign the Will in accordance with the law of the chosen jurisdiction. If the will is not correctly executed it will be invalid.

To execute a valid Will you must have the requisite mental capacity at the time of execution. If you instruct us to review a Will, we shall proceed on the basis that the testator has mental capacity, and is of the minimum age for the relevant jurisdiction to make a Will. If this is not the case, this could be grounds for challenging the Will's validity which could adversely affect the intended beneficiaries. If you are concerned about this we would suggest that you contact us to discuss the matter further.

We do not assume any responsibility nor will we accept liability for failing to provide later advice on the terms of any Will or trust prepared using the Service should future taxation changes or any other changes in the law render their terms inappropriate. The responsibility for future reviews of the terms of your Will or trust rests with you. We advise you to have your Will reviewed regularly and at least every 2-3 years to make sure that the Document meets your requirements.

Where the Document is a power of attorney

We do not assume any responsibility for verifying that the donor has capacity or that the donor has not been subjected to undue influence with respect to the creation or the terms of the power.

Alteration to the Document(s)

We do not have any liability for:

• Any alterations made by you or on your behalf to the Document(s) once they have been returned to you by us unless such alteration has been approved by us;
• Any use of the Document(s) or execution of the Document(s) by a person or entity outside of the jurisdiction in which we operate;
• Any adverse consequences resulting from the use of the Document(s) which are attributable to circumstances pertaining to you which were not disclosed in the answers that you gave the System or to one of our telephone operatives, or in subsequent communications.

Work outside the scope of the Limited Engagement

If we, at any time, consider that it will be impractical or inappropriate to continue our work on the basis of the Limited Engagement, or that any work you want us to do falls outside the scope of the Limited Engagement, we will tell you straightaway and discuss with you your options.

7. Cost

Where applicable, the price of the Service is an agreed fee; in other words, it is fixed, we cannot increase it, and it does not cease to be payable if the Limited Engagement is lawfully terminated before work on the Document(s) is completed.

We receive, in satisfaction of the fee for the work we will do under the Limited Engagement, or for any telephone legal advice given with respect to services offered on the Website, payment for the time actually spent at the rate of £0.70 per minute. For the Telephone Document Preparation Service (if applicable), we receive payment of an additional £0.50 per minute for the time taken in collecting your information.

8. Refunds

We have not met with you so the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 apply to our work for you. This means you have the right to cancel your instructions to us within seven working days of our acceptance of those instructions. The right can be lost if we begin work with your agreement before this period has run out.

However, we have a 'no quibble' policy. If you wish to cancel your instructions, you may do so (even if we have begun work with your agreement) by contacting us at any time within seven working days after we accept your instructions, provided that the relevant service has not already been completed before you contact us.

9. Responsibility for the work

We will advise you separately of the name of the file handler who will be assigned to doing most of the work under the Limited Engagement as well as the identity of the partner ("the Client Partner") with overall responsibility for your business relationship with us. The file handler may not be a solicitor, but the client partner will be an experienced solicitor.

From time to time it may be necessary for us to involve other staff, including trainees and paralegals, with different levels of experience or with other areas of expertise. If we consider it to be of importance in relation to our work for you, we will let you know in advance why we consider it necessary, what the area of specialisation is, and the name of that person(s).

10. Sending the Document(s)

We shall not have any responsibility for sending the completed Document(s) to you. This will be organised through MyLawyer.

11. The Helpline

Helpline services (where available) are provided on the following terms and conditions:

• All advice is given in good faith and is based upon the information supplied by you during the call. We cannot be held liable for any loss suffered if inaccurate or incomplete information is given. We may ask questions to elicit information to assist us in answering your questions, but we are not obliged to do so and a failure by us to ask questions that may have altered our advice will not incur any liability on our part.
• Advice is provided solely by telephone and will not be provided in writing.
• Advice given is specific to the individual issue being discussed and is not intended to be applied to other situations. If you do so then it is at your own risk.
• The Helpline does not include:
  • drafting or amendment of documents or clauses;
  • preparation of letters; or
  • supporting you through litigation when we are not directly instructed.
• Helpline services will be withdrawn immediately if:
  • You are rude or abusive to our staff; or
  • You facilitate the use of the Helpline by unauthorised persons.

12. Fair use policy

Fair use restrictions applicable to each Limited Engagement

Our aim is to complete each Limited Engagement quickly and efficiently. We expect that in most cases the work that we undertake as part of a Limited Engagement will take no more than one hour in total. We reserve the right to manage each Limited Engagement to ensure that, so far as possible, that expectation is fulfilled.

What this means in practice is as follows:

• We will expect that correspondence and communications between us will take place by email or by telephone. Face-to-face interviews will not be offered.
• We may limit the extent to which we engage in communications with you or to which we respond to correspondence from you if we reasonably consider that to do so would be incompatible with the efficient conduct of a Limited Engagement.
• You may provide us with additional information about your requirements and circumstances beyond that revealed by the answers that you gave the System or one of our telephone operatives, but we reserve the right to terminate a Limited Engagement at any time if, by reason of the volume and/or complexity of that additional information, we reasonably consider that it is impractical or inappropriate to continue to work on the Document(s) on the basis of that Limited Engagement.
• As part of a Limited Engagement, we may decline to deal with any requests, issues or questions made or raised by you if they are not essential to our work on the Document(s).

Fair use restrictions applicable to use of the Helpline

Your use of the Helpline is subject to fair use in line with its intended purpose. As a guideline, any question asked on the Helpline should be answerable within approximately 20 minutes.

We shall have no obligation to provide advice to you through the Helpline if, in our absolute discretion, a question being asked by you is outside the scope of the Helpline service or if it is inappropriate to deal with your question through the Helpline (for example, if it is a complex issue that requires a face-to-face meeting or if you need written advice or a document drafted).

In this event, we will inform you immediately during the call and discuss your options with you.

If, in our absolute discretion, we consider that you have made, or are making, inappropriate or excessive use of the Helpline, your access to it may be restricted or suspended (either for a fixed period or indefinitely), or conditions may be imposed upon your access to the service, which may include a condition of payment or an additional charge.

You will be notified before any such action is taken.

13. Data protection, confidentiality and disclosure

We use the information you provide primarily for the provision of legal services to you and for related purposes including:

• Updating and enhancing client records
• Analysis to help us manage our practice
• Statutory returns
• Legal and regulatory compliance

Our use of your information is subject to your instructions, the Data Protection Act 1998 and our duty of confidentiality.

However, although we are professionally and legally obliged to keep your affairs confidential, there may be circumstances where we are required by law to make a disclosure, e.g. where we know or suspect that a transaction may involve such illegal activities as money laundering or terrorist financing.

External firms or organisations may conduct audit or quality checks on us, and by entering into the agreement for a Limited Engagement you are agreeing to disclosure of your information to these firms or organisations for that purpose. These external firms or organisations are required to maintain confidentiality in relation to your information.

You have a right of access under data protection legislation to the personal data that we hold about you.

We may from time to time send you information that we think might be of interest to you. If you do not wish to receive that information please notify our office in writing.

14. Complaints

This firm is committed to providing a first-class service and consistently excellent advice of the utmost quality to its clients, but if you have any questions or concerns, or in the unlikely event that you have any cause to complain about our service (including a complaint about any bill delivered by us), please initially contact the Client Partner. We have a written complaints procedure to which we shall adhere when dealing with any complaint. A copy of our complaints procedure is available on request by emailing support@mylawyersolicitors.co.uk.

If we fail to respond to your complaint within eight weeks or if at the conclusion of our complaints process we are unable to resolve matters to your satisfaction you may have a right to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman. If you wish to do so, you must contact the Legal Ombudsman within six months of your last contact with us. Additionally, you must have raised your complaint with either us or the Legal Ombudsman within one year of the relevant act, or omission or one year from the date when you realised there was a cause for complaint.

In relation to a complaint about any bill delivered by us, which we have not resolved to your satisfaction, you may have a right to object to the bill by making a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman and/or by applying to the court for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974. Please note, however, that if all or part of a bill remains unpaid we may be entitled to charge interest. In addition, the Legal Ombudsman may not consider a complaint about the bill if you have applied to the court for assessment of the bill.

You can contact the Legal Ombudsman as below:

Postal address
Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6806
Wolverhampton
WV1 9WJ

Website
http://www.legalombudsman.org.uk

Telephone
0300 555 0333

Email
enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Thank you for your interest in our services.

Yours sincerely

Richard Cohen
Senior Partner, MyLawyer Solicitors LLP