Terms & Conditions

INSTRUCTIONS

(i) As your agents, we can only act on information and instructions given to us. You should not assume that we have knowledge of any factual matters. You can instruct us either by speaking to us or in writing, although we may ask you to confirm spoken instructions to us. If there is any change in your instructions, you must notify us immediately.

(ii) Your business will be handled by a specific named person to whom your instructions should be addressed and who may be contacted during the office opening hours (Monday – Friday) 9 am – 5 pm. If you have any difficulty in making contact, you can leave a message and it will be passed on for action.

CHARGES

(i) Unless negotiated and agreed in advance, fees are charged on the basis of time spent on the work, together with an element for responsibility which can vary according to a number of matters, such as urgency, importance of the work to you, difficulty or novelty of the matters, length, number or importance of documents or papers. Please note that this firm no longer carries out Legal Aid work.

(ii) We often issue a fee estimate. This represents a probable fee based on our experience of the general amount of work involved in a typical transaction of the type involved. If the work turns out to be more complex than normal, then our estimate may require to be amended. We will endeavour to keep you advised of any such changes.

(iii) Fees which are not agreed in advance are subject to independent assessment by the Auditor of Court. This process is known as “taxation”. You are entitled to require our file to be taxed if you are not happy about the fee charged. In such a case the file is passed to the Auditor who will fix what he considers to be a fair and reasonable fee in all the circumstances, including those factors outlined above. The Auditor can fix a fee higher or lower than the fee charged. If it is lower, then we will pay the cost of taxation. If, however, he prices a higher fee or confirms the fee as charged, then you will be responsible for that fee as well as the Auditor’s costs. Our hourly fee rates differ according to the level of experience of the fee-earner and the type of work involved but a typical hourly fee rate is £156 exclusive of VAT.

(iv) Along with our final fee invoice, we will issue a statement detailing financial dealings on your behalf. This will include outlays which may have been incurred. Where outlays have been incurred, we will require repayment of them within seven days of receipt by you of a request.

(v) We may require you to settle accounts and repay outlays during the course of any transaction. In such a case, interim statements will be issued. Large outlays will require to be paid to us before they are due to be paid out by us.

GENERAL

(i) Our aim is to provide an efficient service, but if you are unhappy about any aspect, then please discuss your concerns in the first instance with the person dealing with you. However, if that would cause you difficulty or embarrassment please speak to any of the other partners whose names appear on the notepaper. If the matter cannot be resolved then you are always entitled to refer it to the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission, The Stamp Office, 10-14 Waterloo Place, Edinburgh EH1 3EG. The time limit for this is usually three years from the date of the event which caused concern but can be one year.

(ii) Information provided to us will be dealt with in confidence and will only be disclosed to parties authorised by you or as required by The Law Society of Scotland or any other authorised body.

COVID-19

To comply with current Scottish Government instructions, we are working from home. We can be contacted by e-mail or by telephoning Dunoon (01369) 702885. A message will be passed on to the person dealing with your matter and a return call will be made to you. We want to assure our clients we are taking steps to deliver our usual high level of service with as little disruption as possible.

IDENTIFICATION/MONEY LAUNDERING

In terms of the Law Society of Scotland Rules we are required to verify the identity of each client.

Stewart & Bennett employs third party suppliers to provide services including utilising the services of a credit reference agency (https://www.transunion.co.uk/legal-information/bureau-privacy-notice).

In light of the Covid-19 restrictions detailed above, we are conducting our identity checks remotely via Amiqus ID. Please assist us by following the instructions provided in the link which will be e-mailed to you. This link will request that you upload some personal data, a photograph of yourself and a photograph of your identification. All personal data and documents are sent via secure encryption. Further information can be found at https://amiqus.co/. If you have any difficulty in providing any of the above, then please let us know. If it is not convenient for you to use our remote identification verification system, then please contact the firm on Dunoon (01369) 702885 to arrange a time to attend the office in person (subject to Covid-19 guidance).

Furthermore you must now confirm to us the source of your funding for your any property purchase. Any alteration in the source of your funding must be notified to us urgently and could result in a delay before we are able to proceed with the matter. It is very important that there is no last minute change in your financing. Please note that in conveyancing transactions it is normal for there to be a serious financial penalty for delay in completing. If you are unable to complete on the contractual date this could mean that you are in breach of contract.

If you are arranging for a telegraphic transfer of funds to our account the bank which transfers these funds must also confirm to us the name and number of the account from which it was drawn and the bank branch details. Any failure to do this may result in a delay in completing your transaction. We reserve the right to withdraw from acting for you if you fail to provide us with the information requested above which is necessary to comply with the money laundering procedures required by The Law Society of Scotland.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR CONVEYANCING CLIENTS

1. Where you are buying a property and you have to pay us money, (for example, for the purchase price if you are paying “cash” or the “deposit” if you are borrowing part of the price) please bear in mind that we do not generally accept cash in excess of, say, £1,000. Money should be paid to us by cheque, in good time for it to be cleared through the banking system before the date of entry. Sometimes this can take as long as 10 days – please check on the requirements before you make arrangements to pay the money over. The cheque must be drawn on your own UK bank account or indicate clearly that the funds come from your own UK bank account. We do not wish to receive a banker’s draft. Even if your bank recommends this, do not do it.

2. If we are acting for you in the sale of a property, and a closing date is fixed by you for offers (whether or not we are acting as estate agents in the sale), please bear in mind that you are not bound to accept the highest or indeed any offer made. However, if you instruct us to enter into negotiations with a view to concluding a bargain with a party who submits an offer at the closing date, we will not be able to accept any subsequent instructions to enter negotiations with, or accept an offer from, another party unless and until negotiations with the original offeror have fallen through. In the event of your subsequently attempting to instruct us to discontinue negotiations, in order solely to enter negotiations with, or to accept an offer from, another party, we will decline to act further in the sale.

3. If we are acting for you in a purchase and you instruct us to submit an offer in a closing date situation, then, if your offer is unsuccessful, we will not be able to accept subsequent instructions to submit a revised offer until we are expressly invited to do so by the seller’s agent. This ties in with the previously stated rule. If your offer is unsuccessful at the closing date stage, we can of course get in touch with the seller’s agent to remind them that you would still be interested, if the deal should fall through, but no indication of any increased bid may be given.

4. Where we quote a fee it will cover the following pieces of work:

Purchase: Submitting offer; concluding missives; inspecting title deeds, Local Authority Certificates and title searches; reporting to you on title matters; preparing Disposition in your favour; registering Disposition and all reasonably necessary work in connection with any Standard Security in favour of a mortgage lender.

Sale: Receiving offer; concluding missives; forwarding title deeds; obtaining Local Authority Certificates and title searches; revising draft Disposition to be signed by you; attending to settlement; and all work necessary to clear the title of any Standard Security (mortgage) where we have sufficient funds to redeem any outstanding loan.

What is not covered: Our quoted fees do not cover any work accruing from (a) the discovery of the need for new or retrospective Planning Permission; Building Warrant approval, Completion Certificates or “Letters of Comfort” from the Local Authority, or consent of the Superior; (b) the existence of Inhibitions and other diligence affecting purchaser or seller (a “diligence” is a step taken to enforce a Court Decree); or (c) any other matter which would not normally be expected to arise in a typical conveyancing transaction. Work in relation to all such matters will be charged for in addition to any quoted fee. We do not arrange property insurance on the properties our clients are buying. Your new property should be insured from the date of conclusion of missives. We will notify you of this date when it is reached. We do not advise on Capital Gains Tax on sales of properties. This tax does not apply when you sell the house you live in but it does apply if you sell (for example) a holiday or second home, a buy-to-let property, or a flat bought for student children. The tax has to paid within 30 days and there are strict penalties if you fail to pay it.

5. Most conveyancing transactions in Scotland are settled (ie paid for) by solicitors’ cheques, as opposed to electronic bank transfer. On sale of your property, there is usually, for that reason, a short delay before (a) any mortgage loan is redeemed on your behalf or (b) you receive the proceeds of sale.

6. Any funds which we hold on your behalf will be held in the Bank of Scotland or sometimes, if held for a longer period of time, in the Scottish Building Society. If you are unhappy with these arrangements you should let us know immediately.

STANDARD SECURITIES

If you instruct us to buy a property and you need a mortgage your lender is likely to instruct us to prepare the document (“Standard Security”) which protects the lender should you default on the loan. It is normal for the lender to send you an Offer of Loan. You are supposed to sign this and return it to the lender. Under provisions which came into force in February 2016 the lender treats a document sent by us, known as a Certificate of Title, as the equivalent of you signing the Offer of Loan. We will not check to see whether you actually want us to do this. If you instruct us to go ahead with a purchase we will commit you to the Offer of Loan. If you are not happy with the terms of your Offer of Loan you must notify us immediately by letter.

HOME REPORTS

(a) Where purchasing property which is subject to a Home Report, we advise you that you should not rely on a Home Report which is more than 12 weeks old at the time when you make your decision to purchase.

(b) When selling property which is subject to a Home Report The Law Society’s recommendation is that purchasing clients should not rely upon Home Reports which are more than 12 weeks old, so selling clients may wish to consider the appropriateness of updating Reports from to time.

(c) In connection with obtaining Home Reports selling clients are required to complete a Property Questionnaire. Such questionnaires should be completed accurately and truthfully as failing to do may result in liability in terms of the relevant legislation. The responsibility for the accuracy and truthfulness of the Property Questionnaires rests with the seller and our only obligation is to ensure that the copy of the Property Questionnaire which is made available to purchasers is effectively a true copy of the Property Questionnaire.

SEPTIC TANKS, AND RAW DISCHARGES TO SEA OR WATER COURSES

Many of the properties we deal with in Argyll and elsewhere in rural areas, even those located in fairly large villages, have private outfall sewers which do not connect into the sewage network operated by Scottish Water. It is quite common for Victorian houses on the landward side of a shore road, and, particularly, on the seaward side of a shore road, to discharge effluent into the sea by means of a cast iron pipe which runs out to a point beyond the Low Water Mark. In all such cases, the discharge into the sea must now be registered with SEPA when the house in question is sold. The registration process costs about £175, payable to SEPA, and if you wish us to carry it out for you, we will charge about the same again for the preparation and submission of the forms.

Please note however that a number of sales of properties each year founder upon the “catch” which applies. SEPA will normally accept the registration of the raw discharge to the sea but they will insist, where there is no septic tank involved, that a septic tank should now be installed within a set period, often two years. It can cost many thousands of pounds to install a septic tank. If you are a selling client, you will take the view that this is a problem for the incoming purchaser. If you are an incoming purchaser, you will take the view that you should get a discount from the price which you had previously thought was reasonable. Quite often it becomes a matter of negotiation with SEPA, who can sometimes be persuaded that it is simply impossible to install a septic tank – for example if the garden area is small, or extensive and expensive rock-cutting would be required.

Please note also that some private sewerage systems are shared among several houses. If you are the first to sell your house, you might need to register the raw discharge, and pay a higher fee which reflects the fact that multiple houses discharge their sewage through the same system.

All existing septic tanks which have not previously been registered with SEPA now have to be registered when the house is sold. The fee is as stated above and again we charge about the same again for the time spent on what can be quite a tricky process.

FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS ACT 2000

A In the event that we sell shares or arrange insurance on your behalf, any commission received by us will be used in part-payment of our fees, so that you benefit from the commission rather than us. Unless we hear from you to the contrary we shall assume that this is agreed.

B If we are arranging insurance on your behalf we will take into account your particular demands and needs and we will also review the market for providers of insurance.

ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION REGULATIONS

We recognise that Alternative Dispute Resolution Regulations have implemented ADR/EDR Directive 2013/11/EU to promote alternative resolution as a means of redress for consumers in relation to unsatisfactory services. We have however chosen not to adopt an ADP process and if you have any concerns about the services you receive from this firm you should contact the firm’s Client Relations Manager.