John's Terms of Business

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John Olatunji Notary Public is the trading name of Heritage Notary Public Limited, a private limited company registered in England with company number 15702769 and having its registered office at One London Square, Cross Lanes, Guildford, Surrey, England, GU1 1UN (“Heritage Notary Public”). 

For the avoidance of doubt, your contract is with Heritage Notary Public and not with John Olatunji in his personal capacity.  Any references to services by John Olatunji in these terms of business should be construed as services rendered for and on behalf of Heritage Notary Public. 

These terms of business, together with my data protection policy and privacy notice, which is enclosed (together referred to as “these Terms”), apply to all notarial matters and any ancillary and incidental services I carry out for you. 

Your instructions or continuing instructions will amount to your acceptance of these Terms.  

Please let me know if you require any explanation or have any questions relating to these Terms.  

The service provided by me is that of a notary public carrying out all permitted notarial activities including, where appropriate, arranging legalisation of documents and sending them to their destination. An essential part of a notary’s role is to maintain and keep records.  

I am regulated through the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury (“Faculty Office”), details of whom are provided immediately below: 

The Faculty Office
1, The Sanctuary
Westminster
London, SW1P, 3JT 

T: 020 7222 5381
E: faculty.office@1thesanctuary.com
Website: https://www.facultyoffice.org.uk/  

It is almost always the case that you have been asked to see a notary because you have a document that needs to be used abroad. Seeing a notary is never a mere rubber-stamping exercise. The international duty of a notary involves a high standard of care. This is not only towards the client but also to anyone who may rely on the document and to governments or officials of other countries. These people are entitled to assume that a notary will ensure full compliance with the relevant requirements both here and abroad; and to rely on the notary’s register and records. Great care is essential at every stage to minimise the risk of errors, omissions, alterations, fraud, forgery, money laundering, the use of false identity, and so on.  

Each notarial matter is different and the requirements and timescales will vary greatly according to whether the client is a private individual or a company and in particular according to the processing times of third parties such as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, legalisation agents, translating agencies and couriers, etc.  

Some of the typical key stages are likely to include: 

1. Receiving and reviewing the documents to be notarised together with any instructions you may have received.  
2. Liaising with your legal advisors or other bodies to obtain the necessary documentation to deal with the document (eg 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. 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.  
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 correctly.  
6. Drafting and affixing or endorsing a notarial certificate to the document.  
7. Arranging for the legalisation of the document as appropriate.  
8. Arranging for the storage of copies of all notarised documents in accordance with the requirements of the Notarial Practice Rules 2019.  

You will need to: 

1. Provide clear instructions and full and accurate information to enable me to carry out your instruction. 
2. Provide all information and documents of which you are aware and which relate to your instruction.  
3. Keep me informed in sufficient time of all deadlines.  
4. Provide cleared funds when required for payment of my fees and disbursements.  

My aim is that your document(s), as executed and formalised, will be acceptable in the recipient country. I will need to receive or see instructions regarding the requirements of the recipient country from external advisors or other professionals instructed by you directly or to whom you direct me.  

As a notary public I am unable to provide any legal advice to you. Although I may be able to provide general guidance on likely requirements for the authentication of your document(s), I cannot and will not advise on foreign law, nor on your transaction or the contents or legal effect of the document(s) you sign. If you require legal advice on your document(s), you must consult your own legal adviser specialising in the law of the jurisdiction of the recipient country.  

In addition, I cannot take responsibility for the notarised document being in the correct form or otherwise being acceptable in the receiving jurisdiction.  

I will, where possible, liaise with any foreign lawyer you have instructed and I will rely on them to advise on the correct form of the document and on any formalities attaching to its execution.  

I strongly recommend you get a scanned copy of the notarised document checked and approved by a lawyer or representative in the receiving jurisdiction immediately after I notarise the document. If there are any issues, please let me know immediately.  

If you have asked me to obtain an apostille / legalisation on the notarised document, or if you are planning to obtain an apostille / legalisation on the notarised document yourself, I strongly recommend that you get a scanned copy of the notarised document checked and approved by a lawyer or representative in the receiving jurisdiction before asking me to send the notarised document away for the apostille / legalisation, or before sending the notarised document away for the apostille / legalisation yourself. This is to avoid you paying for an apostille / legalisation only to later be told by a lawyer or representative in the receiving jurisdiction that there is an issue with the notarised document.  

I must be satisfied as to your identity and residential address, your legal capacity, your authority (eg when acting on behalf of a corporate body, an estate or trust or as an attorney under a power of attorney) and your understanding, approval of and intention to become bound by the document(s).  

I must be satisfied that you sign voluntarily, that no fraud or duress is involved and that any required formalities under the law of England and Wales are observed.

To the extent that I use any automated decision-making technology, including artificial intelligence, in the course of my services, I do not rely upon the same without human intervention. 

Before using any new technology including artificial intelligence, I carry out an appropriate risk assessment to ensure that your rights are not adversely affected by the same.   

I can be contacted by email or telephone during my normal office hours (8:30am to 6pm Monday to Friday inclusive).

I may not be contactable on all bank holidays and occasionally during other times such as over the Christmas period.  

I offer appointments during business hours and occasionally outside of business hours in exceptional circumstances. I am also prepared to make home visits or visit corporate clients at their place of business. If the notarial appointments take place outside of my office I will make an additional charge to cover travelling time and expenses.  

Occasionally I may not be able to see you within the timeframe you require, or I may decide that I am not able to act for you in which case I will advise you that that is the case and will provide you with the necessary information to locate an alternative notary.  

In most circumstances I will need to witness your signature. Please do not sign the document in advance of your appointment with me.  

It will save time, expense and mistakes if, as long before the appointment as possible, you can let me have the originals or photocopies of: 

1. The documents to be notarised.  
2. Any letter or other form of instruction which you have received about what has to be done with the documents.  
3. Your evidence of identification.  

As an absolute minimum requirement, I will need you to produce by way of formal identification the original of (in preferred order): 

1. Your current passport (or, if not available); 
2. A current driving licence (with photo) or national identity card.  

If neither of the above are available, at least two of the following: 

1. A current government or police issue certificate bearing a photo or other formal means of identification;  
2. A utility bill, credit card or bank statement showing your current address which should not be more than 3 months old or council tax bill.  

You must also bring any other means of ID which may be referred to in the papers sent to you as being required such as a foreign Identity Card.  

I may also ask to see further evidence of identity such as marriage certificates etc and will advise you of this if necessary.  

In most cases, I will need you to send to me copies of all of your relevant identification in advance of our meeting. You will always need to produce your original identification at the meeting.  

Politically exposed persons 

I am required to check if you, or anyone connected with you, might be a “politically exposed person” (known as a “PEP”). If so, I have to take extra anti-money laundering precautions.  

Examples of PEPs are persons who now or in the recent past have held a prominent public function in any country, for example: member of parliament, member of the governing body of a political party, appeal court judge, member of the court of auditors or the board of a central bank, diplomat or high-ranking officer in the armed forces, member of the administrative, management or supervisory body of a State-owned enterprise, senior officer or director of an international organisation and head of state, head of government, minister or deputy or assistant minister.  

If you or a member of your family (your spouse or civil partner / your parents, or the parents of your spouse or civil partner / your children) or a close associate of yours (someone with whom you have close business relations / someone with whom you have joint beneficial ownership of a legal entity or a legal arrangement (like a company or trust) / someone for whose benefit a legal entity or a legal arrangement has been set up, in respect of which you have sole ownership) currently holds or has held in the recent past (certainly in the past 12 months) such a function then please let me know immediately.  

In a case where the name on the document is different from the name you are currently using, or there has been a variation in the form of spelling of the name over the years, please provide me as appropriate with Certificates of Birth, Marriage or Divorce Decree or Change of Name Deed showing all the different names that you use.  

If there has been a change of name, then I will need to see a copy of the Deed Poll or Statutory Declaration which dealt with it.  

It is essential that you understand what you are signing.  

If the document is in a foreign language which you do not understand sufficiently, I may have to insist that a translation be obtained. If I arrange for a translation, a further free will be payable and I will provide you with details of this.  

If you arrange for a professional translation, the translator should add his/her name, address, relevant qualification, and a certificate stating: “Document X is a true and complete translation of document Y, to which this translation is attached.” 

If you and I cannot understand each other because of a language difficulty, I may have to make arrangements for a competent interpreter to be available at our interview and this may involve a further fee.  

If a document is to be signed by you on behalf of a company, a partnership, a charity, club or other incorporated body, there are further requirements on which I may have to insist.  

I will need to verify the existence, constitution and any registration of that body and your authority to represent it. If I am not satisfied with regard to any of these aspects then I may refuse to undertake the instruction.  

Please be prepared for these and telephone with any point of difficulty before attending the appointment.  

In each case, I will need to see: 

1. Evidence of identity of the authorised signatory (as listed above). 
2. A copy of the current letterhead (showing the registered office it if it a company). 
3. A Letter of Authority, Minute, Resolution or Power of Attorney, authorising you to sign the document.  

Additionally, companies: Certificates of Incorporation and of any Change of Name, a copy of the Memorandum and Articles of Association, Details of Directors and Secretaries. In all instances I will be carrying out various company searches, which may have an effect on the level of fees charged.  

Additionally, partnerships, clubs, etc: A Partnership Agreement; or relevant Trust Deed; or Charter; or Constitution/Rules.  

Some documents require legalisation before they will be accepted for us 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 will instruct an agent to assist with the legalisation process.  

I will advise you of the likely timescales involved in obtaining legalisation, the fee that I will charge for my time in dealing with this and any disbursements which are likely to include one or more of the following: agent fees, UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office fees, embassy fees, postage and courier fees.  

Details of my charges are set out below. However, I always request sight of the documents where possible (together with any related instructions sent to you) before providing a specific quote.  

Please note that if I have to make payments on your behalf such as legalisation fees, translator or interpreter fees, or other costs such as travelling expenses, your approval to these will be obtained and you are normally required to make payment in advance of any such amounts.  

Charges 

If the matter is simple I will endeavour to charge a fixed fee to include disbursements such as legalisation fees, postage, consular agent fees, courier fees, travelling expenses, translating costs and so on.  

For more complicated or time-consuming matters the fee will be based on my hourly rate of £300 plus disbursements.  I periodically review my hourly rate to reflect various factors including increases in overhead costs and inflation. If a review is carried out before your matter is concluded then I will inform you of any change in my hourly rate.  

The 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, arranging legalisation and record keeping.  

I do not charge VAT. 

Disbursements 

In the course of acting for you I may need to incur various expenses, including UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office fees, consular/embassy fees, agents fees, travel costs, mileage allowance in accordance with HMRC’s prevailing rate, postage charges, couriers’ charges, bank charges and unusual stationary costs which will all be recharged to you.  

General points 

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 or legalisations 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.  

When you instruct me jointly with others, I am entitled to look at any one or more of you to pay the whole of the charges and disbursements that you jointly incur.  

Please note that I cannot be held responsible for any documents which may be lost in the post/courier.  

Please also note that once we have agreed an appointment date and time, if you cancel your appointment or fail to attend your appointment then you must pay to me an amount in proportion to the work which I have performed which will be at least £150.00 and this proportion will not be reimbursed to you.   

I will send you a bill for my charges and disbursements.  

Payment can be made by bank transfer to the bank account details contained in my invoice, which will be provided to you by post or by a PDF attachment to an email. Due to increasing instances of fraud, before you transfer monies to me you must telephone me to confirm the bank details provided to you over the telephone.  

My charges and disbursements are payable in advance and notarised documents will not be released until all charges and disbursements have been paid, in cleared funds, in full.  

Should all or part of my fees and disbursements remain unpaid, I reserve the right to charge interest at the interest rate prescribed by the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. 

When I carry out my work for you, I am required to make an entry in a formal register, which is kept by me as a permanent record. I will also keep copies of correspondence, all document(s) including the notarised document(s) and proof of your identity.  

I may communicate with you by email, unless you instruct me in writing not to do so. Please note that because of the nature of email, I cannot guarantee its confidentiality. If you use email to contact me or if you inform me of your email address, I will assume that you accept this risk and you impliedly allow me to communicate to you by email. I will not encrypt my outgoing emails, unless you tell me to do so and I and you are able to agree and implement a mutually acceptable encryption method.  

I accept no responsibility for viruses or anything similar in any emails or any attachments originating from me. I also do not accept any responsibility for any changes to, or interception of, any email or any attachment after it leaves my information system.   

My practice is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office. Personal data received from clients is held securely and not capable of being accessed externally. Data collected as part of notarial records is used solely for the purposes of meeting our professional legal responsibilities as Notaries Public.  

In the interest of my clients, I maintain professional indemnity insurance at a level of at least £1,000,000.00 per claim.  

Your affairs will be dealt with in strict confidence.   

I will not disclose confidential data relating to you or your affairs to third parties in breach of my professional obligations of confidentiality unless the disclosure is authorised by you, is a necessary part of the work that I am undertaking for you or is required under the provisions of any applicable law or court order.    

Please note that the Faculty Office has rights of inspection to ensure good practice and conduct.  

The disclosure of information by me in good faith to any regulatory authority or Government agency (including, where required, the National Crime Agency) to comply with any statute, regulation or other requirement will not constitute a breach of confidentiality.  

In addition, under the Notarial Practice Rules 2019 any person with sufficient interest may request and be supplied with a copy of any notarial act. The disclosure of a notarial act by me to such a person will not constitute a breach of confidentiality. 

I may be required by statute to make a disclosure to the National Crime Agency where I know or suspect that a transaction may involve money laundering or terrorist financing. If I make a disclosure in relation to your matter, I may not be able to tell you that a disclosure has been made. I may have to stop working on your matter for a period of time and may not be able to tell you why. 

My liability to you on any basis (including, but not limited to, loss of property or any financial loss or liability (including, but not limited to, damages, costs and interest)) to you or other parties, whether in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise, is (except in relation to personal injury or death) in relation to a particular matter or transaction limited to £1,000,000.    

If you commence proceedings against me for loss or damage and there is another party who is liable (or potentially liable) to you in respect of the same loss or damage, then my liability will be reduced by any amount which I would have been able to recover from the third party by indemnity or contribution or otherwise but cannot recover because of any indemnity, exclusion or other agreement made by you.  You will (if I so request) in any event join them into the proceedings.  This is subject to any legal prohibition against you joining them in any way. 

I will not be liable for any consequential, special, indirect or exemplary damages, costs or losses, or any damages, costs or losses attributable to lost profit or opportunity.    

I will not be liable in relation to any losses or delays caused as a result of using the services of third parties.   

Where I agree to send documents to third parties on your behalf, I will use either first class, special or recorded post or an international courier as may be agreed with you. I am not liable for any delay or the failure to deliver or mis-delivery by any postal service or courier. I cannot pursue postal or courier services for delayed delivery.   

You may terminate your instructions to me at any time by giving me reasonable written notice. All fees and disbursements incurred up to the date of termination will be charged.  

Consumer Cooling Off Cancellation Period – Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (“CCR”)   

Where the CCR applies (typically where you are an individual consumer and my contract with you was concluded either at or following a meeting with you off premises or by a form of distance communication) you have a cancellation period of 14 days after the date you sign my retainer letter or the date on which you continue to give me instructions, whichever is earlier, unless you have asked me to start working during the cancellation period.   

To exercise your right to cancel, you must inform me of your decision to cancel by a clear statement (eg a letter sent by post or email) or you can use the attached cancellation form. To meet the cancellation deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning the exercise of the right to cancel before the cancellation period ends. 

If you exercise your right to cancel within the cancellation period and you have not asked me to start work during the cancellation period, I will reimburse to you all payments received from you, without undue delay, and no later than 14 days after the day on which you informed me of your decision to cancel the contract. I will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise, in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of the reimbursement.   

If you ask me to begin work during the cancellation period, you will not lose your right to cancel during the cancellation period. However, if you do cancel during the cancellation period then you must pay to me an amount in proportion to the work which I have performed and this proportion will not be reimbursed to you. 

Please note that once we have agreed an appointment date and time, if you cancel your appointment or fail to attend your appointment then you must pay to me an amount in proportion to the work which I have performed which will be at least £150.00 and this proportion will not be reimbursed to you.   

You will, however, lose the right to cancel and will have to pay in full once the contract has been fully performed (ie I complete the work) even if this happens within the cancellation period. 

I reserve the right to terminate my engagement by you if I have good reason to do so, for example, if you do not pay a bill or comply with my request for a payment on account or you fail to give me the co-operation which I am reasonably entitled to expect. 

My notarial practice is regulated through the Faculty Office (as defined above): 

The Faculty Office
1, The Sanctuary
Westminster
London, SW1P, 3JT 

T: 020 7222 5381
E: faculty.office@1thesanctuary.com
Website: https://www.facultyoffice.org.uk/  

If you are dissatisfied about the service you have received please do not hesitate to contact me.  

If I am 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:
Christopher Vaughan
PO Box 1023
Ipswich
IP1 9XB
E: secretary@thenotariessociety.org.uk  

If you have any difficulty in making a complaint in writing, please do not hesitate to contact the Notaries Society or 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 me that you were dissatisfied, make your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, if you are not happy with the result: 

Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6806
Wolverhampton
WV1 9WJ
E: 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. 

I am committed to promoting equality and diversity in all of my dealings with clients and third parties. 

No third party is intended to have any rights to enforce or rely on these Terms under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999. 

These Terms are governed by the law of England & Wales and any dispute or legal issue arising from these Terms will be considered exclusively by the courts of England & Wales. 

If you have a right to cancel under The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (“Cancellation Regulations”) you may use this form which is as set out in Part B of Schedule 3 of the Cancellation Regulations to cancel your contract with me within the applicable cancellation period. 

Model cancellation form 

To: John Olatunji, Notary Public, Heritage Notary Public Limited 

Post: Charles Russell Speechlys LLP, One London Square, Cross Lanes, Guildford, GU1 1UN, England. 

Email: John.Olatunji@heritagenotarypublic.co.uk  

I/We [*] hereby give notice that I/We [*] cancel my/our [*] contract for the supply of the following service [*],  

Ordered on [*]/received on [*],  

Name of consumer(s),  

Address of consumer(s), 

Signature of consumer(s) (only if this form is notified on paper),  

Date:  

[*] Delete as appropriate