J & G Wilson is a trading style of JGW Legal Services Limited, a company incorporated under the Companies Acts with Company Number SC478105 and having its Registered Office at 18 High Street, Kinross, KY13 8AN. The Directors of the company are Eric J Williamson and Jennifer Preston.

The firm is regulated by The Law Society of Scotland.

We can be contacted during the office opening hours (Monday-Friday 9.00am to 5.00pm).

Our office is at 18 High Street, Kinross, KY13 8AN. Our office contact number is 01577 862 302 and our main email address for general correspondence is contact@jgwsilon.co.uk. Our website is www.jgwilson.co.uk.

We can also arrange to meet with you by appointment at Evans Business Centre, 1 Begg Road, Kirkcaldy, KY2 6HD. The contact number is 01592 205000.

We can undertake home visits and meetings outwith normal office hours by prior appointment.

Unless we receive specific instructions from you we shall communicate and take instructions from you in person and by post, email, telephone calls and faxes.

We will act strictly in accordance with your instructions. You can instruct us either verbally or in writing. We may require you to confirm verbal instructions to us in writing. You should not assume that any e-mail communication that you send to us has been received unless it is acknowledged or replied to by us.

As your Solicitors, 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 help us by giving clear instructions, providing all relevant documents, acting promptly and informing us of any time limits you consider relevant. If there is any change in your instructions, you must notify us immediately.

We reserve the right to decline to carry out instructions if we have not been provided with relevant information, relevant funds, or which would involve us in a breach of any Law Society rules and guidelines

We will assume that, unless otherwise instructed in writing, the person providing us with the initial instructions in relation to a piece of work is our client. If you wish anyone other than yourself to give us instructions or information, we will require confirmation of this in writing.

Where we are acting on behalf of a company then, unless otherwise agreed with you in writing, we may accept instructions from any director, the company secretary or any person authorised by them to do so.

Where we are acting on behalf of a limited liability partnership or partnership then, unless otherwise agreed with you in writing, we may accept instructions from any partner, member or any person authorised by them to do so.

Where we are acting for a corporate or unincorporated body (other than a company, limited liability partnership or partnership) then, unless otherwise agreed with you in writing, we can take instructions from an authorised officer of the body or anyone authorised by the body to do so.

Where we are acting on behalf of more than more than one person jointly, for example for couples in a sale or purchase transaction, then we will accept instructions from any one of them unless otherwise agreed in writing, or if it is clearly inappropriate in the circumstances. Joint clients may be trustees, partners of executors.

The Letter of Engagement provides you with details of the Director who has responsibility for a particular matter (the “Supervising Solicitor”) and, where applicable, the person who will be your first point of contact on a day to day basis. We try to maintain continuity with the people who are handling your work but this is not always possible where there is a change in circumstances.

You are required to:

1. Provide us with clear instructions, documentation and information timeously when requested;
2. Be available to sign legal documents so that we can process your transaction;
3. To tell us as soon as possible if you are going to be unavailable at particular times, such as holidays and the like;
4. Remain in regular contact, particularly if critical dates are to be met, e.g. dates of entry;
5. Advise us of any critical time limits you consider relevant;
6. Keep us advised, in writing, of any change of contact details, e.g. address, email address of telephone number;
7. Comply with our compliance procedure as required by the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the Terrorism Act 2000 and the Anti Money Laundering 2017 Regulations;
8. To behave appropriately and to treat all our staff members with courtesy and respect.

We must comply fully with the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the Terrorism Act 2000 and Money Laundering Regulations 2017 and are required to confirm our client’s identity. This includes the identity of the directors, partners, trustees, controllers of companies or firms and all of the connected shareholders.

A. PROOF OF IDENTITY

Before we can undertake any business on your behalf you must attend the office and provide us with proof of your identity by producing to us:-

1. your current valid passport or;
2. your current Driving Licence containing your photograph or;
3. such other photographic evidence of your identity as we consider to be satisfactory and appropriate.

And proof of your home address:-

An original, recent document (it cannot be more than three months old when it is produced to us) that confirms your home address.  The following are examples;-

• a utility bill
• a Council Tax bill
• a bank or credit card statement.

Please note that a driving licence is not acceptable as proof of address as it is not dated within the last three months.

Please also note that copy documents will not be acceptable unless they are appropriately certified as true copies in terms of the 2017 regulations.

If you are a company then we will require each director to provide us with suitable proof of identity and proof of address. You will also be required to produce a copy of the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the company.

Failure to comply with these strict requirements will result in our having to suspend the work that we are carrying out on your behalf. 

If necessary, we can verify your identity through an external organisation, Amiqus (a Law Society of Scotland endorsed organisation), who specialise in identity verification. The cost of an Amiqus identity check is £25 + VAT per individual. This will involve passing certain personal details, i.e. name, email address, address, to Amiqus. Amiqus will use the personal details provided for the purpose of verifying your identity only and will not use the information for any other purpose. Amiqus will retain this information to show that the identify search has been carried out on our behalf. This identity verification will not affect the credit history of the individual searched against.

B. SOURCE OF FUNDS

We are required by law to check the source of funds that you provide to us. In the event that you are to provide funds to us, for example as a deposit for a house purchase, you must give us details of the source of the money when you provide us with your initial instructions.  You are obliged to provide bank statements showing all movements of the source of funds for a 90-day period.

In the event that you make any change to the method of payment of your deposit or any other sums to be provided by you to us you will be required to provide an explanation for the change to the arrangements. Any delay occasioned by such change will not be our liability and in particular, any delay in the settlement of the transaction will be your responsibility and not that of this firm.

Where funds are to be paid to us by way of a banker’s draft or by an electronic transfer of funds we may require you to obtain written confirmation from the bank or building society concerned that the funds have been drawn from an account in your name.

It is also the responsibility of our firm to establish where funds that have been provided to our firm have actually originated from. We understand that funding can come from various sources, such as savings, the realisation of assets, an inheritance or the sale of a property etc. You must provide us with supporting documentation, such as bank statements, copy Will etc. to establish the source of wealth.

Please note that failure to comply with these strict requirements may result in our having to suspend the work that we are carrying out on your behalf. Failure to comply with these strict requirements may result in delays to your transaction.

C. THIRD PARTY FUNDS

Where funds have been gifted to you we require to obtain satisfactory proof of identity and source of funds from the gifter.

Where funds are to be paid directly to us by a third party on your behalf we require to obtain satisfactory proof of identity and source of funds from the third party before any such money is paid to us.

The proof of identity and source of funds requirements are contained in clauses A and B above.

D. COMPLETING ANTI MONEY LAUNDERING CHECKS

Any fee estimate provides for time spent on a reasonable anti money laundering check of up to one hour.

Where the time spent completing the compulsory anti money laundering exceeds the reasonable time limit of one hour you will be charged an additional fees of £50 + VAT per hour. If we have to invest more time and resource into your compliance check then we will discuss this with you and charge appropriately.

E. NATIONAL CRIME AGENCY (“the NCA”)

We also have a duty to report to the NCA if we know or suspect that any funds or assets involved in a matter were made through criminal activity. This duty will take priority over our duty to keep your information confidential.

It is an offence to tell someone that a report has been filed to the NCA and that they may be investigated. If a report us made to the NCA we cannot continue with your work without NCA approval. We will not be responsible for the effects of any delay which may occur as a result.

The Letter of Engagement will inform you in writing of the basis on which we will charge a fee for the work it relates to.

Unless negotiated and agreed in advance, fees are charged based on time spent on the work calculated with reference to the hourly rates set out in the Letter of Engagement. In addition to time spent the fee will be calculated with an element which can vary depending on the complexity, novelty, urgency, or sums of money involved in the matter. In the absence of written agreement to the contrary, time spent on a matter and chargeable to you will include all administration duties associated with the work carried out and time spent by us in discharging our regulatory responsibilities, including with regard to our anti money laundering checks and the process of assessing, reconciling and rendering invoices to reflect sums received and payable.

In certain circumstances the figure arrived at by totalling the time spent may be increased to reflect the complexity, urgency, value, importance, risk, responsibility or anti-social hours involved in dealing with your business.  In commercial transactions, a percentage of the amount or value of the money or property involved may be added in order to compensate for the risk or indemnity element in carrying out the work.  An appropriate percentage may be 0.50% of the first £100,000 with lower percentages of higher amounts.

Where a basic hourly rate has been indicated it is that which is then current. Our hourly rates are subject to change (normally annually). The amended rate will be intimated to you and applied from the date of intimation.

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 will be Scottish Legal Accountants. 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.

Where we do act for more than one person, each person for whom we do work is jointly and severally liable for the instructions given to us and for payment of our fees in connection with that matter.

1. ESTIMATESWhere possible we will provide an estimate of our fees in advance. If this is the case, we will attach a fee estimate for your current business to the Letter of Engagement. This will be based upon our best estimate based on our experience of the work involved in typical transaction of the type involved to complete the matter. Any estimates given are an indication only, made in good faith and on the basis of the information available to us at the outset. Estimates are subject to revision and are not a commitment by us to carry out the work for the fee stated. If the work turns out to be more complex than normal, then our estimate may require to be amended.. We would endeavour to advise you of any such change to our estimate as soon as it arose
2. FEE QUOTATION Where the Letter of Engagement sets out a fee quotation, we will commit to the scope of work detailed in the Letter of Engagement. If further work is requested or we are required to carry out additional work not previously specified, or as a result of circumstances not disclosed to us or circumstances that could not reasonably have been foreseen at the outset, then our fee will be increased by reference to our hourly rates and the other factors set out above.
3. ESTATE AGENCYWhere we are acting for you in the estate agency sale of your property the Letter of Engagement will inform you in writing of the basis on which we will charge a marketing fee and commission.The marketing fee will cover the work involved with placing the property on the market such as photography and production of Schedules.The estate agency commission may be varied by agreement. The commission will vary dependent on whether we are undertaking accompanied viewings.

VAT will be charged on our fees and certain outlays we incur on your behalf in accordance with the current VAT regulations.

Where our fees are assessed by our Law Accountants, the Audit fee charged by the Law Accountants will be payable by you.

Any reference to paying our fees also includes payment of any VAT incurred thereon which you may owe.

Outlays are necessary expenses incurred by us that we must pay to third parties on your behalf. These include charges for search fees, registration or recording fees, Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, travel costs, courier and court fees. We will assume, unless otherwise agreed with you in writing, that we have your authority to incur any outlays and expenses which we deem as being reasonable to incur in carrying out work for you. During the course of your transaction, outlays may be required to be made on your behalf and we shall, wherever possible, advise you of the current rate for such outlays in advance.

Normally outlays will require to be paid to us before they are due to be paid out. If we have to pay out outlays before receiving funds from you then you must reimburse us when asked.

If any bank transfers must be made on your behalf, such as to make payment of a price or loan redemption, then a bank transfer charge of £25 plus VAT will be charged per payment.

If you take out a mortgage from a Lender that uses a packager or administration service, such as the LMS Portal, Lender Exchange or other such provider, you will be charged the relevant administration fee invoiced to us. As an example, the current LMS Portal Administration Charge is £30 plus VAT. Affected Lenders include Atom Bank, HSBC, Leeds Building Society, NatWest, Newcastle Building Society, Royal Bank of Scotland, TSB Bank and Virgin Money.

Any reference to paying our fees also includes payment of any outlays which you may owe.

Certain Government Departments or Agencies and other organisations that we deal with when servicing your business will offer a discount on their normal level of fees dependent upon the volume of work we ask them to undertake on our behalf or the means by which we send them information. We will be entitled to retain any discounts so earned.

In certain types of transactions we may require to carry out Incidental Financial Business in the course of dealing with the principal subjects matter at hand. Such Business is usually the carrying out of insurance mediation activities, which covers broadly the advising on, selling and administration of insurance contracts. This insurance obtained is usually Title Indemnity Policies.

Where we carry out any Incidental Financial Business on your behalf we are obliged to advise you of the following points:-

1. We are licensed by the Law Society of Scotland to carry on Incidental Financial Business under the Society’s Practice Rule C2: Incidental Financial Business.
2. We are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. However, this firm is 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 the Law Society of Scotland.  The FCA Register can be accessed via the Financial Conduct Authority website at gov.uk/register.
3. We have Professional Indemnity Insurance under the Law Society of Scotland’s Master Policy. The current level of indemnity under the Master Policy is £2m per claim.  We are also covered by the Scottish Solicitor’s Guarantee Fund which is a fund established under Section 43 of the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980 for the purposes of making grants in order to compensate persons who, in the opinion of the Council of the Law Society of Scotland have suffered pecuniary loss by reason of dishonesty on the part of a Scottish solicitor in connection with the practice of a solicitor.
4. You are entitled to make a complaint under paragraph 21 hereof.
5. We do not have any holding, direct or indirect, representing more than 10% of voting rights of, or capital in, an insurance undertaking nor does any insurance undertaking no parent of any insurance undertaking have a holding, direct or indirect, representing more than 10% of the voting rights or capital in this firm.
6. We will make a recommendation from a limited number of insurance companies to secure either the lowest premium or the widest cover. We are not contractually obliged to conduct insurance distribution in this way.
7. We are not remunerated for any Incidental Financial Business.

We will issue you with an invoice for our Fees and VAT when we, in our absolute discretion, determine it appropriate to do so. This may be done on an interim basis where the work instructed by you has not been finalised. Ordinarily, such as in relation to conveyancing transactions, we will issue you with our invoice at the end of the transaction.

We will issue a separate statement detailing financial dealings on your behalf. This will include any outlays which may have been incurred.

Where you are buying a property and we are to receive the purchase price (either from you or your Mortgage Lender) we will require that the whole purchase price, together with our fees, are transferred into our account not later than the day before the scheduled Date of Entry. Your new mortgage will therefore start the day before the Date of Entry and interest may be charged from this date.

Where you have instructed us to carry out estate agency services an invoice for our marketing fee plus ESPC insertion will be rendered when the house is placed on the market. If you decide to withdraw your property from the market we will require 14 days’ notice in writing and the marketing fee and any other outstanding outlays will be payable. If you subsequently sell to a buyer introduced by us we will entitled to the estate agency commission in full.

We require payment within seven days of receipt of our request.

Where we hold funds on your behalf, including monies received as a result of the work carried out for you, our fees and outlays may, at our discretion, be deducted from the sums held by us.

It is our firms policy not to accept the following payment types:-

• Cash payments in excess of £500;
• Neither do we accept funds that have originated from cryptocurrency;
• Credit card payments in excess of £500.

In the event that you fail to pay your fees and outlays we are entitled to:-

1. Retain any documents which we may hold on your behalf. They will not be released until our account has been settled in full;
2. Stop or suspend further work on the matter in question and any other work we are doing for you. In these cases, we will not be responsible for any delays or losses which may result from this;
3. Charge interest on any amounts which are overdue at the rate of 3% above the base lending rate of the Royal Bank of Scotland plc from the date on which the payment was due to be made.

Please note that if someone else agrees to pay our fees and then fails to do so you will have to pay our fees yourself.

We will maintain a ledger account for funds held on your behalf in accordance with Law Society of Scotland rules. We will hold funds on interest bearing accounts where appropriate. Our Client Account is held with the Royal Bank of Scotland plc.

If you wish your funds to be deposited with a different bank or banks you will require to provide us with specific written instructions to that effect.  Please note, however, that this would require us to open accounts with such different Banks and their charges and our charges would require to be met prior to opening such accounts. The overall size of CMS (Client Monies Service) balances held for clients of the Firm enables us to arrange a competitive rate of interest from the Royal Bank of Scotland on the total of all our clients’ CMS balances and the benefits of this interest rate are shared with our clients. Rates of interest vary from time to time and can be confirmed upon request. We make no charge for the collection of interest on clients’ deposits, but we are entitled to retain an element of the interest paid to us by the bank.

Before we remit funds to you. we first require to be in cleared funds in accordance with paragraph 17 below.

When remitting funds held on account to you we will arrange payment by bank transfer to your nominated account(s) or by cheque(s). It is not always possible to remit funds to you on the Date of Entry or completion of your matter. Funds will returned to you within 5 working days after the date on which the transaction completed.

In the event that you instruct us to pay funds to a third party there may be delay in giving effect to this instruction pending enquiry being made as to the reasons for this step and the appropriate written instructions being received from you.

We do not accept responsibility for funds being paid to the wrong account if you fail to provide us with the correct bank details of your nominated account(s).

Where funds are received by cheque the onwards transmission of these funds cannot be processed until the cheque is cleared through the banking system. Interest does not accrue until this clearing process is complete. The clearing process ordinarily takes 3-4 working days.

If we receive funds in a foreign currency we will convert them into pounds sterling at Royal Bank of Scotland’s current exchange rate, unless you tell us not to beforehand.

All funds paid to you will be in pounds Sterling.

We may receive commission or loyalty dividend payments from some of the organisations that provide us with search and other reports.

Almost any legal transaction, whether of a private or business nature, can affect the amount of tax or other government duties which you may have to pay in either the short or long term. However, we will not provide tax advice unless otherwise agreed in writing.

We will not be responsible for any failure to offer tax advice, or any incorrect opinion expressed on a tax matter. If you wish to obtain a formal opinion on a tax matter you should, unless we have specifically agreed to provide this ourselves, seek advice from a specialist tax accountant.

If we complete any tax form on your behalf, we do so on the basis that we are assisting you to complete the forms. It is your responsibility to ensure that the information in the form is full and correct before you sign or approve the form.

Where we are asked to act for more than one person jointly in the purchase of a residential property we shall, in the absence of prior written instructions to the contrary, proceed on the basis that it is intended that each party will contribute equally towards the purchase and that the title should be taken equally between the parties.

If one party is contributing more than the other party, you are strongly recommended to instruct us to prepare a Cohabitation Agreement which is designed to protect the investment of both parties.

When we are dealing with a Home Report for a purchase transaction, please note that the scope of our investigation of the Report will be restricted to the section headed “Matters for a Solicitor or Conveyancer”. We will not investigate matters in relation to the condition of the property or other aspects of the Report unless you specifically request us to.

The settlement of house purchase transactions requires careful planning and allocation of work. Where Loan Instructions (your mortgage offer) from your Mortgage Lender are received late then we require to reschedule other planned work in order to process those late Instructions. Accordingly, where a property purchase is being funded either wholly or in part by way of funds provided by a Mortgage Lender we must have the principal Loan Instructions from your Mortgage Lender at least 10 working days prior to the Date of Entry. In the event that principal Loan Instructions are not received timeously an additional fee of £150 + VAT will be charged. You should ensure that whoever is arranging your Mortgage is aware of this.

Where we are instructed in the sale of a residential property, in the absence of prior written instructions to the contrary, we will disburse the free proceeds to all parties entitled to a share in the free proceeds in accordance with their share of the title.

We will redeem your mortgage in full on your behalf and in accordance with the instructions provided by the Lender concerned. Standard administration charges may require to be rendered.

There are legislative provisions which will in certain circumstances (e.g. cohabitation or marriage) result in substantial property rights being created which may supersede the terms of the title deeds. Should you require any further advice in that regard you must raise that with us at the earliest opportunity. Unless instructed to the contrary we shall assume that no advice is required and proceed accordingly.

We value good relationships with our clients and aim to provide the highest possible level of service to all our clients. However, from time-to-time difficulties and misunderstandings arise. If you are unhappy about any aspect of the service you receive from us then please discuss your concerns in the first instance with the person dealing with you.

If the matter is not resolved to your satisfaction then please speak to our Client Relations Manager, Mr Eric Williamson. A copy of our complaints procedure can be obtained upon request.

If after investigation by the Client Relations Manager you are still not satisfied then you are always entitled to refer it to the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (“the SLCC”). This option should only be pursued once you have attempted to resolve the matter with the Client Relations Manager.

The SLCC can be contacted at:-

Scottish Legal Complaints Commission

12-13 St Andrew Square

Edinburgh

EH2 2AF

Phone: 0131 201 2130

Email: enquiries@scottishlegalcomplaints.org.uk

Website: www.scottishlegalcomplaints.org.uk

You should note that the SLCC operates strict time limits for accepting complaints. These time limits require complaints to be made within one year of the service ending or the conduct occurring though the SLCC will disregard any time it considers that the complainer was excusably unaware of their concerns. We recognise that Alternative Dispute Resolution Regulations have implemented ADR/EDR Directive 2013/11/EU to promote alternative dispute resolution as a means of redress for consumers in relation to unsatisfactory services.  We have however chosen not to adopt an ADR process and if you have any concerns about the services you receive from this firm you should contact the firm’s Client Relations Manager.

If you are not happy with our response to a complaint about your personal date you are also entitled to submit a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”).

The ICO can be contacted at:-

Tel: 0303 123 1115

Website: www.ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/

Information provided to us will be dealt with in confidence. We will not disclose to any person any confidential information relating to you or any matter handled by us on your behalf except in the proper course of the work carried out, to parties authorised by you, or as required by the Law Society of Scotland or any other authorised body.

If we are working on a matter in conjunction with your other advisors we will assume, unless you notify us to the contrary, that we may disclose any such information to and discuss it with such advisors as appropriate in order to provide you with a service.

Where you have given your permission, whether verbal or written, to be referred by us to a third party, such as a financial or tax advisor, we assume that you have given us permission to disclose your confidential information.

Please note that we are audited by a number of organisation which monitor standards of performance and sometimes our files will be inspected. We will assume that you have given us this permission by your acceptance of the Letter of Engagement.

If we have engaged the services of others on your behalf as approved by you (such as overseas lawyers or expert witnesses) or other professional services (such as surveyors or accountants) engaged by you, we are not liable for any service or advice provided, whether or not such service or advice is provided directly to us. We are not liable for any act or omissions by such third party.

There are occasions where we may not be able to undertake legal work on your behalf. This may be due to the nature of complexity of the work being such work that we would not normally undertake. Where we cannot undertake legal work on your behalf we will, if requested and with your permission, source alterative legal representation for you.

The nature of legal work often makes it difficult to estimate precisely how long it will take to deal with a particular matter. We are happy to discuss timescales at the outset of a transaction.

Clients are sometimes frustrated by the delays associated with legal proceedings.  Unfortunately, delays are unavoidable from time to time, and are often outwith our control and are affected by the level of co-operation from other parties. Please rest assured that we will do everything in our power to ensure that your transaction proceeds as smoothly and efficiently as possible.

On completion of certain pieces of work, in particular property or commercial transactions) there may be future key dates on which some action by you will be required. For example, to exercise an option right or submit a tax return. Although we may contact you around a future key date, we will not remind you of or diarise any such dates. You are ultimately responsible for ensuring all key dates are met.

In general, we are unable to represent two clients on opposing sides of a case or transaction. This would create a conflict of interest. Should this situation arise, we would discuss the alternatives available to you. Please note that it is for us as your solicitors to determine in the exercise of our professional judgement whether there is a conflict of interest.

We expect to continue to act on any matter on which we have accepted instructions until the matter is completed, unless either of us bring those instructions to an end earlier. We will not normally withdraw from acting unless a conflict of interest arises or we would consider that it would not be in your best interest for us to continue to represent you, for example if there was a breakdown in the essential element of trust and confidence between us.

If instructions are terminated you will only be liable for payment of our fees to the date of termination of the instructions together with any fees for work necessary to transfer the matter to another advisor of your choice.

As Solicitors regulated by the Law Society of Scotland, we are of course subject to their rules and regulations.  In particular, we are required to have their professional insurance to a limit of £2 million for each and every claim, and that is the limit of our liability.

In acting for you we have access to personal data.  In processing this we shall be acting as your Data Controller and we shall only use personal data in providing you with legal, property or financial advice or services. If we think you would benefit from financial advice, we will pass your details to a regulated financial adviser. We confirm that we have in place and maintain appropriate technical and organisational measures to prevent unlawful processing of personal data and  to prevent loss of personal data, as required by law. We do not sell or provide personal data to third parties, nor do we use personal data for any purpose other than provision of our services to you.  To see full details of our Privacy Policy please refer to our website www.jgwilson.co.uk.  A paper copy can be made available upon request.

The files created by us for use in connection with your business contain some documents which belong to you and some documents which belong to us. Following the completion of the work to be undertaken by us for you as detailed in the Letter of Engagement the file and any relative papers and documents will be retained for a maximum period of 10 years. At the end of that period the file, relative papers and documents may be destroyed.  We assume that by your acceptance of the Letter of Engagement you implicitly authorise us to destroy the whole of the documents used in connection with your business without further reference to you. Destruction of such papers will be dealt with in a secure and confidential manner.

It should be noted that we are entitled to make a charge for retention and storage of files and documents on your behalf. We do not as a matter of course make this charge. However, if we copy or deliver to you documents or parts of files belonging to you at your request, we reserve the right to make an appropriate charge in respect of the work involved.

Due to the nature of our business, there is a high risk posed by cyber fraud, specifically affecting email accounts and bank account details. Emails are always at a high risk of interception and hacking. We are aware that cyber criminals do target emails to and from Solicitors’ firms in the UK in an attempt to divert funds to criminal accounts.

Our bank account details are available by post, telephone or in person.

Our bank account details will never change during the course of a transaction. If you are in any doubt or if you receive new bank account details which purport to have come from us by email then you should check our account details with us over the phone or in person.

To reduce the risk of cyber crime we suggest that you make a test payment of £1 which we can confirm has safely reached our account before you transfer any large sums of money to us electronically.

We will not accept responsibility or liability if you transfer funds to the wrong account.

We cannot accept bank details via email. We will only accept notification of a change of your bank details by letter or in person. We may, at our discretion, require additional documentation or confirmation be provided.

We take all reasonable steps to ensure that our email communications with you are free from computer viruses or similar. However, we will not accept responsibility or liability for any loss or damage which you may suffer or incur as a result of using email communications. It is your responsibility to scan emails and attachments from us for viruses.

We will never treat a client differently because of any characteristics defined in the Equality Act (2010). We will make reasonable adjustments for clients with a disability. Should you require us to make our meetings or correspondence more accessible please notify us and adjustments can be made.

We do not carry out any work through Legal Aid. We will assume that you have made enquiries as to your entitlement to Legal Aid and Assistance and have instructed us in this knowledge.

These terms may be amended by us, in our absolute discretion, from time to time. The form prevailing at any time will be available at www.jgwilson.co.uk.

Under no circumstances will we be liable for:-

1. Any loss, damage, cost or expense arising from any act or omission by you of your agreement with us or any act or omission of any other person;
2. Any advice or opinions given to you by any third party whether recommended or instructed by us or not;
3. Any indirect loss or damage or any loss of profit, income, production or accruals arising in any circumstances whatsoever and howsoever occasioned including, but not limited to, our negligence or non-performance.

Nothing in this Service Agreement shall exempt us from any liability arising from our fraud or reckless disregard of our professional obligations; or from our negligence resulting in death or injury or where law or regulation specifically prohibits the exclusion of such liability.

This Service Agreement is of a contractual nature and should be read carefully. We will provide clarification on any terms, the nature and effect of our Service Agreement upon request.

Your continuing instructions to us will confirm your acceptance of the terms of this Service Agreement. If you are not prepared to accept the terms of this Service Agreement, please notify the Supervising Solicitor or Client Relations Manager in writing without delay. Unless otherwise agreed in writing the terms of this Service Agreement will apply to all and any future instructions you may give to us.

This Service Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the Law of Scotland and, by your acceptance (whether deemed or actual) of the Letter of Engagement you agree that in the event of any dispute the matter may be dealt with only by the Scottish Courts.

Our Service Agreement is under regular review. Last update: 2 February 2024