TERMS OF USE AND PRIVACY POLICY:
WHY DO YOU NEED A NOTARY?
You have been told to see a Notary or Notary Public (the Terms are interchangeable) because you have a document that needs to be used abroad in a Foreign Jurisdiction.
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 you the Client but also to anyone who may rely on the Notarised document and to Governments or Officials of other Countries.
Such people and organisations are entitled to assume that a Notary will ensure full compliance with the relevant requirements both here and abroad; and can rely on the Notary’s Register and Records.
Great care is essential at every stage to minimise the risks of errors, omissions, alterations, fraud, forgery, money laundering, the use of false identity and to comply with any other specific requirements.
APPOINTMENTS
Can be during my normal business hours of 09.30 – 17.30 Monday to Friday, but I can be flexible as I fully appreciate the urgency of many Notarial matters. I am therefore prepared to make home visits or visit corporate clients at their place of business. However, if the Notarial Appointment takes place outside of my office I will make an additional charge to cover travelling time and expenses.
On an emergency basis I am prepared to undertake Notarial work outside office hours including Saturday’s at an additional charge.
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 try and provide you with the necessary information to locate an alternative Notary.
SIGNATURES
The Notary should normally witness your signature. Please DO NOT sign the document in advance of your appointment with me.
PAPERS TO BE SENT TO ME IN ADVANCE
It will save time, expense and avoid error if, as long before the appointment as possible, you can let me have the originals or photocopies of:
The documents to be notarised including any Exhibits or Attachments to Affidavits or Statements;
Any letter or other form of instruction which you have received about what has to be done with the documentation by me as a Notary;
Your evidence of identification.
IDENTIFICATION
You will have to produce by way of formal identification the original of (in preferred order):
Your current passport (or, if not available);
A current driving licence (with photo) or a national identity card.
If neither of the above are available, at least TWO of the following:
A current Government or Police issued Certificate bearing a photo or other formal means of identification;
A Utility bill, Credit card or Bank statement showing your current address which should not be more than 3 months old;
Or current Council Tax bill.
You must also bring any other means of ID which may be referred to in the papers that have been 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/Birth Certificates Grants of Probate etc. and will advise you if this is necessary.
PROOF OF NAMES
In a case where the name on the Documentation is different from names you or others are currently using, or there has been a variation in over the years in the form of spelling of any name, please provide as appropriate Certificates of Birth, Marriage; Divorce Decree; or Change of Name Deeds or Statutory Declarations showing all the different name variation.
ADVICE ON THE DOCUMENT
If you produce Documentation to me to deal with as a Notary I will advise you as to the formalities required for completing it. However, I cannot advise you about the transaction connected with such Documentation. It is up to you to obtain external Legal Advice as to the Transaction.
WRITTEN TRANSLATIONS
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 Fee 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, from the **** Language in to the English Language both Documents being attached to my Certificate.”
ORAL INTERPRETER
If neither you and I cannot understand each other because of a language difficulty, we may have to make arrangements for a competent interpreter to be available at our interview and this may involve a further Fee.
COMPANIES, PARTNERSHIPS, ETC.
If a document is to be signed by you on behalf of a Company, a Partnership, a Charity, Club or other Incorporated Body, there may be further requirements.
Please be prepared for these and please telephone me to discuss any point of difficulty before attending the Appointment.
In each case I shall need to see:
Evidence of identity of the Authorised signatory (as listed above).
A copy of the current letterhead (showing the Registered Office if it is a Company).
A Letter of Authority, Certified Minutes, Board Resolution or Power of Attorney, authorising signatory to sign the Document.
IN ADDITION FOR COMPANIES:
In all instances, I will be carrying out various searches for example at Companies House, the London Gazette etc., because I need to see the Certificate of Incorporation and of any Certificates of Change of Name, The Memorandum and Articles of Association, Details of Directors and Secretaries and satisfy myself that the Company is in existence etc.
The cost of such searches will be reflected in the Fees charged.
IN ADDITION FOR PARTNERSHIPS, CLUBS, ETC.:
A Partnership Agreement; or relevant Trust Deed; or Charter; or Constitution/Rules etc. will need to be produced.
NOTARIAL FEES AND EXPENSES
Details of my Fees are set out below:
My Notarial Fees are based on a current minimum Hourly Rate of £300.00 Plus VAT
Please note that if I have to make payments (disbursements) on your behalf such as Legalisation, Translator, or Interpreter Fees, or other costs such as travelling expenses, you will normally be required to make payment in advance in respect of such disbursements.
If the matter is simple I will endeavour to charge a Fixed Fee togeather with Disbursements such as Legalisation Notarial Agent and courier fees, travelling expenses, translation costs etc.
For more complicated or time-consuming matters my Fee will be based on my minimum hourly rate of £300.00, Plus VAT subject to a minimum fee of £80.00, Per Signature Plus VAT plus disbursements.
The Fee charged may include time spent on preliminary advice, drafting and preparation time, making and receiving telephone calls, correspondence received in all formats.
LEGALISATION DISBURSEMENTS
Some documents require Legalisation before they will be accepted for use in the receiving Jurisdiction.
This is achieved by obtaining an Apostille through the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office and in addition some countries, require Consular Legalisation through the relevant Embassy or Consulate.
My Notarial Agents Fees will be added to the Legalisation Fees.
My Fees for this matter are set out below:
Payment can be made in either cash or by Bank Transfer made payable to:
LLOYDS BANK PLC
Gopal K Gupta
Account Number: 01060155
Sort Code: 30-99-32
Payment of my Fee and Disbursements are due when the Document has been prepared, which I may retain pending payment in full.
Occasionally unforeseen or unusual issues arise during the course of the matter, which may result in a revision of my Fee estimate.
Examples of this could include where:
Additional Documentation is required to be Notarised;
Additional Translations or Legalisation are needed to meet the requirements of the receiving Jurisdiction;
Third party fees are adjusted to reflect external factors such as fuel price changes
I will endeavour to notify you of any changes in the fee estimate as soon as possible.
TYPICAL STAGES OF A NOTARIAL TRANSACTION
Each Notarial matter is different and the requirements will vary according to whether the client is a Private individual or a Corporate body.
Some of the typical key stages are likely to include:
Receiving and reviewing the documents to be Notarised together with any instructions you may have received;
Liaising with your legal advisors or other bodies to obtain the necessary documentation to deal with the Notarisation process (e.g. information from Companies House or Foreign Registries, obtaining Powers of Attorney Board Minutes Letters of Authority etc.);
Checking the identity, capacity and authority of the person who is to sign the document;
If a document is to be certified, checking with the issuing authorities that the document/award is genuine. In the case of Academic Awards, this might entail checking with the appropriate Academic Institutions;
Meeting with the signatory to verify their identity and to ascertain that they understand what they are signing and that they are doing so of their own free will and ensuring that the document is executed correctly;
Drafting and affixing or endorsing a Notarial Certificate to the document
Arranging for the Legalisation of the document as appropriate;
Arranging for the storage of copies of Notarised documents in accordance with the requirements of the Notarial Practice Rules 2019.
NOTARIAL RECORDS AND DATA PROTECTION
When I carry out work for you, I am required to make an entry in my Notarial Register, which is kept by me as a permanent record of the transaction which will include evidence of your identity.
I may retain a copy of the Notarised documentation with that record; but pursuant to The Notarial Practice Rules (unless the Document is in Public Form), I am not obliged to.
My practice is a 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. Please see my Privacy Policy.
INSURANCE
To comply with the Notarial Practice Rules and in interests of my Clients:
I maintain Professional Indemnity Insurance at a level of £1,000,000 per claim Underwritten by Tokio Marine HCC.
I am a member of The Notaries Guarantee Limited which provides Fidelity Insurance at a level of £1,000,000 per claim
TERMINATION / YOUR RIGHT TO CANCEL
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 Regulations 2013 (“CCR”):
Where the CCR apply (typically where you are an individual consumer and my contract with you was concluded either at or following a meeting with you 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.
You can cancel your contract within the cancellation period by giving me a clear statement and I will reimburse all payments received from you by the same method that you used, at no cost to you, without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which you inform me of the cancellation.
If you ask us to begin work during the cancellation period, you can still cancel but you must pay me an amount in proportion to the work which I have performed and this proportion will not be reimbursed to you.
TERMINATION BY ME
I reserve the right to terminate my engagement with you if I have good reason to do so, for example, if you do not pay my Fees 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.
COMPLAINTS & REGULATOR
My Notarial Practice is Regulated through the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury:
The Faculty Office
1, The Sanctuary
Westminster
London, SW1P 3JT
Telephone: 020 7222 5381
Email: faculty.office@1thesanctuary.com
Website: facultyoffice.org.uk
If you are dissatisfied about the service you have received, in the first instance please contact me.
If we are unable to resolve the complaint you can give details of your complaint to The Faculty Office.
If you have any difficulty in making a complaint in writing, please do not hesitate to call the Faculty Office for assistance.
Finally, even if you have your complaint considered by The Faculty Office you may at the end of that procedure, or after a period of 6 months from the date you first notified me that you were dissatisfied, make your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman*, at:
Legal Ombudsman
P O Box 6806
Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
Tel: 0300 555 0333
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Website: legalombudsman.org.uk
If you decide to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman you must refer your matter to the Legal Ombudsman:
Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint and
Within six years from the date of act/omission; or
Within three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint (only if the act or omission took place more than six years ago).
The act or omission, or when you should have reasonably known there was cause for complaint, must have been after 5th October 2010.
*certain kinds of commercial entities are not eligible to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman – please refer to the Legal Ombudsman Scheme Rules or consult the Faculty Office
Data Protection:
The business Gopal Krishan Gupta trading as GKG Notary, 59 Leighton Road Kentish Town London NW5 2QH
If you have any questions about this privacy notice (“Notice”), please contact us by email.
The Business will process your and third parties’ personal data, as further explained below, in the course of providing you with notarial and associated services www.gkgnotary.co.uk
We will let you know by posting on our website if we make any changes to this Notice from time to time. Your continued use of the Services after notifying such changes will amount to your acknowledgement of the amended Notice.
PLEASE NOTE: You shall and you hereby agree to indemnify the Business and its affiliates and their officers, employees, agents and subcontractors (each an “Indemnified Party”) from and against any claims, losses, demands, actions, liabilities, fines, penalties, reasonable expenses, damages and settlement amounts (including reasonable legal fees and costs) incurred by any Indemnified Party arising out of or in connection with any breach by you of the warranties included in paragraph 9.
WHAT IS PERSONAL DATA?
“Personal data” means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person, known as ‘data subject’, who can be identified directly or indirectly; it may include name, address, email address, phone number, IP address, location data, cookies and similar information. It may also include “special categories of personal data” such as racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, and the processing of genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a data subject, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation.
The Business may process personal data and special categories of personal data which you provide in connection with the Services about yourself and other data subjects, e.g. individuals whose details are included in any materials provided by you to the Business. The Business may obtain information about you and other data subjects from third party service providers, such as due diligence platforms. If you use our online Services, the Business may collect information about your devices including clickstream data.
The provision of certain personal data is mandatory in order for the Business to comply with mandatory client due diligence requirements and consequently to provide the Services. You warrant on a continuous basis that such personal data is accurate, complete and up to date. Failure to comply may result in documents being rejected by the relevant certification authorities, held invalid in the destination country or other difficulty to successfully completing the Services.
In relation to personal data of data subjects you warrant to the Business on a continuous basis that:
(a) where applicable, you are authorised to share such personal data with the Business in connection with the Services and that wherever another data subject is referred to, you have obtained the explicit and demonstrable consent from all relevant data subjects to the inclusion and use of any personal data concerning them;
(b) to the extent this is required in connection with the Services, such personal data is accurate, complete and up to date; and
(c) either you provide your explicit consent and warrant that each data subject has provided explicit consent for the transfer of personal data to foreign organisations in connection with the Services as set out at paragraph 18, or that an alternative legal gateway for such transfer (such as transfer necessary for the conclusion or performance of a contract concluded in the interest of the data subject) has been satisfied.
HOW DO WE USE YOUR PERSONAL DATA?
The Business will only process personal data, in accordance with applicable law, for the following purposes:
(a) responding to your queries, requests and other communications;
(b) providing the Services, including, where applicable, procuring acts from foreign organisations;
(c) enabling suppliers and service providers to carry out certain functions on behalf of the Business in order to provide the Services, including web hosting, data storage, identity verification, technical, logistical, courier or other functions, as applicable.
(d) allowing you to use features on our website;
(e) ensuring the security of the Business and preventing or detecting fraud;
(f) administering our Business, including complaints resolution, troubleshooting of our website, data analysis, testing of new features, research, statistical and survey purposes;
(g) developing and improving our Services
(h) complying with applicable law, including Notary Practice Rules, guidelines and regulations or in response to a lawful request from a court of regulatory body.
The legal basis for our processing of personal data for the purposes described above will typically include:
processing necessary to fulfil a contract that we have in place with you or other data subjects, such as processing for the purposes set out in paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d);
your consent, such as processing for the purposes set out in paragraph (e);
processing necessary for our or a third party’s legitimate interests, such as processing for the purposes set out in paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (f), (g) and (h), which is carried out on the basis of the legitimate interests of the Business to ensure that Services are properly provided, the security of the Business and its clients and the proper administration of the Business; and
processing necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, such as processing for the purposes set out in paragraph (i).and
any other applicable legal grounds for processing from time to time.
COOKIE STATEMENT
What exactly are cookies?
In order to collect the information including personal data as described in this Notice, we may use cookies and similar technology on our website. A cookie is a small piece of information which is sent to your browser and stored on your computer’s hard drive, mobile phone or other device. You can set your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie. This enables you to decide if you want to accept it or not. However, some of the Services offered through our website may not function properly if your cookies are disabled.
Cookies can be first party or third party cookies:
First party cookies – cookies that the website you are visiting places on your device.
Third party cookies – cookies placed on your device through the website but by third parties, such as, Google.
The cookies placed on our website
We use the following cookies on our website:
Strictly necessary cookies. These cookies are essential in order to enable you to move around our website and use its features. Without these cookies, Services you have asked for cannot be provided. They are deleted when you close the browser. These are first party cookies.
Performance cookies. These cookies collect information in an anonymous form about how visitors use our website. They allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around the website when they are using it and the approximate regions that they are visiting from. These are first party cookies.
Functionality cookies. These cookies allow our website to remember choices you make (such as your user name, language or the region you are in, if applicable) and provide enhanced, more personal features. These cookies can also be used to remember changes you have made to text size, fonts and other parts of web pages that you can customise. The information these cookies collect may be anonymised and they cannot track your browsing activity on other websites. These are first party cookies.
Targeting or advertising cookies. These cookies allow us and our advertisers to deliver information more relevant to you and your interests. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement as well as to help measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. They remember that you have visited our website and may help us in compiling your profile. These are persistent cookies which will be kept on your device until their expiration or earlier manual deletion.
Social Media cookies. These cookies allow you to connect with social media networks such as LinkedIn and twitter. These are persistent cookies which will be kept on your device until their expiration or earlier manual deletion.
We may combine information from these types of cookies and technologies with information about you from other sources.
Cookie consent and opting out
We assume that you are happy for us to place cookies on your device. Most Internet browsers automatically accept cookies. However, if you, or another user of your device, wish to withdraw your consent at any time, you have the ability to accept or decline cookies by modifying your browser setting. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of our website, our platforms and Services.
When you arrive on our website a pop-up message will appear asking for your consent to place advertising cookies on your device. In order to provide your consent, please click ‘I understand’. Once your consent has been provided, this message will not appear again when you revisit. If you, or another user of your device, wish to withdraw your consent at any time, you can do so by altering your browser settings otherwise we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies from our website. For more information please visit www.allaboutcookies.organd http://www.youronlinechoices.com/uk/.
DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL DATA
There are circumstances where the Business may wish to disclose or is compelled to disclose your personal data to third parties. These scenarios include disclosure to:
our subsidiaries or associated offices;
our suppliers and service providers to facilitate the provision of the Services, including couriers, translators, IT consultants and legalisation and other handling agents, web hosting providers, identity verification partners (in order to verify your identity against public databases), consultants, for example, in order to protect the security or integrity of our business, including our databases and systems and for business continuity reasons;
public authorities to carry out acts which are necessary in connection with the Services, such as the Foreign Office;
foreign organisations to carry out acts which are necessary in connection with the Services, such as Embassies, Consulates and High Commissions;
professional organisations exercising certain public functions in relation to the notaries profession, such as Chambers of Commerce;
subject to your consent, our advertising and marketing partners who enable us, for example, to deliver personalised ads to your devices or who may contact you by post, email, telephone, SMS or by other means;
successor or partner legal entities, on a temporary or permanent basis, for the purposes of a joint venture, collaboration, financing, sale, merger, reorganisation, change of legal form, dissolution or similar event relating to a Business. In the case of a merger or sale, your personal data will be permanently transferred to a successor company;
public authorities where we are required by law to do so; and
any other third party where you have provided your consent.
International transfer of your personal data
We may transfer your personal data to a third party in countries outside the country in which it was originally collected for further processing in accordance with the purposes set out above. In particular, your personal data may be transferred to foreign organisations such as foreign Embassies located in the UK or abroad. Such organisations will process personal data in accordance with the laws to which they are subject and international treaties over which the Business has no control.
If the Business transfers personal data to private organisations abroad, such as subcontractors, it will, as required by applicable law, ensure that your privacy rights are adequately protected by appropriate technical, organisation, contractual or other lawful means. You may contact us for a copy of such safeguards in these circumstances.
Retention of personal data
Your personal data will be retained for as long as is reasonably necessary for the purposes listed above or as required by the law. For example, the Notaries Practice Rules require that that notarial acts in the public form shall be preserved permanently. Records of acts not in public form shall be preserved for a period of 12 years. Personal data may for reasons of security and convenience be stored on remote data facilities but in an encrypted form.
We may keep an anonymized form of your personal data, which will no longer refer to you, for statistical purposes without time limits, to the extent that we have a legitimate and lawful interest in doing so.
Security of personal data
The Business will implement technical and organisational security measures in order to prevent unauthorised access to your personal data.
However, please be aware that the transmission of information via the internet is never completely secure. Whilst we can do our best to keep our own systems secure, we do not have full control over all processes involved in, for example, your use of our website or sending confidential materials to us via email, and we cannot therefore guarantee the security of your information transmitted to us on the web.
Data subject rights
Data subjects have numerous rights in relation to their personal data. For further information about your data protection rights please visit the ICO website.
Right to make a subject access request (SAR). Data subjects may request in writing copies of their personal data. However, compliance with such requests is subject to certain limitations and exemptions and the rights of other data subjects. Each request should make clear that a SAR is being made. You may also be required to submit a proof of your identity and payment, where applicable.
Right to rectification. Data subjects may request that we rectify any inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
Right to withdraw consent. Data subjects may at any time withdraw their consent to the processing of their personal data carried out by the Business on the basis of previous consent. Such withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of processing based on previous consent.
Right to object to processing, including automated processing and profiling. The Business does not make automated decisions. Profiling may be carried out for Business administration purposes, such as monitoring trends in user visits of our website, and in order to deliver targeted ads.
The Business may use third party due diligence platforms which provide recommendations about data subjects by automated means. We will comply with any data subject’s objection to processing unless we have a compelling overriding legitimate ground for the processing, the processing is for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims or we have another lawful reason to refuse such request. We will comply with each valid opt-out request in relation to marketing communications.
Right to erasure. Data subjects may request that we erase their personal data. We will comply, unless there is a lawful reason for not doing so. For example, there may be an overriding legitimate ground for keeping the personal data, such as, our archiving obligations that we have to comply with.
Restriction. Data subjects may request that we restrict our processing of their personal data in various circumstances. We will comply, unless there is a lawful reason for not doing so, such as, a legal obligation to continue processing your personal data in a certain way.
Right to data portability. In certain circumstances, data subjects may request the controller to provide a copy of their personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format and have it transferred to another provider of the same or similar services. To the extent such right applies to the Services, we will comply with such transfer request. Please note that a transfer to another provider does not imply erasure of the data subject’s personal data which may still be required for legitimate and lawful purposes.
Right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority. We suggest that data subjects contact us about any questions or complaints in relation to how we process personal data. However, each data subject has the right to contact the relevant supervisory authority directly.
Available to travel at an extra cost