General Terms and Conditions
Getting to know each other
1. These general terms and conditions apply to all third parties
engaging with, or making use of, the services of a member company
of Sydney Charles Group. In due course all or part of these
general terms and conditions may be varied or superseded by the
terms and conditions contained in a specific agreement or contract
entered into between us.
2. When you first approach us for advice and guidance on our
services, we are pleased initially to respond on a 'no charge'
basis for providing you with details of the services you requested
or may need. Thereafter, if further detailed information is
requested, we may ask you to underwrite a time charge for providing
such additional information.
3. Once it is agreed we are to provide you with a defined range
of services, you agree to underwrite the amount of our future fees
and expenses which may at any time fail to be paid for any
reason.
Our services
4. We will provide you with the services specified in an
agreement or contract or as otherwise agreed between us. We
will at all times endeavour to let you know in advance the services
that we are providing to you and, in respect of which we expect to
be paid. Either of us may request a change to the scope of
these services which will take effect only when agreed in writing
between us.
5. If when we are in a position to deliver to you the product of
any services, you have decided that you no longer wish to receive
it and you have failed to let us know, then we expect you to pay us
for the time spent and costs incurred up to the time when you do
inform us that you do not wish to receive it.
6. In providing the services, we may need to rely on information
that you provide to us. You agree to provide on a timely basis all
information reasonably required to enable us to provide the
services and you will make sure that all such information is
accurate, complete and not misleading.
7. The services we provide are for your benefit alone and you
agree that they will not be used or relied upon by third parties
without our written consent. Also, we will not be prevented
by virtue of our relationship with you from providing similar
services to any other clients.
Our fees
8. Our fees (including third-party expenses we incur in serving
your needs) will be calculated and invoiced as set out in the
applicable agreement or contract.. You agree to settle our fees in
accordance with our payment terms.
9. We will review our fees periodically with you. The
procedure and timing for such reviews will be set out in the
specific agreement or contract entered into between us.
10. Should our appointment be terminated in accordance with the
provisions set out in any agreement or contract for services, you
agree to pay our outstanding fees and expenses including those not
yet billed. We will be entitled to exercise a lien over any
property of yours held by us until such time as all outstanding
fees and expenses have been settled.
Money laundering
11. Money laundering legislation and our internal procedures
require us to verify the identity of clients and to conduct other
background checks, for example as to the source of monies used to
finance certain transactions.
Confidentiality, disclosure and publicity
12. We realise we owe you a duty of care in respect of
confidential information relating to you which we obtain during the
course of working with you. We will not disclose this
information to anyone without your consent except in connection
with statutory or regulatory obligations (including those relating
to money laundering legislation) or in accordance with our own
internal procedures which we have put in place to meet those
statutory or legal obligations. We expect you to reciprocate
in respect of our confidential data, and to keep information
regarding our fees, staff and documentation confidential.
13. We have procedures in place to prevent money laundering. If
we know or suspect that a transaction involves money laundering we
may make a notification to the relevant agency and we may be
precluded from informing you about this.
14. In relation to any personal data which you provide to us, we
will comply with all relevant data protection and privacy laws and
regulations.
15. We may disclose that you are a client of ours and describe
in general terms the work that we do for you unless you tell us not
to do so. Similarly you may disclose that we act for you and
describe in general terms the work that we do for you unless we ask
you not to do so.
Communication
17. We may communicate with you via email unless you tell us not
to do so. Email and any attachments sent by us to you
(whether or not containing confidential information) will not be
encrypted. We try to eliminate viruses and similar risks from
outgoing electronic communications but you agree that you need to
protect your own computer systems and networks from viruses and
similar risks and dangers.
18. For reasons of security, we will not accept material
instructions from you via email, and we will only accept
instructions from you via facsimile if beforehand you have provided
us with a suitable indemnity.
Resolving problems and disputes
19. If you have any complaints or concerns about our work,
please raise them in the first instance with your direct
contact of the company providing you with the
service. Details are given in the People section on our
website. We will investigate your complaint promptly and
carefully and do what we reasonably can to resolve the difficulties
in accordance with our complaints handling procedures.
20. If you are still unhappy, please write to John
Stuart Director of Sydney Charles Group, at our Guernsey
office address, who will personally investigate your complaint or
concern and the handling of it. If the matter remains
unresolved after that, we will seek to resolve the matter through
mediation.
Force majeure
21. You agree that we will not be liable to you if we are unable
to perform the services as a result of any cause beyond our
reasonable control including but not limited to fire, flooding,
acts of God, war, terrorism, riots, strikes, industrial disputes,
and actions of any governmental or supranational authority.
Inconsistencies
22. In the event of any inconsistency between a specific
agreement or contract to provide you with services, and these
General Terms and Conditions, the specific agreement or contract
will prevail.