Terms of Business

Money Laundering Regulations

We are covered by the same regulations as UK Banks, Building Societies, Solicitors and Accountants and need to verify your identity before we act for you.

Our Terms of Business

1. Introduction

The following terms and conditions of business define the nature of the contract between us unless varied in writing.

2. Our Commitment

Girasol Services will :-

(a) Carry out your legal work in accordance with your instructions.
(b) Explain to you the legal work, which may be required.
(c) Ensure that your interests are represented.
(d) Ensure that you understand any financial risk that you may be taking.
(e) Keep you regularly informed of progress.
(f) Endeavour to use plain language.
(g) Endeavour to be available to deal with your queries and concerns.

3. Hours of Business

We are normally available to clients between 9am and 5.30pm Monday to Friday. We may be available to talk to clients outside this time by prior appointment. If the person responsible for your case is not available immediately you may leave a message and we will return your call as soon as we are able.

4. Our Charges

Property Purchase and Sale.

Our fees in property transactions are 1% of the value of the sale or purchase cost or where there is a combined sale and purchase 1% of the combined sale and purchase cost.

Other services

Ordinarily our charges will be calculated by reference to the time actually spent by us in respect of work carried out on your behalf. This will include, amongst other things, meetings with you and others relevant to your case, reading and working on papers, correspondence, preparation of detailed cost calculations, time spent on travelling away from the office where necessary and any other communication with you or others relevant to this matter. We are happy to give an estimate.

We record time spent on your matter in units of 6 minutes.

Our rates will usually be reviewed for 1st April each year to reflect increases in overheads, costs and inflation. These rates will not be changed without our informing you.

Where a fixed fee has been agreed, we will only deviate from it if the nature of the transaction changes and with prior notice to you. In the event that a fixed fee has been agreed but the matter does not proceed to a conclusion, our fees will be charged at the hourly rate stated at the end of these terms together with any outstanding disbursements.

Any estimate is only that, an estimate, and no estimate given by us is fixed or binding. We will inform you of any proposed changes in the fee before you incur extra expense so that you are able to decide whether to proceed in the light of these changed circumstances.

5. Payment Arrangements

We require a non-refund deposit account before we will carry out any work. The size of the deposit will be related to the type of work involved. We will then bill you for 75% of our fee (minus the deposit) when contracts are exchanged. We will bill you for the final 25% of our fee at the end of the transaction.

Other transactions:

In all other transactions, our normal practice is to notify you of the sum of money that we should hold on account of costs and disbursements. The transaction will then be billed at least every three months. Other arrangements may apply where we are acting for you under a conditional fee agreement or you are being indemnified by legal expenses insurance.

In the unlikely event of any request for payment not being met we reserve the right to cease acting immediately.

Payment is due within 28 days of the date of our bill failing which interest will be charged from the date of the bill on a daily basis at a rate of 4% over the Barclays Bank PLC base rate from time to time.

6. Payment

(a) By cheque or bank transfer.
(b) We are unable to accept cash payments in excess of £500.

7. Monies Spent or to be Spent on Your Behalf (Disbursements)

At various stages in a transaction we may have to pay out money on your behalf for example Land Registry fees, notaries fees and so on. We will endeavour to provide you with an estimate of disbursements at the outset, and as the matter progresses.

We are not obliged to make these payments unless we are in possession of cleared funds or we are otherwise satisfied that funds will be available to reimburse these expenses.

If we require cleared funds then we must receive any cheques payable to us in respect of those disbursements at least seven days before the monies are to be paid out.

We will not pay out sums on your behalf unless we are in receipt of cleared funds from you.

8. What We Will Not Do

We will not advise upon, assist, or carry out work in connection with any of the following:

(a) Any form of UK or overseas taxation.
(b) Planning, financial advice or investigations of adjacent properties.
(c) Surveys or valuations.
(d) Checks on the existence or financial standing of third parties e.g. regarding guarantees.
(e) he dimensions of properties being sold and/or purchased.
(f) The Boundaries of properties being sold and/or purchased or that the same correspond with any plans and in this respect we would strongly recommend that you carry out your own site inspection or instruct a surveyor as appropriate.

Nor will we:

(a) Give undertakings on your behalf.
(b) Complete any transaction unless we are in funds to do so.
(c) Agree a completion date which is not realistic.
(d) Keep third parties advised of any developments.
(e) Instruct outside third party agents such as agents, surveyors, engineers or other professionals unless instructed in writing to do so and we are in possession of cleared funds.

If we are requested to do any of the above matters then we reserve the right to revise any fee estimate.

9. Your Papers

After completion of the work, we are entitled to keep all your papers and documents if there is money owing to us in respect of our fees, disbursements and VAT. Once these charges have been paid we will return to you any original documents or personal papers that you lodged with us during the conduct of the case. Our own file of papers will normally be stored for at least 6 years and then destroyed (or its contents will be archived electronically and then destroyed). If you have any objection to these arrangements or need more information please contact us immediately.

You may terminate your instructions with us in writing at any time but we will retain the non-refundable deposit your deeds, documents and papers until such time as our fees, and all other sums payable to us, are paid.

If we are no longer able to act for you we shall inform you in writing.

11. E-mail Policy

If it is available and unless you tell us otherwise we may communicate with you and others involved in your matter by e-mail with or without attachments. Whilst we take every reasonable precaution e-mail, as with other systems of communication, cannot be guaranteed to be secure.

We cannot guarantee against viruses and so any attachment received by you and sent by us should be scanned with up to date virus detection software of your own. We will not be held responsible for any loss or damage caused to a client's computer, other hardware or software, resulting from a transmission sent by us.

12. Distance selling

Under the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000, for some non-business instructions, you may have the right to withdraw, without charge, within 7 working days of the date on which you asked us to act for you.

However, if we start work with your consent within that period, you lose the right to withdraw. That consent is given by returning a signed copy of these terms of business. If you do not want us to proceed please give notice by telephone, email or letter.

The Regulations also require us to inform you if the work involved is likely to take more than 30 days. This will be the case for all property related work.

13. Quality Assurance

Girasol Services is committed to providing its clients with a high quality service. If you have any concerns please let us know in writing as soon as possible and we will do our best to meet your concerns.

14. Money Laundering Regulations

We reserve the right to ask you to produce such proof of identification as is necessary for us to comply with the Money Laundering Regulations and such other regulations as we may ourselves be subject to from time to time. If you are a company, we will charge you for the cost of obtaining the necessary documentation to enable us to comply with the regulations.

15. Limit on Liability

Except in respect of Death or Bodily Injury resulting from our negligence, the limit of our liability in contract or tort or other applicable laws will not exceed the value of the fees paid over to us.

16. Applicable Law

Except in relation to disputes concerning fees, where the applicable law shall be English Law, the applicable law shall be the Law of Spain.

17. Data Protection

As a data controller we are bound by the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1988.

By accepting these terms and conditions of business you agree to our obtaining, using and processing your personal data to enable us to discharge the services which we have agreed to provide to you and for other related purposes including updating client records, quality assurance audits (see above), management purposes and for legal, regulatory and compliance purposes, including crime prevention where we have a duty to do so.

We may also use your personal data to keep you updated about the services offered by Girasol Services and the services of other strategic partners. Please notify us by telephone, e-mail or letter if you would rather we did not. We will not sell, exchange or disclose your personal data to a third party without seeking your further authority unless required by law to do so.

Welcome to Girasol Services, welcome to Spain.