1           Professional obligations

·           Details of the firm’s professional registrations can be found at https://www.dua.co.uk/contact under Provision of Services Regulations Disclosures.

·           We will observe and act in accordance with the bye-laws and regulations of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales together with their code of ethics which can be found at www.icaew.com/regulations. We accept instructions to act for you on this basis. In particular, you give us authority to correct errors made by HM Revenue and Customs where we become aware of them. We will not be liable for any loss, damage or cost arising from our compliance with statutory or regulatory obligations.

Professional indemnity insurance

·           In accordance with the disclosure requirements of the Provision of Services Regulations 2009, our professional indemnity insurer is QBE UK Limited of Plantation Place, 30 Fenchurch Street, London, EC3M 3BD. The territorial coverage is worldwide excluding professional business carried out from an office in the United States of America or Canada and excludes any action for a claim brought in any court in the United States of America or Canada.

·           If for any reason circumstances arise that may result in a claim to our professional indemnity insurers, you give us permission to notify them.

2           Investment services

·           Since we are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority then we may have to refer you to someone who is authorised if you need advice on investments. However, as we are licensed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, we may be able to provide certain investment services that are complementary to, or arise out of, the professional services we are providing to you.

·           Such advice may include:

1.         advise you on investments generally, but not recommend a particular investment or type of investment;

2.         refer you to a Permitted Third Party (PTP) (an independent firm authorised by the FCA), assist you and the PTP during the course of any advice given by that party and comment on, or explain, the advice received (but not make alternative recommendations). The PTP will issue you with his own terms and conditions letter, will be remunerated separately for his services and will take full responsibility for compliance with the requirements of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000;

1.        advise you in connection with the disposal of an investment, other than your rights in a pension policy or scheme;

2.        advise and assist you in transactions concerning shares or other securities not quoted on a recognised exchange;

3.        assist you in making arrangements for transactions in investments in certain circumstances; and

4.        manage investments or act as trustee (or donee of a power of attorney) where decisions to invest are taken on the advice of an authorised person.

·         We may also, on the understanding that the shares or other securities of the company are not publicly traded:

·         advise the company, existing or prospective shareholders in relation to exercising rights, taking benefits or share options, valuations and methods of such valuations;

·         arrange any agreements in connection with the issue, sale or transfer of the company’s shares or other securities;

·         arrange for the issue of new shares; and

·         act as the addressee to receive confirmation of acceptance of offer documents etc.

·         In the unlikely event that we cannot meet our liabilities to you, you may be able to claim compensation under the Chartered Accountants’ Compensation Scheme in respect of exempt regulated activities undertake

·         We are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. However, we are included on the Register maintained by the Financial Conduct Authority so that we can carry on insurance mediation 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 Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. The register can be accessed via the Financial Conduct Authority website at http://www.fca.org.uk/register

Financial Promotions

·           To enable us to provide you with a proper service, there may be occasions when we will need to contact you without your express permission concerning investment business matters. For example, it may be in your interests to sell a particular investment and we would wish to inform you of this. We may therefore contact you in such circumstances, but would only do so in our normal office hours of 30AM to 5.30PM. We shall of course comply with any restrictions you may wish to impose which you notify to us in writing. Client Monies – Designated Investment Business

·         Because of the categorisation we have given you, you will lose the protection given to retail clients under the Conduct of Business Source Book of the Financial Conduct Authority. Protection in the following areas will not apply because when advising you we will assume that you are able to protect your own interests:

Understanding of risk

We do not need to warn you of the nature of any risks involved in any transactions we recommend for you or give you written risk warnings about any transactions.

Arranging loans

We do not need to make a recorded assessment of your financial standing, ensure that the terms of the loan(s) and the amounts are suitable.

Non-exchange traded securities

We do not have to arrange or effect any transaction for you at a reasonable price.

Best execution

We do not need to arrange or effect any transaction for you on the best terms available.

Financial Ombudsman Service

Please note that you will also lose the right of access to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

3           Commissions or other benefits

·           In some circumstances, commissions or other benefits may become payable to us [or to one of our associates] in respect of transactions we [or such associates] arrange for you, in which case you will be notified in writing of the amount and terms of payment. You consent to such commission or other benefits being retained by us [or, as the case may be, by our associates,] without our, [or their,] being liable to account to you for any such amounts.

4           Client monies

·           We may, from time to time, hold money on your behalf. Such money will be held in trust in a client bank account, which is segregated from the firm’s funds. The account will be operated, and all funds dealt with, in accordance with the Clients’ Money Regulations of Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

·           In order to avoid an excessive amount of administration, interest will only be paid to you where the amount of interest that would be earned on the balances held on your behalf in any calendar year exceeds £25. Any such interest would be calculated using the prevailing rate applied by Barclays Bank Plc for small deposits subject to the minimum period of notice for withdrawals. Subject to any tax legislation, interest will be paid gross.

·           If the total sum of money held on your behalf is enough to give rise to a significant amount of interest or is likely to do so, then the money will be placed in a separate interest-bearing client bank account designated to you. All interest earned on such money will be paid to you. Subject to any tax legislation, interest will be paid gross.

·           In the unlikely event of us holding any unclaimed monies, we reserve the rightto pay such monies to a registered charity in line with the guidelines set out in the Clients’ Money Regulations referred to above. We will not do this unless we have been unable to contact you for at least five years and we have taken reasonable steps to trace you and return the monies.

5           Fees

·           Our fees are computed on the basis of time spent on your affairs by the principals, our staff and subcontractors and on the levels of skill and responsibility involved. Disbursements represent travel, accommodation and other expenses incurred in dealing with your affairs.

·           If it is necessary to carry out work outside the responsibilities outlined in this letter, we will advise you in advance. Any additional work will involve additional fees. Accordingly we would like to point out that it is in your interests to ensure that your records etc. are completed to the agreed stage.

·           Invoices are payable in full (including disbursements) in accordance with the terms set out on the invoice.

·           It is our normal practice to request that clients make arrangements to pay a proportion of their fee on a monthly direct debit. These direct debits will be applied to fees arising from work agreed in this letter of engagement for the current and ensuing years. Once we have been able to assess the amount of work and time involved we would be grateful if you would agree to pay an amount to us on a regular basis. We reserve the right to charge interest on overdue accounts at the current rate under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. We also reserve the right to terminate our engagement and cease acting if payment of any fees billed is unduly delayed. [We accept Settlement of fees by certain credit cards.] As Individuals, you guarantee to pay personally any fees (including disbursements) for services provided to the company that the company is unable to pay. This clause shall become effective in the event of a receiver or liquidator being appointed to the company or the company otherwise being wound-u In the event that this firm ceases to act in relation to your company’s affairs you agree to meet all reasonable costs of providing information to the company’s new advisers. In particular you agree to meet these costs where we are required by law to provide information to a successor firm.

·           If we give you an estimate of our fees for carrying out any specific work, then that estimate will not be contractually binding unless we have explicitly stated that will be the case.

·           If we agree a fixed fee with you for providing a specific range of services this will be the subject of a separate agreement. This agreement will set out the period which the fixed fee relates to and the services covered by it.

·           You may have an insurance policy or membership of a trade or professional body that entitles you to assistance with payment of our fees in some situations. A particular example would be assistance with an investigation by HM Revenue & Customs. Unless you arranged the insurance through us then you will need to advise us of any such cover you have. Please note that you remain liable for our fees regardless of whether all or part are liable to be paid by your insurers.

6           Retention of and access to records

·           During the course of our work we will collect information from you and others acting on your behalf and will return any original documents to you following the preparation and audit of your financial statements and returns. You should retain these records for 6 years from the 31 January following the end of the tax year to which they relate. You should retain them for longer if HM Revenue and Customs enquire into your tax returns.

·           Whilst certain documents may legally belong to you, unless you tell us not to, we intend to destroy correspondence and other papers that we store which are more than seven years old, other than documents which we consider to be of continuing significance. If you require retention of any document you must notify us of that fact in writing.

7           Conflicts of interest and independence

·           We reserve the right during our engagement with you to deliver services to other clients whose interests might compete with yours or are or may be adverse to yours, subject to 8 below. We confirm that we will notify you immediately should we become aware of any conflict of interest involving us and affecting you.

·           If a conflict of interest should arise, either between two or more of our clients, or in the provision of multiple services to a single client, we will take such steps as are necessary to deal with the conflict. In resolving the conflict, we would be guided by the Code of Ethics of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales which can be viewed at www.icaew.com/regulations.

8           Confidentiality

·           We confirm that where you give us confidential information, we shall at all times keep it confidential, except as required by law or as provided for in regulatory, ethical or other professional statements relevant to our engagement. Any subcontractors we use will be bound by the same confidentiality requirement.

9           Quality control

• As part of our ongoing commitment to providing a quality service, our files are periodically subject to an independent regulatory or quality revie Our reviewers are highly experienced and professional people and are, of course, bound by the same requirements of confidentiality as our principals and staff. Dealing with HM Revenue & Customs
• When dealing with HM Revenue & Customs on your behalf we are required to be honest and to take reasonable care to ensure that your returns are correct. To enable us to do this, you are required to be honest with us and to provide us with all necessary information in a timely manner. For more information about ‘Your Charter’ for your dealings with HM Revenue & Customs, see www.hmrc.gov.uk/charter/index.htm. To the best of our abilities, we will ensure that HM Revenue & Customs meet their side of the Charter in their dealings with you.

10  Help us to give you the right service

• If at any time you would like to discuss with us how our service to you could be improved, or if you are dissatisfied with the service you are receiving, please let us know, by contacting our Customer Services Team on 0208 421 3555 or email on clientcare@dua.co.uk.
• We undertake to look into any complaint carefully and promptly and do all we can to explain the position to you. If we do not answer your complaint to your satisfaction, you may of course take up the matter with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

• In order for us to provide you with a high quality service on an ongoing basis it is essential that you provide us with relevant records and information when requested, reply to correspondence in a timely manner and otherwise follow the terms of the agreement between us set out in this Standard Terms of Business and associated Engagement letters. We therefore reserve the right to cancel the engagement between us with immediate effect in the event of:

• your insolvency, bankruptcy or other arrangement being reached with creditors;
• failure to pay our fees by the due dates; or
• either party being in breach of their obligations where this is not corrected within 30 days of being asked to do so.

11  Applicable law

• This engagement letter is governed by, and construed in accordance with English la The Courts of England will have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any claim, dispute or difference concerning this engagement letter and any matter arising from it. Each party irrevocably waives any right it may have to object to any action being brought in those courts, to claim that the action has been brought in an inappropriate forum, or to claim that those courts do not have jurisdiction.
• If any provision  in  this  Standard  Terms  of  Business  or  any  associated

engagement letter, or its application, are found to be invalid, illegal or otherwise unenforceable in any respect, the validity, legality or enforceability of any other provisions shall not in any way be affected or impaired.

12  Change in the law, in practice or in public policy

• We will not accept responsibility if you act on advice previously given by us without first confirming with us that the advice is still valid in light of any change in the law, public policy or your circumstances.
• We will accept no liability for losses arising from changes in the law or the interpretation thereof, practice, or public policy that are first published after the date on which the advice is given to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law.

13  Internet communications

• Unless you tell us otherwise we will at times use email or other electronic means to communicate with you.
• Internet communications are capable of data corruption and therefore we do not accept any responsibility for changes made to such communications after their despatch. It may therefore be inappropriate to rely on advice contained in an e-mail without obtaining written confirmation of it. We do not accept responsibility for any errors or problems that may arise through the use of internet communication and all risks connected with sending commercially sensitive information relating to your business are borne by you. If you do not agree to accept this risk, you should notify us in writing that e-mail is not an acceptable means of communication.

• It is the responsibility of the recipient to carry out a virus check on any attachments received.

14  Data Protection Act 2018

• To enable us to discharge the services agreed under our engagement, and for other related purposes including updating and enhancing client records, analysis for management purposes and statutory returns, crime prevention and legal and regulatory compliance, we may obtain, use, process and disclose personal data about you/your business/company/partnership/its officers and employees. We confirm when processing data on your behalf that we will comply with the relevant provisions of the Data Protection Act 2018. You will also ensure that any disclosure of personal data to us complies with such legislation. If you supply us with any personal data or confidential information you shall ensure you have full informed consent to pass it to us and will fully indemnify and hold us harmless if you do not have such consent and that causes us loss. If you are supplying us with personal data on the basis of a power of attorney for anyone you must produce to us an original or certified copy of the power of attorney on demand.
• Applicable data protection regulation places express obligations on you as a data controller where we as a data processor undertake the processing of personal data on your behalf. An example would be where we operate a payroll service for you. We therefore confirm that we will at all times use our reasonable endeavours to comply with the requirements of applicable data protection regulation when processing data on your behalf. In particular we confirm that we have adequate security measures in place and that we will aim to comply with any obligations equivalent to those placed on you as a data controller.
• We will notify you within 10 working days if an individual asks for copies of their personal data, makes a complaint about the processing of personal data or serves a notice from a relevant data protection authority. You and we will consult and cooperate with each other when responding to any such request, complaint or notice. If an individual whose data you have supplied to us or which we are processing on your behalf asks us to remove or cease processing that data we shall be entitled to do so where required to by law.
• We may export personal data you supply to us outside the EU/EEA/UK for the purposes of storage and data processing. We will ensure all such data export is compliant with relevant data protection legislation. You consent to such data export. Where cloud based services are to be used you may be subject to our cloud services terms and conditions.
• We will answer your reasonable enquiries to enable you to monitor compliance with this clause.

15  Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999

·           Persons who are not party to this agreement shall have no rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any term of this agreement. This clause does not affect any right or remedy of any person which exists or is available otherwise than pursuant to that Act.

·           The advice we give you is for your sole use and is confidential to you and will

not constitute advice for any third party to whom you may communicate it. We will accept no responsibility to third parties for any aspect of our professional services or work that is made available to them.

16  Client Identification

·           In common with all accountancy and legal practices, the firm is required by the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 to:

·           Maintain identification procedures for clients and beneficial owners of clients;

·           Maintain records of identification evidence and the work undertaken for the client; and

·           Report, in accordance with the relevant legislation and regulations.

·           We have a statutory obligation under the above legislation to report to National Crime Agency (NCA) any reasonable knowledge or suspicion of money laundering. Any such report must be made in the strictest confidence. In fulfilment of our legal obligations, neither the firm’s principals nor may staff enter into any correspondence or discussions with you regarding such matters.

·           If we are not able to obtain satisfactory evidence of your identity and where applicable that of the beneficial owners, we will not be able to proceed with the engagement

17  Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and Common Reporting Standards

·           Unless agreed specifically in a separate engagement letter, we are not responsible for your compliance with the International Tax Compliance (United States of America) Regulations 2013, produced as a result of FATCA. In particular, we are not responsible for the categorisation of any UK entity into either a Financial Institution (FI) or an active or passive Non-Financial Foreign Entity (NFFE) nor, if a Financial Institution, for its registration with the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and subsequent submission of the required annual returns to HM Revenue & Customs.

·           2 However, if requested to do so we can provide advice on the completion of the forms supplied by Financial Institutions under these Regulations, or under Common Reporting Standards, and used by them to determine the status of an entity. We can also provide advice on setting up the appropriate systems to identify and report on your clients or beneficiaries who are foreign citizens affected by FATCA or Common Reporting Standards.

18  General Limitation of liability

·           We will provide services as outlined in this letter with reasonable care and skill.
However, to the fullest extent permitted by law, we will not be responsible for any losses, penalties, surcharges, interest or additional tax liabilities where you or others supply incorrect or incomplete information, or fail to supply any appropriate information or where you fail to act on our advice or respond promptly to communications from us or the relevant authorities.

·           You will not hold us, our principals/directors and staff, responsible, to the fullest extent permitted by law, for any loss suffered by you arising from any misrepresentation intentional or unintentional supplied to us orally or in writing in connection with this agreement. You have agreed that you will not bring any claim in connection with services we provide to you against any of our partners, directors or employees personally.

·           Our work is not, unless there is a legal or regulatory requirement, to be made available to third parties without our written permission and we will accept no responsibility to third parties for any aspect of our professional services or work that is made available to them.

19  Intellectual property rights and use of our name

·           We will retain all intellectual property rights in any document prepared by us during the course of carrying out the engagement except where the law specifically states otherwise. You may only use such rights to the extent we agreed when engaged to provide services to you and may not resell or sublicense such rights without our further prior consent.

·           You are not permitted to use our name in any statement or document that you may issue unless our prior written consent has been obtained. The only exception to this restriction would be statements or documents that, in accordance with applicable law, are to be made publi

20  Draft/interim work or oral advice and outsourcing

·           In the course of our providing services to you we may provide advice or reports or other work products in draft or interim form, or orally. However, final written work products will always prevail over any draft, interim or oral statements.

Where you request it, we will provide you with written confirmation of matters stated orally.

·           We use the services of an outsourcing company to assist with the processing of your data.

21  Advice

·           Advice we give you orally should not be relied upon unless we confirm it in writing. We endeavour to record all advice on important matters in writing. However if you particularly wish to rely upon oral advice we give you during a telephone conversation or a meeting, you must ask for the advice to be confirmed in writing.

·           Unless specifically instructed and agreed in advance we will not assist with the implementation of our advice.

22  Interpretation

·           If there is a conflict between the engagement letter and these terms of business then the engagement letter takes precedence.

·           If any provision of this engagement letter or terms of business or its application is held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect, the validity, legality or enforceability of any other provision and its application shall not in any way be affected or impaired.

23  Internal disputes within a client

·           If we become aware of a dispute between the parties who own the business. or who are in some way involved in its ownership and management, it should be noted that our client is the business (unless we have agreed otherwise) and we would not provide information or services to one party without the express knowledge and permission of all parties. Unless otherwise agreed by all parties, we will continue to supply information to the registered office/normal place of business for the attention of the directors/proprietors. If conflicting advice, information or instructions are received from different directors/principals in the business, we will refer the matter back to the board of directors/the partnership and take no further action until the board/partnership has agreed the action to be taken. In certain cases we reserve the right to cease acting for the business/client entirely.

24  Retention of papers

·           You have a legal responsibility to retain documents and records relevant to your financial affairs. During the course of our work we may collect information from you and others relevant to your tax and financial affairs. We will return any original documents to you if requested. Documents and records relevant to your tax affairs are required by law to be retained as follows:

Individuals, trustees and partnerships:

·         with trading or rental income: five years and 10 months after the end of the tax year;

·         otherwise: 22 months after the end of the tax year.

Companies, Limited Liability Partnerships, and other corporate entities:

·         six years from the end of the accounting period.

·         Although certain documents may legally belong to you, we may destroy correspondence and other papers that we store electronically or otherwise that are more than seven years old, except documents we think may be of continuing significance. You must tell us if you wish us to keep any document for any longer period.

25  Disengagement

·           If we resign or are asked to resign, we will normally issue a disengagement letter to ensure that our respective responsibilities are clear.

26  Help us to give you the best service – Legal Ombudsman Scheme

If we do not deal with your complaint in this time, or if you are unhappy with our response, you may of course take up the matter with the Legal Ombudsman.

The Legal Ombudsman’s ability to deal with your complaint is dependent on the following factors;

a)    you must refer the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman no later than:

·         six years from the act/omission;

·         or three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint; and

b)   you must refer the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of the date of our written response.

Contact details for the Legal Ombudsman

T: 0300 555 0333

E: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH]

27  ICAEW PROBATE COMPENSATION SCHEME

In the unlikely event that we cannot meet our liabilities to you, you may be able to seek a grant from ICAEW’s Probate Compensation Scheme. Generally, applications for a grant must be made to ICAEW within 12 months of the time you became aware, or reasonably ought to have become aware, of the loss.

Further information about the scheme and the circumstances in which grants may be made is available on ICAEW's website: www.icaew.com/probate