1.  We will confirm to you in writing what it is that you want us to do on your behalf by close of business on the business day following receipt of the signed Retainer.

 

2.  The work that you have instructed us to do will be handled by one appropriately qualified person from beginning to end, subject to illness, holidays etc. Where that person is out of the office then the matter will be dealt with by another appropriately qualified person so that you are given as seamless a service as possible, and, in any event, these minimum service levels are adhered to.

 

3.  We will use reasonable endeavours to reply to or acknowledge all properly referenced and headed correspondence within specific time limits from the time of its receipt, according to the medium it is received in as follows:

Where it is not possible to deal with properly referenced and headed correspondence substantively within these timescales then we will use reasonable endeavours to acknowledge its receipt within these timescales and in doing so give an indication as to the time that we estimate it will take to deal with, or giving details of further information that we need in order to deal with it.

 

Where correspondence is not properly referenced and headed we do not guarantee that a response will be returned within the timescales set out above.

 

We can take no responsibility for how long it takes third parties to deliver replies. E-mail is in effect instantaneous, paper may take two or more Business Days. Therefore, if you communicate by e-mail you will receive a reply within a day. If you do not, allowing time for it to be delivered to us, the time to reply and for it to be delivered back to you, you may be waiting a week to receive a reply. Accordingly, we encourage you to communicate with us by e-mail to allow us to give you the most efficient service possible.

4.   You will be able to telephone to talk to the person handling your work between the hours of 9.00am and 5.00pm on all Business Days. Outside these Business Hours you may leave a telephone message. When the person dealing with your file is not available, then your call will be taken, if you choose, by another person who will have access to your file. If that person is unable to answer any query you have, or you prefer to talk to the person who has day-to-day care and control of your file and to no-one else, or there is no other person who is familiar with your file who is available to talk to you, or you are calling out of Business Hours, then if you leave contact details we will use reasonable endeavours to ensure that a person who is familiar with your file will call you back within 7 Business Hours. We do, however, encourage you to communicate by e-mail as we find that we can deal with queries more effectively in this way, and therefore give you a better service.

 

5.   We will use reasonable endeavours to update you with progress on the work that we are doing on your behalf at every major milestone, which typically are, when you instruct us to do some work on your behalf, receipt of the results of searches, exchange of contracts, report on title, completion, conclusion of post completion matters such as accounting for monies etc. This list is not exhaustive and we may deem it appropriate to update you with progress at other stages, or when taking your instructions. However, in any event, where you have not been updated on progress for five business days we shall use reasonable endeavours to write and inform you of progress.

 

6.   Where you have requested it, you will have access via our secure web-site to your own private pages which will detail the work that we are doing on your behalf and will give you access to correspondence and documentation which will give you 'real-time' information on what is happening as it is recorded on your file 24 hours a day, seven days a week, fifty two weeks a year, and will allow you to correspond with the person handling your file by secure e-mail. Access is dependent upon third party suppliers however, and while we have contracted for it to be available for at least 98% of the time stated we cannot guarantee that it will be available for 100% of this time.

 

7.   When we have finished the work that you have asked us to do on your behalf (which includes all related matters) we shall account to you for any monies that we may hold on your behalf within three Business Days.

 

8.   You will be notified in the Terms of Engagement Letter of the name of the person who is designated as the one to handle any complaint that you may have. If you have any complaint then this person will investigate it and respond substantively within three Business Days of receipt of the full details of the complaint (subject always to the person about whom you are complaining being available to interview if necessary).

 

In order to meet these deadlines to give you the best service possible we have to restrict correspondence and telephone calls purely to genuine, relevant and substantive issues. If we are of the opinion that an item of correspondence or telephone call is not dealing with genuine, relevant and substantive issues, or a chain of correspondence or telephone calls are not dealing with genuine, relevant and substantive issues then these minimum service levels will cease to apply.