General Information 

• The Stan Lee is the trading name of two separate entities: Stan Lee Accountancy Ltd and Stan Lee Probate Limited
• Stan Lee Accountancy Ltd is a private limited company, registered in England & Wales on 07 May 2015, company registration number 0957 9870. This is an ACCA Accountancy firm (firm registration number: 4607747) that offer accountancy, taxation, estate administration, ATOL and other business support services here in the United Kingdom that are authorised by the ACCA
• Stan Lee Probate Limited is also a private limited company, registered in England & Wales on 18 January 2022, company registration number 1385 5114. This is a CILEX-ACCA Probate firm (firm registration number: 3001291), authorised and regulated by CILEx Regulation, that offer non-contentious Probate service only here in England and Wales
• Registered and postal address for both entities: 40 Bank Street, 18th Floor, Canary Wharf, London E14 5NR. The other contact details are available on our website (thestanlee.com)
• The Stan Lee is also registered with IPO to protect its brand name

Privacy Policy Statement

This policy (together with our Condition of use and any other documents referred to in it) sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed by us. Please read the following carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it.

Use of this website by you constitutes acceptance by you of this privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”). If you do not wish to accept this Privacy Policy, please leave this website immediately.

The purpose of this Privacy Policy is:

• to assure you that we recognise and fully respect the privacy and personal data of the visitors to this website; and
• to explain what personal information we collect from this website and how we ensure its best protection.

This Privacy Policy governs this website at www.thestanlee.com (referred to in this Privacy Policy as the “Website”). Other sites to which the Website may be linked are not covered by this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy covers only information which is collected by the www.thestanlee.com from the Website.

Data protection

The Stan Lee complies with the Data Protection Act 1998 (the “Act”). For the purposes of the Act, The Stan Lee is the data controller and sole owner of the personal data collected on the Website. The Stan Lee does not sell, share or transfer this information except as set out in this Privacy Policy.

We use up-to-date industry procedures to keep personal data as safe and secure as possible and to protect against loss, unauthorised disclosure or access. Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to the Website; any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access.

The Act gives you the right to access details that we hold about you. Your right of access can be exercised in accordance with the Act. A small fee may be payable in respect of any access request.

For more information please refer to our Data Protection Policy.

Data Protection Policy

In the course of its business, the Firm needs to gather and use certain information about individuals. This will include clients, suppliers and other business contacts, and employees and prospective employees, as well as other people that we have a relationship with, may need to contact, or with whom we need to deal.

This policy describes how this personal data must be collected, processed, transferred, handled and stored in order to meet the requirements of data protection law, in particular the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). We recognise that, not only must we comply with the principles of fair processing of personal data, we must also be able to demonstrate that we have done so. The procedures and principles set out below must be followed at all times by the Firm, its employees and all those within its scope as set out below.

Why this policy exists

This Policy provides help and guidance to our staff and managers in: 

• complying with data protection law and following good practice
• protecting the rights of staff, clients, partners and business contacts
• being open about how we use personal data, how we store it and when we secure it
• protecting the Firm against the risks of both inadvertent and intentional data breaches 

Scope of the Policy

The Policy applies to all employees; fixed term contract employees; temporary employees; agency staff; and consultants and contractors who are provided with access to any of the Firm’s files and/or computer systems. Collectively these individuals are hereafter referred to as ‘users’. All users have responsibility for complying with the terms of this Policy.

Data Protection Law

What is personal data?

The GDPR regulates how organisations must collect, handle and store personal data.  Personal data is any information relating to an identified or identifiable living individual. It is information which enables that person to be identified, directly or indirectly, and may include their name, address, telephone number(s), email address(es), age, location data, or online and biometric identifiers. We hold data relating to our employees, some of which is classed as sensitive personal data (also known as ‘special category data’) where, for example, it concerns a person’s health and medical status. We also hold a wide range of information about clients, including highly confidential personal financial data such as their individual tax information.

These rules apply to all data stored in any structured way, including both paper files and electronically.

What does the law say?

The Data Protection Principles

The GDPR contains a number of key principles which apply to the collection and processing of personal data and which underpin everything that follows.

For the purposes of the law and these principles, a ‘data controller’ is a person who (either alone or jointly or in common with other persons) determines the purposes for which and the manner in which any personal data are, or are to be, processed.  In relation to the majority of our data, we are data controllers, although where we are responsible for eg looking after a client’s payroll, they are the data controller and we are ‘data processors’. A data processor means a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which processes personal data on behalf of the controller.” Our responsibilities as data processors are dealt with later in the Policy.

Acceptable use policy

This acceptable use policy sets out the terms between you and The Stan Lee under which you may access the website www.thestanlee.com (referred to in this acceptable use policy as the Website). This acceptable use policy applies to all users of, and visitors to, the Website.

Your use of the Website means that you accept, and agree to abide by, all the policies in this acceptable use policy, which supplement our Conditions of use.

Prohibited uses: You may use the Website only for lawful purposes. You may not use the Website:

• in any way that breaches any applicable local, national or international law or regulation
• in any way that is unlawful or fraudulent, or has any unlawful or fraudulent purpose or effect
• for the purpose of harming or attempting to harm minors in any way
• to send, knowingly receive, upload, download, use or re-use any material which does not comply with our content standards to transmit, or procure the sending of, any unsolicited or unauthorised advertising or promotional material or any other form of similar solicitation (spam); or
• to knowingly transmit any data, send or upload any material that contains viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time-bombs, keystroke loggers, spyware, adware or any other harmful programs or similar computer code designed to adversely affect the operation of any computer software or hardware.

You also agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy or re-sell any part of the Website in contravention of the provisions of our Conditions of use, or not to access without authority, interfere with, damage or disrupt any part of the Website, any equipment or network on which the Website is stored any software used in the provision of the Website, or any equipment or network or software owned or used by any third party.

Interactive services

We may from time to time provide interactive services on the Website, including, without limitation:

• comment spaces and forums
• public profiles
• blogs, and
• any other forms of user-generated content.

Where we do provide any interactive service, we will provide clear information to you about the kind of service offered, if it is moderated and what form of moderation is used. Information about data gathered during any interactions is covered by our Privacy Policy.

We will do our best to assess any possible risks for users from third parties when they use any interactive service provided on the Website, and we will decide in each case whether it is appropriate to use moderation of the relevant service (including what kind of moderation to use) in the light of those risks. However, we are under no obligation to oversee, monitor or moderate any interactive service we provide on the Website, and we expressly exclude our liability for any loss or damage arising from the use of any interactive service by a user in contravention of our content standards, whether the service is moderated or not.

Where we do moderate an interactive service, we will normally provide you with a means of contacting the moderator, should a concern or difficulty arise.

Notice of intellectual property rights

Except where expressly stated to the contrary, all intellectual property rights in the text, graphics, information, motifs, logos, designs and databases contained in this site including the domain names, organisation and layout of the site and the software used in relation to the site is owned by The Stan Lee or its licensors.

The Stan Lee owns a portfolio of registered and unregistered trademarks including but not limited to. You may not use any trademarks, service marks and/or other trade names belonging to The Stan Lee from time to time, without The Stan Lee’s prior written consent (including without limitation The Stan Lee’s trademarks. The Stan Lee and supporting associates, all page headers, custom graphics and button icons on the site) including to imply endorsement by The Stan Lee of your website and/or goods and/or services or otherwise without our prior written consent.

All other trademarks referred to on the site are the trademarks of their respective owners and you will require their specific authorisation should you wish to use any of the trade marks. You may print or download to a computer for personal use provided in all cases that: The Stan Lee website is the acknowledged source including the reference www.thestanlee.com and The Stan Lee copyright notice featured at the bottom of the site (‘Copyright 2017 The Stan Lee All Rights Reserved’); you do not modify the paper or digital copies of any materials you have printed off or downloaded in any way; and you do not use any graphics, illustrations or photographs, separately from any accompanying text.

This permission may be revoked at any time by The Stan Lee. Material displayed on the site, in whole or in part, may not otherwise be copied, reproduced, republished or incorporated in any other work or publication, whether paper or electronic media or any other form, without The Stan Lee’s prior written permission. Sending copies of material to clients does not constitute reference purposes and is not permitted.

You may not reproduce or store any part of this site in any other web site, document management system or electronic retrieval system (via screen-scraping or otherwise) without The Stan Lee’s prior written permission. You must not use any part of the materials on this site for commercial purposes (other than use by customers for reference purposes or otherwise as expressly permitted herein) without obtaining a licence to do so from The Stan Lee or its licensors. 

If you print off, copy or download any part of this site in breach of these terms of use, your right to use this site will cease immediately and you must, at The Stan Lee option, return or destroy any copies of the materials you have made.

The Stan Lee will vigorously pursue any violation of its intellectual property rights that seeks to exploit its material for commercial gain or to misrepresent its stance.

Any rights not expressly granted in this notice are reserved.

Website Privacy Policy

This Policy governs the use of personal data which you provide to us via our website. Personal data is any or all data relating to a natural person who is identified, or can be identified, from the data.  

The Stan Lee (“we”, “our”, “us”) respects your privacy. We understand that how your personal data is used and shared online matters to you, and we take the privacy of those who visit our website (“the Site”) very seriously. We will not collect any data other than when you contact us, and we will always process that data in compliance with the law. Our site may contain links to other sites, and be aware that if you choose to click on those links, your data may be processed by other organisations hosting those sites. We cannot control or monitor this, and you should have regard to their Privacy Policies.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully, and ensure you understand it.  When you first use our Site, this is taken to be agreement to this Policy. If you do not accept the Policy, then you should stop using the Site immediately. 

Your rights

You have certain rights as a data subject under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which governs the collection, processing and disposal of personal data by organisations such as ours.

In relation to personal data about you, you have the right:

• to be informed about how and why we collect and use the data
• to be given access to the data we hold 
• to have any inaccurate or incomplete data rectified
• to ask us to delete personal data, earlier than we might already dispose of it
• to prevent us from processing the data further
• to object to us using the data for particular purposes

We provide contact details at the end of this Policy for you to use if you have any complaint about our processing of your personal data. If you are not satisfied with the way we deal with this issue, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which is the body in charge of supervising personal data use in the UK.

What data do we collect?

If you communicate with us by e-mail, we will collect your name and e-mail address and any other content that you send to us in the body of the mail. We do not collect any other personal data by any other method and in particular, we do not place cookies on our Site.

How is your data used?

We will process and store your data securely, and we will only keep it for as long as we need it for the purpose(s) for which it was collected.  

In relation to the data we do collect, as laid out in the section above, we may use it as follows:

• to reply to your email
• to use online client (if applicable)

You have the right to withdraw your consent to our use of your personal data at any time, and to request that we delete it.

We will not share your personal data with anyone at any time.

How and where do we store your data?

We will only keep your data as long as we need it for the purpose(s) for which it is collected, and/or for as long as we have your permission to hold it. Your data will only be stored in the UK.

Accessing your data

You are entitled to make a Subject Access Request under the GDPR.  This means that you may request a copy of any personal data we hold about you, free of charge. We will provide any or all information in response to your request if you contact us.

Amending the Policy

We may change this policy from time to time, in response to changes in the law or for operational reasons. Any changes will immediately be posted on the Site and you will be deemed to have accepted the amended Policy if you continue to use the Site afterwards. You should therefore regularly review this Policy.

 E-mail Security

Your e-mail messages sent via the internet may not be secured and could be intercepted and ready by someone else, unless encrypted. Please bear this in mind when you deciding whether to include persona or sensitive information in any e-mail you intend to send to us.  

Website usage terms and conditions

Welcome to our website. If you continue to browse and use this website, you are agreeing to comply with and be bound by the following terms and conditions of use, which together with our privacy policy govern The Stan Lee’s relationship with you in relation to this website. If you disagree with any part of these terms and conditions, please do not use our website.

The term ‘The Stan Lee’ or ‘us’ or ‘we’ refers to the owner of the website and its regulatory information provided in the first page of this terms and conditions statement.  The term ‘you’ refers to the user or viewer of our website. However, the use of this website is subject to the following terms of use:

Accessing the website: Access to the Website is permitted on a temporary basis and we reserve the right to withdraw or amend the service that we provide on the Website without notice (see below). We will not be liable if for any reason the Website is unavailable at any time or for any period.

From time to time, we may restrict access to some parts or the entire Website, to users who have registered with us. If you choose, or you are provided with, a user identification code, password or any other piece of information as part of our security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential, and you must not disclose it to any third party. We have the right to disable any user identification code or password, whether chosen by you or allocated by us, at any time, if in our opinion you have failed to comply with any of the provisions of these Conditions of use. 

When using the Website, you must comply with the provisions of our acceptable use policy. You are responsible for making all arrangements necessary for you to have access to the Website. You are also responsible for ensuring that all persons who access the Website through your internet connection are aware of these Conditions of use, and that they comply with them.

Cookies: This website uses cookies to monitor browsing preferences. If you do allow cookies to be used, the personal information may be stored by us for use by third parties [the details in cookies policy].

Our liability: The Stan Lee makes no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy of the information contained on the Website. To the extent permitted by law, The Stan Lee expressly excludes all conditions, warranties and other terms which might otherwise be implied by statute, common law or the law of equity.

The Stan Lee expressly disclaims all liability and responsibility for any direct, indirect or consequential loss or damage incurred by any user arising from any reliance placed on materials posted on the Website by any visitor to the Website and by anyone who may be informed of any of their contents, or from the use or inability to use the Website, whether directly or indirectly, resulting from inaccuracies, defects, errors, whether typographical or otherwise, omissions, out of date information or otherwise, even if such loss was reasonably foreseeable and The Stan Lee had been advised of the possibility of the same. Direct, indirect or consequential loss and damage shall include but not be limited to loss of profits or contracts, loss of income or revenue, loss of business, loss of goodwill, and wasted expenditure or management timeNothing in these Conditions of use shall exclude The Stan Lee’s liability for death or personal injury resulting from its negligence, or its liability for fraudulent misrepresentation, or any other liability which cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

Linking to the Website: You may link to our website, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it, but you must not establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on our part where none exists. You must not establish a link from any website that is not owned by you.

The Website must not be framed on any other site. We reserve the right to withdraw linking permission without notice. The website from which you are linking must comply in all respects with the content standards set out in our acceptable use policy. If you wish to make any use of material on the Website other than that set out above, please address your request to info@thestanlee.co.uk

Reliance on the information posted: All material posted on the Website is intended for information purposes only and does not represent legal or financial advice on which reliance should be placed. Users are hereby placed under notice that they should take appropriate steps to verify such information. No user should act or refrain from acting on the information contained in the Website without first verifying the information and as necessary obtaining legal, financial and/or professional advice.

Viruses, hacking and other offences: The user agrees that material downloaded or otherwise accessed through the use of the Website is obtained entirely at the user’s own risk and that the user will be entirely responsible for any resulting damage to software or computer systems and/or any resulting loss of data, even if such loss and damage was reasonably foreseeable and The Stan Lee had been advised of the possibility of the same.

You must not misuse the Website by knowingly introducing viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material which is malicious or technologically harmful. You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Website, the server on which the Website is stored or any server, computer or database connected to the Website. You must not attack the Website via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of service attack.

By breaching the provision in paragraph 13, you would commit a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. We will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities and we will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them. In the event of such a breach, your right to use the Website will cease immediately.

We will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a distributed denial-of-service attack, viruses or other technologically harmful material that may infect your computer equipment, computer programs, data or other proprietary material due to your use of the Website or to your downloading of any material posted on them, or on any website linked to them.

Suspension and termination: We will determine, in our discretion, whether there has been a breach of this acceptable use policy through your use of the Website. When a breach of this policy has occurred, we may take such action as we deem appropriate. Failure to comply with this acceptable use policy constitutes a material breach of the Conditions of use upon which you are permitted to use the Website, and may result in our taking all or any of the following actions:

• immediate, temporary or permanent withdrawal of your right to use the Website
• immediate, temporary or permanent removal of any posting or material uploaded by you to the Website issue of a warning to you
• legal proceedings against you for reimbursement of all costs on an indemnity basis (including, but not limited to, reasonable administrative and legal costs) resulting from the breach
• further legal action against you, or
• disclosure of such information to law enforcement authorities as we reasonably feel is necessary.

We exclude liability for actions taken in response to breaches of this acceptable use policy. The responses described in this policy are not limited, and we may take any other action we reasonably deem appropriate.

Content standards: These content standards apply to any and all material which you contribute to the Website (contributions), and to any interactive services associated with them. You must comply with the spirit of the following standards as well as the letter. The standards apply to each part of any contribution as well as to its whole.

Contributions must:

• be accurate (where they state facts)
• be genuinely held (where they state opinions)
• comply with applicable law in the UK and in any country from which they are posted.

Contributions must not:

• contain any material which is defamatory of any person
• contain any material which is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory
• promote sexually explicit material
• promote violence
• promote discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age
• infringe any copyright, database right or trade mark of any other person
• be likely to deceive any person
• be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence
• promote any illegal activity
• be threatening, abuse or invade another’s privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety
• be likely to harass, upset, embarrass, alarm or annoy any other person
• be used to impersonate any person, or to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person
• give the impression that they emanate from us, if this is not the case, or advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse.

Standard Terms and Conditions

Applicable law

Our engagement letter (client care), the schedule of services and our standard terms and conditions of business are governed by, and should be construed in accordance with, the law and practice of England and Wales. Each party agrees that the courts of England and Wales 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 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.

1. Client identification and verification

As with other professional services firms, we are required to identify and verify our clients for the purposes of the UK anti-money laundering legislation. Save in exceptional circumstances we cannot start work until this requirement has been met. We may request from you, and retain, such information and documentation as we require for these purposes and/or make searches of appropriate databases including ID verification software.

2. Client money

If we hold money on your behalf, such money will be held in trust in a client’s bank account, which is segregated from the firm’s funds. The account will be operated, and all funds dealt with in accordance with ACCA client money rules.

3. Commissions and other benefits

In some circumstances, we may receive commissions and/or other benefits for introductions to other professionals or in respect of transactions that we arrange for you. Where this happens, we will notify you in writing of the amount and terms of payment and receipt of any such commissions or benefits.

4. Complaints

We are committed to providing you with a high-quality service that is both efficient and effective. However, should there be any cause for complaint in relation to any aspect of our service, please contact Muhammad Solaiman FCCA. We agree to look into any complaint carefully and promptly and do everything reasonable to try and resolve it. If you are still not satisfied you can refer your complaint to our professional body. For more details, please have a look in our “complaints handling procedure” that is available on our website or a copy from our office upon your request.

5. Confidentiality

Communication between us is confidential. We shall take all reasonable steps not to disclose your information except where we are required to and as set out in our privacy notice. Unless we are authorized by you to disclose information on your behalf, this undertaking will apply during and after this engagement.

We may, on occasions, subcontract work on your affairs to other tax or accounting professionals. The subcontractors will be bound by our client confidentiality and security terms.

6. Conflicts of interest

If there is a conflict of interest in our relationship with you or in our relationship with you and another client that is capable of being addressed successfully by the adoption of suitable safeguards to protect your interests, then we will adopt those safeguards.

Where conflicts are identified that cannot be managed in a way that protects your interests then we regret that we will be unable to provide further services. If this arises, we will inform you promptly. We reserve the right to act for other clients whose interests are not the same as or are adverse to yours, subject, of course, to the obligations of confidentiality referred to above.

7. Data protection

You acknowledge that we will act in accordance with the privacy notice we have supplied to you.

8. Disengagement

Should we resign or be requested to resign we will normally issue a disengagement letter to ensure that our respective responsibilities are clear.

Should we have no contact with you for a period of three months or more, we may issue to your last known address a disengagement letter and thereafter cease to act.

We reserve the right following termination for any reason to destroy any of your documents that we have not been able to return to you after a period of six months unless other laws or regulations require otherwise.

9. Electronic and other communication

As instructed, we will communicate with you and with any third parties you instruct us to as set out in our covering letter and privacy notice via email or by other electronic means. The recipient is responsible for virus-checking emails and any attachments.

With electronic communication there is a risk of non-receipt, delayed receipt, inadvertent misdirection or interception by third parties. We use virus-scanning software to reduce the risk of viruses and similar damaging items being transmitted through emails or electronic storage devices. However, electronic communication is not totally secure and we cannot be held responsible for damage or loss caused by viruses, nor for communications that are corrupted or altered after despatch. Nor can we accept any liability for problems or accidental errors relating to this means of communication, especially in relation to commercially sensitive material. These are risks you must accept in return for greater efficiency and lower costs. If you do not wish to accept these risks, please let us know and we will communicate by hard copy, other than where electronic submission is mandatory.

Any communication by us with you sent through the post or DX system is deemed to arrive at your postal address two working days after the day that the document was sent.

When accessing information held electronically by HMRC or other relevant organisations, we may have access to more information than we need and will only access records reasonably required to carry out the contract.

You are required to keep us up to date with accurate contact details at all times. This is important to ensure that communications and papers are not sent to the incorrect address.

10. Fees and payment terms

Our fees may depend not only upon the time spent on your affairs but also on the level of skill and responsibility, and the importance and value of the advice that we provide, as well as the level of risk.

If we provide you with an estimate of our fees for any specific work, then the estimate will not be contractually binding unless we explicitly state that that will be the case.

Where requested, we may indicate a fixed fee for the provision of specific services or an indicative range of fees for a particular assignment. It is not our practice to identify fixed fees for more than a year ahead as such fee quotes need to be reviewed in the light of events. If it becomes apparent to us, due to unforeseen circumstances, that a fee quote is inadequate, we reserve the right to notify you of a revised figure or range and to seek your agreement thereto.

In some cases, you may be entitled to assistance with your professional fees, particularly in relation to any investigation into your tax affairs by HMRC. Assistance may be provided through insurance policies you hold or via membership of a professional or trade body. Other than where such insurance was arranged through us, you will need to advise us of any such insurance cover that you have. You will remain liable for our fees regardless of whether all or part are liable to be paid by your insurers.

We will bill monthly/quarterly/yearly/others and our invoices are due for payment within 14 days of issue. Our fees are exclusive of VAT, which will be added where it is chargeable. Any disbursements we incur on your behalf and expenses incurred in the course of carrying out our work for you will be added to our invoices where appropriate.

Unless otherwise agreed to the contrary, our fees do not include the costs of any third party, counsel or other professional fees.

Where this contract exists between us and a purchaser acting in the course of a business we reserve the right to charge interest on late-paid invoices at the rate of 8% above the Bank of England base rate under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. We also reserve the right to suspend our services or to cease to act for you on giving written notice if payment of any fees is unduly delayed. We intend to exercise these rights only where it is fair and reasonable to do so.  However, this will not apply to personal clients including our probate clients.

If you do not accept that an invoiced fee is fair and reasonable you must notify us within 21 days of receipt, failing which you will be deemed to have accepted that payment is due.

On termination of the engagement, you may appoint a new adviser. Where a new adviser requests professional clearance and handover information we reserve the right to charge you a reasonable fee for the provision of handover information.

11. Implementation

We will only assist with implementation of our advice if specifically instructed and agreed in writing.

12. Intellectual property rights

We will retain all copyright in any document prepared by us during the course of carrying out the engagement save where the law specifically provides otherwise.

13. Interpretation

If any provision of this engagement letter, schedules of services or standard terms and conditions is held to be void, then that provision will be deemed not to form part of this contract and the remainder of this agreement shall be interpreted as if such provision had never been inserted.

In the event of any conflict between these standard terms and conditions and the engagement letter or schedules of services, the relevant provision in the engagement letter or schedules will take precedence.

14. Internal disputes within a client

If we become aware of a dispute between the parties who own or are in some way involved in the ownership and management of a business client, it should be noted that where our client is the business, 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 for the attention of the managing partner. 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/the LLP and take no further action until the board/partnership/LLP has agreed the action to be taken.

15. Investment advice (including insurance mediation services)

Investment business is regulated under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

If, during the provision of professional services to you, you need advice on investments, including insurances, we may have to refer you to someone who is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority or the Prudential Regulation Authority or licensed by a Designated Professional Body as we are not authorised to give such advice.

16. Lien

Insofar as we are permitted to do so by law or professional guidelines, we reserve the right to exercise a lien over all funds, documents and records in our possession relating to all engagements for you until all outstanding fees and disbursements are paid in full.

17. Limitation of liability

We will provide our services with reasonable care and skill. Our liability to you is limited to losses, damages, costs and expenses directly caused by our negligence, fraud or wilful default.

Exclusion of liability for loss caused by others

We will not be liable if such losses, penalties, interest or additional tax liabilities are caused by the acts or omissions of any other person or due to the provision to us of incomplete, misleading or false information, or if they are caused by a failure to act on our advice or a failure to provide us with relevant information.

In particular, where we refer you to another firm whom you engage with directly, we accept no responsibility in relation to their work and will not be liable for any loss caused by them.

Exclusion of liability in relation to circumstances beyond our control

We will not be liable to you for any delay or failure to perform our obligations under this engagement letter if the delay or failure is caused by circumstances outside our reasonable control.

Exclusion of liability relating to non-disclosure or misrepresentation

We will not be responsible or liable for any loss, damage or expense incurred or sustained if information material to the service we are providing is withheld or concealed from us or misrepresented to us.

This exclusion shall not apply where such misrepresentation, withholding or concealment is or should (in carrying out the procedures that we have agreed to perform with reasonable care and skill) have been evident to us without further enquiry beyond that which it would have been reasonable for us to have carried out in the circumstances.

Indemnity for unauthorised disclosure

You agree to indemnify us and our agents in respect of any claim (including any claim for negligence) arising out of any unauthorised disclosure by you or by any person for whom you are responsible of our advice and opinions, whether in writing or otherwise. This indemnity will extend to the cost of defending any such claim, including payment at our usual rates for the time that we spend in defending it.

You have agreed that you will not bring any claim of a kind that is included within the subject of the limit against any of our partner(s) or employees on a personal basis.

18. Limitation of third-party rights

The advice and information we provide to you as part of our service is for your sole use and not for any third party to whom you may communicate it unless we have expressly agreed in the engagement letter that a specified third party may rely on our work. We accept no responsibility to third parties, including any group company to whom the engagement letter is not addressed, for any advice, information or material produced as part of our work for you that you make available to them. A party to this agreement is the only person who has the right to enforce any of its terms and no rights or benefits are conferred on any third party under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.

19. Period of engagement and termination

Unless otherwise agreed in the engagement letter our work will begin when we receive your implicit or explicit acceptance of that letter, except as stated in that letter we will not be responsible for periods before that date.

Each of us may terminate this agreement by giving not less than 21 days’ notice in writing to the other party, except where you fail to cooperate with us or we have reason to believe that you have provided us or HMRC with misleading information, in which case we may terminate this agreement immediately. Termination will be without prejudice to any rights that may have accrued to either of us prior to termination.

In the event of termination of this contract, we will endeavour to agree with you the arrangements for the completion of work in progress at that time, unless we are required for legal or regulatory reasons to cease work immediately. In that event, we shall not be required to carry out further work and shall not be responsible or liable for any consequences arising from termination.

If you engage us for a one-off piece of work (for example advice on a one-off transaction or preparation of a tax return for one year only) the engagement ceases as soon as that work is completed.  The date of completion of the work is taken to be the termination date and we owe you no duties and we will not undertake further work beyond that date.

Where recurring work is provided (for example ongoing compliance work such as the completion of annual tax returns) the engagement ceases on the relevant date in relation to the termination as set out above.  Unless immediate termination applies, in practice this means that the relevant termination date is:

• 21 days after the date of notice of termination; or
• A later agreed date

We owe you no duties beyond the date of termination and will not undertake any further work.

20. Professional body rules

We will observe and act in accordance with the bye-laws, regulations and ethical guidelines of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and CILEx Regulation and will accept instructions to act for you on this basis.

You are responsible for bringing to our attention any errors, omissions or inaccuracies in your returns that you become aware of after the returns have been submitted in order that we may assist you to make a voluntary disclosure.

In particular, you give us the authority to correct errors made by HMRC where we become aware of them. In addition, we will not undertake tax planning which breaches Professional Conduct in Relation to Taxation. We will therefore comply with the general anti-abuse rule and the targeted anti-avoidance rule. We will not be liable for any loss, damage or cost arising from our compliance with statutory or regulatory obligations. You can see copies of these requirements at our offices.

The requirements are also available on their online

ACCA: www.accaglobal.com

CILEx Regulation: www.cilexregulation.org.uk.

The implications of professional body membership as it relates to GDPR are set out in the privacy notice, which should be read alongside these standard terms and conditions of business.

21. Reliance on advice

We will endeavour to record all advice on important matters in writing. Advice given orally is not intended to be relied upon unless confirmed in writing. Therefore, if we provide oral advice (for example, during the course of a meeting or a telephone conversation) and you wish to be able to rely on that advice, you must ask for the advice to be confirmed by us in writing. However, bear in mind that advice is only valid at the date it is given.

22. Retention of papers

You have a legal responsibility to retain documents and records relevant to your tax affairs. During the course of our work we may collect information from you and others relevant to your tax affairs. We will return any original documents to you.            

When we cease to act for you we will seek to agree the position on access to cloud-accounting records to ensure continuity of service. This may require you to enter direct engagements with the software providers and pay for that service separately. 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, LLPs and other corporate entities

• six years from the end of the accounting period.

While certain documents may legally belong to you, we may destroy correspondence and other papers that we store, electronically or otherwise, which are more than seven years old. This includes your documents if they have not been reclaimed by you within the seven-year period. You must tell us if you require the return of any specific document or their retention for a longer period.

You should retain documents that are sent to you by us as set out in the privacy notice, which should be read alongside these terms and conditions.

23. The Provision of Services Regulations 2009 (‘Services Directive’)

In accordance with our professional body rules, we are required to hold professional indemnity insurance. Details about the insurer and coverage can be found at our office upon your request.

Copy Right & Trademarks: This website contains material which is owned by or licensed to us. This material includes, but is not limited to, the design, layout, look, appearance and graphics. Reproduction is prohibited other than in accordance with the copyright notice, which forms part of these terms and conditions. All trademarks reproduced in this website, which are not the property of, or licensed to the operator, are acknowledged on the website.

Your use of this website and any dispute arising out of such use of the website is subject to the laws of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Please note that a business relationship will be not created between you and The Stan Lee once you use and have access towards our website. You need to have separate off-line terms of engagement with us in order to create business relationship. This should be mentioned that all electronic links to any part of this site require the consent from us. If you require advice, please send e-mail to info@thestanlee.com