60 St. Martin’s Lane, London WC2N 4JS.
Registered in England and Wales under number 10557561.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS

1. General

1.1. These Terms and Conditions constitute the agreement (“Agreement”) between Westminster Legalisation Services LTD (“the Company” or “WLS”) and you (“the Client”) for all services provided by the Company.

1.2. The Client includes any individual, company, legal firm, Agencies or organisation entering into an agreement with the Company.

1.3. The Company provides Apostille legalisation by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), consular services, certification of documents though our trusted partners notary public and solicitors, and certified/sworn translation services (collectively, “Services”).

1.4. This Agreement is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales.

2. Quotations, Orders, Payments and Late Payments

2.1. Quotations provided by email, telephone or WhatsApp are inclusive of all applicable Services, and VAT, subject to alteration if consular fees change post-quotation.

2.2. Acceptance of the quotation is confirmed by completing the Company’s online application form or upon receipt of the original documents at one of our offices. Services commence once payment of the invoice is cleared.

2.3. Payments are accepted via bank transfer, card payment (online or in-person), or cash. For company cheques and bank transfers, services commence upon fund clearance.

2.3.1. International bank transfers must cover all associated fees to ensure the total invoice amount clears into the Company’s account.

2.4. Statutory interest applies to overdue invoices exceeding 30 days, subject to written notice.

2.5. Should the Client terminate services after commencement, written notice is required, and the Client remains liable for incurred costs and fees to date.

2.5.1. The Company reserves the right to cease services if payments fail or cheques are dishonoured, without prejudice to further rights.

2.5.2 The Company reserves the right to deduct an admin fee incurred for processing card payment refunds.

2.6. Interest and Compensation on Late Payments: In the event of non-payment or late payment, we reserve the right to charge:

2.6.1 Statutory interest at the rate of 8% per annum above the Bank of England base rate, accruing daily from the due date until the date of actual payment in full, whether before or after judgment, in accordance with the Late Payment of Commercial Debts; and fixed compensation for recovery costs as prescribed under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations.

2.6.2 Additional Recovery Costs: Where the costs incurred in recovering a debt exceed the fixed compensation amount, we reserve the right to claim our reasonable additional costs, including but not limited to legal fees, court fees, and the fees of third-party debt recovery agencies.

3. Document Submission and Fulfilment

3.1. Documents must arrive at the Company’s Milton Keynes office by 11:45 AM for premium same-day service or the London office and Milton Keynes offices by 11:15 AM for next-day service. Delays or late arrivals invalidate guaranteed processing times.

3.2. The Company will return legalised documents to the address provided upon payment confirmation.

4. Delivery

4.1. Delivery times exclude third-party courier or postal transit durations. The Company is not liable for third-party delays or losses.

4.2. For more information, please check our Courier Claim and Compensation Policy.

5. Liability

5.1. Except for liability due to death, personal injury, or fraud:

5.1.1. The Company’s liability is limited to the service fees paid, excluding disbursements.

5.1.2. No liability is accepted for indirect or consequential losses.

5.2. The Company excludes implied terms under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 to the fullest extent permitted.

5.3. The Responsibility for verifying the overseas requirements for processing the documents rests with the Client. The Company is not liable for inaccuracies provided by overseas receiving parties.

5.4. The Company is not responsible for documents rejected by the FCDO or foreign embassies/consulates and reserves the right to charge additional fees for resubmissions.

6. FCDO and Consulates Processing Delays

6.1. The Company endeavours to meet indicated timeframes but does not guarantee completion deadlines, accepting no liability for delays due to external factors or force majeure.

6.2. Specific deadlines must be communicated clearly in writing by the Client for Company to make reasonable efforts toward compliance.

6.3. The Company accepts no liability for unforeseen delays by the FCDO (signature queries or rejection), consulates, or third party supplies, including but not limited to transport delays due to signalling failure, road traffic or accident.

7. Refunds and Document Presentation to the FCDO

7.1. Effective from 1 April 2025, the FCDO will no longer issue Apostille fee refunds for documents rejected due to incorrect presentation, including but not limited to containing photocopies of GRO certificates (birth, marriage, death), Criminal Records Certificates (ACRO, DBS, etc), FCDO Apostilles, unsigned UK passport copies, or improperly notarised documents lacking appropriate notarial embossed seal, date, or signature.

7.2. Refunds of Apostille fee will only be granted by the FCDO for rejections occurring due to no fault of the Client, such as signature verification issues.

7.3. The Company shall not refund fees if the FCDO rejects documents due to incorrect presentation as detailed above. While the Company endeavours to review and flag potential issues, final compliance remains the sole responsibility of the Client and their appointed notaries.

8. Confidentiality & Data Protection

8.1. The Company will maintain strict confidentiality but may share information with necessary third parties involved in service provision, consultancy or when legally required.

8.2. Clients must ensure they have rights to share provided data and indemnify the Company against breaches.

8.3. Personal Data is processed in accordance with UK data protection laws for necessary service provision, compliance, security, and marketing purposes.

8.4. Personal Data may be transferred internationally in compliance with applicable data protection standards.

8.5. Data retention aligns with legal obligations and internal policies, with electronic data kept in our server for a minimum of 90 days and maximum of 12 months.

8.6. Any uncollected physical documents will be securely destroyed after 90 days.

9. Complimentary PDF Scans

9.1. Following completion of the legalisation process, WLS will ordinarily send the Client a complimentary PDF scan of the completed document by email. The scan will be sent to the email address provided by the Client when placing the order, unless an alternative email address has been agreed in writing.

9.2. The complimentary PDF scan is provided solely as evidence that the legalisation services instructed and paid for by the Client have been completed. Scanning is not a separately charged element of the Services and the complimentary PDF is not:

a. a certified copy of the document;

b. an official digital document or electronic legalisation;

c. an archival or professional reproduction of the original document; or

d. a substitute for the completed original document.

9.3. The complimentary service includes a PDF scan of up to 10 pages for each legalised document. Each scanned side of a sheet will count as one page.

9.4. Where a document contains more than 10 pages, WLS may scan only the pages displaying the Apostille, consular legalisation, certification, official stamps or other evidence of the completed services, together with any pages WLS reasonably considers necessary to identify the document. A complete scan of a document containing more than 10 pages is not included in the complimentary service.

9.5. If the Client requires a complete scan of a document containing more than 10 pages, this must be requested in writing before the legalisation process is completed. The scope, price and delivery requirements must be expressly agreed with WLS and any applicable charge must be paid in full. WLS is not obliged to provide a complete scan after the original document has been dispatched, collected or otherwise left its possession.

9.6. WLS will take reasonable care when producing the complimentary PDF. However, legalised documents may be stapled, bound, sealed, ribboned, embossed or made up of pages of different sizes. To protect the integrity of the legalised document, WLS will not remove or interfere with any Apostille, binding, ribbon, seal, staple or other official attachment solely for scanning purposes.

9.7. As a result, complimentary scans may contain visible staples or bindings, partially obscured corners, page borders, shadows, glare, differences in page size or orientation, minor skewing, colour variations or image compression. These characteristics do not indicate that the legalisation service has been performed incorrectly and will not, by themselves, entitle the Client to a rescan, refund, compensation or repeat performance of the legalisation service.

9.8. WLS will usually endeavour to send the PDF on the same working day that the legalisation process is completed. However, the delivery time of a complimentary PDF is not guaranteed and does not form part of any quoted legalisation turnaround time. Where same-day delivery is not reasonably possible, the PDF will be sent as soon as reasonably practicable. The completed original document may be dispatched or made available for collection before or after the PDF email is sent.

9.9. Complimentary scans are not produced or quality-checked for any particular third-party application. WLS does not guarantee that a complimentary PDF will satisfy the technical, resolution, formatting, file-size, colour, printing or submission requirements of any embassy, consulate, visa authority, educational institution, employer, government department or other receiving organisation.

9.10. Any decision to use a complimentary PDF for a visa application, immigration application, online submission or any other third-party purpose is made at the Client’s discretion. The Client is responsible for confirming the receiving organisation’s requirements. Once the original document has been returned or collected, the Client may produce their own scan to the standard required by the receiving organisation.

9.11. The Client must ensure that the email address supplied to WLS is correct, accessible and authorised to receive documents which may contain personal or confidential information. The Client is responsible for checking spam, junk and email-security folders and for protecting the PDF after receipt.

9.12. The Client should download, inspect and securely retain the PDF promptly after receiving it. Any corrupted file, missing legalisation page or material illegibility affecting the evidence of completed legalisation should be reported to WLS as soon as reasonably possible and, in any event, within 30 days of the PDF being sent. Where reasonably practicable, WLS may resend the existing file or produce a replacement scan if the original document remains in its possession. This does not create an obligation to recall or recover a document that has already been dispatched or collected.

9.13. Electronic scan files may be retained by WLS for operational, security and complaint-handling purposes. WLS may permanently delete a scan at any time after 90 days from completion of the Services, without further notice to the Client. Some files may be retained for longer where reasonably necessary or required by law, but WLS has no obligation to store, retrieve or resend any complimentary scan after the initial 90-day period.

9.14. The availability, timing or appearance of a complimentary PDF does not affect the validity or completion of the legalisation service performed on the document.

10. Dispute Resolution

10.1. Governing Law and Jurisdiction: These Terms and Conditions and any dispute or claim (including non-contractual disputes or claims) arising out of or in connection with them shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales.

10.2. Dispute Resolution Process: In the event of any dispute, disagreement, or claim arising between the parties in connection with these Terms and Conditions or the provision of our services.

10.2.1. The Customer agrees to notify us in writing of the nature and details of the dispute.

10.2.2. We shall have exclusive discretion to investigate, consider, and determine the appropriate resolution of the dispute.

10.2.3.The Customer agrees to engage in good faith with us to resolve the dispute and acknowledges that our determination shall be final and binding.

10.3. Exclusion of Third-Party Resolution: The Customer agrees that no third-party mediation, arbitration, or court proceedings shall be initiated without first allowing us reasonable opportunity (not less than 60 days from the date of notice of dispute) to resolve the matter internally.

11. General Provisions

11.1. Services provided reflect information and instructions accurately received from the Client. The Company offers impartial information without liability.

11.2. Third-party rights are excluded unless explicitly provided by UK law.

11.3. The Company accepts no liability for service disruptions due to circumstances beyond reasonable control, including but not limited to acts of God, technical failures, strikes, extreme weather events, pandemics.

11.4. Complaints regarding services should be addressed in writing to the Managing Director via email at emerson@wlegalisation.co.uk for reviewing and prompt resolution.