By using this service, the Customer agrees to be bound by these terms and conditions.
1 Interpretation
1.1 Definitions. In these Conditions, the following definitions apply:
“Account” means the account used by the Customer to instruct Asset Traces, use of which is, governed by these Conditions;
“Account Registration Process” means the submission of the Customer Details and the Primary User’s individual email address to the Website, the Primary User’s consent to these Conditions and the completion and uploading of the Letter of Authority by the Primary User;
“Additional Users” means those individuals who are granted access to the Account by submission of their individual email addresses to the Website by the Customer’s Primary User;
“Asset Trace” means the services, including Deliverables, supplied by IDL to the Customer following its completion of the Asset Trace Form and payment of the Fee;
“Asset Trace Form” means the electronic form accessible on the Website (as set out in Schedule 3), to be completed online by a User, on behalf of the Customer, with the User Provided Content;
“Business Day” means a day (other than a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday) when banks in London are open for business;
“Client” means any client of the Customer;
“Commencement Date” has the meaning set out in clause 2.2;
“Conditions” means these terms and conditions as amended from time to time in accordance with clause 15.9;
“Contract” means each contract between IDL and the Customer for the supply of the Asset Trace(s) in accordance with these Conditions;
“Customer” means the [insert name of firm of solicitors/or persons administering the estate] that procures the Asset Trace(s) from IDL;
“Customer Details” means the name and principal office of the Customer as well as the payment details which will be used to collect the Fee(s); “Data Controller” has the meaning given to it in the DPA;
“Data Protection Legislation” means the DPA and all other laws and regulations relating to the processing of Personal Data and privacy including the guidance and codes of practice issued by the Information Commissioner (the office of whom is responsible for policing and enforcing the data protection regime in the UK) from time to time;
“Deliverables” means the deliverables, as more fully described in Schedule 1, to be supplied by IDL to the Customer as the output from the Asset Trace(s);
“DPA” means the Data Protection Act 1998;
“Fee” has the meaning given to it in clause 7.1;
“Financial Institutions” means third party financial organisations including those listed in Schedule 1;
“Group Company” means any member of IDL’s group of companies from time to time, including Asset Buccaneer Ltd, Perane & Co. Ltd, Inheritance Data Ltd and Inheritance Reunited Ltd;
“IDL” means Inheritance Data Limited, incorporated and registered in England and Wales with company number 09450050 whose registered office is at Unit 14, Philip Ford Way, Wymondham, Norfolk, England NR18 9AQ;
“Intellectual Property Rights” means patents, rights to inventions, copyright and related rights, trade marks, business names and domain names, rights in get-up, goodwill and the right to sue for passing off, rights in designs, database rights, rights to use, and protect the confidentiality of, confidential information (including know-how), and all other intellectual property rights, in each case whether registered or unregistered and including all applications and rights to apply for and be granted, renewals or extensions of, and rights to claim priority from, such rights and all similar or equivalent rights or forms of protection which subsist or will subsist now or in the future in any part of the world;
“Letter of Authority” means the letter in the form set out in Schedule 2 to be completed and signed by the Primary User on behalf of the Customer;
“Negative Search Results” means the finding that no unclaimed assets are discovered following completion of an Asset Trace by IDL;
“Personal Data” has the meaning given to it in the DPA;
“Personnel” means officers, employees, agents or sub-contractors;
“Trace Specific Terms” has the meaning given to it in clause 2.6;
“User” means the Primary User and/or any Additional Users;
“User Provided Content” means the data submitted online by a User in the Asset Trace Form(s), including Personal Data and any data pertaining to non-living individuals, which IDL shall use in performing the Asset Trace(s); and
“Website” means www.inheritancedata.co.uk from which the Asset Trace Form and these Conditions, as updated from time to time, can be accessed.
1.2 Construction. In these Conditions, the following rules apply:
1.2.1 a reference to a statute or statutory provision is (unless otherwise stated) a reference to the applicable UK statute as amended from time to time, taking account of any amendment, extension, or re-enactment and includes any subordinate legislation made under it as amended from time to time;
1.2.2 any phrase introduced by the terms including, include, in particular or any similar expression, shall be construed as illustrative and shall not limit the sense of the words preceding those terms; and
1.2.3 a reference to writing or written includes faxes and e-mails.
1.3 The Schedules form part of these Conditions and shall have effect as if set out in full in the body of these Conditions. Any reference to these Conditions includes the Schedules.
2 Basis of contract
2.1 Following the Account Registration Process, the submission of a completed Asset Trace Form by a User, constitutes an offer by the Customer to purchase an Asset Trace in accordance with these Conditions.
2.2 The Asset Trace Form shall only be deemed to be accepted when details and authority have been verified by IDL, at which point and on which date a Contract, between IDL and the Customer, shall come into existence (“Commencement Date”).
2.3 A Contract constitutes the entire agreement between the parties in respect of the relevant Asset Trace. The Customer acknowledges that it has not relied on any statement, promise, representation, assurance or warranty made or given by or on behalf of IDL which is not set out in a Contract.
2.4 Each Contract is for the provision of an Asset Trace and the Deliverables in respect of that Asset Trace. If the Customer wishes to order further Asset Traces, it shall submit to IDL a separate Asset Trace request.
2.5 For the avoidance of doubt, each completed Asset Trace Form submitted and accepted by IDL, shall form a separate Contract between IDL and the Customer, but shall incorporate these Conditions and is subject to a fee.
2.6 IDL shall comply with these Conditions in any Asset Trace. Each Asset Trace Form may contain additional specific terms requested by the Customer and agreed by IDL (“Trace
Specific Terms”) varying or supplementing these Conditions for the purposes of that Asset Trace only.
2.7 If any additional Asset Traces are requested following the Account Registration Process and the initial Asset Trace, the User will be required to consent to these Conditions, on behalf of the Customer, on submission of the Asset Trace Form.
2.8 The Letter of Authority uploaded during each search request, will apply to that Asset Trace only, instructed by the Customer, subject to clause 2.11.
2.9 Any descriptive matter or advertising issued by IDL, is issued or published for the sole purpose of giving an approximate idea of an Asset Trace and the Deliverables. They shall not form part of a Contract or have any contractual force.
2.10 These Conditions apply to a Contract to the exclusion of any other terms that the Customer seeks to impose or incorporate, or which are implied by trade, custom, practice or course of dealing.
2.11 In the event that the signatory of the original Letter of Authority is no longer a member of the Customer’s Personnel for any reason whatsoever, a new Letter of Authority will have to be executed by a User, on behalf of the Customer, and uploaded to the Website prior to IDL’s acceptance of any further Contracts.
3 Asset Trace Search Handling
3.1 Asset Trace search requests that require amendment or cancellation after submission will automatically incur a £15 + VAT administration fee.
4 Asset Trace and the Obligations of IDL
4.1 In consideration of the Customer’s payment of the Fee, IDL shall complete an Asset Trace using the User Provided Content supplied in the Asset Trace Form as accepted by IDL pursuant to clause 2.2.
4.2 IDL shall use all reasonable endeavours:
4.2.1 to deliver the Deliverables requested by the Customer, but accepts no responsibility and shall offer no refund in the event of Negative Search Results; and
4.2.2 to ensure that information published within the report is accurate when posted and is regularly updated. IDL does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such information within the report and may update information at any time without notice; and
4.2.3 to meet any performance dates specified in the Asset Trace Form and Schedule 1 but any such dates shall be estimates only and time shall not be of the essence for performance of the Asset Trace.
4.3 IDL shall have the right to make any changes to the Asset Trace which are necessary to comply with any applicable law or safety requirement, or which do not materially affect the nature or quality of the Asset Trace or Deliverables, and IDL shall notify the Customer in any such event.
5 Customer’s obligations
5.1 The Customer:
5.1.1 shall request each Asset Trace in accordance with these Conditions as amended and posted on the Website by IDL from time to time; and
5.1.2 acknowledges that by accessing the Website, it agrees to be bound by these Conditions.
5.2 For a search to be accepted, the user must hold correct authority to request a search. Such as, be named executor in a Will or Grant of Probate. Be a registered Solicitor and regulated by the SRA with a letter of engagement signed by the Executor. Evidential documentation must be available on request if not requested as part of asset trace form. This information and documentation will be submitted to relevant organisations as part of the asset trace.
6 Suspension of the Asset Trace
6.1 In the event that the Customer’s use of the Website interferes with IDL’s ability to provide an
Asset Trace to it or any other user through use which is not compliant with these Conditions
(“Prohibited Use”), IDL may suspend its provision of any ongoing Asset Trace(s) to the Customer until the Prohibited Use has ended. IDL shall at its discretion, as soon as reasonably practicable, resume the Asset Trace(s) to the Customer.
7 Warranties and exclusions
7.1 By accessing the Website and procuring an Asset Trace under a Contract, the Customer warrants that it is eligible to do so and has obtained any necessary consents or permissions it requires, including the authority to act on behalf of its Clients (Executor).
7.2 IDL uses reasonable endeavours to ensure that information published on the Website is accurate when posted and is regularly updated. IDL does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such information and may change information at any time without notice.
7.3 IDL offers no warranty that the Website will always be available or that access will be uninterrupted or free from failure.
8 Fees, charges and payment terms
8.1 There shall be a one-off charge of £150 plus VAT for each Asset Trace, unless otherwise specified (the “Fee”).
8.2 The Customer shall pay the Fee no later than seven days from issue of invoice which will occur no later than the 3rd of each calendar month.
8.3 Inheritance Data Ltd does not store credit / debit card details
8.4 The Fee excludes Value Added Tax, which will be added to the total amount payable at the appropriate rate from time to time.
8.5 For the avoidance of doubt, the Customer shall cover its own costs for all charges incurred in accessing the Website, completing the Account Registration Process and requesting each Asset Trace.
8.6 If the User fails to pay any amount payable by it to IDL under this Agreement, IDL shall be entitled but not obliged to charge the User interest on the overdue amount, payable by the User forthwith on demand, from the due date up to the date of actual payment, after as well as before judgement, at 2% above the base rate from time to time of NatWest Bank plc. Such interest shall accrue on a daily basis and be compounded quarterly.
8.7 IDL may, on written notice of no less than 30 days to the USER, suspend the provision of the Services if the USER fails to pay any sum when due under this Agreement.
9 Intellectual property rights
9.1 All Intellectual Property Rights in or arising out of or in connection with the Website and the Asset Trace(s) including the Deliverables, shall be owned by IDL.
10 Confidentiality
10.1 A party (“receiving party”) shall keep in strict confidence all technical or commercial knowhow, specifications, inventions, processes, passwords or initiatives which are of a confidential nature and have been disclosed to the receiving party by the other party (“disclosing party”), its Personnel and any other confidential information concerning the disclosing party’s business, its customers, clients, products and services which the receiving party may obtain. The receiving party shall only disclose such confidential information to those of its Personnel who need to know it for the purpose of discharging the receiving party’s obligations under a Contract, and shall ensure that such Personnel comply with the obligations set out in this clause 9 as though they were a party to a Contract. The receiving party may also disclose such of the disclosing party’s confidential information as is required to be disclosed by law, any governmental or regulatory authority or by a court of competent jurisdiction.
11 Data Protection and Data Security
11.1 Each party shall be acting as Data Controller under a Contract in respect of any Personal Data (including any contained in the User Provided Content) provided by a User to IDL in connection with any Contract and its subsequent use in IDL’s provision of an Asset Trace and shall comply with its obligations, as such, under the Data Protection Legislation.
11.2 IDL may transfer any of the User Provided Content to any of the Group Companies and to Financial Institutions to the extent necessary to perform the Asset Trace(s) including acting on the Customer’s behalf to release User Provided Content to search for matches with the Financial Institution data as well as other relevant third parties for the purpose of locating unclaimed assets only.
11.3 The Customer, in forming a Contract, authorises the transfer of data to the third parties referred to in clause 10.2 to meet the purposes for which the information was submitted.
11.4 IDL shall not transfer any Personal Data contained within the User Provided Content to any third party other than those referred to in clause 10.2 above.
11.5 Any Personal Data will be processed in accordance with IDL’s Privacy Policy which is available at www.inheritancedata.co.uk/privacypolicy.
11.6 All User Provided Content is stored in IDL’s cloud based secure servers. In order to monitor the progress of the Asset Trace(s), IDL shall provide, or the User shall choose, as part of the Account Registration Process, a password which enables it to access certain parts of the Website. The Customer is responsible for keeping this password confidential.
11.7 IDL will hold User Provided Content for the duration of the relevant Asset Trace and thereafter it will be held for a period of 10 years for quality control/dispute resolution purposes, after which time it will be permanently deleted or destroyed.
11.8 In relation to security issues, IDL shall take appropriate organisational and technical measures and implement IT policies to ensure that all Personal Data is protected from unauthorized access, improper use, disclosure, unlawful modification, unlawful destruction or accidental loss.
11.9 Notwithstanding clause 10.8, IDL offers no guarantee as to the security of Personal Data transmitted to the Website and any submission of such in the User Provided Content or use of the Website is at the Customer’s risk.
11.10 If you register to the services of a liability search, we will obtain data on your behalf, in accordance with our Terms, copies of the deceased credit report and credit score from designated Credit Reference Agencies. In order to provide these services to you, we will share your information, along with the deceased’s information with such Credit Reference Agencies. The information which we provide to the CRA may be supplied by them to other organisations such as Fraud Prevention Agencies and used by those organisations for the purposes of checking identity, preventing fraud, tracing and collection of debt. The CRA may also use the data to undertake statistical analysis.
12 Limitation of liability
12.1 Nothing in these Conditions shall limit or exclude the liability of either party for:
12.1.1 death or personal injury resulting from negligence; or
12.1.2 fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or
12.1.3 the deliberate default or wilful misconduct of that party, its employees, agents or subcontractors.
12.2 Subject to clause 11.1:
12.2.1 IDL shall under no circumstances whatsoever be liable to the Customer, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, for any loss of profit, or any special, indirect, incidental or consequential loss arising under or in connection with a Contract; and
12.2.2 IDL’s total liability to the Customer in respect of all other losses arising under or in connection with each Contract, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, shall be limited to one hundred and fifty percent (150%) of the Fee paid by the Customer under the relevant Contract.
12.3 The terms implied by sections 13 to 15 of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 are, to the fullest extent permitted by law, excluded from a Contract.
13 Termination
13.1 Without limiting its other rights or remedies, either party may terminate a Contract by giving the other party 30 days’ written notice.
13.2 Without limiting its other rights or remedies, either party may terminate a Contract with immediate effect by giving written notice to the other party if the other party commits a material breach of any term of a Contract and (if such a breach is remediable) fails to remedy that breach within 14 days of that party being notified in writing to do so.
13.3 In the event that IDL, for any reason whatsoever, does not accept the Customer’s offer, as set out in clause 2, IDL shall:
13.3.1 notify this in writing to the Customer; and
13.3.2 shall refund, to the Customer, its Fee within 10 days of sending the notification set out in clause 12.3.1.
14 Consequences of termination
14.1 On termination of a Contract for any reason:
14.1.1 clauses 8, 9, 10 and 11 shall continue in full force and effect; and
14.1.2 the accrued rights, remedies, obligations and liabilities of the parties as at expiry or termination shall be unaffected, including the right to claim damages in respect of any breach of a Contract which existed at or before the date of termination or expiry.
15 Force majeure
15.1 For the purposes of this Contract, “Force Majeure” means an event beyond the reasonable control of IDL.
15.2 IDL shall not be liable to the Customer for any delay or failure to perform its obligations under this Contract as a result of Force Majeure.
15.3 If Force Majeure prevents IDL from providing the Asset Trace(s) for more than 3 weeks, IDL shall, without limiting its other rights or remedies, have the right to terminate a Contract immediately on giving written notice to the Customer and shall refund all or part of the Fee in proportion to the percentage of the Deliverables which IDL has provided to the Customer as at termination.
16 General
16.1 IDL may at any time assign, transfer, mortgage, charge, subcontract or deal in any other manner with all or any of its rights under a Contract and may subcontract or delegate in any manner any or all its obligations under a Contract to any third party.
16.2 Any notice or other communication given to a party under or in connection with a Contract shall be in writing, addressed to that party at its registered office (if it is a company) or its principal place of business (in any other case) or such other address as that party may have specified to the other party in writing in accordance with this clause, and shall be delivered personally, sent by pre-paid first class post or other next working day delivery service, commercial courier, fax or e-mail.
16.3 A notice or other communication shall be deemed to have been received: if delivered personally, when left at the address referred to in clause 15.2; if sent by pre-paid first class post or other next working day delivery service, at 9.00 am on the second Business Day after posting; if delivered by commercial courier, on the date and at the time that the courier’s delivery receipt is signed; or, if sent by fax or e-mail, one Business Day after successful transmission (e.g. where no error message or “out of office” reply is received by the sender).
16.4 The provisions of clauses 15.2 and 15.3 shall not apply to the service of any proceedings or other documents in any legal action.
16.5 If any provision or part-provision of a Contract is or becomes invalid, illegal or unenforceable, it shall be deemed modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it valid, legal and enforceable. If such modification is not possible, the relevant provision or part-provision shall be deemed deleted. Any modification to or deletion of a provision or part-provision under this clause shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the rest of a Contract.
16.6 A waiver of any right under a Contract or law is only effective if it is in writing and shall not be deemed to be a waiver of any subsequent breach or default. No failure or delay by a party in exercising any right or remedy provided under a Contract or by law shall constitute a waiver of that or any other right or remedy, nor shall it prevent or restrict its further exercise of that or any other right or remedy. No single or partial exercise of such right or remedy shall prevent or restrict the further exercise of that or any other right or remedy.
16.7 Nothing in a Contract is intended to, or shall be deemed to, establish any partnership or joint venture between the parties, nor constitute either party the agent of the other for any purpose. Neither party shall have authority to act as agent for, or to bind, the other party in any way.
16.8 A person who is not a party to a Contract shall not have any rights to enforce its terms.
16.9 Except as set out in these Conditions, no variation of a Contract, including the introduction of any additional terms and conditions, shall be effective unless it is agreed in writing and signed by IDL.
16.10 This Contract, and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with it or its subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims), shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with the law of England and Wales.
16.11 Each party irrevocably agrees that the courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with this Contract or its subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims).
Schedule 1
Work Schedule
The Asset Trace
The Asset Trace involves IDL sending requests, as set out in the relevant Asset Trace Form, to financial institutions or the administrators of financial institution data. These organisations include:
- UK Life Companies
- UK Banks
- UK Building Societies
- UK Pension Fund Administrators
- UK Share Registrars
- UK Mutual and Friendly Societies
- Credit Reference Agencies (CRA)
(together the “Financial Institutions”)
Deliverables
The Customer will be able to access a downloadable report detailing the requests made and any responses from the Financial Institutions (“Live Asset Report”) as soon as it has requested an Asset Trace. The Live Asset Report will list the Financial Institutions to which requests have been made and each of their responses to date. The Live Asset Reports will be updated every [insert number of hours between updates] hours. Each response can be categorised in one of the following three ways: –
- Assets have been identified which the estate administrator should investigate further (Match).
- No assets relating to the deceased have been identified (“No Match”).
- No response has been received by the relevant Financial Institution.
The Customer will be able to access the Live Asset Report as soon as they have requested the Asset
Trace and they will be able to review the results for a period of 90 days from the Commencement Date, after which point IDL will discontinue pursuit of any Financial Institutions which have not responded within that period.
Schedule 2
Letter of Authority
[On headed notepaper for the solicitor’s firm] Letter of Authority
To All: Financial Institutions, Share Registrars, DWP, Pension Providers, Investment Trusts, Asset Holders, HM Revenue and Customs and the Post Office, hereafter called Financial Firms.
Re:
Estate Name ________________________________________________
Date of Birth: _________________________________ Date of Death: ___________________________
I (Name), ___________________________________ of (Firm)______________________________ am acting in my capacity as Executor of the above estate and under the Administration of Estates Act 1925. have the correct authority to request a search.
I appoint Inheritance Data Ltd of Unit 14 Philip Ford Way Wymondham NR18 9AQ to be the Data Agent and authorise them to collect and collate information in relation to this deceased individual.
I request that all Financial Firms in receipt of this request, use the information provided to undertake a profile search, which will determine if this deceased individual was at any time, both past and present, your customer.
I ask that you correspond directly with Inheritance Data Ltd on my behalf and release any information relating to the above deceased individual to them directly.
Once confirmation that the deceased held a profile within your organisation has been provided to Inheritance Data, I will ensure that all original/certified documents relating to the deceased are provided to proceed forward.
I confirm that all information and full details held by me regarding the deceased have been provided to the full extent of my knowledge, into a search using Inheritance Data Ltd, and that no false information has been given.
Yours Faithfully,
Sign: Date:
___________________________________ _______________________________
Full Name: ________________________________________
Position:
Executor Name:
Executor Address: