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Compliance

Competition and Markets Authority Compliance Document...

At Four Seasons Future Planning Ltd, we take our compliance responsibilities very seriously. Listed below are our assurances to you that we will treat you fairly and in line with consumer protection law:

• We will provide you with all the information you need, in straightforward language, before you decide to take one of our services so that you can be sure you are making the right decision for you and your family.
• We will always have fair terms and conditions in all our documents so that we can be sure you are happy with the service we deliver.
• We will carry out our duties with ‘reasonable care and skill’, as required by consumer protection law, so that you can be sure you will receive service of good quality.
• We will never use misleading, aggressive or unfair sales practices.

Pre-Contract Information

Before you agree to take one of our services, we provide you with all necessary information, as required by consumer protection law:

• We will tell you the total cost of the service, including VAT, as well as any third party fees (such as registration fees charged by the Office of the Public Guardian).
• Where it is difficult to tell you a total cost (for example, if your needs require more complex services) we will give you an estimate of the cost as well as an explanation of how we have worked out that cost.
• We will give you a clear description of the different services we offer.
• If there are any fees which are not included in the total costs (for example, disbursement fees), we will tell you before you make your decision.
• We will give you clear information about how we will provide you with our services and how long it will take.
• If we need to use third parties in the course of our work for you, we will give you their names and contact details.
• Your Will writer will give you tell you about their qualifications and experience.
• We hope you will always be happy with our service but, if you do feel that you need to make a complaint, we will ensure that you understand how to do so and also explain to you any actions which we will take to resolve your issue.
• We have Public Indemnity Insurance to the value of £5,000,000.
• We will tell you specifically about any terms which are important or which you might find particularly surprising.
• Will writers working with Four Seasons Future Planning Ltd are members of the Society of Will Writers and have to pass an examination set by the Society in order to qualify as members. All members have to behave in a way which meets the SWW’s code of conduct for ethical standards.
• Pre-contract information which will be supplied to you includes a description of the services we offer, the total cost of the service you take, payment and performance arrangements, how long the contract between ourselves will last and your rights to cancel the contract, as well as how to do so.

Misleading Practices

• We will not seek to mislead you by not giving you all the information you need.
• We will ensure that information in all our documents is accurate.
• We will be upfront about all the costs involved if you decide to take a service.
• We will be clear about what services we can, and cannot, offer.
• We will be clear about any possible consequences if you need to change your mind about a service before you enter into a contract with us.
• Our online reviews are always honest. We do not only add positive so that you can get an accurate idea about our standards of service.
• Where a fake or misleading review is posted on our website, we will remove it quickly. We also make it easy for you to report a review which you think is fake or misleading. 
• You have a right to expect that our business has high standards of skill, care, honesty and good faith. We will always work to the best of our ability to make sure that we demonstrate these high standards.

Fair Terms and Conditions

• We will never use Terms and Conditions which take away or reduce your rights as a consumer.
• We will make sure that you can find our Terms and Conditions easily and that they use straightforward language which most people will be able to understand.
• We will try to keep them as short as possible whilst still making sure that they give you all the information you need.

Pricing

• We will not ask you to pay an increase in prices which come into effect after you have entered into a contract.
• We will always be completely open about fees, including those which come about if we need to work with a third party to deliver the service you have chosen.

Variation of Contract

• Where we need to change the terms of the contract (for example, if we think there will be a delay in sending you your Will), we will tell you about this as soon as possible.

Terms Excluding or Limiting Liability

• We will never use terms which unfairly try to exclude or limit our liability.
• We will only exclude liability if any losses could not have been anticipated by either party or where losses which have occurred have not been caused by us breaching consumer protection law.
• We will never limit our liability unfairly by putting an upper limit on any compensation which might be due to you.
• We will never limit our liability to an amount which is less than the amount you paid for the service.
• We will never limit our liability for losses caused by our failure to provide a service with ‘reasonable care and skill’.

Terms Relating to Cancellation

• If, when you agreed to take a service, you were not in our business premises (for example, you were in your own home, the appointment was over the phone or online), you have the right to cancel the contract within 14 days.
• In some cases, you may need the service to be provided before the 14 days is over (for example, if you need an express Will). In this case, you would lose your right to cancel and might be asked to officially waive your right to cancellation.
• If you need to cancel the contract after the 14 day period is over, we would only charge you for our legitimate costs or loss of profits (for example, to cover the costs of the work being done).

Terms Relating to Subscription Services

• We will give you all the information you need before deciding if this service is right for you and your family (for example, storage of your Will in our offices).
• If you do take a subscription service, we will give you a month’s notice that the renewal date is upcoming and also give you the opportunity to not renew if you so wish.

Reasonable Care and Skill

Due to the nature of our work, consumer protection law states that we must show that we are carrying it out with ‘reasonable care and skill’. This is how we will ensure that we comply with this requirement:

• Competence – Our Will writers and drafting team have the level of professional knowledge they need to do the work properly.
• We will only carry out activities which we are legally allowed to do.
• We will not try to sell you services which are not right for you or which you do not need.
• We will make sure that we always give you clear advice. If we identify an issue which we cannot advise you about, we will tell you what type of third party will need to be involved (for example, a financial adviser who deals with tax issues).
• If you opt to store your Will with us, we will make sure that it is stored safely and appropriately in our offices and you will not suffer a loss if Four Seasons Future Planning Ltd ceased trading for some reason.
• We will always follow GDPR rules in keeping records of your details and the advice we have offered.
• We will respond to complaints quickly and efficiently. 
• We will complete the service as quickly as possible and within the time scale we have agreed with you.  We aim to complete your Will within 8-10 weeks but hope to complete it sooner where possible. If we are not able to do so for some reason (for example due to illness or unexpected absence within our team), we will offer you the right to end the contract and have a full refund. 
• If we do not meet our obligations, you can ask us to carry out the service again and, in some cases, you can ask for a refund and/or put in a claim for damages.

Misleading or Aggressive Sales Practices

• We will never use sales practices which are designed to mislead you or put pressure on you to take a service you don’t really want.
• We will never use abusive or threatening language or behaviour.
• We will never take additional payments without first receiving your permission to do so.
• We will make clear that a basic Will is still valid, even if you do not choose to take any other services we offer.
• Wherever possible, we will give you additional support from government agencies so that you can be sure that you are making the right choice.