Legal & Regulatory Information
Professional Indemnity Insurance
In accordance with the disclosure requirements of the Provision of Services Regulations 2009, our professional indemnity insurers are:
- Starr International (Europe) Limited (Lead insurer)
4th Floor 30 Fenchurch Ave, London EC3M 5AD - Everest Insurance (Ireland) DAC
Huguenot House 35-38 St Stephen's Green Dublin 2. - American International Group UK Limited
The AIG Building, 58 Fenchurch Street, London EC3M 4AB - Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE
60 Gracechurch Street EC3V 0HR London United Kingdom. - Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe SE
20 Fenchurch Street, London EC3M 3AW - Great Lakes Insurance SE
Plantation Place, 30 Fenchurch Street, London, EC3M 3AJ. - CNA Insurance Company Limited
20 Fenchurch Street, London, EC3M 3BY - Munitus Consortium 4242
5th Floor, 6 Bevis Marks London EC3A 7BA - HCC International Insurance Company Plc
35 Seething Ln, London EC3N 4AH - Endurance Worldwide Insurance Limited
2 Minster Court Mincing Lane London, EC3R 7BB - Allied World Assurance Company (Europe) dac
Georges Quay Plaza, Dublin Ireland - International General Insurance Company (UK) Limited
15-18 Lime Street London EC3M 7AN - Lloyd’s Underwriter Syndicate No. 4444 CNP
9 1 Lime Street London, EC3M 7HA - Lloyd’s Underwriter Syndicate No. 1221 HIG
6 Bevis Marks, 8th Floor, Bury Court, London EC3A 7BA. - AmTrust Europe Limited
exchequer court, 33 St Mary Axe, London EC3A 8AA
Audit Registration
Azets Audit Services Limited is registered to carry out audit work in the UK by The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).
Details of our audit registration can be viewed at www.auditregister.org.uk, under reference number C004632199.
Azets Audit Services is the trade name of Azets Audit Services Limited.
Investment Business
The following companies are licensed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales:
Azets Holdings Limited
Azets Audit Services Limited
Azets Corporate Finance Limited
Azets Probate Services Limited
They offer a limited range of investment services to clients if they are incidental and / or complementary to, or arise out of, the other professional services they have been engaged to provide.
We refer most investment business, excluding corporate finance work, to Financial Advisers, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. The Financial Adviser will take full responsibility for compliance with the requirements of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
Insolvency Licence
Certain directors/partners are licensed to act as an insolvency practitioner in the UK by The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), Insolvency Practitioners Association (IPA) and The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland (ICAS).
A list of our licensed Insolvency Practitioners and their Recognised Professional bodies is available below:
IPA
A list of our licensed Insolvency Practitioners and their Recognised Professional bodies is available below:
IPA
- Jonathan Amor
- Meghan Andrews
- Nicola Banham
- Louise Brittain
- Stephen Grant
- James Martin
- Richard Oddy
- Matthew Richards
- Robert Young
ICAEW
- Margaret Carter
- Nicola Clark
- Colin Haig
- Diane Hill
- Simon Monks
- Kerry Pearson
- Duncan Swift
- Chris Tate
ICAS
- James Fennessey
- Derek Forsyth
- Stewart McDonald
- Blaire Milne
Probate Services
Azets Probate Services Limited., Registered in England & Wales is licensed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales to carry out the reserved legal activity of non-contentious probate in England and Wales.
Details about our probate registration can be viewed at https://www.icaew.com/probate, under reference C005446867.
As an employer Azets Probate Services Limited is committed to equality and recognises the value of diversity. We monitor diversity within our workforce and the results of our most recent survey are available here.
Azets is the trade name of Azets Probate Services Limited.
Azets are not taking on any new engagements for services which are covered by the licence and are in the process of finalising that work for which we are currently engaged.
Fees are charged on the basis of the work undertaken, both in terms of the size and complexity of the estate and the services which Azets agree to carry out both at the start and during the engagement.
We do not charge a fee based on a percentage of the value of the estate but based on our standard hourly charge out rates.
A reasonable estimate of fees if provided at the start of an engagement and updated during the course of the engagement.
Our normal fee range to obtain grant of probate and complete IHT forms is between £1,500 and £20,000. Fees to administer the estate can vary considerably and are completely dependent on the time taken to deal with all aspects.
For those estates where we have existing engagements we have offered the following services:
- Gather together all of the information concerning the deceased’s financial affairs and prepare a summary of the assets and liabilities at date of death and prepare the paperwork required to apply for Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration.
- Calculate the amount of IHT due on the estate and on any gifts within the previous seven years, as well as complete and file all the relevant IHT forms with HMRC. We can assist Executors with the process of settling IHT due using HMRC’s Direct Payment Scheme.
- Once Probate has been granted, Executors and Administrators are able to close bank accounts, sell investments and properties and transfer assets or cash to beneficiaries under the terms of the Will, all of which we can deal with as part of our service.
- Provide tax advice during the administration and ensure that any income or capital gains tax liabilities are reported to and settled with HMRC.
- Prepare detailed estate accounts for all transactions that have occurred during the Estate period and incorporate these into a report together with copies of important documents, including the Will, the death certificate, the Grant of Probate, IHT calculations and estate accounts.
- Provide R185 forms to beneficiaries detailing income received from the estate and the tax deducted.
We estimate the following timescales to deal with each part of the service but emphasise that this can vary considerably dependent on the size and complexity of the estate:
- Collecting information, around 3 months from engagement.
- Preparing IHT forms and probate application around 4 weeks once all information is provided.
- Collecting in and distributing assets can take anything from 3 months after obtaining grant of probate or letters of administration to many years during which time we also prepare estate accounts and advise on and finalise tax matters.
As we are licensed for the reserved legal activity of non-contentious probate, in the unlikely event that we cannot meet our liabilities to you, you may be able to seek a grant from ICAEW's Probate Compensation Scheme. Generally, applications for a grant must be made to ICAEW within 12 months of the time you become aware, or reasonably ought to have been aware of the loss. Further information about the scheme and the circumstances in which grants may be made is available on ICAEW's website www.icaew.com/probate.
If at any time you would like to discuss with us how our service to you could be improved, or if you are dissatisfied with the service you are receiving, please let us know, by firstly contacting the probate director that deals with your affairs, if you are still dissatisfied please contact our Complaints Partner Michaela Izquierdo in writing at 2nd Floor, Regis House, 45 King William Street, London, EC4R 9AN.
We undertake to look into any complaint carefully and promptly and do all we can to explain the position to you to resolve the issue. We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint and endeavour to deal with it within 8 weeks. Any complaint should be submitted to us by letter.
If we do not deal with it within this timescale or you are unhappy with our response you may of course take the matter up with our professional body the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Legal Ombudsman. Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman should be made within six years of the act or omission or within three years of you becoming aware of the issue, and in either case within six months of our written response to your complaint to us. The contact details for the Legal Ombudsman are:
Letter: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Telephone: 0300 555 0333
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Telephone: 0300 555 0333
Professional Rules
In carrying out our professional work we are required to apply the following rules which can be accessed at the websites detailed below:
- For the Audit Regulations:
- For the APB International Standards of Auditing (UK and Ireland), Practice Notes, Bulletins and the APB Ethical Standards:
- For the Companies Act 2006:
- For the ICAEW code of Ethics:
- For Insolvency Licensing Regulations
https://www.icas.com/professional-resources/ethics/icas-code-of-ethics
- For statements of Insolvency Practice
Statutory Information and Company details
Details of regulated and non regulated Azets companies in the UK can be found here.
Complaints
We aim to offer all our clients an efficient and effective service, although occasionally there may be aspects of our service about which clients and others have concerns or with which they are unhappy.
If you are dissatisfied with the services you are receiving and would like to raise this with us, you should contact the engagement partner or manager named in our engagement letter with you; they will be familiar with your case and may be able to resolve any problems to your satisfaction immediately, for instance, by the correction of a misunderstanding or by the provision of missing documentation.
However, if you prefer to raise your concerns with someone else, you may contact our complaints partner (see below for contact details).
It is the policy of the firm to handle complaints as fairly and quickly as possible, having regard to all of the circumstances of the complaint.
A complaint must be submitted in writing, be duly signed and contain at least:
- the name and address of the submitting party;
- the date and signature;
- a clear description of the conduct against which the complaint is being made;
- the name of the partner and/or staff member(s) to whom the complaint relates;
- Documentary evidence in support of our complaint;
- If you have a proposal for settling your complaint, you can include that as well.
- We will disregard any complaints made orally or anonymously.
Complaints are to be submitted to the complaints partner via complaints@azets.co.uk.
If your complaint relates to our Licensed Insolvency Practitioners
If you remain unsatisfied and your complaint relates to one of our Licensed Insolvency Practitioners, you have the right to refer the matter the Insolvency Complaints Gateway which is operated by the Insolvency Service, Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) by:
- calling the Insolvency Service Enquiry Line on 0300 678 0015 (Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm);
- or completing an online complaints form at https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-insolvency-practitioner (guidance for those who wish to complain can also be found on this site);
- or by sending the completed complaints form by post to IP Complaints, Insolvency Service, 3rd Floor, 1 City Walk, Leeds, LS11 9DA.