Terms and Conditions

The private limited company Notarispraktijk E.D. Smit B.V., trading under the name Scripta Notarissen, registered in the Trade Register under number 70932174 (hereinafter: the "contractor") is the contractor. The client is the customer: one or more natural persons or legal entities that instruct the contractor to perform activities.
These terms and conditions have also been drawn up for the benefit of the contractor's directors and all other persons who work for, on behalf of or in the name of the contractor. Third parties engaged in the execution of the assignment may also rely on these terms and conditions.
Upon the acceptance of all assignments, the provisions of Articles 7:404 and 7:407(2) of the Dutch Civil Code are excluded.
The contractor's liability is limited to the cover for which professional indemnity insurance has been taken out, plus any policy excess that may apply. The applicable Professional and Conduct Rules include minimum standards that the insurance must meet. If, for whatever reason, no payout is made under this insurance policy, the liability of the assignment is limited to an amount equal to the fee charged for the execution of the relevant assignment for the work from which or through which the damage arose.
The limitation of liability also applies if the contractor is held liable for loss or damage arising directly or indirectly from the improper functioning of the equipment, software, data files, registers or other items used by the contractor in the execution of the assignment.
Any potential claim for damages cannot be brought against employees of the civil-law notary, other persons working at, for or on behalf of the civil-law notary or with whom a partnership has been formed, nor against directors of legal entities responsible for carrying out the work or with whom a partnership has been formed.
Any right to compensation shall in any event lapse twelve months after the event from which the liability directly or indirectly arises; this does not preclude the provisions of article 6:89 of the Dutch Civil Code.
If an assignment is given by multiple persons, each of them is jointly and severally liable for paying the invoice for the contractor's work. If the assignment is given by a natural person on behalf of a legal entity, the assignment is deemed to have been given also by the natural person.
When engaging third parties, the contractor shall at all times exercise due care. The contractor shall not be liable for any shortcomings of engaged third parties. The contractor is deemed to have been authorised by the client to accept any limitation of liability of third parties on behalf of the client.
The contractor shall inform the client promptly and clearly about the financial consequences of their engagement. The fee shall be determined on the basis of the hours spent on the assignment multiplied by the hourly rate applied by the contractor, unless otherwise agreed. If the contractor performs work pursuant to a purchase agreement, the fee shall be charged to the parties as agreed by the parties in the purchase agreement. If no agreement has been made in this regard, the contractor shall charge the fee to the buyer. The contractor shall notify the client in good time when higher costs will be charged than agreed. The contractor may not charge the costs of their work to another assignment, another part of the assignment, or anyone other than the client.
An assignment shall be deemed accepted:
— if the contractor has confirmed the order to the client; or
— if the client takes receipt of a draft deed drawn up by the contractor at the client's request or personal advice issued; or
- if the contractor receives a purchase agreement which stipulates that the (civil-law) notary belonging to the contractor will execute the deed of delivery, and commences all work related thereto.
Invoices must be paid within fourteen days of the invoice date, unless otherwise agreed or otherwise stated by the contractor on or with the invoice. If this deadline is exceeded, the client shall be in default. The client will then be liable for interest on arrears (equal to the statutory interest rate) and debt collection costs. The collection costs are calculated in accordance with the Decree on Compensation for Extrajudicial Collection Costs. If the client is a legal entity or a natural person acting in the course of their profession or business, then, by way of derogation from the aforementioned decree, collection costs shall be calculated as 15% of the outstanding claim, subject to a minimum of €250.00.
The contractor’s services are subject to the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act. In this context, the contractor is obliged, amongst other things, to:
— in connection with the provision of services to the client, to carry out 'client due diligence', which research includes, inter alia, establishing and verifying identity; and
— to report any unusual situation or transaction to the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Netherlands (FIU-Netherlands) without the knowledge of the parties involved in the transaction.
A claim against the contractor arising from the disbursement of funds pursuant to the legal act recorded in a deed cannot be assigned or pledged. Pursuant to the professional and conduct rules for civil-law notaries, the contractor shall only disburse funds to the person who acts as a party to the deed and/or is entitled to claim the disbursement pursuant to the legal act recorded in the deed, unless these rules provide otherwise.
The contractor shall comply with all existing professional and conduct rules. An explanation of these rules can be found in the consumer brochure 'Spelregels voor notaris en consument' (Rules of play for notary and consumer) drawn up by the KNB in consultation with the Consumers' Association (Consumentenbond) and the homeowners' association (Vereniging Eigen Huis). This brochure can be found at www.knb.nl and can be provided upon request.
The law stipulates that the notary must collect data from those who are directly or indirectly involved in the notary's services. The privacy statement explains how the notary handles personal data.
A Complaints and Disputes Settlement Scheme for the Notary Office applies. See www.knb.nl and www.degeschillencommissie.nl for details. The Notarial Disputes Committee will only consider a dispute after the internal office complaints procedure has been completed.
Dutch law applies to the services and any potential liability. For the settlement of disputes, exclusively the Dutch court or the Disputes Committee has jurisdiction.