Before discussing why a business might need to hire a notary, we must understand what one is. A notary is a qualified lawyer. Their role is to witness and validate any documents you sign, making them legally effective when used abroad.
Both individuals and businesses can hire a notary to witness and validate their documents. However, while this may be true, some people skip this stage because they worry about how much a notary costs.
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How Much Does a Notary Cost?
Thankfully, notaries are not expensive to hire. Notary public UK fees cost just £90 plus VAT per document, and the notary service fee for businesses is just £180 plus VAT. This means that they are affordable to use.
Over the past few years, notaries have become even more critical in business. In fact, they are now a staple of most legal systems. Keep reading below to find out some of the reasons businesses in the UK choose to hire a notary:
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Signature Witnessing
One of the main reasons business owners choose to hire a notary is to witness signatures. However, they do much more than witness the signature. They also check that the person signing the documents is who they say they are and use their genuine signature and name.
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Copy Certification
If you regularly copy important business documents, you should consider hiring a notary. This includes taking copies of contracts, driver’s licenses, medical records, diplomas, etc. A notary will ensure that any copies are accurate copies of the original document.
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Jurats
Business notaries can also be used for jurats. A jurat, otherwise known as a verification of oath or affirmation, is a straightforward way to confirm that the contents of a document are correct. This is extremely important in business as if the contents of a document aren’t correct, your business may be affected.
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To Help Prevent Fraud
Another reason business owners in the UK hire a notary is to prevent fraud. Business fraud is a massive issue in the UK; more than 60% of UK businesses have experienced business fraud in the past year. This is an astonishing figure, particularly as most businesses do everything possible to prevent fraud.
Thankfully, a Cheltenham Notary can help with this problem. Not only will they check through all of your documents to ensure that they are correct, but they will also request proof of identification for all documents your company signs. This helps to reduce your chances of being a victim of business fraud.
While it’s true that almost anyone can start a business, it’s not true that anyone can run a successful business. In fact, running a successful business is a totally different matter. Several things affect the success of a business, including whether you have a good enough business idea and whether you can make sound business decisions. As well as this, businesses also need to know when to seek legal assistance, such as with notarising a document. All these things and more need to be considered when setting up and running a business.