Legal e-signatures are becoming more and more the norm. According to The Law Commission, documents signed electronically have legal force. Even when a statutory requirement for a signature predates the digital age. Consequently, electronic signatures are a viable alternative to handwritten ones.
LawWare is pleased to announce a new partnership with leading electronic signature provider, Sign&Send. You can now benefit from the flexibility of digital signatures from within Microsoft Word, directly from the LawCloud platform.
How does it work?
Sign&Send’s eSign allows you to invite your prospective signatories to sign documents online. You simply set up a covering Sign&Send letter, supply the signatory’s email address, and enclose the documents you would like to have signed.
You prepare your covering letter in the usual way. Your signature is added, then the letter is uploaded to the Sign&Send servers and set against your headed paper.
The signatory receives an email attaching your covering letter. The email also advises that a link to a document for online signing will follow very shortly.
When your prospective signatory clicks their agreement, a signature widget appears which allows the signatory to sign the document electronically. That means the document is now electronically signed. In other words, an electronic graphical representation of the signature now appears in the document.
Additional Benefits.
Sign&Send allows you to click a letter directly from Microsoft Word into the Royal Mail. A few days later, your addressee will receive an actual paper letter in a windowed envelope. It will be signed by you and set against your headed paper. Consequently, using Sign&Send is as easy as sending an email.
You can send letters in just three steps:
- Simply click on the Sign&Send button in the Microsoft Word ribbon.
- Select the delivery method (2nd Class, 1st Class, or Recorded Delivery).
- Click the Sign&Send button.
Your signature and company letterhead are then automatically applied to the letter. Your document is then printed, enveloped, franked, and sent via Royal Mail to your intended recipient and you will receive a PDF version of your letter as an email attachment.
What other sending options are available with Sign&Send?
It is currently possible to send your letter by eSign, first class, second class, and Recorded Delivery post. However, more sending options will soon be available. These include:
- Surface mail with an enclosed business return envelope (BRE)
- Letter as PDF attachment which gives your recipient the impression of receiving a scanned version of the letter.
- SendFile which allows you to send files that are too large for emails or too expensive by surface mail via a secured link.
How much does it Cost?
There are two varieties of eSign: eSign and eSign (Certified). The former digitises the process that many solicitors use whereby they would email a client a document. The client would then print, sign, scan, and email back the document to the solicitor. This type of signature is legally valid and is referred to as a simple electronic signature. It would suffice for most documents, e.g., letter of engagement.
By contrast, eSign (Certified) is an Advanced Electronic Signature and fulfils the legislative and regulatory requirements of Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 (commonly referred to as eIDAS). eSign (Certified) has a higher, more airtight, standard of legal protection powered by the DocuSign system. Sign&Send’s eSign costs £0.59 per document sent; eSign (Certified) is available by subscription and enables you to collect multiple signatures within the same document.
There is usually a standard subscription charge of £9.99 for up to 3 users and £3.99 for a single user. However, Sign&Send have currently suspended this given the unique circumstances we find ourselves in. So, it would literally be a pay-as-you-use service until October when subscription resumes.
How much can I save using Sign&Send?
Using a baseline example of one mail package that contains 100gsm (x1) colour page sent in a C5 windowed envelope with standard Royal Mail postage (and factoring in the human time and cost), it would be possible to save as follows:
| Cost | Cost with Sign&Send | % Saving | |
| Second Class Royal Mail | £1.64 | £0.90 | 45% |
| First Class Royal Mail | £1.75 | £1.06 | 40% |
| Signed-For Special Delivery | £3.05 | £2.29 | 25% |
| Prices correct as at May 2020. |
Additional savings include:
- Reduced franking tariffs.
- Reduced printer lease hold costs.
- Reduction in office consumables.
- No need to bulk print company letterheads.
- Reduction in underpaid franking mail penalties.
- No need to sort outgoing mail.
- Increased staff productivity by automating outgoing mail.
Moreover, all LawWare clients are eligible for a reduced rate.
Find out more.
In conclusion, Sign&Send offers a tried and tested service that integrates with ease with LawWare software. If you’re on LawCloud, Sign&Send is now available as an extra tab within the Word ribbon. Simply click on the Sign&Send tab and then click on the Sign Up button to set up your account. If you’re self-hosted, simply visit www.signandsend.co.uk and click on the Sign Up button to register.
If you would like to find out more about Sign&Send legal e-signatures, then please contact us by email on innovate@lawware.co.uk or by phone on: 0345 2020 578.
