DRIVER SKILLS NORTH EAST LTD Terms and Conditions

Interpretation

In these conditions (“Conditions”) “We”, “Us” or “Our” means DRIVER SKILLS NORTH EAST LTD and “You” or “Your” means the customer. You must read these Conditions in full as they set out our complete Terms upon which we have agreed to provide, and you have agreed to Obtain, driving tuition from us. We and Your Instructor reserve the right to charge for any lessons affected by your failure to comply with any of these Conditions.

About Your Instructor

Your Instructor is one of Our self-employed franchisees whose relationship with Us is governed by a franchise agreement, no contractual liability shall arise or subsist between You and Us, However We will endeavour to assist You with Your requirements. Our instructors are licensed to carry on business as driving Instructors and have obtained such licences from the Department of Transport.

Driving Tuition

Driving tuition is only available to persons:

1. Aged 17 and over (16 and over if in receipt of Enhanced rate of PIP or High rate of DLA);
2. Who hold valid UK provisional driving licence (“licence”); and
3. Who are legally entitled to drive in the UK.

If you take driving lessons, it is your responsibility to ensure that you have the appropriate licence and the licence must be presented to your driving instructor prior to the commencement of your tuition, for the purposes of the driving instructor checking your entitlement to drive you must also present to your driving instructor on or before your 1st driving lesson either your national insurance number or your ‘check code’ generated from the Government website, more information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/view-driving-licence.

Your Instructor reserves the right to refuse to provide you with tuition or to cancel any lessons you have agreed to or booked If You fail to provide him/her with the licence and/or the ability for him/her to check your entitlement to drive prior to or on your first lesson. Any lessons the instructor must cancel due to this situation are still chargeable.

Your tuition is governed by a contract between you and Your Instructor. Accordingly, you and Your Instructor are responsible for arranging the date and time, pick up location and duration of your lesson although the minimum duration of a lesson is 2 hours unless prior arrangement has been agreed between you and your instructor.

Duration of tuition: All your driving tuition sessions are a minimum of 2 hours long. This is to ensure fewer briefings and debriefings overall, more practical training and due to our commitment to passing our students as quickly and safely as possible. Unless prior arrangement has been agreed between you and your instructor.

Your Instructor will:

Provide You with driving/theory tuition at the hourly rate communicated to You from time to time;

Recommend what are, in their opinion, the most appropriate training methods and aids to help You study for Your theory and hazard perception test;

1. Design a course of lessons to match Your specific driving and learning needs from Your first lesson right through to Your practical test;
2. Provide You with driving/theory lessons which will last two hours or such other duration as You and Your Instructor will agree in advance;
3. Provide a presentable, modern, properly maintained and dual controlled DRIVER SKILLS NORTH EAST branded car for each lesson;
4. Also, recommend where appropriate, advanced courses to help You develop Your skills for: motorway driving, driving in extreme weather conditions and the Pass Plus;
5. Give You relevant feedback during Your lessons and record Your development in your DRIVER SKILLS NORTH EAST record file at the end of each lesson;
6. Monitor Your progress, advise and recommend what is, in their opinion, the appropriate time to book Your mock practical test and once it has been agreed between you both, your instructor will apply for Your practical driving test and where required, they will advise whether it should be subsequently rescheduled;
7. Provide training on a one-to-one basis with no other learner in the car;
8. Honour the full time booked for each lesson, which should include an introduction, practical training and a debrief at the end of your lesson;
9. At all times conduct themselves in a professional manner including:

• Being courteous and considerate to you
• Avoiding physical contact except in an emergency
• Not smoking during your lessons
• Restricting mobile phone use to emergencies or directly for your benefit;
• Contacting you only in relation to your driving lessons.

Reserve the right to cancel a lesson or finish a lesson early on the grounds of road safety;

Not discriminate against you and will always abide by the law;

Endeavor to be on time at the agreed pick-up point and be available for the full duration of the lesson booking, subject to any unforeseen circumstances beyond their control;

Endeavor to give You two working days’ notice (excluding Bank Holidays) should a lesson need to be rescheduled;

Respond professionally to any worries or issues that you may have and try to resolve them to your satisfaction. If appropriate, they will give you the name of the DRIVER SKILLS NORTH EAST LTD manager to whom you can refer the matter.

If Your Instructor is for whatever reason unable to comply with their obligations to You, both We and Your Instructor reserve the right to arrange for an alternative DRIVER SKILLS NORTH EAST LTD Instructor to provide You with some or all Your driving/theory tuition.

If We or Your Instructor are unable to arrange for an alternative Instructor to provide Your driving tuition, or in the event of a mechanical breakdown of the vehicle in which You have been learning to drive, or for any other reason, the Instructor reserves the right to rearrange Your lessons for a time convenient to both You and the Instructor.

Intensive Driving Courses

Full payment is due at the time of booking your Intensive Course. We reserve the right to change your instructor prior to the course start date. We will aim to complete Your Intensive driving course within four weeks from the date of your first lesson, although this is not a guarantee, the 48 Hour cancellation notice does not apply to any of our Intensive driving courses, and if you cancel any of your lessons in the course then these lessons will be deducted from the lessons remaining. Once started, Intensive Courses are none refundable. If there is any evidence of you being under the influence of alcohol or drugs, then Your Instructor reserves the right to terminate Your Intensive Driving Course with immediate effect and you will not be entitled to a refund. Once you have booked your lessons with your instructor, you are fully committed to completing these and if for any reason a lesson is changed or cancelled the lesson fee will be deducted from your account. Our standard 48 hours cancellation policy does not apply to intensive courses. Once your lessons are booked in with your instructor you are unable to change driving instructors at any point during your driving course unless under prior agreement.

Any abusive, offensive or other such conduct will not be tolerated, and the course may be terminated. If you don’t make progress as expected Your Instructor will advise you whether your test should be rescheduled. If You are not test ready, then Your Instructor holds the right to refuse the use of the vehicle in attempting the practical test and will instead recommend a more practical length of course best suited for You. Due to driving test availability and any circumstances beyond our control it may be necessary for us to reschedule your test to fit in with other arrangements and our booking process. Your test will be arranged for the end of your course based on our instructor availability. Your test will be booked at a test centre of your choosing so long as it is within the area your instructor teaches. You must not change or cancel the theory or practical test, only the DRIVER SKILLS NORTH EAST LTD office is entitled to change or cancel your test. If you at any time change or cancel your practical test Your driving course may be terminated, and you will not be entitled to a refund. The Intensive courses consist of 1 hour for the driving test and the remaining hours to be taken as driving lessons leading up to the practical driving test. DRIVER SKILLS NORTH EAST LTD hold no responsibility in any client choosing the incorrect course and all customers should ensure that the course they are choosing is the correct one for them. If there is any doubt you should buy an assessment lesson with your course, so we can professionally assess you before your course begins or at the least speak to our advisers on 0191 3749083 who can try and advise you before you buy.

DRIVER SKILLS NORTH EAST LTD Intensive Courses are none refundable or transferable should you choose to cancel or rearrange your course after the start date.

Guaranteed Pass Driving Course

You must pay DRIVER SKILLS NORTH EAST LTD the full balance of your Guaranteed Pass Driving Course at the time of booking. You will then be fully committed to completing the course and you will not be able to receive a refund. Your Guaranteed Pass Driving Course must be completed within six months from the date of your first lesson. Due to the nature of this course any lessons cancelled by you will be charged extra at the current rate per hour. The 48-hour cancellation notice does not apply to any of Our Guaranteed Pass Driving Courses; Guaranteed Pass course includes two attempts at the theory test, unlimited driving lessons and unlimited practical tests. Your unlimited driving lessons and unlimited practical tests are only applicable up to six months from the course starting, after this six-month period any additional lessons or tests booked will be charged at the current rate. The first attempt at the practical test must be taken within six weeks of the course starting. If you at any time terminate your practical test Your Guaranteed Pass Driving Course will be terminated with immediate effect and you will not be entitled to a refund. If there is any evidence of you being under the influence of drink or drugs, then your instructor reserves the right to terminate Your Guaranteed Pass Driving Course with immediate effect and you will not be entitled to a refund. Any abusive, offensive or other such conduct will not be tolerated, and the course may be terminated. Due to driving test availability and any circumstances beyond our control it may be necessary for us to reschedule your test to fit in with other arrangements and our booking process. Your test will be arranged for the end of your course. Your test will be booked at any of the test centres our teaching regions. You must not change or cancel the theory or practical test, only the DRIVER SKILLS NORTH EAST LTD office is entitled to change or cancel your test. If you at any time change or cancel your practical test Your Driving Course will be terminated with immediate effect and you will not be entitled to a refund.

Lesson Cancellation Policy

You must cancel your lessons via email or phone giving at least 48 Hours’ notice (excluding Bank Holidays) (“Minimum Notice”) if You wish to cancel or rearrange Your lesson, otherwise You will be liable for 100% of the lesson fee. Where you have pre-paid for any lesson but fail to attend, or provide less than the Minimum Notice, you will still be liable for the Lesson fee. Intensive driving courses are exempt from the standard 48 hours’ notice cancellation policy, for information on the cancellation policy for intensive courses please see ‘Intensive Driving Courses’.

Insurance

Your Instructor will carry the appropriate motor insurance should you be involved in a collision as a learner driver whilst in control of driving the Instructor’s tuition vehicle.

Price Changes

We reserve the right to change the price of all our learner driver products including all tuition, at any time.

Non-Block Booked Tuition

The price of lessons that have not been pre-paid (as part of a block booking consisting of a minimum 10 hours’ worth of tuition time (“Block Booking”) may be changed at any time. You will receive prior notice of any price increases.

Block Booked Tuition

The cost of Block Booked tuition is based on the lesson price in force at the time that the booking is made and will be honoured for a period of 3 months from the date of making the booking. If you fail to complete your block booking within 3 months from the date of making the booking, any remaining hours will be lost. Block Bookings are none refundable.

Special offers

We also reserve the right to introduce special offers from time to time in respect of both Us on the Road and Off the Road products together with any other products that we may decide. Special offers are none refundable. Specific offers (“Summer Starter Offers”, “Fall into Fall”, “Christmas Deals”, “Spring into Spring”) have shorter expiration dates and lessons must be taken within this time stated. Such offers will not affect the price of Block Bookings unless it is expressly stated within the offer.

“First 5 for £99”, “5 for £99”, “First 5 for £110”, “5 for £110” offers are for new learners with no previous driving experience joining DRIVER SKILLS NORTH EAST and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offers or used as part of a practical test booking.

Money Back Guarantee

DRIVER SKILLS NORTH EAST money back guarantee, guarantees you to 100% of you money back from your last lesson only, provided you contact the DRIVER SKILLS NORTH EAST office in writing within 48 hours of your lesson, explaining your reasons. Once a refund is provided you will not be entitled to any further tuition and will need to find a new instructor.Our  Money Back Guarantee does not apply to special offers, block bookings, complimentary lessons, intensive courses or guaranteed pass courses.

Payment

You must pay for Your good(s) and/or lesson(s) in advance at the time of booking using one of the following methods in order to guarantee your booking:

• payment via credit or debit card by telephoning Our office on 0191 3749083 or online via our website.
• payment via bank transfer by contacting Our Office on 0191 3749083

Where You make any payments directly to Your Instructor or any of Our Instructors it is Your responsibility to ask for and obtain appropriate receipts or other proofs, in relation to all payments You make to Your Instructor or any of Our Instructors. Where we can, we will endeavour to assist with any discrepancies in payments you have made without ever accepting liability for the same. Payments not received will result in your lesson being cancelled.

Payment Protection Policy

We will protect your payments when you pay via one of the following methods:

• payment via credit or debit card by telephoning Our Office on 0191 3749083
• payment via Bacs by contacting Our Office on 0191 3749083
• payment via our website

For the avoidance of doubt please be aware any payments paid directly by you to your driving instructor will not be protected by DRIVER SKILLS NORTH EAST LTD.

Learner Driver Tuition – Refund Policy

If you are unhappy with your tuition, please discuss this with your instructor or our office manager who will be happy to assist. However, if we and you are unable to reach a resolution you are entitled to request a refund of any lessons not already taken, this does not apply to instructor training, intensive courses, complimented lessons, guaranteed pass courses or special offers, which are none refundable. Previous tuition is none refundable. In the case of block bookings your refund will be less the hours already taken, calculated at the current standard hourly rate less a £25 administration charge. Monies remaining will be sent to your nominated account within 28 days. If you request a refund no further tuition will be supplied and you will need to find a new instructor. If You fail to complete your block booking within 3 months from the date of payment, any remaining hours will be lost and not eligible for a refund.

We may request additional information from you to confirm your identity to comply with the Money Laundering Regulations 2007; we will also use this information to ensure adherence to Our Merchant Operating Instructions for card collection facilities.

Learner Driver Products – Returns/Refund Policy

You may cancel Your order for any ‘goods’ (books, DVDs and L plates) that You purchase from Us without penalty by returning the unused, unopened and undamaged goods within 14 days of Your purchase. All goods that you wish to return must be in the same condition in which they were supplied to you and in their original packaging. If any of the goods you receive are damaged or faulty on receipt, you must inform us within 48 hours of receipt and where it is possible; we will provide you with replacements of any goods which are faulty or damaged. If we are unable to replace such goods, we will notify you and you will be entitled to a refund. You will not be entitled to a refund or replacement of the goods if:

1. Any goods that You return to Us are in Our opinion used, damaged or not within their original packaging; or
2. You decide You no longer want the goods and do not return them within 14 days of Your purchase; or
3. You fail to inform Us of any faulty or damaged goods within 48 hours of receiving them. Postage and Packaging (P&P) is non-refundable.

Your Driving Test and Test Fees

The Driving Standards Agency (Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency – DVSA determines the Theory and Practical test fees. If you would like us to book your test on your behalf, we will be happy to do so, there is no charge for this service.

If you wish to cancel or rearrange a test that we have booked with the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency – DVSA on Your behalf, we will follow the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency – DVSA cancellation procedure as set out on the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency – DVSA website at http://www.Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency – DVSA.gov.uk. Currently the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency – DVSA cancellation procedure states that you can cancel or rearrange your test providing you give at least three clear working days’ notice. If you require us to arrange a cancellation or rearrange any driving or theory test on your behalf, we will require a minimum of 5 working days’ notice to do so. If you fail to provide us with a minimum of 5 working days’ notice you may remain liable for all of the test fee and any late cancellation fees. In any event we accept no liability to you for any payments or expenses that you may incur in relation to your driving and/or theory tests. If you ask us to cancel your test for you we will do so and process your test fee refund, if one is due, to your account within 28 days.

If you think we have made an error in booking your test, please contact us by telephoning 0191 3749083. In the event, we agree that we have made an error in the booking, we shall rebook another test on your behalf at no additional cost to you. No monetary compensation will be paid for any lessons taken prior to the original test or leading up to the new test. We cannot be held accountable if with the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency – DVSA change or cancel your test due to their availability.

It is your responsibility to ensure that you have the appropriate driving license and any other relevant documents (Theory Test Certificate Number, Passport if applicable) and that you take them with you to your driving test, neither We and/or your driving instructor accept any liability in you forgetting the documents needed to present for test and subsequently you being refused to sit your driving test.

If You are not test ready, then Your Instructor holds the right to refuse the use of the vehicle in attempting the practical test.

Other Provisions

By taking bookings, providing certain information and documentation, and in processing payments, we and the Agent act on behalf of Your Instructor. No contractual liability arises between you and us or the Agent under the agreement between you and Your Instructor. Neither the Agent nor We have and shall have any liability to You in relation to any injury, loss or damage arising from the use of the tuition vehicle or from the facts or omissions of Your Instructor or any other one of Our Instructors. Further, we will not in any event be liable for any losses relating to any earnings or business interests that You may have including but not limited to loss of profits, business, loss of opportunity or any business interruptions or delays that You may incur even in the event of an error made by Us. This does not apply to any claim you may have for personal injury or death and nothing in these Conditions will affect your statutory rights.

We do not guarantee to provide or procure the provision of any of the services referred to in these Conditions if We are prevented from doing so in circumstances beyond Our reasonable control, including without limitations, the activities of civil government authorities, third party industrial disputes, internal industrial disputes where We have taken the reasonable steps to prevent the effects of such action on any of the services set out in these Conditions but have been unable to do so; acts of God, or severe weather conditions.

We reserve the right to make reasonable changes to the services referred to in these Conditions and to these Conditions for any reason we deem necessary. Where we do make any such changes, we will give you reasonable notice of the changes. If as a direct result of such changes the services we provide to you are substantially varied to your detriment, and where we are satisfied of the same, you may cancel your agreement with us by giving not less than 30 days’ notice in writing to our address below.

If any provision of these Conditions is found by any court, tribunal or administrative body of competent jurisdiction to be wholly or partly illegal invalid, void, voidable, unenforceable or unreasonable it shall to the extent of such illegality, invalidity, voidness, voidability, unenforceability or unreasonableness, be deemed severable and the remaining provisions of these Conditions shall continue in full force and effect.

Informing You about Products and Services

If You have indicated Your Agreement We may contact You by email, telephone, or SMS/MMS to inform You of any goods, services or promotions that You may of interest to You. If you decide you do not wish to receive such information, please inform us, but be aware that this will prevent you from receiving our special offers and/or promotions.

Pass Photos

On passing your test with a DRIVER SKILLS NORTH EAST instructor your photo will be taken and may be displayed on but not limited to our social media channels, promotional materials and website. If you do not wish this photo to be taken you must inform your instructor beforehand. Notice received after the event cannot guarantee full removal from all areas.

Data Protection Notice

For the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998, the data controller in relation to the information You supply is: DRIVER SKILLS NORTH EAST LTD, 175 Bek road, Newton Hall, Durham, DH1 5LH. We may use the information You provide for administration, marketing, customer services and profiling Your purchasing preferences. We do not sell, rent or exchange your personal information with any third party for commercial reasons. When you give us information about another person, you confirm that they have authorised you to act for them, to consent to the processing and use of their personal data in the manner described in this notice and to receive on their behalf any data protection notice. You have the right to ask for a copy of your information (for which we will charge a reasonable fee to cover our administration costs) and to correct any inaccuracies contained therein.

Complaints Procedure

If You have any concerns or complaints about any part of Your driving tuition which cannot be resolved with Your Instructor, please contact: DRIVER SKILLS NORTH EAST LTD on 0191 3749083, Email us at driverskillsnortheast@gmail.com or write to us at DRIVER SKILLS NORTH EAST LTD, 175 Bek road, Newton Hall, Durham, DH1 5LH and address your email or letter to the Manager.

We aim to resolve complaints within 5 working days, in some instances we may ask for the complaint to be sent in writing, any requests sent in writing we will try to resolve within 14 working days. Please note: We may record telephone calls for staff training and evidential purposes.