1.Introduction

The terms & conditions of business under which driving instruction is provided, are outlined below. These terms & conditions of business are a contract between the client and the driving instructor. Any alterations to these terms & conditions of business will always be notified to the client in writing, in advance of the change. These terms and conditions shall be construed under the laws and subject to the sole jurisdiction of the courts of England & Wales. These terms and conditions of business do not affect your statutory rights.

2.Code of Practice

The driving instructor abides by a Professional Code of Practice, copies of which are available on request.

3.Documentation

Before or on the first Driving Lesson in Preston, the client will be supplied with a copy of the ‘Terms & Conditions of Business’ of Simply Learners Driving School Preston, details of tuition fees, contact details and an appointment card if required. The client will be asked to sign a copy of the ‘Terms & Conditions of Business’ to state that they have read and agree to be bound by them.

4.Entitlement to drive

The client must hold a current, valid driving licence that entitles them to drive in the UK. The client must satisfy the requirements of medical fitness to drive, including being able to read a number plate at the prescribed distance. The driving licence must be produced at the client’s first driving lesson, and it will also be checked periodically by the driving instructor. Any points, endorsements, bans, convictions, or restrictions of any kind on your licence must be notified to the instructor immediately. Any medical condition or disability that might affect your ability or entitlement to drive must be notified to the instructor immediately.

5.Fitness to Drive

It is the client’s responsibility to ensure that they are fit to drive. The client must inform their Simply Learners Driving School Preston driving instructor as soon as possible of any medical condition, disability or injury that may affect their ability or entitlement to drive. The client must inform their driving instructor if they feel unwell before or during a lesson. The client must ensure that they do not drive whilst under the influence of alcohol, or drugs (some prescription and ‘over the counter’ medicines can cause drowsiness). The client should ensure that they do not arrange driving lessons at times when they are likely to be tired, stressed, or otherwise distracted. The client must wear suitable footwear, and clothing that does not restrict movement, or impede their ability to drive safely in any way. Where spectacles or contact lenses are required in order to meet the eyesight requirement for driving, they must be worn at all times while the client is driving.

6.Behaviour

The driving instructor will not tolerate any form of verbal or physical abuse, whether directed at the driving instructor, a driving examiner, or any other road user. The driving instructor reserves the right to terminate any lesson at any stage should, in their sole opinion they feel that it is inappropriate to continue because of the client’s behaviour, sobriety or state of mind. In these circumstances the lesson fee is forfeit, and it is at the Driving Instructor’s sole discretion as to whether further transport is provided.

7.Lesson Fees

Before or on the first Driving Lesson in Preston, the client will be supplied with details of tuition fees. Any alteration of tuition fees will always be notified in advance, and a copy of the new fees supplied as soon as practicable.

8.Change of Driving Instructor

It is the aim of Simply Learners Driving School Preston to have one driving instructor conduct all of your tuition in order to aid continuity, however it might sometimes be necessary that a change of driving instructor occurs, in these circumstances the client shall have the right to decline lessons from the replacement driving instructor. The instructor will not be responsible for any losses (e.g. test fees) if the client chooses to decline lessons from the replacement driving instructor.

9.Change of Tuition Vehicle

Tuition vehicles are periodically changed, either permanently, when a vehicle is sold, or temporarily, due to mechanical or other problems. The instructor will not be responsible for any losses (e.g. test fees) if the client chooses to decline lessons in the replacement vehicle.

10.Postponement of Lessons by The Instructor

Lessons might sometimes need to be postponed at short notice due to illness, mechanical breakdown or some other emergency or unforeseen occurrence; a mutually agreeable alternative appointment will be made. Every effort will be made to notify the client of the postponement as soon as practicable; however in some circumstances it may be difficult to notify the client in advance of their appointment time. The Instructor may rearrange any appointment at to a time suitable for both parties if the instructor is not available for any reason whatsoever. However should the instructor cancel a lesson with less than 24 hours notice, then he will credit the pupil with half an hours tuition for every hour cancelled.

11. Postponement of Lessons by Client

In respect of cancellations, 24 hours notice must be given, otherwise the Driving Lesson in Preston will be charged in full. This includes cutting lessons down to a lower time period (e.g. reducing a lesson from a 2 to a 1 hour duration). The client may only make cancellations directly with the Instructor, the time of cancellation will be deemed to be the time when the message is received by the driving instructor, (not when the message is sent). When giving notice of cancellation of a driving lesson appointment please note that there may be a delay in the message being received if you are cancelling at weekends, bank holidays or out of office hours, so please allow extra time to avoid being charged. The instructor reserves the right to impose a longer period of notice required for the cancellation of appointments on any client who consistently cancels lessons and also to insist on prepayment for all appointments. If the client books more than 4 hours tuition in any 7 day period this will be classed as an intensive course. The instructor reserves the right to ask for the normal 24 hours notice for cancellations of up to 4 hours in any 7 day period. If the client wishes to cancel more than 4 hours in any 7 day period then the instructor reserves the right to ask for at least 7 days notice, otherwise the hours will be charged in full.

12. Payments

All lessons must be paid for in advance, at the time the client books the Driving Lesson in Preston, credit is not offered. Payments may be made by cash, cheque, credit or debit card. The instructor is able to take credit or debit card payments in car or over the phone. If a client decides to pay by cheque then the funds must be received by the Driving Instructor and cleared in their bank account before the lessons can commence. Where a client falls into arrears with payments, the instructor reserves the right to discontinue tuition until such time as the client’s account is brought up to date, this may include withholding the use of the driving school car for a driving test. In the event of a cheque or card transaction being returned by your bank, an additional charge will be made of £15.00 to cover bank charges and administration costs incurred. In the event of further action being needed to recover any monies owed, further charges may be made to cover costs and administration.

13. Appointment Times

The client should keep a record of appointment dates and times in order to avoid missed appointments (appointment cards are available). The driving instructor will wait 10 minutes after the appointment time before deeming the Driving Lessons in Preston to have been cancelled with insufficient notice. The driving instructor will make every effort to be punctual, however traffic conditions may sometimes make this difficult, so the client should allow a 10 minute waiting period. The lesson will commence either at the appointed time, or the time that the driving instructor arrives, if that is later. If the client requires the instructor to pick them up at a different location or drop them off at a different location than the ones originally agreed, then the instructor will need 7 days notice. Otherwise the instructor may need to start later or finish the lessons earlier than planned. It is the aim of the instructor to pull up at the drop off point at least five minutes before the Driving Lesson in Preston ends in order to conduct the lesson debrief and take payments for driving lessons etc. If the pupil gets out of the car before the lesson ends the instructor will not be held responsible for any lesson time not taken by the client. If the instructor pulls up at the drop off point any earlier than 5 minutes the client will be entitled to have the time credited to a future driving lesson. Lesson scheduling messages are acceptable by text message, answer phone or by the regular telephone. If a lesson time and date is proposed by either the Client or the Instructor and agreed to by the opposite party then this will be treated as an affirmed booking and subject to the normal period of cancellation notice.

14. Driving Tests

Driving Tests should not be booked without first ascertaining the availability of your driving instructor and car, and agreement being reached with your driving instructor as to your readiness for the driving test. The practical driving test is deemed a lesson like any other, and therefore the Instructor reserves the right to charge in full a minimum of 2 hours tuition, separate from the driving test fee, for the use of the car and the instructors’ time. When a client books a driving test they should be aware that the Driving Instructor will not book it into their diary until the two hours tuition time has been paid for in full. No responsibility will be taken by the instructor if they are unable to provide the tuition car for driving tests when the client has not paid for their test time at the earliest opportunity. Clients should notify their driving instructor of the time, date and location of their Driving Test in Preston as soon as practicable and the appointment letter must be shown to your driving instructor for verification on the next driving lesson. No responsibility will be taken by the instructor for incorrect bookings unless the driving test appointment letter is produced. No responsibility will be taken by the driving school for driving tests booked at times when the driving instructor is unavailable. Clients will only be allowed the use of the driving school car for a driving test if the Driving Instructor in Preston agrees that the client is at test standard. The Instructor reserves the right to refuse the use of the driving school car for the practical driving test, if in the instructors professional opinion the client has not reach a sufficient standard of competence, to take full responsibility for the safety of the vehicle and other road users. Where the use of the driving school car is withheld for a driving test, the driving instructor will where possible give the client sufficient notice to enable them to cancel the test without loss of the test fee, this may not always be possible when the course of tuition is of an intensive nature. No responsibility will be taken by the instructor for withdrawing the use of car for the driving tests when, in their sole discretion the driving instructor assesses the client as not being ready for test.

If the client fails the first practical driving test with us and would like us to pay the test fees for the second driving test, then they must have passed a mock practical driving test, with a Simply Learners Driving School Preston Instructor, within the preceding 21 days before the first practical driving test. Also the client must have had at least 10 hours tuition with Simply Learners Driving School Preston. The car hire fees are still payable during any free driving test. Simply Learners Driving School Preston will only pay the test fees for the second practical test. In the event of the client having to take more than two practical tests, then the client will have to pay for any future driving test fees

15. Cancelled Driving Tests

When a driving test is cancelled due to mechanical failure of the driving school car, illness of the driving instructor or any other reason that is the responsibility of the instructor then the client will be entitled to the cost of their next driving test fee to be paid for by the instructor, this is irrespective of whether the client continues to have Driving Lessons in Preston with Simply Learners Driving School Preston. The next driving test fee will not be paid for by Simply Learners Driving School Preston if the client is given sufficient notice to cancel their driving test appointment without loss of the test fee. The Instructor will not be responsible for any additional tuition fees incurred whilst waiting for the next driving test appointment. The Instructor has no control over driving tests cancelled by DSA. When a driving test is cancelled by DSA the full fees due to the Instructor for driving lessons and the use of the car for the driving test are still payable in full, unless cancelled in accordance with the normal period of notice. When DSA cancel a driving test because there is not an examiner available it can be possible to claim back any losses incurred by the client, including a proportion of lesson fees, this is the responsibility of the client, not the Instructor. When a driving test is cancelled because the client’s documents are not in order the full fees due to the Instructor for driving lessons and the use of the car for the driving test are still payable in full, unless cancelled in accordance with the normal period of notice.

16. Refunds

When a client pays in advance for lessons, they shall be entitled to a refund at any time of any monies for unused lessons, for accounting purposes this refund will normally be made by cheque. When a discount has been given for the prepayment of lessons, and a refund is requested, the lessons already taken by the client will be charged at the full hourly rate for the hours taken, and the balance then refunded. All refunds are subject to a £20 administration fee. Also in respect of refunds, the Instructor reserves the right to charge for any short notice cancellations, made with less than 24 hours notice, where the instructor has originally decided to waive the lesson fee. Any lesson time credited to the client (e.g. for short notice cancellations by the instructor) will not be refunded.

17. Supervision

For the purposes of assessing, maintaining and improving standards, it may occasionally be necessary for a driving examiner to observe a driving instructor giving Driving Lessons in Preston. The client may expect an observer to be present on any of their lessons; notice of this will be given in advance of the lesson. Driving Examiners are periodically supervised conducting driving tests, therefore the client might be accompanied on their driving test by a supervising examiner, this is a legal requirement.

18. Lessons in Clients Own Car

All driving lessons are normally conducted in the driving school cars. On rare occasions tuition may be given in the client’s own car, this will only be done if the individual driving instructor is willing to do so, and they may require an initial driving assessment in the dual controlled driving school car before doing so. The client’s car must be legally roadworthy, taxed, insured and with a valid M.O.T. (when necessary) The client’s car must be insured for the use of the driving instructor to give professional driving tuition, and for the driving instructor to drive, this must be confirmed in writing by the client’s insurance company . The use of the client’s car is entirely at the client’s own risk, and the driving instructor will not be held liable for any damage or accident howsoever caused. There will be no alteration in fees payable in view of the increased risk and responsibility of giving tuition in a non dual controlled vehicle.

19. Client’s Property

The client is responsible for the care of any property they have with them when attending a driving lesson and should ensure they do not leave anything behind. The driving instructor will take no responsibility for any loss of or damage to any property belonging to, or in the possession of the client.

20. Legal Liability

The client, in accordance with road traffic law, is legally responsible for any traffic offences that occur whilst they are in charge of the vehicle. The driving instructor will endeavor to train the client to the highest possible standard, however they can not be held responsible for the standard of driving or any errors that are committed whilst they are not giving tuition, either before or after the client passes a driving test.

21. Complaints

If the client is not happy with any aspect of Driving Lessons in Preston, or of the standard of service offered, they should either raise the matter with their driving instructor, with the minimum delay, and not later than seven days from the date of the cause of the complaint. Every effort will be made by the driving instructor / driving school to resolve any complaint or issue. If the client and the Instructor cannot reach a satisfactory agreement then the client can approach any of ‘The Driving Instructors Association’; ‘The Motor Schools Association’; ‘The ADI Federation’; ‘The Approved Driving Instructors National Joint Council’; or ‘The Driving Standards Agency’ for non binding arbitration.

I have read, understood and been given a copy of these Terms and Conditions and Hereby agree to be bound by them.

Signed ____________________ Print Name________________________*Pupil/Instructor Date: ____________