1. These Terms and Conditions are the standard terms which apply:
A. to the provision of driving tuition by Calm Driver Training to pupils that require such tuition. and
B. where the Pupil is a “Consumer” as defined by the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
Driving Lessons – Booking, cancellation, delays
2. You may cancel a lesson without charge if you give me at least 24 hours prior notice of the cancellation and if you do so I will refund to you any sum you paid me in advance.
3. If you do not give me at least 24 hours prior notice of cancellation of a lesson, I will be entitled to charge you for the full price of the lesson. I will be entitled to deduct that charge from any sum you paid me in advance, and I shall refund the balance to you.
4. If you know you are going to be late for a lesson, you should contact me to tell me. If you arrive (or are not ready) later than 10 minutes after the scheduled start time for your booked lesson, I will try to provide that lesson but if I decide that I cannot do so, the lesson will be treated as cancelled without notice by you and you will be charged in full for the lesson
5. If, due to exceptional circumstances including, but not limited to, illness, accidents and bereavement, you cancel a lesson without giving me at least 24 hours prior notice, I will consider the circumstances and in my discretion decide whether to waive any charge for late cancellation that I am entitled to make.
6. If I wish to cancel a lesson, I may do so without incurring any liability to you (and you will not have to pay for that lesson) if I give you at least 24 hours prior notice, but if I do not give you at least that minimum notice, I may credit you with an additional lesson at no charge.
7. I may, without incurring any liability to you, cancel a booked lesson at any time before the start time of that lesson, where either: due to my illness, unavailability of a suitable vehicle, or other reason beyond my reasonable control, I am not available or able to provide the lesson fully or properly. If I cancel a lesson in such circumstances, I will refund to you in full any advance payment that you have made to me for that lesson.
8. If I have reason to believe that you are not fit to drive at the time of the lesson due to any factors including, but not limited to, alcohol, drugs (whether prescribed or otherwise), illness or other medical condition, I will cancel the lesson. If I cancel the lesson for such reason, I shall be entitled, at my discretion, either to charge you for that lesson or not to do so, but in deciding whether to charge you I shall act reasonably.
9. I will use all reasonable endeavours to start a lesson at the time which you have booked but the start may be delayed by overrun of a previous lesson or by other circumstances. If a delay to the start is more than 30 minutes, or if at any time before or after you or I arrive for a lesson I notify you that there will be a delay of at least that time, you may cancel and will not have to pay for that lesson and I will refund to you in full any advance payment that you have made to me for that lesson. If, however, in those circumstances you do not cancel the lesson, I shall add on to the lesson the time by which the start is delayed at no charge to you or, if that does not suit you, I shall add it on to a subsequent lesson, or if you do not book a further lesson I will refund a part of the fee for that lesson in proportion to the part of the lesson not added on.
Lessons – Location, length
10. I will agree the location for each lesson with you at the time of booking. I may choose a location which requires additional travel in the interests of road safety. In such cases, if you wish to be picked up and taken to that location by me, travel time will form part of the lesson time.
11. The minimum length of a lesson will be 1 hour and, if you and I agree, it may be increased by increments of 30 minutes up to a maximum length of 3 hours.
Fees and Payment
12. You must pay my fees for all lessons, and I will charge for lessons on an hourly basis. A 1-hour lesson will be charged at £35; 1.5 hours will be charged at £50.
13. I may change my fees without prior notice but if I increase or reduce the fees between the time you book a lesson and the date of the lesson and you pay for it in advance of the lesson, the price increase or reduction will not apply to that lesson but where there is a decrease I may in my discretion decide to refund you the amount of the decrease.
14. You shall make payment to me of my fees in advance (48 hours prior to your first lesson) by cash or bank transfer. I shall give you a receipt for all sums that I receive from you.
15. At least a 1 hour lesson charge must be kept in credit at all times. This will be refunded once you have passed your test or wish to have a 1-hour motorway lesson.
My Obligations
16. I shall, at all times:
17. Use my reasonable endeavours to provide driving instruction at the agreed lesson times.
18. Use my reasonable endeavours to train you to a high standard, but shall not be responsible for any errors made by you.
19. Be professional and courteous towards you and other road users.
20. Act in accordance with the DVSA Code of Practice (a copy of which you can obtain from me on request). and
21. Act in accordance with the law.
Your Obligations
22. You must be of legal age to drive and produce a valid UK/Northern Ireland provisional Category B driving licence. In Great Britain, both the photocard (or old style paper licence) and a permission code to verify the licence online must be produced. If an older style paper licence is held, then you must also produce a valid passport as photographic identification.
23. You must always have both parts of your driving licence (photo card and paper counterpart) with you during lessons.
24. If you have been banned from driving and are training for a retest, you must be legally entitled to take tuition and must present proof to me of that entitlement.
25. You must demonstrate your ability to read a number plate from the distance specified in the Highway Code.
26. You must always wear any relevant prescribed glasses or contact lenses.
27. You must inform me of any medical conditions or prescribed medication which may affect your driving ability. and
28. You must notify me of any change of your ability or entitlement to have driving tuition, for example if your provisional licence has been revoked or for medical reasons such as epilepsy.
29. You must not be under the influence of drugs/alcohol during the training. In the event of there being any signs of drugs/alcohol misuse, your instructor will withhold the use of the training vehicle for use of tuition or driving test until you are in a legal and fit state to drive. Any prescribed medication that may affect your driving should be declared to the instructor and to the DVLA medical board.
30. If you fail to comply with the above, I may immediately cancel one or more lessons. If I do so, I may in my discretion still charge for the cancelled lessons.
Vehicles and Insurance
31. I shall ensure that all vehicles that I provide are fitted with dual controls, are fully roadworthy, taxed, have a valid MOT (where relevant), and are fully insured for the purposes of driving instruction. and
32. You may request to use your own vehicle. Whether you use your own vehicle is for me to decide at my sole discretion. you must provide proof to me of your vehicle’s roadworthiness, tax, valid MOT (where relevant) and suitable insurance for the purposes of driving instruction.
Driving Tests
33. I shall discuss driving tests with you and inform you when I feel that you are ready to take a test.
34. You and I shall be responsible for booking theory and practical tests. It shall be your responsibility to check the details of the test on Your DSA confirmation letter.
35. If you book a test, you must check with me before booking to ensure that I consider that you are ready for a test.
36. Before you take your practical test, you must pass a mock test conducted by me. A final decision of test readiness is for me alone and non-negotiable. Also, you should have taken driving lessons at least a month before attempting a practical test, as this affects your test readiness. Should you fail to reach a satisfactory standard of driving and are likely to be a danger to other road users, or are in an unfit condition through substance or alcohol abuse as described above, I have a responsibility to the DVSA examiners not to allow the use of the training vehicle for the purpose of the driving test. This is in the interest of you, the examiner and other road users and is a precautionary safety measure. DVSA guidelines do not allow a pupil to take a practical test just for the experience.
37. You must inform me of all details of your test including, but not limited to, its date and location at least 14 working days before your test date.
38. When you attend a test, you must take all required documentation with you. If you do not, your test may be cancelled, and you would then lose your test fees.
39. Unless I feel that my vehicle is unsuitable for a Pupil to use for their practical test, I generally permit Pupils to use my vehicle for their test, but whether I permit you to do so for your test will be in my discretion and is not guaranteed without prior agreement.
40. If I have given you permission to use my vehicle for your test but it breaks down or is otherwise unavailable or unusable on the date of the test, I shall use my reasonable endeavours to arrange an alternative vehicle. If this is not possible, I shall pay for the replacement test.
41. If your test is cancelled by the DVSA giving you insufficient time to provide me with the required cancellation notice of a booking, you must still pay my fees for my time and/or the use of my vehicle. In that case, I shall advise you on claiming compensation from the DVSA for the cost of those fees.
42. If you have a test booked and, in my opinion, you do not make the expected progress in your lessons between the date of booking and the test date, I may decide not to permit you to use my vehicle for your test and I will not be responsible for any fees that you pay for the test which are lost.
Cancellation and Termination
43. I may, in my discretion, terminate your tuition if your conduct or commitment consistently falls below the standards that I reasonably expect.
44. You may, at any time, subject to your meeting the requirements set out above as to giving notice of your cancellation of lessons, terminate your tuition by me. I shall refund to you any fees for lessons that you have paid me in advance.
Liability
45. I provide tuition only for your personal and private use/purposes. I will not be liable to you for any loss of profit, loss of business, interruption to business or for any loss of business opportunity.
Changes to Terms and Conditions
46. I may from time to time change these Terms and Conditions without giving you notice, but I will use my reasonable endeavours to inform you as soon as is reasonably possible of any such changes.
How I Use Your Personal Information (Data Protection)
47. All personal information that we may use will be collected, processed, and held in accordance with the provisions of EU Regulation 2016/679 General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and your rights under the GDPR. For complete details of Our collection, processing, storage, and retention of personal data including, but not limited to, the purpose(s) for which personal data is used, the legal basis or bases for using it, details of your rights and how to exercise them, and personal data sharing (where applicable), please refer to Our Privacy Notice available from our website.
Regulations
48. I am required by the Regulations to ensure that certain information is given or made available to you as a Consumer before I make my contract with you (i.e. before I accept your request to book any lesson) except where that information is already apparent from the context of the transaction. I have included the information itself either in these Terms and Conditions for you to see now, or I will make it available to you before I accept your request to book a lesson. All of that information will, as required by the Regulations, be part of the terms of my contract with you as a Consumer.
Complaints
49. I always welcome feedback from my Pupils and, whilst I always use all reasonable endeavours to ensure that I provide a high standard of tuition and service to Pupils, I nevertheless want to hear from you if you have any cause for complaint. If you have any complaint about my tuition or other services or any other complaint about me, please raise the matter with me in person or by phone or email.
Severance
50. If any provision of these Terms and Conditions is held by any competent authority to be invalid or unenforceable in whole or in part the validity of the other provisions of these Terms and Conditions and the remainder of the provision in question shall not be affected.
Law and Jurisdiction
51. These Terms and Conditions, the Contract, and the relationship between you and Us (whether contractual or otherwise) shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of England & Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
52. As a consumer, you will benefit from any mandatory provisions of the law in your country of residence. Nothing above takes away or reduces your rights as a consumer to rely on those provisions.
53. Any dispute, controversy, proceedings or claim between you and Us relating to these Terms and Conditions, the Contract, or the relationship between you and Us (whether contractual or otherwise) shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of England, Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland, as determined by your residency.
