CHESS DRIVER TRAINING
TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR DRIVING LESSONS
These Terms and Conditions are the standard terms which apply to the provision of driving tuition by driving instructors working on a self employed franchise basis for CHESS DRIVER TRAINING AND CAR HIRE LTD (Trading as Chess Driver Training) of 4 Park Court, Kirkhill Business Centre, EH52 6EE. Registered Company Number SC796161, to pupils that require such tuition.
1.Definitions and Interpretations
1.1 Within these Terms and Conditions, unless stated otherwise by the context, the subsequent expressions carry the designated meanings:
“Business” Refers to any business, trade, craft, or profession conducted by you or any other individual/organization.
“Consumer” means a “consumer” as defined by the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and in relation to these Terms and Conditions means an individual customer of the Instructor who receives tuition from the Instructor for the customer’s personal use and for purposes wholly or mainly outside the purposes of any Business;
“Data Protection Legislation” means the Data Protection Act 1998 and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (Regulation (EU) 2016/679), as amended, or replaced from time to time
“Instructor” means the driving instructor(s) (ADI/PDI) assigned by Us to the Pupil
“Price List” means the School’s standard price list for driving tuition. The price list can be accessed from www.chessdrivertrainingandcarhire.co.uk
“Pupil/You/Your” means the individual recipient of driving instruction;
“Regulations” means The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013;
“School/We/Us/Our” means Chess Driver Training whose place of business and contact address is 4 Park Court, Kirkhill Business Centre, EH52 6EE OR
1.2 Unless the context otherwise requires, each reference in these Terms and Conditions to:
1.2.1 “these Terms and Conditions” is a reference to these Terms and Conditions as amended or supplemented at the relevant time; and
1.2.2 a Clause or sub-Clause is a reference to a Clause of these Terms and Conditions;
1.3 The headings utilized in these Terms and Conditions serve solely for convenience and will not impact the understanding of these Terms and Conditions.
1.4 Words signifying the singular number shall include the plural and vice versa;
1.5 References to any gender mentioned in these Terms and Conditions refers to all genders
2.Driving Instructors
2.1 The Instructor is a self-employed franchisee and is not employed by the School. CHESS DRIVER TRAINING are not involved in any contract that may exist between the Instructor and You
2.2 The Instructor is registered with the DVSA as an approved driving instructor ADI or PDI and his/her ADI/PDI registration will be up to date. He/she shall display his/her current DVSA ADI/PDI registration certificate in any vehicle that he/she uses for a lesson and will ensure their ADI/PDI certificate is always kept up to date.
3.Driving Lessons
3.1 A lesson will only be made available to You if You have a pre-booked appointment for it, and the Instructor has sent a confirmation confirming the date and time of the appointment. You should book a lesson with the Instructor either in person, by telephone, or via text message – following an initial booking made through the School. It shall be Your and the Instructor’s responsibility to agree on all matters relating to each lesson including, but not limited to, date, time, location and duration;
3.2 Your request to the Instructor to book a lesson will be an offer, but whether to accept any request will be for the Instructor to decide in his/her discretion. Only if and when he/she tells You that he/she accepts Your request for any particular lesson(s) will there be a binding contract between You and the Instructor for that/those lesson(s)
3.3 A month prior to your practical driving test You must make yourself available at different times and days for the Instructor to assess your driving under different traffic conditions. This is vital for safe driving for life.
3.4 Neither We nor the Instructor will reserve any lesson slots or guarantee regularity of lessons over any period of time or on any particular date and/or time. The Instructor will reserve a particular lesson slot for You if and when the Instructor accepts a booking for it from You. The instructor will make reasonable efforts to provide consistent lesson slots for you.
3.5 If You are going to be late for a lesson, You should contact the Instructor to tell him/her as soon as possible. If You arrive (or are not ready) later than 15 minutes after the scheduled start time for Your booked lesson, the Instructor will try to provide that lesson but if the Instructor decides that he/she cannot do so, the lesson will be treated as cancelled without notice by You and, if the Instructor then decides to make a charge for that lesson cancelled without notice, sub-Clause 3.7 below will apply;
3.6 You may cancel a lesson without charge if You give the Instructor at least 48 hours prior written notice of the cancellation and the Instructor will refund You any amount You paid in advance for that lesson or the Instructor will provide You the lesson(s) there is strictly no exception to the 48-hour notice of cancellation;
3.7 If You do not give the Instructor at least 48 hours prior notice of cancellation of a lesson, the Instructor will be entitled to charge You the full lesson(s) price
3.8 If, due to exceptional circumstances, including, but not limited to, illness, accidents and bereavement, You cancel a lesson without giving the Instructor at least 48 hours prior notice, he/she will consider the circumstances, and try fill that time slot with another pupil. It is in his/her discretion to decide whether to waive any charge for late cancellation
3.9 If We or the Instructor wish to cancel a lesson, We or he/she may do so without incurring any liability to You (and You will not have to pay for that lesson);
3.10 Notwithstanding sub-Clause 3.9, We or the Instructor may, without incurring any liability to You, cancel a booked lesson at any time before the start time of that lesson, where either:
3.10.1 due to the Instructor’s illness, unavailability of a suitable vehicle, or other reason beyond his/her reasonable control, he/she is not available or he/she is not able to provide the lesson fully or properly. If the lesson is cancelled in such circumstances, the Instructor will refund to You in full any advance payment that You have made for that lesson, or reschedule the lesson; or
3.10.2 the Instructor has 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 conditions. If the Instructor cancels the lesson for such reason, it is in the Instructor’s discretion to either charge You for that lesson or not to do so
3.11 the Instructor shall 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 at least 15 minutes, or if at any time before or after You or the Instructor arrives for a lesson the Instructor will notify You that there will be a delay of at least that time, that time shall be made up by the Instructor
3.12 Before entering the vehicle You will be asked to read a number plate at a distance of approximately 21m with or without eyesight correction. Failing to read the number plate at a distance of 20.5m will equate to you not legally being allowed to drive the vehicle. Your instructor will either provide you with a theory lesson only, or the lesson will be forfeited at full rate. Therefore please ensure you have an eye test and have eye correction if you feel that you may require it well in advance of the lesson. If You require glasses or contact lenses to read the number plate from 20.5m you must always wear them in every lesson and at all times that you are driving
3.13 The Instructor may have a trainee/trainer or a DVSA examiner sitting in the back of Your driving lesson or in some of Your lessons. If this is not acceptable to You please inform the Instructor in writing within 7 days of starting Your lessons
4.Location and length:
4.1 The Instructor will agree the location for each lesson with You at the time of booking. He/she 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 the Instructor, travel time will form part of the lesson time
4.2 In the interest of Your productivity and benefit We recommend 2 hour lessons, as this allows more repetition and experience of various road conditions. The minimum length of a lesson will be 1 hour and, if You and the Instructor agree, it may be increased by increments of 30 minutes
5.Fees and Payments:
5.1 You must pay Your Instructor fees for all lessons before the start of the lesson, if You are paying for lessons on an hourly basis. If payment is not made at the start of the lesson a penalty can be charged by the Instructor of £20 + £2 for each day over. You can obtain information on current lesson fees from www.chessdrivertrainingandcarhire.co.uk. Prices may increase and/or decrease at any time. All new pupil bookings will be charged at the current price. Any existing customers will be charged at the current rate when pre-paid lessons have been used and new payments become due.
5.2 We may change Our fees without prior notice but if We 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 We may in Our discretion decide to refund You the amount of the decrease;
5.3 You shall make payment of Our fees in advance by electronic bank transfer directly to your instructor or Us, or cash directly to the instructor.
5.4 Any payments made by electronic bank transfer to Our account will be processed by Us and upon receipt of cleared funds the full amount credited immediately directly to your instructor, upon which We will not accept responsibility for any acts, default or failure on the part of the instructor not to carry out their obligations
5.5 Any fees for driving tests will NOT be accepted by Us or your Instructor and should only be made directly to the Driving Standards Agency (DVSA). We will not be responsible for any driving test fees paid to the Instructor.
5.6 We do not accept any responsibility whatsoever for any acts, default or failure on the part of the instructor not to carry out their obligations.
5.7 Any advance payments made for lessons are made on the understanding that those lessons will be taken within 6 months of the payment being accepted.
5.8 We do not hold any payment card or account details on record
5V Gift vouchers:
5V.1 Gift vouchers can be made available, please contact us directly via the Contact Us page of Our website www.chessdrivertrainingandcarhire.co.uk
6.Instructor's Obligations; The Instructor shall, at all times:
6.1 make every effort to provide driving instruction at the scheduled lesson times
6.2 make every effort to train You to a high standard, but shall not be responsible for any errors made by You;
6.3 be professional and courteous towards You and other road users;
6.4 act in accordance with the DVSA Code of Practice for Approved Driving Instructors (a copy of which You can obtain from Us on request); and
6.5 act in accordance with the law.
7. Your Obligations
7.1 You confirm that in connection with your request(s) to receive driving tuition from Us and any Instructor, You are and will be a “consumer” as defined in Clause 1 above;
7.2 You must hold a valid UK driving licence (either provisional or full) and ensure that it is current and valid at all times when driving;
7.3 The Instructor will ask You to present your photo card driving license and the Instructor may ask You to provide your DVLA share code before Your first driving lesson, and subsequently upon request;
7.4 If requested by Your instructor you shall use the share driving licence service https://www.gov.uk/view-driving-licence
7.5 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 of entitlement to the Instructor if requested
7.6 You must demonstrate Your ability to read a number plate from the distance specified in the Highway Code at the date of these Terms and Conditions;
7.6 You must always wear any relevant prescribed glasses or contact lenses at all times that You are driving;
7.7 You must inform the Instructor in writing of any medical conditions or prescribed medication which may affect Your driving ability; and
7.8 Whilst driving Our or the Instructors vehicle You will be held responsible for all parking/speeding penalty notices/fines, at all times that You are the driver of the vehicle
7.9 If You fail to comply with one or more of sub-Clauses 7.2 to 7.8 above or We or the Instructor find that you are not a “consumer” (as defined in Clause 1 above), We or the Instructor may immediately cancel one or more of Your lessons. If the Instructor does so, he/she may in his/her discretion still charge for the cancelled lessons
8.Vehicles and Insurance
8.1 We shall ensure that all vehicles provided by Us and/or the Instructor 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
8.2 [You may request to use Your own vehicle. Whether You use Your own vehicle is for the Instructor to decide at his/her sole discretion. You must provide proof to the Instructor of Your vehicle’s roadworthiness, tax, valid MOT (where relevant) and suitable insurance for the purposes of driving instruction.]
9.Driving tests
9.1 The Instructor shall discuss driving tests with You and shall inform You when he/she feels that You are ready to take a test. The Instructor/School cannot offer you any guarantee that You will pass Your driving test
9.2 You shall be responsible for booking theory and practical tests. It shall be Your responsibility to check the details of the test on Your DVSA confirmation email, and we strongly advise that you forward a copy of this email to your Instructor to help eliminate mistakes and/or confusion. Please check with Your instructor to see which DVSA driving test centre they use, as most of our Instructors use Livingston Driving Test Centre
9.3 You must check with the Instructor and pass a mock test before booking Your driving test to ensure that the Instructor considers that You are ready for a DVSA practical driving test;
9.4 You must inform the Instructor of all details of Your test including, but not limited to, the date and location at least 20 working days before Your test date;
9.5 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 paid to the DVSA, as well as the fee you have paid Your instructor for their time;
9.6 Unless the Instructor feels that his/her vehicle is unsuitable for a Pupil to use for their practical test or Clause 9.9 applies, the Instructor generally permits You to use Your own vehicle for Your practical driving test, but whether the Instructor permits You to do so for Your test will be in his/her discretion;
9.7 If the Instructor has given You permission to use his/her vehicle for Your test but it breaks down or is otherwise unavailable or unusable on the date of the test, the Instructor shall use reasonable endeavours to arrange an alternative vehicle. If this is not possible, Your instructor shall pay for the replacement test only;
9.8 If Your test is cancelled by the DVSA giving You insufficient time to provide the Instructor with the required cancellation notice of a booking to the Instructor, You must still pay for the Instructor’s time and/or the use of his/her or Our vehicle. In that case, the Instructor will advise You on claiming compensation from the DVSA for the cost of those fees; and
9.9 If You have a test booked and in the Instructor’s opinion You do not make the expected progress in Your lessons between the date of booking and the test date, the Instructor may decide not to permit You to use his/her vehicle for Your test and We will not be responsible for any fees that You pay for the test which are lost
10.Cancellation and Termination
10.1 The Instructor may, in his/her sole discretion, terminate Your tuition if Your conduct, progress or commitment consistently falls below the standards that the Instructor reasonably expects;
10.2 You may, at any time, subject to You meeting the requirements of Clause 3 as to giving notice of Your cancellation of lessons, terminate Your tuition by the School; and
10.3 Where sub-clause 10.1 or 10.2 applies, the Instructor shall refund to You any unused fees for lessons that You have paid in advance though a £20 admin fee will be deducted from the total
11.Liability
11.1 Nothing in these Terms and Conditions is intended to or will exclude or limit Our or the Instructor’s liability for death or personal injury caused by Our or the Instructor’s negligence or for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation;
11.2 Furthermore, if you are a “consumer” as defined by the Consumer Rights Act 2015, or a consumer for the purposes of any other consumer protection legislation, nothing in these Terms and Conditions is intended to or will exclude, limit, prejudice, or otherwise affect any of Our duties or obligations to You, or Your rights or remedies, or Our liability to You, under:
The Consumer Rights Act 2015;
The Regulations;
The Consumer Protection Act 1987; or
Any other consumer protection legislation; as that legislation is amended from time to time.
For more details of Your legal rights, please refer to Your local Citizens’ Advice Bureau or Trading Standards Office.
11.3 Subject to these Terms and Conditions (and in particular without affecting Clause 2.1), we confirm that the School will be responsible and liable for any:
negligent or other act or omission of the Instructor for which, if the Instructor were an employee of the School, the School would be responsible or liable;
act or omission of the Instructor which, if it were Our act or omission, would be a breach by Us of Our contract with You;
In any such case, Our responsibility or liability shall be no less or greater or different from what it would have been had the act or omission been that of the School or its employees acting in the course of their employment.
12.Changes to Terms and Conditions
We may, from time to time, change these Terms and Conditions without giving You notice, but We will use Our reasonable endeavours to inform You as soon as is reasonably possible of any such changes.
13.Data Protection
13.1 How We Use Your Personal Information (Data Protection)
13.2 In so far as providing and administering tuition and any other services for You involves Us in collecting, using, or holding or otherwise processing any data obtained from You which is personal data (including, but not limited to, Your name and address), We shall only do so with Your express consent and in accordance with any lawful instructions reasonably given by You from time to time, and the provisions of the Data Protection Legislation and Your rights under that Data Protection Legislation and these Terms and Conditions;
13.3 We may use Your personal information to:
13.4 provide tuition and other services to You;
13.5 process Your payment for those services;
13.6 in certain circumstances (if, for example, You wish to pay for Our services on credit and we accept being paid by credit), and with Your consent, We may pass Your personal information on to credit reference agencies. These agencies are also bound by the Data Protection Legislation and should use and hold Your personal information accordingly; and
13.7 We will not pass on Your personal information to any other third parties (except, for the purpose of these Terms and Conditions, to the Instructor), without first obtaining Your express permission.
14. Regulations
If You are unsure about any information included in these terms and conditions we advise You to e-mail Us to clarify any queries or misunderstandings. We also advise You to seek any necessary legal advice, if You wish, before signing these terms and conditions / contract. If You are under the age of 18 You must provide these Terms and Conditions to a parent/guardian who must also read and understand these Terms and Conditions before signing this contract as a Co-Signatory and You must also sign if you agree
15. Information
15.1 all of the information described in Clause 14; and
15.2 any other information which We give to You about tuition or other services or the School which You take into account when deciding to book a lesson or when making any other decision about Our tuition or other services;
will be part of the terms of Our contract with You as a Consumer
16. Complaints
All CHESS driving instructors are self employed, operating under Our Chess Driver Training and Car Hire Ltd franchise.
We always welcome feedback from Our Pupils and, whilst We always use all reasonable endeavours to ensure that We and Our Instructors provide a high standard of tuition and service to Pupils, We nevertheless want to hear from You if You have any cause for complaint. If You have any complaint about tuition or other services or any other complaint about the School or any Instructor, in the first instance You should contact us by writing to:
chessdrivertrainingcarhire@hotmail.com
16.1 Your complaint must be made within 24 hours of the issue(s) arising and Your complaint will be acknowledged within 2 working days, and following investigation, a satisfactory outcome or decision on how to resolve the dispute reached, normally within 14 working days
16.2 All Approved Driving Instructors are regulated and governed by the DVSA (Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency) and any unresolved disputes with an individual instructor can be referred to the DVSA customer services
17. Waiver
No failure or delay by Us or You in exercising any rights under these Terms and Conditions means that We or You have waived that right, and no waiver by Us or You of a breach of any provision of these Terms and Conditions means that We or You will waive any subsequent breach of the same or any other provision.
18. Severance
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.
19. Law and Jurisdiction
19.1 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] [Scotland].
19.2 As a consumer, you will benefit from any mandatory provisions of the law in your country of residence. Nothing in Sub-Clause 19.1 above takes away or reduces your rights as a consumer to rely on those provisions.
19.3 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 Scotland
Payment methods
To confirm a booking you must pay for your initial lesson before the start of the lesson. If payment is not received then the booked slot may be released to another customer.
BANK TRANSFER
If payment is being made by Bank Transfer, the transfer must be made before the start of each lesson
CASH
Some instructors may accept cash
CREDIT AND DEBIT CARDS
Some of our instructors may offer the option to pay them directly by Credit or Debit card though there may be an additional charge
These Terms and Conditions DO NOT affect any statutory rights in force at any time
Student’s Full Name | |
Signed (Student) | |
Co-Signatory Name and Relationship to the student (only if the pupil is under 18) | |
Co-Signatory Signed (only if the pupil is under 18) | |
Date | |
Instructor Full Name | |
Signed (Instructor) |
Revision 1 05/24