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, the driving instructor & Focal Driving Academy, now to be referred to as Focaldriving.com.
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 Conduct
The driving instructor and Focaldriving.com abide by a Professional Code of Conduct, copies of which are available on request.
3. Documentation
Before or on the first driving lesson, the client will be supplied with access to the ‘Terms & Conditions of Business’ of Focaldriving.com, details of tuition fees, contact details of Focaldriving.com and their Instructor, and access to an appointment booking system.
The client will be asked to read ‘Terms & Conditions of Business’ and prompted to send a digital message with confirmation stating ‘I accept’. Once a booking is made via our appointment booking system, this will be confirmation of acceptance of the ‘Terms & Conditions of Business’.
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. It may also be verified using the DVLA check code service on the .GOV website.
Any points, endorsements, bans, convictions, or restrictions of any kind on your licence must be notified to Focaldriving.com immediately.
Any medical condition or disability that might affect your ability or entitlement to drive must be notified to Focaldriving.com immediately.
5. Fitness to Drive
It is the client’s responsibility to ensure that they are fit to drive.
The client must inform their driving instructor or Focaldriving.com 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 & Focaldriving.com 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 instructor’s sole discretion as to whether further transport is provided. The instructor or Focaldriving.com is not liable for any cost of transport procured by the client or arising thereof.
7. Payments
All lessons must be paid for either in advance, or at the start of the lesson, credit is not offered.
Any Client booking a 1 or 2 day intensive course, or, 8 or more hours (including time for driving test appointments) in any 7 day period will be asked to pay in full at least 7 days in advance of the first lesson of the booking.
This will be treated as an affirmed booking, and if any of the time booked is cancelled after the due payment date, the fee will be forfeit.
Any client booking an intensive course of 3 days or above will be asked to pay in full at least 22 days prior to the course start date. This will be treated as an affirmed booking, and if any of the time booked is cancelled less than 15 days before the first day of the course, the fee will be forfeit.
Payments may be made by cash or bank transfer (you will be advised whether Focaldriving.com has the facility to accept payment by credit or debit card).
Where a client falls into arrears with payments, Focaldriving.com reserve 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 Focaldriving.com’s car for a driving test.
Credit or debit card payments for amounts of less than £50.00 may be subject to a surcharge of £3.00.
In the event of a transaction being returned by your bank, an additional charge will be made of £25.00 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. The client will be given written notice of other charges added.
8. Lesson Fees
Before or on the first driving lesson, 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 communicated as soon as practicable.
9. Change of Driving Instructor
It is the aim of Focaldriving.com 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.
Focaldriving.com will not be responsible for any losses (e.g. test fees) if the client chooses to decline lessons from the replacement driving instructor.
10. Transfer of Client to another Provider
In some circumstances, Focaldriving.com and/or the driving instructor may refer a third party driving instructor (provider) who does not represent Focaldriving.com, to provide tuition or other driving related services to the client in place of a Focaldriving.com instructor. This could be for a number of reasons, primarily due to a Focaldriving.com instructor not being available on specific days and times or because they have decided to discontinue providing tuition to that client for other reasons. This transfer may be a temporary or permanent transfer, details of which will be provided to the client prior to the transfer. Focaldriving.com and the driving instructor are not liable for the operational procedures, terms and conditions or lack thereof, or any other matter with relation to the third party driving instructor. The client is within their full rights to find another provider independently.
11. Change of Tuition Vehicle
Tuition vehicles are periodically changed, either permanently, when a vehicle is sold, or temporarily, due to mechanical or other problems.
When it is necessary to use a replacement vehicle for a driving test, every effort will be made to give the client as much notice as possible, in order that time can be arranged for familiarisation with the new vehicle, however, in the case of replacement due to mechanical problems this may not always be possible.
Focaldriving.com will not be responsible for any losses (e.g. test fees) if the client chooses to decline lessons in the replacement vehicle.
12. Postponement of Lessons by Focaldriving.com
Lessons might sometimes need to be postponed or cancelled at short notice due to illness, mechanical breakdown, or some other emergency or unforeseen occurrence. If this occurs, 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.
In all other circumstances Focaldriving.com will endeavour to keep all appointments, however, when it is necessary to alter an appointment, a minimum of 24 hours notice will be given.
If for any reason our instructor has to discontinue providing tuition to a client, the client will be notified, and any refunds due will be processed at the same rate that was paid by the client.
13. Postponement of Lessons by Client
Any driving lesson appointment which the client does not keep or does not give at least 24 hours notice of cancellation or for rescheduling will be charged for in full.
Any Client booking a 1 or 2 day intensive course, or, 8 or more hours (including time for driving test appointments) in any 7 day period will be asked to pay in full at least 7 days in advance of the first lesson of the booking.
This will be treated as an affirmed booking, and if any of the time booked is cancelled after the due payment date, the fee will be forfeit.
Any client booking an intensive course of 3 days or above will be asked to pay in full at least 22 days prior to the course start date. This will be treated as an affirmed booking, and if any of the time booked is cancelled less than 15 days before the first day of the course, the fee will be forfeit.
Notice of cancellation by the client can be given by telephone directly to your driving instructor or by email to hello@focaldriving.com.
The time of cancellation will be deemed to be the time when the message is received by either your driving instructor or by Focaldriving.com (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.
Cancellation or rescheduling may also be possible with the option(s) at the bottom of your driving lesson confirmation email (if applicable).
Focaldriving.com reserve 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.
When a driving lesson or test is postponed or cancelled because of Coronavirus symptoms or self isolation reasons, the lesson/test will not go ahead and may be refunded by the DVSA depending on the terms at that time. The driving lesson/test fees to Focaldriving.com will not be payable and the cancellation policy will not apply, unless evidence emerges that the lesson/test was cancelled not due to Coronavirus.
14. Appointment Times
The client should keep a record of appointment dates and times in order to avoid missed appointments (appointment confirmation emails may be sent to aid in this)
The driving instructor will wait 10 minutes after the appointment time before deeming the lesson 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, should the driving instructor not have arrived, or made contact with the client during the 10 minute waiting period, the client may assume the lesson to be cancelled.
The lesson will commence either at the appointed time, or the time that the driving instructor arrives, if that is later.
15. 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.
Clients should notify their driving instructor of the time, date and location of their driving test 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 Focaldriving.com for incorrect bookings unless the driving test appointment letter is produced.
No responsibility will be taken by Focaldriving.com 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 agrees that the client is at test standard.
In the interests of road safety Focaldriving.com reserves the right to withdraw the use of car for the driving test, when in the driving instructor’s opinion the client is not at test standard.
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 Focaldriving.com for withdrawing the use of car for the driving test when, in their sole discretion the driving instructor assesses the client as not being ready for test.
The instructor reserves the right to charge additional fees on the driving test day.
16. 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 Focaldriving.com, then the client will be entitled to the cost of their next driving test fee to be paid for by Focaldriving.com, this is irrespective of whether the client continues to have driving lessons with Focaldriving.com.
The next driving test fee will not be paid for by Focaldriving.com if the client is given sufficient notice to cancel their driving test appointment without loss of the test fee.
Focaldriving.com will not be responsible for any additional tuition fees incurred whilst waiting for the next driving test appointment. Focaldriving.com have no control over driving tests cancelled by the DVSA.
When a driving test is cancelled by the DVSA, the full fees due to Focaldriving.com 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 the DVSA 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 Focaldriving.com.
When a driving test is cancelled because the clients documents are not in order the full fees due to Focaldriving.com 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 a driving test is cancelled because of Coronavirus symptoms or self isolation reasons, the test will not go ahead and may be refunded depending on the DVSA terms at that time (please refer to the DVSA website). The driving test fees to Focaldriving.com will not be payable and the cancellation policy will not apply, unless evidence emerges that the test was cancelled not due to Coronavirus.
17. 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 should they decide to discontinue their tuition with Focaldriving.com. For accounting purposes this refund may be made by cheque.
When a discount has been given for the prepayment of lessons, and a refund is requested, the lessons taken by the client will be charged at the full individual lesson hourly rate, and the balance refunded. The cancellation policy rules still apply.
18. Supervision
For the purposes of assessing, maintaining and improving standards, it may occasionally be necessary for another driving instructor, potential driving instructor or driving examiner to observe a driving instructor giving tuition. The client may expect an observer to be present on any of their lessons, notice of this would usually be given in advance of the lesson, however this might not always be possible.
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.
19. Lessons and Tests in Clients Own Car
All driving lessons are normally conducted in Focaldriving.com’s 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 have an MOT certificate (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 neither the driving instructor nor Focaldriving.com will 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.
20. 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 and Focaldriving.com will take no responsibility for any loss of or damage to any property belonging to, or in the possession of the client.
21. In-car recording during tuition
Some of our vehicles may be fitted with in-car recording equipment which capture video image, and audio, as well as recording of the front and rear of the vehicle for insurance purposes. Interior recording and audio are captured primarily for the purpose of training and reflection of the driving lesson - benefitting the instructor and client (if requested). The client will be made aware if in-car recording is taking place on their first lesson. We have taken reasonable steps to safeguard the video file data and we will not be held liable for any situations that arise as a result of external factors beyond our control.
22. Use of Social Media and Our Website
Focaldriving.com is committed to providing a high level of tuition to clients and as a result, promotes their instructors and clients achievements through a variety of means. For instance, if a client agrees to a photograph with their pass certificate or at the time of passing their driving test, this photograph may be published to social media and our website with the permission of the client. If a video is created during tuition, this may also be published to social media and our website with permission from the client.
Since we respect the privacy of our clients and understand their evolving needs, if at any time the client would like Focaldriving.com to take down any image, footage or text article that contains reference to yourself or someone you are a parent or guardian of, please email hello@focaldriving.com and we will gladly remove this for you. We will not be held liable for any situation that arises as a result of publishing any image, footage or text article of any persons that is in line with our business interests.
Focaldriving.com will not provide any form of reward or compensation to the client or any other party for any individual(s) shown or mentioned in any photographic, video footage or text article under any circumstances or situation. All images, video footage and text articles are the property of Focaldriving.com.
23. 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 endeavour 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.
24. Complaints
If the client is not happy with any aspect of tuition, or of the standard of service offered, they should either raise the matter with their driving instructor, or if they prefer with Focaldriving.com, 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 / Focaldriving.com to resolve any complaint or issue.
If the client and Focaldriving.com cannot reach a satisfactory agreement then the client can approach ‘The Approved Driving Instructors National Joint Council (ADINJC)’for non binding arbitration.
© These Terms & Conditions of Business are copyright of Driving Instructor Publications and Focaldriving.com.
Copyright © 2019-2024 Focal Driving Academy - All Rights Reserved.