Instructor - general conduct

I will be courteous, polite, tidy and punctual. I will behave in a professional and ethical manner at all times. My training car will be well maintained, clean and tidy (weather permitting). My car is fitted with dual controls and is fully insured for driving tuition purposes. I will not smoke in the training car at anytime, nor will I use your lesson time for any other form of business, personal or otherwise without your expressed permission.

Instructor - Qualifications

I am legally authorised to give driving tuition in the UK by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).

Student - Driving Licence and eyesight

As required by law, you must hold a current, valid driving licence (provisional or full), which must be produced on or in advance of your first driving lesson. You must also check you can read a number plate at a distance of 20.5 metres. Please note if you need contact lenses or glasses to achieve this, you must make sure you wear them on each and every driving lesson.

Student - Speeding tickets

Learner drivers are not exempt from speeding tickets and fines; they must follow the rules of the road. If a learner driver is caught speeding while under supervision, they will face a fine and points on their licence.

Safety, comfort and well being

Safety is a shared responsibility as identified below:
a) In the interests of comfort and safety you are advised to wear suitable footwear and clothing.
b) It is important you act responsibly at all times and give your undivided attention to the driving task at hand. Should anything be distracting you during your lesson it is important you make me aware of this fact even if it is something I am doing. Similarly if you are feeling uncomfortable or uneasy about any driving task please let me know. I will be grateful for your feedback and I will think no less of you for doing this.
c) In an emergency situation it is important you follow my instructions and allow me to take control of the steering wheel if necessary to avoid an incident. I may also need to make use of the dual controls (i.e. brake and or clutch pedals) and thus override your use of them. As soon as it is safe to do so I will advise you of why my actions were necessary and help you to calm down if required. Any subsequent discussion will focus on what can be learnt rather than who was to blame.
d) I will do my best to deliver any instructions or take any actions (even in an emergency) in a calm and measured manner so as not to alarm you or make you feel uncomfortable or disheartened in any way. I will definitely not shout at you or make any sarcastic or derogatory remarks.
e) You can be assured I will not use improper language or suggestive behaviour and/or physical contact.
f) You must take note of any medication you are taking which may affect your ability to drive safely and advise me accordingly before taking any lesson booked. Similarly, you should inform me of anything you feel might impact on your ability to undertake the proposed lesson safely.
g) In the event it becomes apparent you are unable to concentrate due to illness, tiredness, or your emotional state of mind I reserve the right to terminate the lesson early or require your agreement to choose an alternative learning activity which can still be undertaken safely.

Driving under the influence

To ensure the safety of you and other road users I reserve the right to cancel any lesson if you are or if I suspect you are under the influence of drugs, legal highs and/or alcohol (prescribed or otherwise). If this occurs the full training fee for the period in question will be charged.

Lesson postponement

You may be required to pay for, any lessons booked in my diary which are postponed or cancelled by you, especially if I am unable to obtain new replacement work for those appointment time(s). However, I reserve the right to postpone lessons if I consider the weather or road conditions to be unsuitable or dangerous. Unfortunately, I cannot be held responsible for any costs incurred as a result of me having to postpone any lessons, for whatever reason.

Punctuality

In your own interests you are advised to be punctual for your lesson appointments. I would normally wait for you for a maximum of 10 minutes before the lesson would be abandoned and the lesson fee forfeited or become due for payment. A reciprocal waiting time may become necessary if I am delayed due to unforeseen circumstances. I will make up any lesson time lost as a result of this at the end of the normal lesson time or as soon as possible.

Payments

a) You are required to make payment for the course or the driving lessons in advance of the training. To book an intensive course, a 50% deposit or the full course fee (if the course start date is within 4 weeks of the booking date) is required.
b) The deposit or any subsequent training fees paid are not refundable in the event you decide to cancel the training once the booking has been accepted by me and placed in my diary. At this point a binding agreement is made between yourself and me. This does not in any way affect your statutory rights to be provided with the goods and services you have bought.

The Driving Test

a) Tests can be booked by you or me. Driving test bookings always take priority over other lessons. Therefore, your lesson may be postponed to allow for another driving test and vice-versa. Changes to lesson bookings as a result of this will be notified immediately. Please check test dates with me prior to booking, otherwise I cannot guarantee to provide a vehicle for the test or any lessons just prior to it.

b) Use of the vehicle. In the interests of customer and public safety I reserve the right to withhold the use of the training car for the test if, in my opinion, your driving is actually or potentially dangerous - behaviour which if repeated on the test would result in a test failure. Students must be able to pass a mock test at least a week before their driving test in order to use the training car. If a student has to retake a driving test they must have a minimum of four hours tuition between tests.

c) Test cancellation. Check the DVSA website for current number of days required to cancel or postpone your test. Failure to provide the required notice will result in the loss of your test fee. I cannot be held responsible for any postponement or cancellation of tests by you or the DVSA.

Complaints

In the event of a complaint I would be extremely grateful if you would give me the opportunity to resolve the matter in the first instance. Please do not let a problem linger.

Your statutory rights

Nothing in these terms and conditions will reduce your statutory rights relating to faulty goods or services provided. I have a statutory obligation to provide you with goods and services fit for the purpose for which they were bought and as described. If you have any doubts about your statutory rights please contact your local Trading Standards Depart.

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GDPR Privacy Notice

This privacy notice has been produced to help you understand why I need to obtain/store your personal information, how it will be used, who it might be shared with and how long it might be kept. The notice will also remind you of the rights you have under the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). Where the information is not necessary to deliver the services you require from me it may be necessary for me to obtain your consent to either collect such information in the first place or use it for other purposes than you would legitimately expect.

Below is a list of the Personal Information I may collect and how it will be used:

I will need to keep written and secure digital records of all payments made, lesson appointments booked and lessons delivered for the purpose of maintaining accurate accounting records as is legally required of me for 6 years. At that point the accounts records and any supporting personal information will be disposed of in a secure manner. This information will be held in my paper-based/digital diary, my paper-based Student Record System, my accounts sales day book and potentially digitally on the Student/Instructor online Hub.

I will require your name, address, email address, telephone number(s), date of birth and provisional driving licence details for the purposes of: Providing my services as a driving school instructor so that I may contact you or find you or give you access to the online services I provide in legitimate pursuit of this role until my services are no longer required by you. Such information will be recorded in my paper-based Student Record System and digitally on the Student/Instructor online Hub. In the event of an accident this information will be shared with my insurance company.

I will hold records of your learning progress in my Student Record System and in a secure digital form on the Students/Instructor online Hub to help you know where you are in the training programme at any point in time.

I will hold records of your test failures and passes noting where the driving faults occurred on your test report in my paper based Student Record and in a secure digital form on the Students/Instructor online Hub System so that I can monitor my own personal performance in this regard.

With your consent, upon passing the driving test I would like to take a photograph of you and a written review for the purposes of promoting my services as a driving school.

Should I use a dash cam in my training vehicle it would normally be to aid your learning as part of the driving lesson and/or to support any insurance claim I may need to pursue in the event of an incident. Should I need it for any other purpose I would seek your consent in this regard beforehand. I may keep footage for as long as it may be required by my insurance company in support of any actual insurance claim.

Any personal information not disposed of as stated above will be securely destroyed following 6 years from being received unless you have consented to enable me to retain it for longer.

If you want to make a complaint about the way I have processed/used your personal information, you can contact the Information Commissioner's Office ICO, as the statutory body in the UK which oversees data protection law, by visiting: www.ico.org.uk