Your attention is particularly drawn to clause 9, which limits our liability to you.
1. These terms
1.1. What these terms cover. These are the terms and conditions on which we supply any Services to you.
1.2. Why you should read them. Please read these terms carefully before you submit you order to us. These terms tell you who we are, how we will provide any Services to you, how you and we may change or end the contract, what to do if there is a problem and other important information. If you think that there is a mistake in these terms or require any changes to the contract, please contact us to discuss.
1.3. Definitions. The following definitions have the given meanings in these terms:
(a) Assessment: an assessment of your Child’s educational standard and his/her requirements in light of your proposed choice of school, his/her suitability for your proposed choice of school, and his/her suitability for Tuition including:
(i) an evaluation of your Child; and
(ii) a meeting with you in which we shall advise on our assessment;
(b) Child: a child of whom you are a parent or for whom you have parental responsibility;
(c) Event: an event or excursion which your Child may attend from time to time;
(d) IPR: all copyright and related rights, moral rights, trade marks, rights in get-up, goodwill and the right to sue for passing off or unfair competition, rights to use, and protect the confidentiality of, confidential information (including know-how and trade secrets), and all other intellectual property rights, in each case whether registered or unregistered which subsist or will subsist now or in the future in any part of the world;
(e) Lesson: a specific, face-to-face class of tuition;
(f) Location: the location we specify or agree (as applicable) for performance of any Services, or for collection of your Child for performance of any Services, or any of them Services;
(g) Plan: a bespoke plan for Tuition (including a quotation) and potentially Events and, as applicable, a revised plan agreed from time to time, for a specified school term or holiday period;
(h) Services: the services we agree with you to provide in respect of your Child from time to time, which may include an Assessment, Tuition and Events;
(i)Tuition: our tuition services, including the provision of Lessons and reporting on progress through our website portal, to which you will be given access, or reporting using an alternative reasonable method from time to time;
(j)Tutor: the person(s) who provides Tuition as set out in the Plan or as otherwise agreed from time to time.
1.4.Privacy notice
(a)We only collect, use and share personal information as set out in our privacy notice.
(b)In particular, you agree that we may share your Child’s personal information with any person with parental responsibility for that child. If you are a parent, this includes the other parent even if you are separated or divorced. We may set up separate access to your Child’s profile on our website portal for that person.
1.5.Use of our website
(a)Our Terms of Use apply to your use of our website and you agree to comply with them.
(b)Access to our website portal is supplied as part of our Tuition for reporting of your Child’s progress, but this is on “as is” and on an “as available” basis. We may alter or update our website portal at any time and without notice. We will not be liable to you in any way if our website portal (or any part of it) is unavailable at any time and for any period provided that we report to you on your Child’s progress using a reasonable alternative method.
1.6.Other policies. We have other policies that apply to the contract, which may be found here and cover Cancellation, Illness and Health, Injury and Emergency Care, and Failure to Collect your Child.
2.Information about us and how to contact us
2.1.Who we are. We are The Governess Ltd, trading as the Governess of London (we, us or our). We are a company registered in England and Wales. Our company registration number is 09218698 and our registered office is at 20 Sandpits Lane, Accrington Road, Barnfield House, Blackburn, England, BB1 3NY. Our registered VAT number is206988573.
2.2.How to contact us. If you have any questions or complaints about the Services or otherwise wish to contact us, you may do so by telephoning +44 (0) 7983 973 884 or by writing to us at laura@thegovernessoflondon.co.uk or at the address above.
2.3.How we may contact you. If we have to contact you, we will do so by telephone or by writing to you at the email address or postal address you provided to us.
2.4."Writing" includes emails. When we use the words "writing" or "written" in these terms, this includes emails.
3.Our contract with you
3.1.Our booking process for an Assessment. If we offer you an Assessment, this offer will remain open for 24 hours. You may accept this by making payment in full of the applicable price, at which point the contract will come into existence between you and us.
3.2.Our booking process for Tuition.
(a)We only offer Tuition in respect of a Child for whom we have completed an Assessment and where we believe that (but no guarantee is given that we will) the Child is suitable for your proposed choice of school and Tuition. In this case, if you indicate you would like to book Tuition, we will send you a Plan. If you would like to book further Tuition for a further school term or holiday period, we will send you a further Plan. A new contract will come into force on the acceptance of booking of Tuition for each further school term or holiday period.
(b)If we offer you a Plan, it will only be deemed accepted once you have made the relevant payment set out below, at which point a contract will come into existence between you and us:
(i)If the Plan relates to our Autumn term, 50% of the price must be paid no later than the date specified on the relevant invoice to accept the offer;
(ii)If the Plan relates to our Spring or Summer terms, the price must be paid in full no later than 7 days before that term starts, the date of which will be specified on the relevant invoice, to accept the offer;
(iii)If the Plan relates to our Summer holiday, 50% of the price must be paid no later than the beginning of half term during our Summer term, the date of which will be specified on the relevant invoice, to accept the offer.
If payment is not received by the specified deadline, the offer is automatically revoked.
3.3.Our booking process for Events. Where an Event is part of a Plan, the booking process in clause 3.2 shall apply as if it was Tuition. If we otherwise offer you an Event, this offer will remain open for 24 hours. You may accept this by making payment in full of the applicable price, at which point the contract will come into existence between you and us. A new contract will come into force for each Event that is not part of a Plan.
3.4.If we cannot accept a booking. If we are unable to accept a booking, we will inform you of this in writing and will not charge you for the relevant Services or will give you a refund (as applicable). This might be because of unexpected limits on our resources
which we could not reasonably plan for or because we have identified an error in the price or description of the relevant Services.
4.Providing the Services
4.1.When we will not provide Services to you.
(a)We will not provide Services to you if your Child has not been vaccinated (without medical reason) against all usual NHS recommended childhood vaccines.
(b)We reserve the right not to provide Services to any Child or for any person with parental responsibility.
4.2.What will happen if you do not provide required information to us. We will need certain information from you before we can provide the Services to you, for example, contact information from you and your Child’s emergency contacts, and personal, educational, dietary and medical information about your Child. We will contact you to ask for this information. If you do not, within a reasonable time, provide us with this information, or you provide us with incomplete or incorrect information, we may end the contract (see clause 7.2). We will not be responsible for providing any Services late or not providing any part of them if this is caused by you not giving us the information we need within a reasonable time of us asking for it.
4.3.What will happen if you do not comply with reasonable conditions we notify you of. For some Services, we may need to notify you of conditions to be met for us to perform the Services, for example that your Child wears appropriate clothing where we are to perform a Service outdoors. We will not be responsible for refusing to provide any Services late or not providing any part of them if those conditions are not met.
4.4.When we will provide the Services. We will supply an Assessment or Event on the date and at the time agreed in the booking acceptance. We will supply Tuition on the dates and at the times agreed in the Plan until it is complete. However, the start time for a Service has a grace period as set out in our Cancellation Policy.
4.5.Where we will provide the Services or collect your Child from. For an Assessment and Events, the Location will be as specified by us. For Tuition, the Location shall be agreed between us and you from time to time. You are responsible for ensuring your Child is at the Location on the right date and at the right time.
4.6.Which Tutor(s) will provide Tuition. Whilst we make reasonable efforts to provide Tutor continuity throughout each course of Tuition, we reserve the right to substitute a Tutor for any or all Lessons in the Plan provided they have the required specialism for the relevant Lesson(s).
4.7.Standard of Services. We shall provide the Services with reasonable care and skill. In the Plan and in performing Tuition, we make recommendations for your Child and perform recommendations you agree with, with the aim that your Child will meet the required standard for acceptance by your chosen school. However, given the number of factors that may affect the achievement of that aim, we cannot guarantee that your Child will meet the required standard for acceptance by your chosen school.
4.8.We are not responsible for events outside our control. If our performance of a Service is affected by an event outside our control, then we will contact you as soon as possible to let you know.
(a)If we are unable to perform the affected Service at an alternative time and date convenient to you and your Child, you may cancel the affected Service and receive a refund for this if you have already paid for it;
(b)If we are unable to perform the affected Service at all, you may cancel the affected Service and will receive a refund for this if you have already paid for it.
However, please see our Cancellation and Illness and Health Policies which apply where you or we need to cancel a Lesson or are late for a lesson.
4.9.We are a member of the Tutors’ Association. We have undertaken to comply with their Code of Professional Practice.
5.Changes to the Services
5.1.If you wish to make a change to the Services. If you wish to make a change to the Services, such as to reschedule a particular Service or increase or decrease the number of Lessons, please contact us. We will let you know if the change is possible. If it is possible we will let you know about any resultant changes to the price of the Services, their timing or anything else which would be necessary as a result of your requested change and ask you to confirm whether you wish to go ahead with the change. You may not cancel the contract if the change is not possible.
5.2.If we wish to make a change to the Services. From time to time, we may recommend or request a change to the Services. We will let you know about any resultant changes to the price of the Services, their timing or anything else which would be necessary and ask you to confirm whether you wish to go ahead with the change.
(a)If we recommend a change and you do not agree, the Services shall continue unchanged. Neither of us may cancel the contract. The exception to this is, for Tuition, where we reasonably believe that we can longer properly help your Child meet the required standard for acceptance by your chosen school without the change being made, in which case we may cancel the contract and refund any sums you have paid in advance for Tuition not provided to you;
(b)If we request a change and you do not agree, but we are unable to continuing providing the Services without that change (for example, if we unexpectedly have no Tutors available to provide Tuition on the dates agreed in the Plan), we may cancel the contract. We will refund any sums you have paid in advance for Services not provided to you.
5.3.Please also refer to our Cancellation and Illness and Health Policies which applies where you or we need to cancel a Lesson.
6.Your rights to end the contract
6.1.Our Cancellation and Illness and Health Policies. Our Cancellation and Illness and Health Policies apply where you need to cancel a Lesson. The remainder of this clause 6 applies where you need to cancel the whole contract.
6.2.You can always end your contract with us. Your rights when you end the contract will depend on the Services you have booked, how we are performing and when you decide to end the contract:
(a)If you want to end the contract because of something we have done or have told you we are going to do, see clause 6.3;
(b)If you have just changed your mind, see clause 6.4 to check if you have a right to end the contract;
(c)In all other cases (if we are not at fault and there is no right to change your mind), see clause 6.5.
6.3.Ending the contract because of something we have done or are going to do. If you are ending the contract for a reason set out at (a) to (b) below, the contract will end immediately and we will refund you in full for any Services which have not been provided or have not been properly provided. The relevant reasons are:
(a)we have told you about an error in the price of the Services and you do not wish to proceed (see clause 8.3);
(b)you have a legal right to end the contract because of something we have done wrong.
6.4.When you have the right to change your mind (Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013).
(a)If the contract is for an Assessment, as a “distance contract”, you have a legal right to change your mind within 14 days and receive a refund if you have already paid. You may exercise this right at any time within 14 days after we accepted your booking. If you cancel after we have started the Assessment, we may deduct a proportion of the price for the part of the Assessment you have
received until you changed your mind. You cannot change your mind after we have completed the Assessment, even if the period is still running;
(b)If the contract is for Tuition, as an “on-premises contract”, you have no right to change your mind once we have accepted your booking;
(c)If the contract is for an Event, you have no right to chance your mind once we have accepted your booking, as the contract is for the supply of leisure activities with a specific date for performance.
6.5.What happens if you end the contract without a good reason. If you are not ending the contract for one of the reasons set out in clause 6.3 and have no right to end the contract as described in clause 6.4:
(a)if the contract is for an Assessment or Event, we will only refund you the price if someone else books the space, but we are under no obligation to search for someone else;
(b)if the contract is for Tuition, you are not entitled to any refund as we will have engaged one or more Tutors to provide that Tuition and we will need to pay them in any case.
6.6.How to tell us you want to end the contract. To end the contract with us, please let us know by doing one of the following:
(a)Phone or email. Call us on +44 (0) 7983 973 884 or email is at laura@thegovernessoflondon.co.uk. Please provide your name, home address, details of the order and, where available, your phone number and email address.
(b)By post. Print off the form at the end of these terms and post it to us at the address on the form. Or simply write to us at that address, including details of what you bought, when you ordered it, and your name and address.
7.Our rights to end the contract
7.1.Our Cancellation and Illness and Health Policies. Our Cancellation and Illness and Health Policies apply where we need to cancel a Lesson. The remainder of this clause 7 applies where we need to cancel the contract.
7.2.We may end the contract if you break it. We may end the contract at any time by writing to you if:
(a)you do not make any payment to us when it is due and you still do not make payment within 7 days of us reminding you that payment is due;
(b)if we request information evidence of your compliance under clause 4.1 under clause 4.2 and you do not, within a reasonable time, provide us with this information, or you provide us with incomplete or incorrect information;
(c)you commit a material breach of any term of the contract and (if the breach is remediable) fail to remedy that breach within 7 days of being notified by us to do so;
(d)you repeatedly breach any of the terms of the contract or prevent or hinder the performance of the Services so that it reasonably appears to us you do not intend or are not able to give effect to the contract; or
(e)you, your Child or anyone with responsibility for your Child with whom we have contact is, or acts in a way which is, abusive, offensive, obscene, violent or discriminatory to us or any of our Tutors.
7.3.You must compensate us if you break the contract. If we end the contract in the situations set out in clause 7.2:
(a)if the contract is for an Assessment or Event, we will only refund you the price if someone else books the space, but we are under no obligation to search for someone else;
(b)if the contract is for Tuition, you are not entitled to any refund as we will have engaged one or more Tutors to provide that Tuition and we will need to pay them in any case.
8.Price and payment
8.1.Where to find the price for an Assessment or an Event. The price of an Assessment or Event and the VAT chargeable on it is set out in correspondence we have sent to you.
8.2.Where to find the price for Tuition. The price of the Tuition and the VAT chargeable on it is set out in the Plan.
8.3.What happens if we got the price wrong. It is always possible that, despite our best efforts, there is an error in the price for the Services. If we accept your booking where a pricing error is obvious and unmistakeable and could reasonably have been recognised by you as a mispricing, we may end the contract, refund you any sums you have paid and not perform the Services (as applicable).
8.4.When you must pay.
(a)You must pay the price for an Assessment and any VAT on it within 24 hours of receipt of the relevant invoice to accept the Assessment.
(b)You must pay for the price for Tuition (and any Event(s) forming part of the relevant Plan) and any VAT on it as follows:
(i)If the Tuition relates to our Autumn term:
(A)50% of the price must be paid no later than the date specified on the relevant invoice; and
(B)the remaining 50% must be paid in full no later than 7 days before that term starts, the date of which will be specified on the relevant invoice;
(ii)If the Tuition relates to our Spring or Summer terms, the price must be paid in full no later than 7 days before that term starts, the date of which will be specified on the relevant invoice;
(iii)If the Tuition relates to our Summer holiday:
(A)50% of the price must be paid no later than the beginning of half term during our Summer term, the date of which will be specified on the relevant invoice; and
(B)the remaining 50% must be paid in full no later than 7 days before that holiday starts, the date of which will be specified on the relevant invoice.
(c)You must pay the price for an Event not forming part of a Plan and any VAT on it within 24 hours of receipt of the relevant invoice to accept the Event.
All payments must be made without set-off or deduction, in GBP Sterling, and in cleared funds by the specified due date(s).
8.5.How you must pay. All payments must be made by bank transfer to our account, details of which are given on our invoices or in correspondence from us.
8.6.We can charge interest if you pay late. If you do not make any payment to us by the due date (see clause 8.4) we may charge interest to you on the overdue amount at the rate of 3% a year above the base lending rate of Metro Bank plc from time to time. This interest shall accrue on a daily basis from the due date until the date of actual payment of the overdue amount, whether before or after judgment. You must pay us interest together with any overdue amount.
8.7.Our right to suspend the Services. If you do not make any payment to us by the due date for payment, as an alternative or a preliminary step to exercising our rights under clause 7.2(a), we may suspend the performance of the relevant Services until you have paid.
8.8.When and how refunds will be made. If we are to give you a refund under these terms, this will be made within 14 days of the relevant cancellation or ending of the contract. Refunds will only be made to the bank account from which you paid.
9.Our responsibility for loss or damage suffered by you
9.1.We are responsible to you for foreseeable loss and damage caused by us. If we fail to comply with these terms, we are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breaking this contract or our failing to use reasonable care and skill, but we are not responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable. Loss or damage is foreseeable if either it is obvious that it will happen or if, at the time the contract was made, both we and you knew it might happen, for example, if you discussed it with us during the booking process.
9.2.We do not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors; for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; for breach of your legal rights in relation to the services including the right to receive services which are as described and supplied with reasonable skill and care.
9.3.We are not liable for your or your Child’s lack of commitment to the Tuition. Your Child will obtain the most benefit from the Tuition if he/she engages with us, commits him/herself to Tuition, and completes any homework given to him/her, and if those with responsibility for your Child support and encourage him/her to do so. We will use all reasonable efforts to support and encourage this during the performance of the Tuition and will raise any issues with you, but we are not responsible for any failure of the relevant person to do so.
9.4.We are not liable for business losses. We only supply the Services for domestic and private use. If you use the Services for any commercial, business or re-sale purpose we will have no liability to you for any loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption, or loss of business opportunity.
10.Intellectual property rights and engaging Tutors directly
10.1.Ownership of Intellectual Property Rights in our materials. We reserve all rights in the IPR in any materials supplied to you or your Child or used by us in the performance of the Services. These shall remain owned by us or our licensors.
10.2.You may only use our materials for limited purposes. We grant you the right to use the IPR in any materials supplied to you or your Child or used by us in the performance of the Services only to enable you and your Child to receive the benefit of the Services. You may not assign, transfer or sub-licence such IPR to any other person.
10.3.You may not copy or share our materials. You shall not copy any materials supplied to you or your Child in the performance of the Services or give any such materials to any other person, other than another parent of, or person with parental responsibility for, your Child.
10.4.Ownership of your Child’s work. The IPR in anything your Child creates during a Lesson shall remain owned by your Child, but you grant us the right to upload it to our website portal as part of the Tuition.
10.5.What happens if you poach our Tutors.
(a)In order to protect the IPR in any materials supplied or used by us in the performance of the Services and in our working methods, we insist that our Tutors do not perform tuition on behalf of any other business whilst they work for us and a Tutor’s engagement is terminated if they do so. You therefore acknowledge that the following restriction and obligation are reasonable to protect our business.
(b)You may not, directly or indirectly, during the period ending 12 months after the Services have ended, offer to employ or engage or otherwise endeavour to entice away from us any Tutor who has provided Tuition in the 6 months prior to the end of the Services. If you do so, you shall pay to us a sum equal to the profit we would have made had you engaged us for equivalent Services and the costs we incur in training a replacement Tutor.
11.Other important terms
11.1.You may not transfer the contract to someone else. You may not transfer your rights or your obligations under the contract to another person, nor nominate another child for the Services.
11.2.Nobody else has any rights under this contract. This contract is between you and us. No other person shall have any rights to enforce any of its terms.
11.3.If a court finds part of this contract illegal, the rest will continue in force. Each of the clauses and sub-clauses of these terms operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful, the remaining clauses and sub-clauses will remain in full force and effect.
11.4.Even if we delay in enforcing this contract, we can still enforce it later. If we do not insist immediately that you do anything you are required to do under these terms, or if we delay in taking steps against you in respect of your breaking this contract, that will not mean that you do not have to do those things or prevent us taking steps against you at a later date. For example, if you miss a payment and we do not chase you but we continue to provide the Services, we can still require you to make the payment at a later
date. Exercising one remedy under these terms will not prevent us from exercising another remedy.
11.5.Which laws apply to this contract and where you may bring legal proceedings. These terms are governed by English law and you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the services in the English courts. If you live in Scotland you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the services in either the Scottish or the English courts. If you live in Northern Ireland, you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the services in either the Northern Irish or the English courts.
Model Cancellation Form
(Complete and return this form only if you wish to withdraw from the contract)
To The Governess of London, 20 Sandpits Lane, Accrington Road, Barnfield House, Blackburn, England, BB1 3NY, +44 (0) 7983 973 884, laura@thegovernessoflondon.co.uk
I/We [*] hereby give notice that I/We [*] cancel my/our [*] contract for the supply of the following service [*],
Ordered on [*]
Name of consumer(s),
Address of consumer(s),
Signature of consumer(s) (only if this form is notified on paper),
Date
[*]Delete as appropriate © Crown copyright 2013.