DRIVING TEACHER – TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Please read these terms, a hard copy can be supplied on request, you will be asked to read our terms and conditions prior to booking your first lesson. By having your lesson with Driving Teacher you confirm your acceptance of our T&C’s, whether you have read this or not.
Please note all Driving Teacher instructors are self employed and operate under the Driving Teacher brand.
Driving Licences and Fitness to Drive
Either a full driving licence, a provisional or international driving licence must be held in order to drive on public roads in the United Kingdom. Your driving licence should be shown to your driving instructor in advance or at the start of your first driving tuition. You should be fit to drive in terms of any medical and legal requirements.
Driving Lessons
The contract for driving tuition is solely between you and your instructor. You and your instructor are responsible for agreeing all matters relating to the timing, location and duration of individual lessons.
Bookings and Driving Lesson duration
Your instructor will endeavour to maintain regular lesson slots at the same time each week to ensure continuity of learning, however, this cannot be guaranteed. The minimum lesson period is one hour. If, for any reason, the instructor is late for the lesson he/she will make a concerted effort to inform the pupil of the estimated time of arrival. If the delay is greater than 15 minutes this time will be credited to the pupil and when possible the lesson will be extended by the time due – if this is not possible the extra time will be carried forward to the next suitable lesson.
Driving Tuition Vehicles
Our driving tuition vehicles are fully insured for the purpose of driver training, taxed and fitted with dual controls. We do allow driving lessons to be conducted in the learners own car, but the requirement is that the learner must be of a particular level of driving experience, the car must be fully insured, taxed and if appropriate have a valid MOT. These documents may be required to be shown to the driving instructor before the lesson commences.
Payments and Cancellations
Driving lesson fees are usually paid for in advance for block booking discounts and for standard driving lessons, fees are usually paid at the start of the lesson. Payment can be made in either cash or by cheque made payable to your driving instructor. Cheque must not be given for lesson taken on the day, in all cases cheques must clear before lessons are taken.
If either you or your driving instructor need to cancel a driving lesson, a minimum of 24 hours notice is required. Failure to provide notice will require the lesson to be paid in full. Under normal circumstances your driving instructor will start and finish the lesson on time although due to particular circumstances such as bad weather or traffic delays your instructor maybe late or need to postpone the driving lesson. If your driving instructor cannot attend the lesson, then a suitable time for both yourself and the instructor can be made to reschedule. Your driving instructor reserves the right to cancel the lesson if he or she suspects the learner maybe unfit to drive due to alcohol or drugs, in these circumstances, the full lesson fee is payable.
We always try to keep our vehicles in roadworthy conditions at all times, however due to cars being mechanical breakdowns can occur at anytime, in these car related situation we might have to notify you in short notice. We will not be held accountable for any losses you may incur due to this, as safety of you and other road users will be at risk. Please note driving a defective car knowingly can invalidate any insurance claims.
Special Offers and Discounts
We present a range of offers and discounts to new and existing learner pupils, on learning to drive. Our 10 hours for £99.00 is for complete beginners and taken in a block of two hours. At the start of the offer, the pupil is permitted to take an initial 6 hours (three two hour sessions). The next two hours is redeemed after a block booking of 10 hours and the final two hours is redeemed after the second block booking of 10 hours. As this offer is aimed at assisting in continuous learning, there cannot be a break of more one week during the offer period, otherwise the remaining lessons will be revoked.
Driving Test
When attending a driving test, a minimum of two hours will be required and, therefore, a two hour lesson fee will be applied to accommodate the use of the learner vehicle for the test. The instructor is not responsible for tests cancelled by the DSA due to strike action, road conditions in bad weather, or staff sickness. The lesson fee for the full lesson will still be chargeable. When the pupil books their test, the instructor must be notified of the date and time of any tests at least 14 days prior to the test date to ensure that the instructor’s vehicle is available for the test and to avoid the risk of double-bookings. If a pupil fails to take regular lessons between the period a test is booked and the test date, the instructor reserves the right to withdraw the use of the learner vehicle for driving test purposes. The instructor reserves the right to withdraw the use of the learner vehicle for driving tests if the instructor deems that the pupil is not yet ready for test and it would, therefore, be unsafe for the pupil, examiner or other road users if he/she were to sit their test at that time.
Short Notice Test Bookings
A short notice test is when there is 10 working days or less from the date of the first planned lesson to the booked test date. Short notice test booking package consists of a minimum of 5 hours of driving lesson. An assessment is carried out in the first 2 hours. If after the initial two hour assessment your Instructor tells you that you are not ready we will not take you for the test. If you need additional lessons prior to the test, this will be explained to you and if you cannot take the required hours we will not be able to take you for test. You will need to pay for five hours of lesson prior to the commencement of the first lesson and is not refundable if the driving instructor says you are not ready for test; however this can be used for further tuition. The lesson price for short notice test is £22.50 per hour.
Pass Plus Discount
Pass Plus is a scheme designed by the Driving Standards Agency, with the help of the motor insurance and driving instruction industries. The scheme helps new drivers gain valuable experience to develop existing skills, learn new skills and techniques, improve anticipation and awareness, learn how to reduce the risk of accidents, and maintain a courteous and considerate attitude on the road. Once you have passed your test you are safe to drive on the roads unaccompanied. But remember, you still are an inexperienced driver. Statistics show that about 20% of new drivers have a crash within six months of passing their test, hence the high insurance premiums for new drivers. With Pass Plus new drivers could reduce their car insurance premiums by up to 45% and/or get an extra no claims bonus with some insurance companies. Our normal pass plus course is priced at £150, but pupils who book four consecutive 10 hours block lessons or join us as complete beginners, on passing their driving test, will be entitled to our pass plus discount rate of £75, a saving of 50% on our normal rate.
Driving Instructors Code of conduct
Your instructor agrees to abide by the conditions of the Professional Code of Conduct. A copy of this will be provided on request. In the unlikely event of complaint or dispute the guidelines of the Code of Conduct will be adhered to.
Your rights
These conditions do not affect any protection a pupil has under consumer legislation. We reserve the right to change or alter any of the terms and conditions without notice, but will endeavour to inform pupils of any changes as soon as possible.