Terms and Conditions

General Terms and Conditions
Thorn Driving School (TDS) is owned and operated by Ivan Thorn (ADI PRN 828658) and
provides driving instruction services from novice to fully qualified in category B Motor
vehicles.

1. Licence. In order to have driving lessons you must:
   a. Be aged 17 or older (16 or over if disabled)
   b. Hold a driving licence that is valid for the UK (provisional, full or an appropriate foreign licence).
   c. It is your responsibility to provide your instructor with proof that you have a valid licence to drive before the commencement of your first driving lesson. If you fail to provide this proof, your instructor is entitled to refuse to conduct the driving lesson but may still charge you for such driving lesson.
   d. TDS recommends that you carry your licence for all lessons and reserve the right to ask to see and check the validity of your licence at any time.
   e. At the outset you will be asked to generate a ‘check code’ through the DVSA and pass this to your instructor along with your licence details. This will be used to check the legal status of your licence prior to commencement of lessons and may be checked at random intervals throughout your training.
2. Payments. You can pay for driving lessons via one of the following methods. Payment is required prior to delivery of the lesson(s).
   a. Bank Transfer to TDS Starling Account, details provided upon request (preferred).
   b. Cash in car. In certain circumstances it is recognised that cash may be suitable for some customers. If so, then payment MUST ALWAYS be made before the lesson commences and the customer will be provided with an electronic receipt via text/messenger/whatsapp/email.
   c. Gift Vouchers. Only vouchers issued and authorised by TDS will be accepted and these can be redeemed by pre-notification to your instructor.
   d. Payment in full is required 48hrs in advance of all first bookings in order to secure services. If payment is not received 48hrs in advance, your lesson is subject to rebooking and the timeslot may be offered to others.
   e. If block booking, full block must be paid upfront to secure discounted rates. If not, then single lesson price will be applied at full published rate.
   f. Your funds will be held in a designated space within the business accounts, separate from trading assets and liabilities of TDS.
   g. Funds held will only be used to pay your instructor on a lesson by lesson basis once each lesson has been delivered to you.
   h. In the event of a query or dispute about any aspect of your driving lessons or your instructor, you should contact TDS within 24 hours and we will endeavour to resolve the issue promptly.
3. Refunds. If you decide you no longer wish to have driving lessons through TDS, you will be entitled to a refund of advance lessons paid upfront subject to the following conditions.
   a. If less than 48hrs notice is given, the lesson will be marked as complete and refund for that lesson will be forfeit.
   b. If part of a block booking remains, then ALL lessons marked as complete will be recharged at single lesson full published rate. Only funds remaining after recalculation will be refunded.
   c. Any refund will be paid via bank transfer only and no sooner than 7 days from the date of cancellation.
   d. Credit held within TDS Business Account for prepaid driving lessons to be provided by your instructor must be applied to driving lessons by you within 6 months of the date of your original payment.
   e. You acknowledge that after the expiry of this 6 month period, you will not be entitled to a refund of any funds not applied to driving lessons or to utilise these funds for booking further driving lessons.
4. Damage.  It is unfortunate that on occasion it is possible for the training vehicle to suffer damage as a result of the learning process.  Whilst every effort will be made by your instructor to prevent this the following will apply in all cases.

              a. Usual wear and tear, or at discretion of instructor.  Costs incurred to repair will be absorbed by TDS.

              b. Damage incurred resultant of actions by the student that have been warned against by the instructor &/or physical intervention has not been possible or physical/verbal abuse to instructor by student.  In these cases, where actions by the student are believed to be deliberate, full security deposit up to cost of repairs (maximum of current security deposit), is forfeit by the student. Additionally, lesson hours equivalent to an assessment of the length of repair are forfeit (eg: tyre replacement/repair = 1 hour), are chargeable.

In all cases, where deliberate inappropriate action is undertaken by the student, TDS reserves the right to sever relationship with the student.

5. Booking fees. TDS does not currently charge booking fees or any costs for holding and management of pre-paid block bookings for lessons.
   a. You and your instructor are jointly responsible for agreeing such matters as the timing, location and duration of individual driving lessons.
   b. You must notify your instructor of any matters existing at any time that may affect your ability or entitlement to have driving lessons, for example, but not limited to, any lack, or loss, of a valid driving licence.
   c. Your instructor cannot guarantee that they will be available each time you choose to request a driving lesson. It is your responsibility to agree and confirm the timing of lessons with your instructor.
6. Cancellation policy. TDS prides itself on aiming to always be flexible wherever possible, however, circumstance may dictate that lessons cannot be re-arranged in which case.
   Please give as much notice of a cancellation as possible, ideally at least 48 hours’ notice via text/messenger/whatsapp/email if you wish to cancel or re-arrange a booked driving lesson.
   PLEASE NOTE.
   a. You will not be financially charged for cancellations where advance notice has been given up to the day prior to your lesson.
   b. Same day cancellations will be charged at your normal hourly rate.
   c. Your instructor can use their discretion to waive this charge in case of unprecedented or extenuating circumstance.
   d. As demand for lessons is high, repeated cancellations will result in you having lesson timings dictated by supply and demand and you will only be offered lessons that cannot be filled by others who have not cancelled.
7. Drink and Drug policy. It is mandatory that you present for your lesson in a fit and able condition to both satisfy road safety legalities and be able to learn. TDS therefore operates a zero-tolerance policy with regards to alcohol and narcotic use that could still be in your system at the time of your lesson.
   a. If you are suspected of being under the influence of drink or drugs, your lesson will be immediately cancelled and full payment will be charged.
   b. Further lessons may be cancelled but will only take place upon re-agreement to this clause in the policy, in writing by the student.
   c. A second occasion will result in immediate cancellation of all lessons and any within 48hrs being charged at full rate, any remaining balances refunded as per cancellation policy.
   d. If you are or have been ill and have been prescribed medication that may influence your driving ability (drowsiness, etc.), then then YOU MUST inform your instructor before the lesson and please be open as we may be able to re-arrange your lessons without charge.
8. GDPR. TDS recognises the rights for freedom of information and data storage exercised under GDPR. Information held on students such as name, address, licence number, mobile number will never be disclosed to any third party without express permission, with the following exceptions, to which the student may refuse.
   a. Photo image. Upon a successful ‘Pass’, it is customary to take the students photograph which is displayed on TDS media channels and sent to the students mobile phone. Individual permission is sought on each occasion of taking.
   b. Theory Test Pro. 3rd Party app will record students progress, name, email and mobile number. Refusal will mean loss of access to the App.
   c. MyDriveTime. 3rd Party app will record all held details and progress, lesson plan, account balance, etc. Refusal will mean scheduling of lessons and progress will be a manual process.
9. Medical Information. In order to be able to best assist all legally able persons to learn to drive, it is essential that any conditions, whether physical or otherwise that may impact a students ability to learn or speed or learning be identified when the original booking is made, or as soon as a condition is identified thereafter.
   a. Failure to do so may result in lessons being withdrawn and remaining fees returned.
   b. No disclosure of any information will be made other than for the purposes of correctly informing the DVSA when making a test booking. This is only so that the DVSA examiner will be aware of the condition and can make reasonable adjustments.
10. Severe weather warnings. In the event of a weather warning being issued prior to your lesson the following approach will be adopted.
    a. Yellow – Instructor will make a call on whether to proceed with the lesson based upon the students experience/confidence levels.
    b. Amber – Likely lesson will be postponed until the alert level reduced. Assessment of conditions will be carried out by instructor and decision made.
    c. Red – All lessons will be cancelled, stay at home.
11. Other. From time to time it may be necessary to append additional terms and conditions to services provided. These will be drawn and agreed on an ad-hoc basis for a time limited period.
    Signed on behalf of (student name) Please reply via email or text as to any query or to accept T&Cs__ For Thorn Driving School _
    XIvan Thorn