Terms & Conditions
Please read these terms and conditions carefully as they are the basis of your contract with me for driver training. By booking a driving lesson with me, you agree to these terms and conditions.
In these terms and conditions: “I” or “me” refers to Les Hopkinson ADI, RoadSmart Driver Coaching & Development; and “You” refers to the pupil to receive driver training.
1. Your Licence & Eyesight
You must hold a current, valid UK driving licence (provisional or full) and produce it on or before your first lesson.
You must be fit to drive. Your eyesight will be checked on your first lesson. You must be able to read a car number plate from a distance of 20 metres with glasses or contact lenses if necessary.
You must inform me of any medical condition/medication that may affect your ability to drive or obtain/retain eligibility to drive.
You must inform me IMMEDIATELY if there is any change in your eligibility for a licence or if you are no longer fit to drive, whether due to a deterioration in your eyesight or otherwise.
2. Your commitment to your training
You will be expected to put in 100% commitment to your driving lessons whilst you’re training with RoadSmart Driver Coaching & Development. This includes;
a. Ensuring you are fit and healthy to drive a motor vehicle.
b. Ensure you do not consume alcohol the night before your session.
c. Complete the required online training module(s) in preparation for your upcoming session.
d. You familiarise yourself with the laws and rules set out in the Highway Code.
e. You complete a session review and plan before each session setting yourself clear goals to be achieved in the session.
f. You take responsibility for your own learning.
g. You take responsibility for abiding by the laws of the road. h. You take responsibility for your own actions.
i. Turn up to your sessions and on time
Failure to apply 100% commitment to your driving lessons may result in your training being terminated with RoadSmart Driver Coaching and future sessions being cancelled.
3. Payments & Cancellation Policy
Lesson fees are payable in advance. Payment must be made via bank transfer to the bank details provided upon booking. If you are paying for individual lessons, these must be paid before 12pm (Midday) on the Sunday before the lesson that is being paid for. If you are pre-paying a block of lessons, this must be done 7 days before the first lesson of the block you are paying for.
If you do not pay for your lesson by 5pm on the Sunday before, the lesson will be offered to someone else.
Prepaid hours must be used within 6 months of payment. Any unused hours after 6 months will be lost (unless under specific circumstances such as conditions out of our control)
I will ensure that your lessons start and finish on time. I reserve the right to cancel, postpone or change lesson duration and start/finish times under certain circumstances (e.g. dangerous weather conditions). In the event of postponement fees paid in advance will be carried forward.
I will make every effort to arrive on time for your lesson. If I believe I may be late, I will (where possible) send you a text message to inform you. If I am late, I will either make the time up at the end of the lesson or, if that is not possible, the time will be added onto another lesson by mutual agreement.
If you are late, the lesson will not be extended and will still finish at the allotted time.
If you need to cancel or rearrange a lesson, you must give me at least 48 hours notice. If you do not give the requisite notice, you will be charged the full lesson fee and any other lessons booked may be subject to cancellation unless you contact me promptly to confirm the bookings.
If you do not show for your lesson, I will attempt to contact you and I will wait 15 minutes before leaving. If this happens, you will be charged the full lesson fee and any other lessons booked may be subject to cancellation unless you contact me promptly to confirm the bookings.
I reserve the right to cancel a lesson at short notice if I believe you may be unfit due to the effects of alcohol, drugs (prescribed or otherwise) or any other condition that would cause your driving to be dangerous or illegal. In such circumstances you must pay the full lesson fee. I also reserve the right to refuse driving lessons to you if I deem your behaviour to be unreasonable.
You must be committed to learning to drive safely and willing to put in the effort in lessons and outside of lessons. If at any time, I believe you do not have the required commitment, I may terminate any further training without notice.
If you are consistently not showing up for your lessons or cancelling your lessons, I may terminate any further training without notice.
4. Training Location
All lessons will start and finish at the same location unless alternative arrangements are made in advance. I will determine a location for practical lessons which ensures both your safety and the public’s safety – this means that I may need to drive you to and from the lesson location; this journey time forms part of the lesson as paid for.
5. Training Vehicle
The training vehicle provided is taxed, insured for the purposes of driving tuition, fully roadworthy and fitted with dual controls.
6. Motoring Convictions
You must inform me IMMEDIATELY of any motoring convictions you have. You are liable for any motoring convictions gained while driving on a lesson or test.
7. Driving Tests
a. Booking
I will discuss the driving test with you, and we will come to a mutual agreement whether you are ready or not to attempt the driving test.
To be deemed ready for a driving test, you must be able to say yes to the following;
You do not need prompts from your driving instructor
You do not make any serious or dangerous mistakes when you’re driving
You can pass mock driving tests
You can keep your nerves under control
Your driving instructor agrees you’re ready
If you cannot say yes to all of the above, the tuition vehicle will not be provided for the driving test. We will then re-arrange your driving test or it will be your responsibility to source a vehicle to use for the driving test.
We will agree upon lessons necessary to ensure you get to a standard that will enable you to pass the DVSA test. If you miss any of these lessons, I reserve the right to reschedule the test or to withhold the use of the tuition vehicle for the driving test. I will not do so without giving you prior notice.
I will normally book your driving test using the driving instructor business booking system at the current DVSA test cost after discussing a mutually appropriate date. The cost of the driving test will need to be paid directly to me via the normal method of payment following the booking of the test.
b. Your Licence
It is your responsibility to bring your photo card driving licence and theory test certificate with you on the day of your driving test. If you lose or mislay your licence, any test booked (theory or practical) must be cancelled/rescheduled. It is your responsibility to inform me as soon as possible of any lost/mislaid licence. Please see below “Cancellation of a Test” for important information.
c. Using the School Car
Safety is paramount and my decision on your test readiness is final. I reserve the right to refuse use of the school car for test if I consider that your driving standard could cause a risk to public safety or the car. I accept no liability for any loss arising from my refusal to provide the school car in such circumstances.
Where it is discussed that you are not test ready, I will re-arrange the driving test to a later date, as discussed with you and at a date available with the DVSA on their booking system. Where the school car is used for test, the booking period will based upon my normal diary schedule. Depending on the time of the test, this will require a minimum two hour booking and possibly longer.
While I will make every effort to ensure the vehicle supplied for test will be fully roadworthy and comply with all legal requirements at the start of the test, I cannot be held responsible for vehicle failure that occurs during the test and I am not liable for any loss arising out of or in connection with any such failure.
I will make every effort to make the school car you are learning in available for your test. In the event of an accident or mechanical breakdown of the school car, I will endeavour to supply an alternative vehicle, which may be a different make/model; however, this is outside my reasonable control and I cannot be held liable for failure to provide an identical specification vehicle. If I am unable to supply an alternative vehicle, my liability is limited to paying for a new test date only.
d. Cancellation of a Test
IMPORTANT: If you need to cancel or re-schedule your test (e.g. because you lose or mislay your licence), the DVSA requires at least 3 clear working days notice (Monday to Saturday excluding public holidays in England) or you will forfeit the test fee (DVSA rules). If the test
is to be re-scheduled, you must tell me your availability for such re-scheduled test at the same time; however, I cannot guarantee the availability of alternative test dates and I may have to cancel the test and re-schedule at a later date.
I cannot be held responsible for any loss of test fees arising from failure by you to give sufficient notice in accordance with this Clause 6.d.
I cannot be held responsible for test appointments cancelled by the DVSA due to bad weather, sickness, staff shortages or other reasons beyond my control. Such cancellations are beyond my reasonable control and the lesson fee and ‘use of car’ fee for the booked period will be charged. However, in such circumstances you may be able to claim limited compensation from the DVSA (I can help you with this).
e. Failing to be prepared for the driving test.
If you have a driving test booked and you fail to take appropriate and discussed amount of sessions leading up to the test, I will not provide the use of the school car for the test.
8. The use of a mobile phone
It is illegal to use or even hold a mobile device while in control of a motor vehicle. The vehicle must be suitably parked with the keys removed from the ignition. The current penalty for breaking this law is 6 penalty point and a £200 fine. When attending driving lessons, please ensure that if you have brought a mobile phone along with you, it is either switched off or switched to silent to ensure you are not distracted whilst driving.
9. Your Rights
These conditions do not affect any rights you may have under consumer protection laws.
10. Coronavirus
Please follow any government guidance regarding the risk of Coronavirus
Privacy Policy
RoadSmart Driver Coaching & Development Privacy Policy
Our contact details.
Name: RoadSmart Driver Coaching & Development
Address: 8 Anglesey Gardens, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE5 1DU
Phone Number: 07807321365
E-mail: admin@roadsmartdrivercoaching.com
The type of personal information we collect
We currently collect and process the following information:
Full Name
Full Address including postcode
Date of Birth
Mobile Number
Email Address
Provisional Driving Licence Number
How we get the personal information and why we have it
Most of the personal information we process is provided to us directly by you for one of the following reasons:
To book your driving lessons
To book your theory test
To book your practical Driving Test
To contact you via text message
To contact you via email marketing
To sign you up to any of the services offered by RoadSmart Driver Coaching, including mobile apps.
We may share this information with the following organisations;
My DriveTime – www.MyDrivetime.co.uk,
Confident Drivers – www.confidentdrivers.co.uk,
The DVSA – www.gov.uk/dvsa,
Driving Test Success – www.drivingtestsuccess.com,
Theory Test Pro – www.theorytestpro.co.uk
Your consent.
You are able to remove your consent at any time. You can do this by contacting admin@roadsmartdrivercoaching.com
How we store your personal information
Your information is securely stored.
We keep your name, address, mobile number, email address and licence number for 5 years following passing your driving test. We will then dispose your information.
Your data protection rights
Under data protection law, you have rights including:
Your right of access – You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information. Your right to rectification – You have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.
Your right to erasure – You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances.
Your right to restriction of processing – You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
Your right to object to processing – You have the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
Your right to data portability – You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.
You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you.
Please contact us at admin@roadsmartdrivercoaching.com if you wish to make a request.
How to complain
If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information, you can make a complaint to us at admin@roadsmartdrivercoaching.com