Terms and Conditions

1. DEFINITIONS

1. When the following words with capital letters are used in these Terms, this is what they will mean:

2. Cleaner(s): the individuals engaged to provide cleaning services to you being either

3. (a) our employee(s) if you are utilising our Deluxe service; or

4. (b) your own directly employed cleaner if you are utilising our Standard service;

5. Appointed Cleaner: a Cleaner you engage directly as an employee if you are utilising our Standard service.

6. Event Outside Our Control: is defined in clause 10.2;

7. Order: your order for the Services;

8. Services: the cleaning services and any other additional or ancillary domestic services that we agree to provide to you from time to time or that We are providing to you as set out in an Order;

9. Terms: the terms and conditions set out in this document; and

10. We/Our/Us: Chalcot House Services Limited (Company registration number 02363581).

11. When We use the words “writing” or “written” in these Terms, this will include e-mail unless We say otherwise.

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2. OUR CONTRACT WITH YOU

1. These are the terms and conditions on which We supply Services to you.

2. Please ensure that you read these Terms carefully, and check that the details on the Order and in these Terms are complete and accurate, before you sign the Order. If you think that there is a mistake, please contact Us to discuss, and please make sure that you ask Us to confirm any changes in writing to avoid any confusion between you and Us.

3. We consider that these Terms and the Order constitute the whole agreement between you and Us.

4. Before you submit your Order to Us, we will carry out an assessment of your cleaning needs with you. We would ask that you do not submit an Order before our assessment of your needs as this is the best way for Us to ensure that you receive the appropriate level of service for your needs.

5. When you sign and submit the Order to Us, this does not mean We have accepted your order for Services. Our acceptance of the Order will take place as described in clause 2.6. If We are unable to supply you with the Services, We will inform you of this in writing and We will not process the Order.

6. These Terms will become binding on you and Us when We issue you with a written acceptance of an Order at which point a contract will come into existence between you and Us.

7. If any of these Terms conflict with any term of the Order, the Order will take priority.

3. CHANGES TO ORDER OR TERMS

1. We may revise these Terms from time to time. Examples of reasons we may need to change the Terms include the following circumstances:

a. changes in how We accept payment from you;

b. changes in relevant laws and regulatory requirements.

2. If We have to revise these Terms under clause 3.1, We will give you at least one month’s written notice of any changes to these Terms before they take effect. You can choose to cancel the contract in accordance with clause 11.

3. You may make a change to the Order for Services at any time before the start date for the Services by contacting Us. Where this means a change in any estimate of the price of the Services, We will notify you of the amended prices in writing. You can choose to cancel the Order in accordance with clause 11.1 in these circumstances.

4. If you wish to cancel an Order before it has been fulfilled, please see your right to do so in clause 11.

4. PROVIDING SERVICES

1. We will supply the Services to you from the date agreed between Us in writing at the times and for the period set out in the Order or otherwise agreed between you and us in writing.

2. We will make every effort to carry out the Services in accordance with the agreed times as specified in the Order, or as otherwise agreed by us in writing. However, there may be delays due to an Event Outside Our Control. See clause 10 for Our responsibilities when an Event Outside Our Control happens.

3. We may have to suspend the Services if We have to deal with problems, or to make improvements agreed between you and Us in writing to the Services with the Service. We will contact you to let you know in advance where this occurs. You do not have to pay for the Services while they are suspended under this clause 4.4 but this does not affect your obligation to pay for any invoices We have already sent you.

4. If you do not pay Us for the Services when you are supposed to as set out in clause 6, We may suspend the Services with immediate effect until you have paid Us the outstanding amounts (except where you dispute an invoice under clause 6.5). We will contact you to tell you this. This does not affect Our right to charge you interest under clause 6.4.

5. IF THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THE SERVICES

1. Whilst we will use reasonable endeavours to ensure that no problems will arise, in the unlikely event that there is any problem or defect with the Services that we provide:

a. please contact Us and tell Us as soon as reasonably possible. We have included a complaints form within [Our Service Users Handbook], but we are happy for you to telephone Us if there is a problem;

b. please give Us a reasonable opportunity to put right any problem; and

c. We will use every effort to resolve the problem with Service as soon as reasonably practicable.

2. As a consumer, you have legal rights in relation to Services not carried out with reasonable skill and care. Advice about your legal rights is available from your local Citizens’ Advice Bureau or Trading Standards office. Nothing in these Terms will affect these legal rights.

6. PRICE AND PAYMENT

1. The price of the Services will be set out in Our price list in force from time to time or as otherwise quoted by us and agreed by you from time to time. We do reserve the right to increase our prices from time to time, but We will notify you at least one month in advance of any increase. An example of where we may increase our charges is where the costs of us employing Cleaners increases.

2. Our prices are exclusive of VAT which shall be payable by you in addition to the price quoted..

3. Unless otherwise agreed:

a. Where you are receiving the Deluxe Service, we will invoice you on a monthly basis [in arrears];

b. Where you are receiving the Standard Service we will invoice you quarterly [in advance];

c. Where we provide services or products over and above our Standard Service or Deluxe Service, we will include the costs of such additional services in your monthly or quarterly invoice up to a maximum of £150. If the cost of such additional products or services exceeds £150 we will require payment in advance of provision of additional products and services.

d. You must pay all invoices in full without deduction. Payment must be made by direct debit and you agree that on submitting your Order to us you will provide a signed and completed Direct Debit Mandate authorising payment of variable sums. The sums due under each invoice will be debited from your account ten days after the issue of the invoice.

4. If for any reason (other than our default) We are unable to process your payment on the due date, We may charge interest to you on the overdue amount at the rate of 3% a year above the base lending rate of Barclays 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.

5. However, if you dispute an invoice in good faith and contact Us to let Us know promptly after you have received an invoice that you dispute it, clause 6.4 will not apply for the period of the dispute.

6. We reserve the right to require a payment of a deposit or an initial payment for Services if circumstances require it, and where We have notified you of this in writing, We will provide to you a pro forma invoice and may require payment to be made in full prior to Services being provided.

7. OUR CLEANERS

1. We will:

a. at all times use all reasonable endeavours to ensure that Cleaners are suitably trained and qualified.

b. ensure that references are taken up and reasonable identity checks are undertaken on all Cleaners in accordance with the relevant local and national regulations to which We are subject.

c. supervise Cleaners during their assignments. In order for Us to successfully supervise Cleaners We would request that if we require, you allow Our assessor staff to attend the location of Services to see Cleaners whilst they are providing services for You.

2. Whilst We will use all reasonable endeavours to ensure that Services are provided to you by the same Cleaner or a small group of Cleaners at all times, We can not unfortunately guarantee this, and We reserve the right to assign different Cleaners to provision of the Services from time to time.

3. Cleaners are not:

a. permitted to drink alcohol, smoke or take drugs in your home;

b. permitted to accept gifts over the value of £10.00;

c. permitted to lend money to, or borrow money from, you; and

d. we would request that you do not make any offer of these items to Cleaners in any circumstances.

4. We take the welfare of Cleaners extremely seriously and We would request that they are treated as you would expect to be treated yourself. Any harassment or discrimination of any Cleaners will be treated very seriously and treated as a material breach of these Terms.

5. It will be your responsibility to give proper and adequate instructions as to the use of items of electrical equipment in your home and We will not be able to accept any liability for any damage done by Cleaners to any goods or equipment in your property arising from incorrect or inadequate instructions.

6. It is your responsibility to ensure the provision of a safe environment for Cleaners whilst they are providing Services on your property and in particular you shall ensure that all electrical equipment is safe, adequately maintained.

7. Save where you are employing an Appointed Cleaner you agree that you will not seek to:

a. solicit any of our Cleaners to perform services for you; or

b. seek to engage directly or indirectly any Cleaner to perform services similar to the Services.

c. The direct engagement or use by you of any of Cleaners (or any former Cleaners introduced to You by Us in the previous 12 months) will result in You incurring a liability to pay an introduction fee of £1,000. The engagement or use through an agency or other similar organisation by You of Cleaners introduced to You by Us will result in You having the same obligation.

8. We cannot accept any liability for breakages or damages or other loss caused by Appointed Cleaners in your home. It is your responsibility to ensure that your household contents insurance policy covers you having a Cleaner attending at your property and we would strongly advise you to contact your insurer to confirm this.

9. Where you directly engage an Appointed Cleaner you agree that you will:

a. Properly and punctually pay all sums due to such Appointed Cleaner;

b. Properly and punctually pay all taxes, duties and assessments in connection with the employment of the Appointed Cleaner including pay as you earn income tax and National Insurance contributions;

c. Indemnify us against all costs, claims, taxes, actions, demands and liabilities arising to us as a result of any breach by you of your obligations as employer of the Appointed Cleaner or any claim by an Appointed Cleaner or any third party that we are (or were) the employer of an Appointed Cleaner.

10. We have a duty of care to our Cleaners and to fulfil this duty we may require from time to time to come into your home, at a convenient time for you, having given you prior written notice, to carry out a risk assessment to ensure the safety of our Cleaners wherever possible. You agree that we may do this.

11. Live-in Cleaners

12. Where you have a Cleaner providing cleaning services to you and living in your home to do so, you must:-

a. ensure that the Cleaner receives as a minimum, a 2 hours break in each working day. This time off should be taken during daylight hours and this is to ensure compliance with employment regulations. In the event of a change of employment regulations requiring additional time, you will need to comply with any new regulations. As a minimum, Cleaners must be provided with at least 14 hours time off over a 7 day week. You may wish to arrange for appropriate replacement care during this period.

b. ensure that you provide a separate bedroom for the Cleaner. This should be a private space for the Cleaner and it is your responsibility to provide, clean bedding and a comfortable bed.

8. SECURITY

1. Where appropriate We may ask you to provide us with a password for identity verification of Cleaners. We agree that We will use our best endeavours to ensure that any such password is kept confidential and will not be disclosed to any persons outside of our organisation, save for those providing part of the Services on a sub-contracted basis. In turn you agree to keep any such passwords confidential.

2. Where We or Cleaners are requested to hold keys or security information for You, We shall use all reasonable endeavours to preserve the security of such keys or security information. We shall not be liable for any losses arising other than as a result of Our negligence.

9. OUR LIABILITY TO YOU

1. If We fail to comply with these Terms, We are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of Our breach of the Terms or Our negligence, but We are not responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable. Loss or damage is foreseeable if they were an obvious consequence of our breach or if they were contemplated by you and Us at the time we entered into this contract. Except in unusual or exceptional circumstances, we would expect these losses to be limited to the charges for the Services per incident or series of related incidents caused by the performance of Services in breach of this Contract.

2. For the avoidance of doubt, whilst we shall use all reasonable endeavours to properly assess and monitor Appointed Cleaners, they are not our employees and we shall not be responsible for the failings and defaults of any Appointed Cleaners where we have used reasonable skill and care in discharging our obligations under this agreement.

3. We do not exclude or limit in any way Our liability for:

a. death or personal injury caused by Our negligence or the negligence of Our employees, agents or subcontractors;

b. fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation;

c. breach of the terms implied by section 2 of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 (title and quiet possession);

d. breach of the terms implied by sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 (description, satisfactory quality, fitness for purpose and samples); and

e. defective products under the Consumer Protection Act 1987.

10. EVENTS OUTSIDE OUR CONTROL

1. We will not be liable or responsible for any failure to perform, or delay in performance of, any of Our obligations under these Terms that is caused by an Event Outside Our Control.

2. An Event Outside Our Control means any act or event beyond Our reasonable control, including without limitation strikes, lock-outs or other industrial action by third parties, civil commotion, riot, invasion, terrorist attack, war, fire, explosion, storm, flood, earthquake, subsidence, epidemic or other natural disaster, or failure of public or private telecommunications networks.

3. If an Event Outside Our Control takes place that affects the performance of Our obligations under these Terms:

a. We will contact you as soon as reasonably possible to notify you; and

b. Our obligations under these Terms will be suspended and the time for performance of Our obligations will be extended for the duration of the Event Outside Our Control. Where the Event Outside Our Control affects Our performance of Services to you, We will restart the Services as soon as reasonably possible after the Event Outside Our Control is over.

4. You may cancel the contract if an Event Outside Our Control takes place and you no longer wish Us to provide the Services. Please see your cancellation rights under clause 11. We will only cancel the contract if the Event Outside Our Control continues for longer than 6 weeks in accordance with Our cancellation rights in clause 11.

11. YOUR CANCELLATION RIGHTS

Where you are utilising our Deluxe Service, you may cancel the contract for service on immediate written notice at any time and upon cancellation you will be under the obligation to pay up to date the sums due for services provided to date of cancellation. In all other cases, the following provisions of this clause 11 shall apply.

1. Before We begin to provide the Services, you have the following rights to cancel an Order for Services, including where you choose to cancel because We are affected by an Event Outside Our Control or if We change these Terms under clause 3.1 to your material disadvantage:

a. You may cancel any Order for Services within 14 calendar days of placing an Order by contacting Us. We will confirm your cancellation in writing to you.

b. If you cancel an Order under clause 11.1(a) and you have made any payment in advance for Services that have not been provided to you, We will refund these amounts to you.

c. However, if you cancel an Order for Services under clause 11.1(a) and We have already started providing Services to you, you will pay Us any costs We have reasonably incurred in providing Services to you and this charge will be deducted from any refund that is due to you or, if no refund is due to you, invoiced to you. We will tell you what these costs are when you contact Us.

2. Where you have cancelled an Order because of Our failure to comply with these Terms (except where We have been affected by an Event Outside Our Control), you do not have to make any payment to Us.

3. Once We have begun to provide the Services to you, you may cancel the contract for the Services at the end of a quarterly payment period by providing Us with at least 30 calendar days’ prior notice in writing. This means you need to give notice not less than 30 days before the end of a quarterly payment period to terminate at the end of that quarterly payment period.

4. Any advance payment you have made for Services that have not been provided will be refunded to you.

5. Once We have begun to provide the Services to you, you may cancel the contract for Services with immediate effect by giving Us written notice if:

a. We break this contract in any material way and We do not correct or fix the situation within 14 days of you asking Us to in writing;

b. We go into liquidation or a receiver or an administrator is appointed over Our assets;

c. We change these Terms under clause 3.1 to your material disadvantage;

d. We are affected by an Event Outside Our Control.

12. OUR CANCELLATION RIGHTS

1. If We have to cancel an Order for Services before the Services start:

a. We may have to cancel an Order before the start date for the Services, due to an Event Outside Our Control or the unavailability of key personnel without which We cannot provide the Services. We will promptly contact you if this happens.

b. If We have to cancel an Order under clause 12.1(a) and you have made any payment in advance for Services that have not been provided to you, We will refund these amounts to you.

2. Once We have begun to provide the Services to you, We may cancel the contract for the Services at any time by providing you with at least 30 calendar days’ notice in writing. If you have made any payment in advance for Services that have not been provided to you, We will refund these amounts to you.

3. We may cancel the contract for Services at any time with immediate effect by giving you written notice if:

a. you do not pay Us when you are supposed to as set out in clause 6. This does not affect Our right to charge you interest under clause 6.4; or

b. you break the contract in any other material way and you do not correct or fix the situation within 14 days of Us asking you to in writing; or

c. we believe that there is a risk of harm to any Cleaner, or you are in breach of your obligations under clause 7.4 of these Terms.

13. INFORMATION ABOUT US AND HOW TO CONTACT US

1. We are a company registered in England and Wales. Our company registration number is 02363581 and Our registered office is at 17 Hanover Square, London W1S 1BN Our registered VAT number is 523251089.

2. If you have any questions or if you have any complaints, please contact Us. Our full contact details are in our [Service Users Handbook].

3. If you wish to contact Us in writing, or if any clause in these Terms requires you to give Us notice in writing (for example, to cancel the contract), you can send this to Us by hand, or by pre-paid post to 17 Hanover Square, London W1S 1BN or by e-mail to us on management@chalcot.com. We will confirm receipt of this by contacting you in writing. If We have to contact you or give you notice in writing, We will do so by e-mail, by hand, or by pre-paid post to the address you provide to Us in the Order.

14. HOW WE MAY USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

1. So that We are able to provide the Services to you, we do need to take a certain amount of personal data from you and some of this data will be “sensitive personal data”. By signing the Order you consent to Us processing personal data about you which shall include types of sensitive personal data for the purposes of providing the Services under this agreement

2. We will use the personal information you provide to Us to:

a. provide the Services;

b. process your payment for such Services; and

c. inform you about similar products or services that We provide, but you may stop receiving these messagesat any time by contacting Us.

3. We will ensure that only those employees within our organisation have access to your personal data but you agree that we may in addition disclose your personal data:

a. to our service providers, sub-contractors and agents in connection with the provision of Services; and

b. to any member of our group, which means our subsidiaries and our ultimate holding company.

4. Other than as specified in these Terms we will not give your personal data to any other third party without your consent.

5. You have a right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you for which we may charge a small fee and to correct any accuracies in your information.

6. Telephone calls between You and Us may be recorded and monitored from time to time for training purposes and by signing the Order you agree to such recording.

15. OTHER IMPORTANT TERMS

1. We may transfer Our rights and obligations under these Terms to another organisation, and We will always notify you in writing if this happens, but this will not affect your rights or Our obligations under these Terms.

2. We may from time to time sub-contract some parts of the Services that we are providing to independent contractors.

3. This contract is between you and Us. No other person shall have any rights to enforce any of its terms.

4. Each of the paragraphs of these Terms operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful, the remaining paragraphs will remain in full force and effect.

5. If We fail to insist that you perform any of your obligations under these Terms, or if We do not enforce Our rights against you, or if We delay in doing so, that will not mean that We have waived Our rights against you and will not mean that you do not have to comply with those obligations. If We do waive a default by you, We will only do so in writing, and that will not mean that We will automatically waive any later default by you.

6. These Terms are governed by English law. You and We both agree to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.