The terms and conditions of business under which driving instruction is provided are outlined below. These terms and conditions of business are a contract between the client and/or student and the Driving Instructor at Tolson AH Driving School
I - AH Diving School Driving
'You' - the client and/or student
AH Driving School abide by a Professional Code of Conduct, copies are available upon request.
I am legally authorized to give driving instruction in the UK by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).
In order to have driving lessons you must: Be aged 17 or older (16 or over if disabled).
Hold a driving license that is valid for the UK (provisional, full or an appropriate foreign license)
It is your responsibility to provide your instructor with proof that you have a valid license 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. It is your responsibility to ensure you are fit to drive. You must inform your driving instructor of any medical condition, disability or injury that may affect your ability to drive.
You must check you can read a number plate at a distance of 20.5 metres (i.e. 67 feet-about 5 car lengths) with any prescribed visual aids (i.e. contact lenses or glasses) if normally worn. Please note if you need contact lenses or glasses to achieve this you must make sure you bring and wear them on every driving lesson.
I promise to always be polite, courteous, tidy and punctual. I will always behave in a professional and ethical manner. My training car will always be well maintained, clean and tidy (weather permitting). The training car used on your lessons is fitted with dual controls and is fully insured for the purpose of driving tuition. The vehicle is strictly a no smoking environment. No lesson time will ever be used for any other form of business, personal or otherwise without your expressed permission.
Safety in lessons is paramount at all times. The responsibility for this safety is shared at all times between the instructor and the student. This shared responsibility is identified below:
It is important to act responsibly at all times and give the task at hand your undivided attention. Should anything be distracting you during your lesson or you feel uncomfortable or uneasy about any driving task please let your instructor know.
In an emergency situation it is important that you follow instructions and allow your instructor to take control if I need to. This may be in the form of a verbal instruction, taking control of the steering wheel or using the dual controls to avoid an incident. Please remain calm and your instructor will find a safe place to pull up to discuss the situation and help you calm down if need be. There is no blame and any subsequent discussion will focus on what can be learnt.
I promise to deliver any instructions in a calm and measured manner. I promise not shout at you or make any sarcastic or derogatory remarks.
I promise to never use improper language or suggestive behaviour and/or physical contact.
You must advise your instructor of any medication you are taking which may affect your ability to drive safely. You must inform your instructor in good time before your next lesson. If necessary your instructor may request a doctor's note.
In the event it becomes apparent you are unable to concentrate due to illness, tiredness, or your emotional state of mind your instructor reserves the right to terminate the lesson early. Alternatively, I may suggest a change of driving activity which can be undertaken safely.
To ensure the safety of you and other road users your instructor reserves the right to cancel any driving lesson if they suspect you are under the influence of alcohol, drugs or legal highs. If this occurs the full training fee will be lost or charged for.
AH Driving School will not tolerate any form of verbal or physical abuse, whether directed at the instructor, a driving examiner, or any other road user. The instructor reserves the right to terminate any lesson at any stage should in their opinion they feel that it is inappropriate to continue because of your behaviour, sobriety or state of mind. The lesson fee will be forfeit.
Before lessons commence, all tuition fees will be agreed. Any alteration in training fees will always be notified in advance.
All lessons must be paid for either in advance or at the start of the lesson, credit is not offered.
Deposits are taken for any courses booked. This deposit is 50% of the full price of the course which is due at the time of booking. The full balance of the course is then due at least 14 days prior to the start date and will be treated as a confirmed booking.
The deposit or any subsequent training fees are not refundable in the event you decide to cancel the training once the booking is confirmed and the time placed in the instructor's diary. If any of the time booked is cancelled less than 14 days before the first day of the course, the full fee will be forfeit.
Payments can be made by either bank transfer or cash. Where a client falls into arrears with payments, the instructor reserves the right to discontinue tuition until such time as the client's account is bought back up to date, this may include withholding the use of the driving school car for test.
You must give at least 48 hours' notice to your instructor if you wish to cancel or re-arrange a booked driving lesson. Failure to do so may result in your instructor charging you the full amount for that driving lesson.
Lessons might sometimes need to be postponed at short notice due to illness, mechanical breakdown or some other emergency of unforeseen occurrence, a mutually agreeable alternative lesson will be made.
Weekly lessons - when a client pays in advance for lessons, they shall be entitled to a refund at any time of any monies for unused lessons. This refund will usually be made by the method paid.
When a discount has been given for a prepayment of lessons, and a refund is requested, the lessons taken by the client will be charged at the full single hourly rate, and the balance refunded.
Courses - Any deposits for courses booked are non-refundable. All balance payments are due no less than 14 days before the start date of the course, no refund is due for any courses cancelled within this 14 date period before the start date of the course.
In your own interests you are advised to be punctual for your driving lessons. The instructor would normally wait a maximum of 15 minutes for you before the lesson would be abandoned and the lesson fee be forfeited or payment becomes due.
A reciprocal waiting time may become necessary should the instructor become delayed due to unforeseen circumstances. The instructor will make up any lost lesson time as a result of this either at the end of the lesson if mutually agreeable to both or as soon as possible.
1. Bookings and Payments
Driving Tests should not be booked without first ascertaining the availability of your driving instructor and car, and agreement being reached with your driving instructor as to your readiness for the driving test
Tests are usually booked by your instructor on your behalf to ensure the space in the diary is available and does not clash with any other tests.
If the client has booked a test themselves they should notify their driving instructor of the time, date and location of their driving test as soon as practicable, and the email must be shown to your driving instructor for verification on the next driving lesson.
Driving test bookings take priority over other lessons. Therefore, your lesson may be postponed to allow for someone else's driving test or vice versa. Changes to lesson booking as a result of this will be notified immediately.
On the test day payment will be due to the instructor for the use of the car and any subsequent hours prior to the test. This is usually 2 hours at the usual hourly rate. One hour prior to the test and one hour for the use of the car on test.
2. Use of the vehicle
In the interests of customer and public safety the instructor reserves the right to withhold the use of the training car for the test, when, in their sole discretion they assess the client as not being ready for test.
3. Test cancellation
Three clear working days (Sundays and public holidays don't count as working days) notice of test cancellation or postponement is required by the DVSA. Failure to provide the required notice will result in the loss of your test fee.
When a driving test is cancelled due to mechanical failure of the driving school car, illness of the driving instructor or any other reason that is the responsibility of the driving school then the client will be entitled to the cost of their next driving test fee to be paid for by the driving school. The driving school will not be responsible for any additional tuition fees incurred whilst waiting for the next driving test appointment.
The Driving School has no control over driving tests cancelled by DVSA.
When a driving test is cancelled by DVSA the full fees due to the driving school for driving lessons and the use of the car for the driving test are still payable in full, unless cancelled in accordance with the normal period of notice.
When DVSA cancel a driving test because there is not an examiner available it can be possible to claim back any losses incurred by the client, including a proportion of lesson fees, this is the responsibility of the client, not the driving school.
When a driving test is cancelled because the client's documents are not in order the full fees due to the driving school for driving lessons and the use of the car for the driving test are still payable in full, unless cancelled in accordance with the normal period of notice.
The client, in accordance with road traffic law, is legally responsible for any traffic offences that occur whilst they are in charge of the vehicle. The driving instructor will endeavour to train the client to the highest possible standard, however they cannot be held responsible for the standard of driving or any errors that are committed whilst they are not giving tuition, either before or after the client passes a driving test.
If the client is not happy with any aspect of tuition, or of the standard of service offered, they should either raise the matter with their driving instructor, or the driving school, with the minimum delay, and not later than seven days from the date of the cause of the complaint.
Every effort will be made by the driving instructor / driving school to resolve any complaint or issue.
This privacy notice has been produced to help you understand why AH Driver School require to obtain/store your personal information, how it will be used, who it might be shared with and how long it might be kept. The notice will also remind you of the rights you have under the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).
Below is a list of personal data that your instructor may need to collect and how that will used.
Your instructor will need to keep written and secure digital and/or paper records of all payments made, lesson appointments booked and lessons delivered for the purpose of maintaining accurate accounting records as is legally required for six years. At that point the account records and any supporting personal information will be disposed of in a secure manner. This information will be held in the instructors paperbased/digital diary, your student record card and the paperbased/digital student record system.
AH Driving School will require your name, address, telephone number(s), date of birth, provisional licence details and contact details of your parents/guardian (if under the age of 18). Details will also be requested of your emergency contact person.
These details will be required to provide services as your driving instructor and will be stored in a paperbased/digital student record system. These details will be used for the following reasons:
Providing access to any partner company products included as part of your driving lesson package.
Booking either a Theory or Practical Driving Test on your behalf.
Providing you with promotional offers in relation to our business.
Maintaining accurate accounts records as is legally required of me for a period of 6 years.
Using emergency contact details in the event of any incident that requires us to contact such person, these details could be passed to the emergency services in such incident.
Your instructor will hold records of your learning progress in their paperbased/digital student record system. This is to know where you are in the training programme and any point in time.
AH Driving School may hold records of test failures and passes noting the driving faults occurred on your test report to monitor the instructors personal performance in this regard.
With your consent, upon passing the driving test I would like to take a photograph of you and will request a written review for the purposes of promoting our business as a driving school. These will be shared on social media and AH Driving School websites as required. Please note that AH Driving School cannot prevent the sharing or copying of such images on social media however at your request we will quickly delete any posts on platforms under our control.
If you want to make a complaint about the way AH Driving School have processed/used your personal information, you can contact the Information Commissioner's Office ICO, as the statutory body in the UK which oversees data protection law, by visiting: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/.