Terms and Conditions of Business Agreement
These Terms and Conditions apply to all Services provided by us, Extra Help Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under number 07365213, whose registered office address is at Unit 4 City Business Park, Somerset Place, Plymouth, PL3 4BB (“the Company/we/us/our”).
1. Definitions and Interpretation
1.1. In these Terms and Conditions, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the following meanings: “Customer/you/your” means you, the individual purchasing the Services; “Contract” means the contract formed in accordance with clause 2 which will incorporate, and be subject to, these Terms and Conditions; “Property” means the property at which our Services are to be provided; “Quotation” means the cleaning contract we will provide to you, which will set out the price for the Services to be provided; and “Services” means the home help services to be provided by us to you.
1.2. Unless the context otherwise requires, each reference in these Terms and
Conditions to:
1.2.1. “writing” and “written” includes emails and text messages;
1.2.2. a statute or a provision of a statute is a reference to that statute or provision as amended or re-enacted at the relevant time;
1.2.3. “these Terms and Conditions” is a reference to these Terms and Conditions as may be amended or supplemented at the relevant
time;
1.2.4. a clause is a reference to a clause of these Terms and Conditions;
and
1.2.5. a “Party” or the “Parties” refer to the parties to these Terms and Conditions, and any reference to a Party includes its employees and sub-contractors.
1.3. The headings used in these Terms and Conditions are for convenience only and will have no effect on their interpretation.
1.4. No terms or conditions stipulated or referred to by you in any form
whatsoever will in any respect vary or add to these Terms and Conditions
unless otherwise agreed by us in writing.
1.5. Words imparting the singular number will include the plural and vice
versa. References to persons will include corporations.
2. Contract and Term
2.1. We will arrange to visit the Property before providing our Quotation, to undertake a survey and obtain any required information. We reserve the right to charge for any such surveys.
2.2. Our Quotation will be in writing and will be open for acceptance within 30 days from the date of the Quotation.
2.3. Your acceptance of our Quotation includes the acceptance of these Terms and Conditions, and will form a legally binding contract between you and us.
2.4. Our fees are based on the information provided to us at the time of preparing our Quotation. Should any errors, changes or discrepancies become evident which affect the Services to be provided, we reserve the right to adjust our fees accordingly.
2.5. Once the Contract is formed, the Services will begin on the date as agreed between the parties and will continue on a rolling monthly basis on the same Terms and Conditions as set out in this Contract, with the exception of the price, unless terminated or cancelled in accordance with the provisions as set out in clauses 6 and 7 below. We will notify you of any change in price in accordance with these Terms and Conditions.
3. The Services
3.1. We will ensure that the Services are carried out with reasonable care and skill and to a reasonable standard in accordance with best industry practice.
3.2. You will be allocated a regular helper, as well as a regular time and day for the Services to be provided. We cannot guarantee the same helper each time, though all helpers will be competent and able to provide the required Services. If a particular helper is unavailable, we will inform you of any change prior to the agreed visit where possible.
3.3. Our normal working hours of Monday to Friday, 8am – 6pm excluding bank holidays, however we may agree to provide the Services outside of these hours. Where you request a change to your regular hours outside of our normal working hours, we reserve the right to increase our costs.
3.4. We will agree a number of hours per visit and you will be required to pay for the agreed number of hours, regardless of whether you send the helper away earlier.
3.5. You are responsible for providing all the products and equipment needed for us to perform the Services and for emptying the vacuum cleaner before we arrive. We cannot be responsible for our inability to render the Services effectively if this is due to unavailable or unsuitable products or equipment.
3.6. Any products provided by you for use by us are your sole responsibility
and we accept no liability for any damage, results or consequences of using such products. However, we reserve the right to refuse to use such products provided by you where, in our opinion, it would be wrong or dangerous to do so.
3.7. You agree to provide us with full and free access to hot and cold running water, free use of electricity and any other amenities that we could reasonably be expected to need to carry out the Services.
3.8. If we visit the Property and find additional works are required other than those which are included in the Quotation, we will contact you to obtain your permission to carry out the additional Services, in which case we will invoice for these additional Services separately. These additional Services may not be able to be performed at the same time and if this is the case, we will arrange a separate date and time to carry out the works.
3.9. Under no circumstances will we move heavy furniture or other items in order to provide the Services.
3.10. Unless specifically agreed, we will not clean or move any items which appear to be antique or fragile or which, in our sole judgement, may be damaged as a result.
3.11. Please advise us in advance if anyone at the Property has a contagious illness. We may decide to reschedule the agreed visit(s) in this event.
3.12. Any variation in the Services to be provided must be agreed in writing before we can proceed. Any price variation will become due for payment to us in accordance with the terms for payment above.
3.13. You must maintain suitable household insurance, with appropriate levels of public liability provision for the duration of the Services.
4. Access
4.1. You must agree with us in advance how we can gain access to your Property to provide the Services. If you are unable to be present at the time of the Services being performed, you will need to provide us with keys. We will store all keys in a locked key safe, without any identifying information stored with them. If your Property has an alarm, you will need to deactivate this before our agreed start time or provide us with the alarm code(s), where applicable, for us to deactivate and re-activate before we leave.
4.2. We cannot be held responsible for failing to provide the Services if we cannot gain access through no fault of our own.
4.3. It is your responsibility to obtain any and maintain all necessary permissions, consents and licenses required for us to provide the Services at the agreed times.
4.4. You must give us a minimum of 1 weeks’ notice to reschedule if we will not be required to provide our Services on a particular day or at a particular time.
4.5. If we are unable to gain access to the Property or we do not receive the required notice to cancel a visit as detailed in clause 4.4 above, we reserve the right to invoice you at our normal rate, together with any costs incurred by us in relation to the non-productive or aborted visit to the Property.
4.6. If we are unable to provide our Services on an agreed day or time for whatever reason, we will advise you and will rearrange the Services for as soon as reasonably possible, however, time is not of the essence in the performance of our obligations.
5. Payment
5.1. The price for our Services shall be split into payments directly to us and payment for the helper.
5.2. Invoices will be issued monthly in advance for our fees which are to be paid by direct debit or standing order in advance of the Services. Where we have agreed to perform extra hours in a month, those hours shall be invoiced at the end of the month in arrears. Should we not perform the Services for the total number of hours, those hours shall be lost and not refundable.
5.3. The helper shall request their fees for the Services at the end of the week worked for the hours completed by them. Payment is due immediately upon request by BACS, cash, or card where available. The helper shall provide you with a receipt for payments made.
5.4. Interest is payable on all overdue sums from the date payment was due (as set out above) until it is made, at the rate of 4% per annum above the Bank of England base rate from time to time during the period in which interest is payable. We also reserve the right to charge costs associated with recovering late payments.
5.5. We reserve the right to stop providing our Services to you in the event that any payments have not been made on or before the due date for payment. Withdrawal of Services for this reason does not constitute abandonment and as such normal payment will become due until such time as the Contract is terminated.
6. Cancellation Within the Cooling Off Period
6.1. If you are a Consumer (as defined in the Consumer Rights Act 2015), you
Extra Help Ltd – Terms & Conditions
have a statutory right to a “cooling off” period. This period begins once the Contract between you and us is formed and ends at the end of 14 calendar days after that date. If you wish to cancel the Contract within the cooling off period, you should inform us immediately by post or email. To meet the cancellation deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your cancellation notice before the cancellation period has expired. If you do so, we will refund any sums paid to us under the Contract within 14 days, using the same method you used to make payment, unless you request otherwise.
6.2. If you wish for our Services to start within the cooling off period, you must make an express request for us to do so. You acknowledge and agree that if you do so, you will lose your right to cancel if our Services are completed within the 14 day cooling off period. If we have begun providing our Services, you will be required to pay for the Services we have provided up to the point at which you inform us of your wish to cancel.
7. Cancellation After the Cooling Off Period
7.1. After the expiry of the cooling off period set out in clause 6.1, or if you choose to waive your right to this, as set out in clause 6.2, you are required to provide us with a minimum of 1 months’ written notice if you wish to cancel the Contract.
7.2. We are entitled to cancel the Contract at any time by giving you 7 days’ written notice.
7.3. During any cancellation notice period, unless we agree otherwise, the Services will continue to be provided and you will still be required to make payment for those Services in accordance with clause 5.
7.4. Either Party may cancel the Contract immediately if the other:
7.4.1. has committed a material breach of this Contract, unless such breach is capable of remedy, in which case this right to terminate will be exercisable if the other Party has failed to remedy the
breach within 14 days after a written notice to do so; or
7.4.2. goes into bankruptcy or liquidation either voluntary or compulsory (save for the purposes of bona fide corporate reconstruction or amalgamation) or if a receiver is appointed in respect of the whole
or any part of its assets.
7.5. Termination of the Contract for any reason will not affect the rights and
liabilities of the Parties already accrued at that time and any clauses that are stated to continue in force after termination will not be effected.
8. Liability
8.1. Subject to this clause 8, we will be responsible for any foreseeable loss or damage that you may suffer as a result of our breach of these Terms and Conditions or as a result of our negligence. Loss or damage is foreseeable if it is an obvious consequence of the breach or negligence or if it is contemplated by you and us when the Contract is entered into. We will not be responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable.
8.2. We cannot be held responsible for any failure or delay in providing our Services where this is due to causes beyond our reasonable control including, but not limited to, staff illness, power failure, industrial action, civil unrest, fire, flood, adverse weather, storms, earthquakes, acts of terrorism, acts of war or governmental action.
8.3. Nothing in these Terms and Conditions is intended to or will limit or exclude our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.
8.4. We will not be liable to you for any indirect or consequential loss, loss of profit, loss of business, interruption to business or for any loss of business opportunity.
8.5. We will maintain suitable and valid insurance, including public liability insurance. Details are available on request.
8.6. Nothing in these Terms and Conditions seeks to limit or exclude your statutory rights as a Consumer, where applicable.
9. Confidentiality
9.1. Each Party undertakes that throughout the duration of the Contract, the
Parties may disclose certain confidential information to each other. Both parties agree that they will not use the confidential information provided by the other, other than to perform their obligations under this Contract. Each Party will maintain the confidential information’s confidentiality and will not disseminate it to any third party, unless so authorised by the other Party in writing.
9.2. In particular, you must not disclose details of the rates payable to us with any helper directly.
10. Non-Solicitation: You agree that you will not, throughout the term of the Contract and for a period of 6 months after its termination or expiry, solicit, entice away, employ or contract the services of any person who is or was employed or otherwise engaged by us at any time in relation to the Contract without our express written consent.
11. Assignment and Sub-Contracting
11.1. We will be free to sub-contract any of our obligations under these Terms and Conditions. Any act or omission of any sub-contractor will be an act or omission of ours.
11.2. We may transfer (assign) our obligations and rights under the Contract to a third party (if, for example, we sell our business). If this occurs we will inform you in writing. Your rights under the Contract will not be affected and our obligations under the Contract will be transferred to the third party who will remain bound by them.
11.3. You may not transfer (assign) your obligations and rights under the Contract without our express written permission, which will not be unreasonably withheld.
12. Data Protection: Any personal data we collect will be processed and held in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation 2016.
13. Other Important Terms
13.1. The Contract is between you and us. It is not intended to benefit any other person or third party in any way and no such person or party will be entitled to enforce any provision of the Contract.
13.2. If any part of these Terms and Conditions is held by any competent authority to be invalid or unenforceable in whole or in part, the validity of the other provisions of the Contract or these Terms and Conditions and the remainder of the provision in question will not be affected.
13.3. No failure or delay by either party in exercising any rights under the Contract means that we or you have waived that right, and no waiver by either party of a breach of any provision of the Contract means that we or you will waive any subsequent breach of the same or any other provision.
13.4. Nothing in the Contract will make or be deemed to make us an employee or agent of yours or you an employee or agent of ours.
14. Complaints: We welcome feedback from our customers and, while we always use all reasonable endeavours to ensure that your experience is a positive one, we nevertheless want to hear from you if you have any cause for complaint. Please make any complaint to us in writing, in the first instance. If the complaint relates to a particular clean, you are required to report this to us within 24 hours of the Services having been provided. Any Services carried out will be deemed as satisfactory after this time. Unless you have reasonable justification in refusing us entry, we will require you to grant us reasonable access to investigate and where necessary, remedy any complaint for which we may be liable.
15. Law and Jurisdiction
15.1. These Terms and Conditions and the Contract will in all respects be subject to and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales.
15.2. Any dispute, controversy, proceedings or claim between the Parties relating to the Contract or these Terms and Conditions will fall within the jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.