The vast majority of courses go without a hitch, but please read and understand the Terms And Conditions below prior to booking.
Terms & Conditions.
The following Terms and Conditions apply to all bookings made with Intensive Lessons. By booking a course of driving lessons, you indicate that you have read, understood and accepted these Terms and Conditions, and agree to be bound by them.
Definitions:
• ‘you’ means the person named on the booking form as the pupil
• ‘we’,‘us’, ‘the driving school’ and ‘Intensive Lessons’ means the driving school administering the provision of the driving course, booking the tests and allocating you to a self-employed subcontractor who is a registered DVSA driving instructor.
• ‘the instructor’ means a driving instructor acting on his/her own or on behalf of a driving school when providing the course
1. Each course is for the total amount of hours booked. The total hours of the course booked includes the time required for taking your practical test, typically 2-3 hours, and drive home at the end of the course. Additional hours should be booked through us however this is only permitted if the instructor is able to accommodate it and if it affects the test date then you will need to pay for a new test booking and fast-tracking fee. Please note courses are not guaranteed to be completed over a specific duration as it is subject to instructor availability.
2. If transport to the theory test centre is required during a lesson, this will form part of your lesson time, from when you arrive in the car until we drop you off home after the theory test. Transport to the theory centre will be arranged only if requested, as your instructor will need to make sure the lesson times sync up with the test time.
3. All pupils must pass the legally required eyesight test. This will normally be conducted by your driving instructor on the first lesson, should you fail the eyesight check the course would have to be abandoned until you have corrected your eyesight. Any agreed hours booked in with the instructor would be lost.
4. If your instructor feels that you are not ready to take your practical driving test at the end of the course, due to safety reasons, then you the pupil will not be allowed to take your driving test. If this is the case you will lose your test fee and will not be offered a refund of any unused hours or any deposit or test fees.
5. The prices quoted on the course guide include the test fees required for your course, which we book and organise for you. The cost of your theory test is £38. The cost of your practical test is usually £97 on a weekday, however tests offered at weekends, or outside of normal working hours is £120. Extended driving tests are £62 extra on top of the standard above fee’s, and we should be notified on booking if you require an extended driving test, so we can send you the correct invoice for the payment. Once these tests are booked for they are non-refundable. Please note you can book these tests yourself for less (£23 for a theory test or £62 for a standard weekday practical driving test, £75 for a weekend test or £124 for an extended test) on the official DVSA booking website, but you would have to generally wait on the standard waiting list, for example, 16 to 18 weeks for a practical, plus find your own short notice cancellations. You are paying us (including your lesson costs) to manage your booking which includes obtaining a short notice driving test cancellation slot for both the theory and practical tests.
6. Start Dates and Deposit Refunds: All deposits made online are non-refundable, as when we receive the booking, we are already carrying out work to allocate a driving instructor and book any relevant tests. Due to the effects of corona virus (COVID-19), any delays on starting your course due to instructors having a backlog of customers, will not entitle you to request a refund, we have to prioritize customers who have booked before you and have tests booked. All customers will enter a queuing system with their instructor and begin as soon as a test is confirmed.
The reason that we cannot refund a deposit once it is allocated is that driving instructors are self-employed businessmen and women and cancellation of the course leaves the driving instructor without any income for that week once we have already reserved them for you as requested on booking. Courses may be rescheduled for a later date that you can attend at the driving instructor’s discretion.
Once an instructor has been allocated to you it is your responsibility to follow up on any communications in a timely manner and agreeing a schedule with the instructor to fit in lessons and test.
Due to the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) we expect a degree of flexibility between instructor and pupil, bearing in mind government advice on when lessons can be conducted and test centres being open. Courses may need to be re-arranged due to circumstances out of the instructors, or schools control and there will be no right to request refund of the deposit if coronavirus and its effects on test centres, instructor or pupil health, or start dates based on back log at the test centres or with the instructor is the main factor causing issues, and the Instructor can rearrange the course for a later date.
7. Once a deposit has been received, the pupil has a period of 4 months to complete the course from the date that the pupil has selected on the booking form to begin the course, should we not hear from the pupil for a period of 3 months (e.g. if you have lost interest in completing the course) then any remaining balance is forfeited and test fees lost.
8. Once the course hours have been organised into the driving instructor’s diary, if a pupil then cancels any driving lessons and it is less than one full clear week from the lesson due date, then those lessons will be forfeited and time lost. We cannot rearrange a course once you have agreed the times with the driving instructor at short notice.
9. If a pupil books additional hours with the instructor and then cancels or fails to show, then these lessons will be charged for.
10. When taking a crash driving course, it is not normally possible to drive continuously, therefore, short breaks can be arranged between you and your instructor at both parties discretion, whenever either of you feels that rest is required.
11. Your intensive driving course includes break times and time to hire the car for the practical test and drive you home / back to your agreed meeting point at the end of the test.
12. Smart Bookings Ltd (trading as Intensive Lessons) acts solely as a booking and administrative agent for driving instructors and schools registered with us, who teach intensive and semi-intensive driving courses in the UK. They are subcontracted with our driving school to provide an intensive driving course, with Smart Bookings Ltd providing the administration required for the subcontracted driving instructors. This means that we do not provide any driving courses ourselves and we undertake all our activities on behalf of the individual driving schools or driving instructors. We are paid commission off the customer who books the course for successful bookings.
13. A ‘successful booking’ is when we allocate an Instructor or for test-only bookings - when we provide a test date.
14. All courses are booked and based with advice on average learning capabilities from past client experience and are a rough guide only. No guarantees can be implied by any advisor or instructor. You should be prepared for extra tuition if it is felt that it is required before you are allowed to safely attend the driving test.
15. A practical driving test cannot be booked until the pupil has successfully passed the theory test and we have been informed of the theory pass number.
16. Practical test availability is subject to tests made available by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA). All attempts will be made by us to secure a practical test local to the pupil, however, the instructor reserves the right to choose any test centre they deem appropriate for the pupil. If no test slots become available for the final day of your course then you may save a few hours and return another following week to take your test, once a suitable test slot has been found. Test centres may be closed on weekends and bank holidays. We cannot guarantee a test for any specific day but normally get one at the end of your course week or early the week after if the test centre is fully operational. Please be aware this may require more of your time to complete the driving course at a later date than you originally planned.
16.1. COVID-19 may also cause a delay in booking theory & practical tests because we have to manually contact the DVSA on a case by case basis, to book test dates for critical and key workers, which can cause delays to the course, but unfortunately, this is completely dependent on how quick the DVSA can book your test and you will not be entitled to a refund on that basis. Practical test centres are likely closed until July unless you’re a key worker, in some cases you may have to apply for a key worker test yourself, but we will reimburse the test fee. There will also be more tests cancelled because of COVID-19, in the event your test is cancelled, we will rebook for the next available slot that suits you and the instructor, please note, you won’t be able to ask for a refund if this does happen.
16.2 COVID-19 Please do not start lessons with your instructor until government advice is that driving lessons can be conducted, failure to follow these rules will put yourself or your instructor at risk of prosecution. There are exceptions for key workers, so please keep abreast of the changes on the government website.
17. The contract of the Crash Course / Intensive Course is between the pupil and the driving instructor. Any disputes or claims should, therefore, be taken up with the instructor firstly and not Smart Bookings Ltd, We cannot be held liable for any compensation claim from a pupil, nor can it be held responsible for any traffic violation on the part of the pupil or the instructor. Smart Bookings Ltd acts as a booking agent and is paid on commission off the instructor for successful bookings.
18. The deposit (initial part payment) for the course is payable on booking a course to Smart Bookings Ltd, which is for booking the appropriate tests in advance, searching and reserving you a local driving instructor and for the ongoing administration required. The deposit is not the full balance and is in part commission for Smart Bookings Ltd for providing these services. On failure to pay the remaining balance you will lose deposit and any tests will be cancelled. As we pay for the tests in good faith that the remaining balance will be paid, we reserve the right to cancel the test when payment is not made.
19. The remaining balance of any course is payable to Smart Bookings who will act as an intermediary to the subcontracted driving instructor. The complete payment for the course is required at least a week before the lessons are due to start to ensure that the pupil is intending to go ahead with the course and will not let the instructor down at the last minute.
Failure be able to pay for the course remaining balance a week beforethe first lesson or when requested will result in immediate course cancellation, you will lose the deposit paid.
20. If we cannot allocate you an instructor, we will inform you before the driving course is due to begin. At this point, you may request a refund of the deposit or we will automatically continue to try to allocate your driving course for the next available date. If we're unable to provide an instructor and you decide to switch to a test-only booking, please note that all test-only bookings are charged at £143.
21. In the unlikely event of the instructor’s vehicle breaking down during the course, a refund of the outstanding lesson time and outstanding test fees will be made if an alternative instructor cannot be arranged.
22. Smart Bookings Ltd and your driving instructor cannot be held liable for any losses resulting in course cancellation or test cancellation due to any of the following reasons – driving course or driving test cancellation due to bad weather, for example snow or ice, examiner illness, examiner strike, instructor illness, vehicle breakdown & sudden product recall on vehicles. Where possible your instructor will arrange another date to finish the course off in the event of any of the above scenarios.
23. Please do not make any travel or accommodation arrangements if you are not taking the course with a pick up from home, until the course is confirmed directly with your appointed driving instructor.
24. Please do not book time off work until you have spoken to your appointed instructor and discussed and confirmed your schedule.
25. All bookings are a provisional start date until confirmed directly with your driving instructor. Should an instructor be unavailable for your desired start week, we would automatically search for a start the following week until the course is allocated.
26. If the pupil falls ill and cannot continue the course for any reason, we would look to re-organise the course for a time when the pupil is fit and well again. If you fall ill and need to cancel any lessons without a weeks notice, these hours may be forfeited unless the instructor states otherwise.
27. Whilst instructors will try to be as accomodating as possible, it is the pupils responsibility to ensure they have enough availability to complete the course by the test date.
28. We accept no responsibility if the test is cancelled or delayed by the DVSA. This is rare but can happen if an examiner is unavailable etc. You can apply to the DVSA for a refund of out-of-pocket expenses if the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) cancelled your theory test or driving test at short notice. 'Short notice' means less than 3 clear working days' notice. Working days do not include Sundays and public holidays.
29. Due to the recent development of Corona Virus, if the instructor has to self isolate and the course has to be delayed, then you would not be entitled to a refund, you would rearrange the course when you are both fit and well.
30. If an event arises that causes fuel prices to increase by more than 5% from the time of your course booking date then you may be required to pay a higher remaining balance.
31. If you book a course with the intention of utilising financing for the balance payment but are unable to secure financing then the deposit will be non-refundable.
32. Any physical or verbal abuse towards instructors or customer service staff will not be tolerated and will result in course termination.
The Course.
1. All courses are undertaken with a DVSA registered self-employed instructor is on an individual basis.
2. We do not offer shared courses e.g. 2 pupils in the car.
3. No guarantee can be made of test availability, especially if your theory certificate is about to expire (it is valid for 2 years). In the event that a test cannot be booked for the end of the course, then an alternative test will be offered for a date and time agreeable to the pupil and instructor. No refunds of any monies are applicable in this case. Also, if the DVSA cancels a test for whatever reason, then we cannot be held responsible/liable for the test fee and any lesson time lost, you may need to purchase additional lessons to retake the test. You may be able to claim reimbursement of some lesson time off the DVSA in certain circumstances.
4. Whilst every effort is made to get the pupil to the required level to take the driving test, if it is thought by the instructor that the pupil’s standard of driving falls below the expected standard, then for the health and safety of the pupil, examiner and general public, the pupil will not be allowed to take the test. No refund of either the deposit or any lesson time will be made in these circumstances.
5. All our instructors have been approved or licenced by the Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency.
6. The car provided by the instructor will be comprehensively insured with a reputable insurer. A pupil can request to see insurance documentation from their instructor at any time. Smart Bookings Ltd cannot be held responsible for any insurance-related claims. Any disputes are the responsibility of the instructor. In the event of an accident, the Instructor is liable to cover any insurance costs, unless the pupil has intentionally damaged the instructor’s car, then that will be at the instructor’s discretion.
7. All special offers and course/lesson prices are subject to change without notice and are at the discretion of the company.
8. If a gift voucher is supplied by intensivelessons.co.uk, then the voucher is valid for a maximum period of 6 months from the date of issue. Gift vouchers are to be used by the person, or persons named on the voucher and are non-transferable.
9. All courses non-transferable to another person unless at the discretion of IntensiveLessons.
10. If payment is received by an instructor for a course of lessons and the pupil does not complete the course, then the remaining hours are valid for a period of 1 month if you have to reschedule some of the hours, at the instructor’s discretion. After this time, the lessons and test fees will be forfeited and no refund will be given.
11. Any unused hours may only be refunded at the discretion of IntensiveLessons. The calculation of any refund will be based on the hours unutilised at a rate of £25 per hour.
12. If an unfortunate event occurs where an instructor is declared bankrupt/insolvent and can no longer provide a refund for unused lessons, the responsibility lies with the instructor. We cannot be held responsible if the instructor fails to complete the lessons or refuses refund.
13. In the event we can’t allocate a driving instructor in your local area and we offer you an Instructor in a different area, it will be your responsibility to meet with at a location suitable for the Instructor and pay for any travel expenses.
14. If you decide to find an alternative instructor, even where we can provide you an instructor, this will result in course termination and loss of deposit. Any used tests will need to be paid for seperately and are not part of the deposit. If there are any upcoming tests you will be given the choice of cancelling them or paying seperately to keep them. Any theory tests booked through us are charged at £38 each and practical at £143.
Your obligations.
1. You are able to satisfy the driving test eyesight requirements; you can read a number plate from a distance of 20.5m or 67ft.
2. You satisfy the DSVA requirements regarding residency and eligibility requirements.
3. You fill out the booking form correctly so that we can carry out our administration duties.
4. You make us aware before booking of any health issues either mental or physical, which may affect your ability to perform as expected on an intensive driving course and under possible stressful conditions.
5. You agree the full course hours and make a note of the hours that have been agreed with the driving instructor (minus the final few hours if we need to save some for a driving test to be arranged) on the initial phone call with the instructor. If these are not satisfactory please call us at this point so that we can arrange an alternative instructor or discuss alternatives. If we are notified at the office, once the course has begun that you cannot do certain times and dates, or the instructor cannot complete the course with you in a certain time scale, then we are powerless to try to move the course to another local instructor.
6. You agree to book time off work or make travel or accommodation arrangements to facilitate the instructor if required.
7. You attend your lessons on time. Failure to do so will result in you losing time and the driving school/instructor has no obligation in such circumstances to add time to the end of your lesson. The instructor will wait for a short period of time for a pupil at the agreed meeting point, if you are not in the car at the meeting time, and haven’t made contact with your instructor, we will assume the lesson has been terminated with you and move on to another lesson. The instructor is under no obligation to add this time on at the end of the course and the time will be forfeited.
8. You attend the theory test and practical test on time and take both parts of a valid provisional driving licence with you when you attend. Theory test booking confirmations will be sent via email to the email address you provide for us on your booking form. Failure to attend will result in loss of the test fee and you will have to pay for the next one.
9. You email us, call us or text us with your theory pass number as soon as you pass it so that we can book a practical test on the same day and begin the process of finding you a driving test cancellation.
10. You must not be under the influence of drink or drugs at any time during your course. If we, or a representative of Intensive Lessons, suspect or detect any sign of this, the remainder of the course will be terminated and you will lose all fees paid, both the deposit and any lesson fees paid to your instructor.
11. A professional approach is required by the pupil and no abusive behaviour towards the instructor will be tolerated. The course will be terminated and any monies paid will be forfeited in such an event.
12. You supply on the first lesson a signed provisional driving licence. If you fail to produce a valid provisional driving licence, the driving school/instructor cannot by law permit you to drive a car and accordingly your booking will be cancelled and any fees forfeited.
13. The construction, validity and performance of any contract shall be governed in all respects by the laws of England, Scotland and Wales.
14. If you have an existing theory pass certificate you need to ensure it is valid for at least 6 months from the time of booking. If it is not, you may be required to complete a new theory test in order for us to be able to book your practical test. The deposit would not be refundable in this case.
15. If any delays of longer than 3 months are caused due to your lack of response or failure to pass theory test then we may require you pay difference in course prices if it has increased more than 10% since the time of booking. You agree to pay the difference.
16. If you have paid in full and delays of over a year are caused by your lack of response then you agree to forfeit the full balance.
17. You are required to notify us of any unavailability within 48 hours of booking a course. Failure to inform us within this timeframe, leading to necessary adjustments in your lesson or test schedule, may incur charges.
Privacy
Please click the following link for our GDPR privacy policy >>>> HERE <<<<<
Please read the following in italic if you are taking a theory test during your driving course.
Additional terms and conditions from the DVSA website for your theory test bookings (if required).
You must bring the following with you to your test:
your valid signed GB (or Northern Ireland) photocard licence – the photocard must be presented
or, your old style valid signed GB (or Northern Ireland) paper driving licence and valid passport; (holders of non-UK passports should check that they are eligible to take a driving test here)
It is a legal requirement to produce your licence and photographic evidence. If you do not bring these items with you, or you are late for your test, you will not be allowed to sit your test and you will lose your fee.
Third Party Recommendations
When you tick the box on the booking form, which says your happy to be contacted by recommended partners, this is allowing your data to be passed to third party companies, who may contact you in the future.
Reschedule Policy
If you need to reschedule your test, you must provide at least 20 days notice before your test date, to avoid losing your fee. Do not reschedule any practical tests yourself without prior agreement with us or your allocated driving instructor - failure to agree any changes beforehand may result in course cancellation and loss of deposit. If we need to fast-track the test again then a fee of £35 will be payable.
For any practical test only bookings the date provided may be short notice. If the provided date is not suitable you would need to pay additional £81 for a new date or if you wish to cancel we can only refund the £62 DVSA fee, as long as there is still time to cancel the test. Our £81 fast-tracking fee is non-refundable.
Cancellation Policy
If you need to cancel your test, you must allow at least 10 clear working days before your test date, to avoid losing your fee and any changes or cancellations must be agreed with us beforehand.
If you cancel any lessons, if they are booked within 1 week of the cancellation date they will still be charged for.
If you fail to attend a lesson, it will be charged for.
General Rules
Please turn up at the test centre 15 minutes before your appointment is due so that you can check-in.
All test centres are audio and visually monitored for quality and security purposes.
Personal Items are NOT allowed into a testing room and must be placed in a locker. Personal items include, but are not limited to: mobile phones, earpieces/earphones, laptops/hand-held computers/personal digital assistants (PDAs) and other electronic devices, pagers, handbags, purses, wallets, hats, bags, coats, books, revision notes, dictionaries, notepaper, pens, watches, food and drink.
If you are found with any of the above prohibited items in the testing room, your test will be stopped, you will be asked to leave the premises and will lose your test fee.
Issues / Refunds Policy / Complaints policy
We take any complaint against the service seriously as we aim to provide excellent service throughout. If you feel we have let you down or you feel the need to cancel the course please click the link below to request a refund or lodge a complaint. We have to investigate all matters so please provide as much information as possible. We aim to investigate all matters as quickly as possible so will respond within 7 days, simple matters should be resolved within 48/72 hours. If a refund request is granted through our refunds department, depending on your bank, you will see the refund show up between 5 to 10 business days after we have processed your refund through Stripe. Please note there is a £35 admin fee for any refunds.
Please note that refunds would not be issued to courses which we can allocate to our instructors.
Email us for complaints and refunds at complaints@intensivelessons.co.uk
(Please note, we will only speak to the customer that is taking the course, unless they send an email from the one that appears on the booking form, nominating somebody to represent them regarding the complaint).
If you wish to take your complaint further and through a third party, we will try and oblige as much as we can, but if a complaint can’t be dealt with in house then our stance will most likely be the same.
Many thanks.
Smart Bookings Ltd. Registered in England and Wales under company number: 12746265
