Driving Instructor Term & Conditions

CANCELLATIONS: If you cancel your lesson with less than 24 hours notice, you will be liable for the cost of your lesson, however if we manage to fulfil your cancellation with another student you will not be charged, this is not always possible especially if the lesson is cancelled on the day of or an hour before the lesson was due to start. 

If you have a contagious illness such as a heavy cold, cough or sickness bug please consider whether or not you need to cancel your lesson in good time. We work together in a confined space and this makes the risk of spreading illness much higher which could lead to other students having to miss driving tests or lessons due to instructor illness. If you are not sure if you need to cancel please contact us. 

When the instructor arrives for your lesson, they will wait outside, If you have still not arrived or contacted the instructor within 20 minutes, your lesson will be cancelled and charged as above. If you are late for your lesson, your lesson time will be reduced as the instructor cannot be late for their next lesson. You will still be charged the full price of the lesson, as this is considered 'cancelling' part of your lesson with less than 24 hours notice.

STUDENTS: All students are to have a minimum of 2 hours of lessons per month, there is a huge backlog of pupils wanting to learn so we have to be fair on everyone, if you cancel more than 3 lessons without a good reason we may offer your space to another student.

LESSON & TEST SUITABILITY TO DRIVE: You must inform your instructor if there is any reason why you cannot drive safely or legally. This includes the loss of your valid driving licence, and also includes but is not limited to, being under the influence of drink or drugs, including prescribed medication that may affect your ability to drive.

Please ensure that you are medically fit to drive. If you have any medical condition and you are not sure if your ability to drive is affected, please speak with your doctor and the DVLA to report any notifiable medical condition.

You must be able to read a number plate from a distance of 20.5 metres.

Your instructor reserves the right to refuse to take you to your driving test if you haven't told them when your driving test is and therefore they are unavailable, if you haven't moved your driving test date when they advised you to, or if they believe you are not up to test standard and therefore unsafe to be driving their tuition car by yourself on test. Your instructor will discuss this within plenty of time and discuss the options available to you.

If your instructor books your test for you, the test will belong to Class Driving School and we reserve the right to cancel your test at any given time. Once you have paid for your test, the test will then belong to you and we will only cancel or move it upon your request. 

Some learners prefer to do lessons in their own car. This is ok, however you must ensure your car is roadworthy, taxed, has a valid MOT, and is insured for you to drive. Please check your insurance allows your instructor to supervise you in your car. Some insurances will not allow instructors to supervise, or they may have a minimum age limit for the supervising driver. This is your responsibility to check, as if you were to be stopped by the police without an appropriate supervising driver, you may find your insurance invalid and/or you receiving points on your driving licence for driving without the correct supervision. 

Your instructor will do their best to prevent any accidents or damage to your car, however ultimately you are responsible for your car. If you are planning on doing your driving test in your own car, please check your insurance covers this - some don't.  

LESSON INFORMATION: 

Please be ready for your lesson 15 minutes before your lesson time as your instructor may arrive early. 

Please ensure you have been awake for at least 1 hour before your lesson. Tired drivers have slower reaction times and suffer from reduced attention, awareness, and ability to control their vehicles. Research suggests driving tired can be as dangerous as drink-driving.

Please arrive to your lesson with good hygiene and be considerate of other learners who use the car after you.

If the instructor is late to your lesson for unavoidable reasons you will still receive the full lesson time. If we have to cancel your lesson through no fault of our own, for circumstances such as: mechanical breakdown of the tuition car, instructor illness, bad weather which may affect your ability to learn safely, heavy traffic, or the previous pupil’s lesson or driving test has overrun for unavoidable reasons, and it means we cannot arrive at your lesson within good time, we will rearrange your lesson for the next available, mutually convenient, date and time. We will always strive to give you as much notice as possible. 

DRIVING TESTS: Before booking practical Driving Tests, please contact us for an ADI reference number to confirm availability of the instructor. Please DO NOT book a driving test without discussing this with your instructor. We will also need to confirm the readiness of the student driver’s ability for test and for use of the Driving School vehicles. 

ALL students are recommended to pass a Mock Test during a lesson with either their usual instructor or another independent instructor who has been asked to carry out the Mock Test by Class Driving School. 

All students will be expected to be regularly meeting the minimum requirements of the Gov.UK “Ready to Pass” Campaign before a practical driving test can be carried out in any Class Driving School vehicle. 

INSTRUCTOR: If the instructor is late to your lesson for reasons such as the above, you will still receive the full lesson time. If we have to cancel your lesson through no fault of our own, for circumstances such as: mechanical breakdown of the tuition car, instructor illness, bad weather which may affect your ability to learn safely, heavy traffic, or the previous pupil’s lesson or driving test has overrun for unavoidable reasons, and it means we cannot arrive at your lesson within good time, we will rearrange your lesson for the next available, mutually convenient, date and time. We will always strive to give you as much notice as possible.   

AMENDMENTS TO LESSONS: We reserve the right to amend driving lessons if we are unable to keep the appointment in the event of pre-booked driving tests, last minute driving tests. mechanical breakdown, sickness, pre-booked holidays or due to immovable traffic. 

PAYMENTS & REFUNDS: Your hourly lesson rate & 10 hour block booking rate is as agreed at the time of booking. Current lesson prices can be found here: Prices | Class Driving School

All payments are due to be paid 48 hours in advance of the lesson time - unless otherwise arranged with Class Driving School, failure to pay on time will result in your lesson being cancelled and offered to other students. 

 Block booking payments must be made up front and before the first lesson commences.

We accept Bank Transfer, Payment via the Total Drive app or if agreed with the instructor payment can be made in the car by Credit or Debit Card, Apple Pay, GooglePay or Cash. Payment on the day must be agreed in advance with your instructor.

We cannot issue a refund for any lessons already taken. If you are dissatisfied for any reason, please see the Complaints section below.

If you have paid for a block booking and wish to discontinue lessons for any reason, your instructor can refund the remaining hours at the hourly price that you paid for them.

GIFT VOUCHERS: Online payments for gift vouchers expire after 6 months but can be extended if requested within the time limit.

Please telephone or email Class Driving School if you have not received a response from us, or if for any reason we have not been unable to make contact with you within 5 working days of making your online payment. 

PAYMENTS: All payments are due to be paid 48 hours in advance of the lesson time - unless otherwise arranged with Class Driving School, failure to pay on time will result in your lesson being cancelled and offered to other students. 

COMPLAINTS: We hope that you are happy with your driving lessons and instructor, however if you would like to raise a complaint, your first step would be to contact your driving instructor to see if you can resolve it between yourself and your instructor. All of our instructors inform Class Driving School of any complaints made immediately.

Should you not feel able to talk to your instructor, or are not satisfied with the outcome, please contact Claire at Class Driving School on 07878 029279. Claire will do her best to resolve the situation, or can signpost you to the appropriate place if you are still not satisfied. 

ACCIDENTS & THE LAW: Your instructor will make every effort to avoid damage and accidents, and we do anticipate that accidents may happen as you are learning to drive, however if they believe you were driving in a dangerous manner or ignoring their instructions and actual damage is caused to the tuition car, you may be expected to contribute towards the repairs cost (ie. tyres).

Your instructor will make every effort to avoid you breaking the law or committing any traffic offence – you are under their close supervision during every lesson and they may use verbal or physical control such as giving verbal instruction, taking the steering wheel or using the dual control pedals where necessary to avoid dangerous situations or accidents. However, your instructor and Class Driving School cannot accept any responsibility of you breaking the law – this includes speeding, traffic offences, regulations, or laws that you could break whilst driving. Any fines or penalties are legally the sole responsibility of the driver. It is an offence on your instructor's part if they fail to give the driver’s details to the police when asked to provide information as to who was driving at the time of an offence. It is important that you are aware of your legal responsibilities as a driver. If you have any queries, please do get in touch with us.

All of our Class Driving School instructors have Public Liability and Professional Indemnity insurance

DATA PROTECTION: In line with the GDPR by you taking driving lessons with Class Driving School, you automatically consent and agree to us holding your personal information, such as:

- Name, address, contact information, and date of birth

- Driving licence number

- Records of driving progress

- Medical conditions that affect your ability to drive

- Driving test information 

- Pictures taken during driving lessons or upon passing your test (with your permission)

- Receipts of payments

- Etc

We hold your information in line with the Data Protection Act 1998 and GDPR rules.

We hold your information for the purpose of being able to provide good quality driving lessons to you.

Your instructor holds your information securely, which is either locked away securely, or secured on our phones, tablets, or computers which are all password protected.

Your information is stored on the Total Drive app which is kept secure. We use Total Drive to book your lessons, store your contact information, record lesson progress and information, record payments etc. 

We can assure you that we do not pass your information on to anyone without your prior permission and agreement. If there is a need to share your information (such as changing driving instructors and sending your progress to them, booking tests on your behalf with the DVSA etc.), we will inform you first, explain who we are sharing the information with, why we are sharing the information, and ensure that you give us your consent and permission.

Every instructor has dash cams which are always recording external footage and audio for the protection of yourself, the instructor and the public. If your instructor wishes to use any recorded lesson footage for other uses (such as training aids), you will be asked to sign a form.

You have the right to see any information we hold about you. You have the right to ask us to destroy any information we hold about you.

Once you pass your driving test, or if you wish to discontinue lessons with us for any reason;

Your account on Total Drive will be made inactive and kept inactive for 5 years before being permanently deleted. 

The reason we keep records for 5 years is in case you need any of that information again for any reason, and also for our tax and accounting purposes.