Terms & Conditions

Before we start lessons, let's make sure we're on the same page. Here are my policies on lessons, cancellations, refunds, and test readiness — how I work, what you can expect, and what I’ll need from you to keep lessons running smoothly.

If you are under 18, a parent or guardian must sign on your behalf and act as your guarantor — please read these Terms & Conditions together so you’re clear on what’s expected of you as a learner driver.

Driving Lessons

If you hold a provisional licence, you are enrolling in a comprehensive Learner Driver Course designed to help you build the skills and experience needed to become a safe, confident, and independent driver.

Before your first lesson: you must generate a licence check code at https://www.gov.uk/view-driving-licence^➚ and send it to Kat via WhatsApp or email, along with a clear photograph of your driving licence. Your instructor will use this information to check the status of your licence with the DVLA.

You MUST:

• Be able to read a number plate from a distance of 20 metres. If you need glasses or contact lenses to do this, you must wear them at all times while driving.
• Wear suitable footwear and clothing that allows you to move freely during lessons.
• Ensure that you are medically fit to drive. If you have a medical condition or take medication and are unsure if it affects your ability to drive, please speak to your doctor. Any notifiable medical condition must be reported to the DVLA.
• Inform your instructor of any reason you may not be able to drive safely or legally. This includes (but is not limited to):
  • Loss or expiry of your driving licence.
  • Illness or injury that could affect your control of the vehicle.
  • Being under the influence of alcohol or drugs (including medication) that may affect your ability to drive.

Some clients prefer to take lessons in their own car. For safety reasons (due to the lack of dual controls), this is at your instructor’s discretion. If agreed, you must:

• Ensure your car is roadworthy, taxed, has a valid MOT, and is insured for you to drive.
• Check that your insurance permits your instructor to supervise you. Some insurers do not allow professional instructors to supervise lessons on your personal insurance. This is your responsibility to check.
• Take full responsibility for your car’s condition and the safety of any passengers. While your instructor will do their best to prevent accidents or damage, you are ultimately responsible for your vehicle.

Lesson Slots:

• The minimum lesson length is 2 hours, with longer sessions of 3, 4, and 5 hours also available. Breaks are structured as follows:
  • 2- and 3-hour sessions include any short comfort breaks as needed, taken within the booked lesson time.
  • 4- and 5-hour sessions include a midway lunch break (around 45–60 minutes) at no extra cost. This break is in addition to your paid lesson time — you still receive the full 4 or 5 hours of tuition.
• Some longer sessions are required later in the course to cover topics that involve travelling further afield, such as using slip roads, dual carriageways, route-planning, and driving in unfamiliar areas.

Payments, Cancellations and Refunds

Payments are due in advance — by bank transfer or standing order

• New clients, one-off bookings or intensives: Payment is due at the time of booking.
• Regular clients:
• Ongoing payments are due (at the latest) 7 days before your booked session.
• If you’ve booked more than one session in a week, payment for the full week is due 7 days before the first session.
• Prices may occasionally change (usually annually) with advance notice. Any prepaid credit will be honoured at the previously agreed rate.

If you need to cancel, postpone or rearrange a lesson

Please give as much notice as possible. To avoid cancellation charges, follow the policy below:

• Notice period: With at least 3 full days’ (72 hours) notice, I’ll refund or reschedule the first 2 hours of cancelled lesson time in any rolling 7-day period.
• Cancelling more than 2 hours in a 7-day period (intensive, longer or multiple sessions): I’ll do my best to rebook the extra time — the earlier you cancel, the more likely I'll be able to refund or reschedule the additional cancelled time.
• Late cancellations: With less than 3 days’ notice, the lesson is non-refundable. I may offer to reschedule (at my discretion) if I’m able to fill the cancelled time.
• Regular cancellations or late payments may result in your place being offered to another learner.
• Unpaid lessons: Lessons cannot go ahead without payment. If you haven’t paid or cancelled in time, the lesson will be treated as a late cancellation. The fee must be paid before any further bookings.
• No-shows: If you’re not at the pick-up point when I arrive, I’ll call or text you. If there’s no response within 15 minutes, the lesson may be treated as a late cancellation.
• Lateness: If you’re late, your session will be shortened accordingly. The full fee still applies.
• Instructor delays: If I’m running late (e.g. due to traffic), you’ll receive your full session time, or the missed time will be added to a future lesson.
• Instructor cancellations: If I need to cancel due to illness, car issues, or extreme weather, I’ll reschedule the session at the next mutually convenient time.
• Unfit to drive: If you arrive in an unsafe physical or mental state, your lesson may be aborted and charged as a late cancellation. I may instead offer a theory-based session or invite you to learn from the passenger seat, depending on the situation.
• Unsafe or inappropriate behaviour: If your behaviour is unsafe or threatening, I may cancel the lesson with no refund and end further instruction.

Refunds are issued by bank transfer

• You’ll need to provide your bank details (name on the account, sort code, and account number) via WhatsApp, SMS or email. These will be stored securely and used only for refund purposes.
  • Please note: If you don’t provide your bank details, your refund cannot be processed.
• If you pass your test or decide to stop lessons, any remaining credit will be refunded.
• If you’re continuing lessons, you can request a refund of any unused credit at any time (excluding already booked sessions).
• Refunds cannot be issued for sessions that have already taken place.

Passengers

There may be times when your instructor is accompanied by a passenger during your lesson.

• This is usually for training and monitoring purposes, such as an instructor, trainee, or mentor observing the session to support their own or your instructor’s professional development.
• Your instructor will give you advance notice, explain who the passenger is and why they are attending, and check that you are happy to proceed with someone observing the lesson.
• Having an extra person in the car adds a unique dynamic to lessons and helps prepare you for driving with different people in the car—such as the examiner on your test.

Your instructor may also offer opportunities to team up with other students at a similar stage, for a reduced fee. This might be for parts of the syllabus where longer sessions are required, or to practise driving with passengers on board.

• These team-up opportunities are entirely optional, and always at the discretion of both the instructor and the students involved.
• If agreed, your instructor will share your first name and surname with other suitable students who are also interested. This is to check for any personal connections or potential conflicts. You may decline to share a lesson with someone for any reason.
• Driving time will be shared equally between the students.
• This approach offers the benefit of collaborative learning—both as the driver and as a rear-seat observer.
• The standard cancellation policy applies. If one student cancels with sufficient notice, the other(s) will be given options for continuing the session with adjusted time or fees. If a student cancels at short notice, they remain liable for their reduced lesson fee, and the session will go ahead with the remaining student(s).

Where safe, legal, and appropriate, real-life driving experiences, such as carrying passengers or running errands, may form a valuable part of your lessons. Students are welcome to bring passengers, including children, with the instructor’s agreement.

• If you wish to run an errand during your lesson and your instructor deems it appropriate, it will count as part of your lesson time.
• All passenger arrangements must be agreed in advance with your instructor.
• Passengers under 18 must have parental permission. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure this.
• Children brought on lessons remain the responsibility of the parent or guardian.
• Parents must provide any legally required child seats or restraints.
• If children are on board, the lesson may include extra breaks or finish early if the instructor or student feels it’s needed. These adjustments form part of the scheduled time, and the full lesson fee still applies.

Driving Tests

DVSA-Approved Driving Instructors have a professional responsibility not only to their students but also to the safety of everyone else on the road. The goal isn’t just to help you pass your test, but to support you in becoming a capable, adaptable, and safety-conscious driver. You’ll be considered ready for test when your driving consistently reflects the level of competence and independent decision-making needed beyond test day itself.

• If your instructor books your driving test for you, the test will initially belong to them. They have the right to cancel or move the test at any point. Once you’ve paid for the test, ownership transfers to you—after which your instructor will only move or cancel the test with your agreement.
• Your instructor may decide not to take you to your driving test or may withhold the use of their car for the test if:
  • You book a test without checking their availability and they are already committed on that date.
  • They believe your driving isn’t yet at test standard or that you’re not fully ready to drive independently. In this case, they’ll explain why and discuss your options well in advance.

If you plan to take your test in your own car:

• Check that your insurance covers you for the practical test. If not, there are temporary insurance policies that cover just the test itself.
• If you pass, you’ll instantly become a full licence holder—which may mean your provisional insurance is no longer valid for the journey home. Check with your insurance provider beforehand and plan ahead to either:
  • Bring someone else (who is insured) to drive you home, or
  • Arrange to change your insurance on the spot, or take out short-term cover before setting off.

Collisions, Traffic Offences, and Legal Obligations

• Penalties: Your instructor will take reasonable steps to prevent you from breaking the law or committing traffic offences. Throughout every lesson, they supervise you closely and may intervene verbally or physically (e.g. by taking the steering wheel or using the dual controls) to avoid dangerous situations or collisions. However, it’s important to understand that you are still legally responsible for your actions as a driver.
  • Your instructor and their associated driving school cannot accept liability for any offences committed while you are driving. This includes speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or any other breach of driving laws or regulations.
  • Any fines, penalties, or legal consequences arising from driving offences are the sole responsibility of the driver — including provisional licence holders.
  • It is a legal offence for your instructor to fail to provide driver identification to the police if required in relation to an offence.
• In the event of a collision: Your instructor will handle insurance matters and provide any required details as the registered keeper and policyholder. As the driver at the time, you are also legally required to give your name and address to anyone with reasonable grounds to ask—such as another driver, a property owner, or the police. Your instructor will provide your details to their insurer and the police where required under standard procedure.

Data Protection

• In line with the UK GDPR, by taking driving lessons with Kat, you consent to us (your instructor and their associated driving school) holding your personal information, such as:
  • Name, address, contact information, date of birth
  • Driving licence number
  • Records of driving progress
  • Medical conditions that affect your ability to drive
  • Driving test information
  • Pictures taken (with your permission) during driving lessons or upon passing your test
  • Receipts of payments
  • Bank account details (e.g. sort-code, account number) for processing refunds.

• Your information is held in line with the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR rules.
• Your information is held 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 a phone, tablet, or computer, which are all password protected.
• Your information is stored on the instructor app which is kept secure. The app is used to book your lessons, store your contact information, record lesson progress and information, and record payments, etc.
• Except in cases where the law or insurance claims demand it (e.g. for traffic offences, as outlined above under Accidents & The Law), your information will not be passed on to anyone without your consent. If there is a need to share your information (such as changing driving instructors and sending your progress to them, or booking tests on your behalf with the DVSA), we will explain who we wish to share the information with and why, what information will be shared, and ask for your consent.
• The tuition car has a dash-cam which records external and internal footage and audio for the protection of yourself, the instructor and the public.
  • If, whilst in the tuition car, you are involved in or witness a traffic accident or any other incident or crime, this footage will be passed on to the relevant parties and authorities (such as insurance, police, etc.)
  • Any such downloaded footage will be kept securely under guidance from the insurance company or police, until such a time that it is no longer required.
  • Lesson footage may also be shared with relevant training providers for monitoring and training purposes.
  • Non-downloaded dash-cam footage automatically overwrites itself on a loop once the SD card is full. The SD card is also wiped of all data and reformatted at least once every 3 months.
  • If your instructor wishes to keep and use any recorded lesson footage or photographs for other purposes (e.g. as a training aid, for advertising purposes, or posting driving test passes to social media), your permission will be sought.
• 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 the instructor app will be made inactive and kept inactive for a maximum of 7 years before being permanently deleted.
  • Records are kept for 7 years in case you need any of that information again for any reason, and also for tax and accounting purposes.
• Kathryn Tomkinson is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office, reference C1286687

Comments, Queries & Complaints

If you have any questions about these terms and conditions, or about your driving lessons or course content, please contact Kat and she will be happy to discuss these with you.

Contact
Kat Tomkinson Text Message: 07450977667 Email: drivinginstructorkat@gmail.com Facebook: facebook.com/drivinginstructorkat

Acceptance

By signing this document:

• You are confirming that you are 18 years of age or over and have read, understood and agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions.
• If you are a parent/guardian acting on behalf of a minor (student under the age of 18), you accept liability for any breaches of contract by the student, and agree to act as the student’s guarantor with regard to payments due or any monies owed.

Upon signing up for lessons with Kat, you will be sent a digital copy of these Terms & Conditions to be signed electronically.