Terms and conditions

These terms and conditions ("terms") apply when you create an account, book a driving lesson, buy a package of lesson hours, or otherwise use the Blitz Driving School website at blitzdrive.co.uk and its booking app (together, the "service"). Please read them carefully. By creating an account or making a booking you agree to them.

They are written in plain English. Nothing in them affects your statutory rights as a consumer, including your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

#1. About us

1.1 The service is provided by Blitz Driving School ("we", "us", "our").

1.2 You can contact us using our contact page. If we need to contact you, we'll use the email address or mobile number on your account.

#2. Who can use the service

2.1 To book driving lessons you must:

• (a) be at least 17 years old on the date of your first lesson (or 16 if you receive, or have applied for, the enhanced rate of the mobility component of Personal Independence Payment);
• (b) hold a valid provisional (or full) driving licence for the category of vehicle you're learning in, and bring it to every lesson;
• (c) meet the legal eyesight standard for driving, using glasses or contact lenses if you need them;
• (d) not be disqualified from driving; and
• (e) have told DVLA about any medical condition you're legally required to declare.

2.2 You must tell us, and your instructor, before a lesson if any of these stops being true. You must not take a lesson if you're unfit to drive.

2.3 If you're under 18, please ask a parent or guardian to read these terms with you. If someone else pays for your lessons, these terms still apply to you as the person learning to drive.

#3. Your account

3.1 You must give us accurate information and keep it up to date, including your name, contact details, pickup postcode and anything your instructor should know to teach you safely.

3.2 You sign in with a one-time code sent to your email or mobile, or with a passkey. Keep access to your email, phone and devices secure. You're responsible for activity on your account unless it happens because of our failure to take reasonable care.

3.3 We may suspend or close your account if you seriously or repeatedly break these terms, behave abusively or dangerously towards our instructors or staff, or use the service fraudulently. If we do, we'll refund any money you've paid for lessons that haven't taken place, except where clause 7 or our cancellations and refunds policy says otherwise.

#4. Booking lessons

4.1 You book lessons through the app. A booking is a request for a lesson at a particular date, time, length and pickup place, in a manual or automatic car.

4.2 How a contract is made. Our contract with you for a lesson is made when we confirm your booking in the app. If a payment is due when you book, the contract is made when that payment succeeds.

4.3 Instructors. Lessons are given by self-employed driving instructors who work with us. Every instructor is approved by DVSA: either a fully qualified approved driving instructor (ADI) or a trainee instructor holding a DVSA trainee licence. We choose an instructor who covers your pickup and teaches in your type of car. We'll tell you who your instructor is, and whether they're an ADI or a trainee, once the lesson is confirmed. If you'd rather not be taught by a trainee, tell us and we'll find you a different instructor. You can ask for the instructor from your last lesson, but we can't guarantee a particular instructor.

4.4 If we can't find an instructor for a lesson, we'll tell you and cancel it, and give you back everything you paid for it, in line with our cancellations and refunds policy.

#5. Prices and payment

5.1 The price of each lesson is shown in the app before you book. Prices include VAT where it applies. The price of a booking won't change after it's confirmed.

5.2 Depending on how we take payment at the time, you may pay the full price when you book, pay a deposit when you book and the rest later, or pay once your instructor is confirmed. The app always shows what's due and when.

5.3 We take card payments through our payment provider, Stripe. We never see or store your full card details. Where we tell you that you can pay us another way (for example by bank transfer or cash), the app records what you owe, and it's due by the time shown.

5.4 If a payment that's due isn't made by the deadline shown in the app, we may cancel the lesson. Our cancellations and refunds policy explains what happens to any money you've already paid.

5.5 Lesson packages and credit. If you buy a package of hours, the hours are added to your account as lesson credit for the type of car you chose (manual or automatic). Credit is used to pay for lessons in that type of car and can't be exchanged for cash except as our cancellations and refunds policy allows. Credit is personal to you and can't be transferred. It doesn't expire unless we tell you otherwise before you buy.

#6. Changes and cancellations

6.1 You can cancel a lesson in the app. What you get back depends on when and why a lesson is cancelled, as set out in our cancellations and refunds policy, which forms part of these terms.

6.2 You have a legal right to cancel a contract made online within 14 days. Our cancellations and refunds policy explains how this right works for lessons and packages.

6.3 We may need to cancel or move a lesson, for example if an instructor is ill, the car breaks down, or weather or road conditions make it unsafe. If we cancel, you get back everything you paid for that lesson, or we can rebook it at a time that suits you.

#7. During your lessons

7.1 Your instructor is responsible for your safety during a lesson and will check your driving licence before you drive. Your instructor may refuse to start a lesson, or may end it early, if:

• (a) you don't have your driving licence with you, or it isn't valid;
• (b) you can't meet the eyesight standard;
• (c) they reasonably believe you are under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or otherwise unfit to drive; or
• (d) your behaviour puts anyone's safety at risk.

In these cases the lesson is treated as a late cancellation by you (see our cancellations and refunds policy).

7.2 If you're late, your instructor will wait, but the lesson will still end at its booked time. If you're not at the pickup place within 15 minutes of the start time and haven't contacted us, the lesson may be treated as a late cancellation.

7.3 You must follow your instructor's reasonable instructions, wear a seatbelt, and drive within the law.

7.4 Lessons may be given in a car with dual controls. Your instructor may use them when needed for safety.

#8. Driving tests

8.1 You're responsible for booking your theory and practical tests with DVSA and paying DVSA's fees, unless we agree otherwise in writing.

8.2 Your instructor will advise you when you're ready for your practical test. If you want to take your test in your instructor's car, this is subject to your instructor's agreement. An instructor may refuse if they reasonably believe you're not yet ready to drive safely to test standard, as taking a test unprepared can put you and others at risk.

8.3 Any lesson you book for the time of your test is a lesson like any other under these terms. DVSA's own rules apply to the test itself, including if DVSA cancels or moves it.

#9. Our responsibility to you

9.1 We will provide our services with reasonable care and skill, as the law requires.

9.2 If we fail to comply with these terms, we're responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breach or our failure to use reasonable care and skill. Loss or damage is foreseeable if it's obvious it will happen, or if, when the contract was made, both we and you knew it might happen.

9.3 We don't exclude or limit our liability where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or the negligence of our instructors, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, and for breach of your legal rights as a consumer.

9.4 We supply the service for private, domestic use. Subject to clause 9.3, we're not responsible for business losses, such as loss of profit, loss of business or business interruption.

9.5 We can't guarantee that you'll pass your driving test, or that you'll be test-ready after any particular number of lessons. How quickly people learn varies.

#10. Using the website and app

10.1 You may use the website and app only for lawful purposes and in line with these terms. You must not try to get unauthorised access to the service, interfere with it, or use automated means to access it.

10.2 The service is for arranging driving lessons. You must not use it to contact instructors to arrange lessons outside the service, and you must not harass or abuse anyone through it.

10.3 We try to keep the service available and accurate, but we can't promise it will always be available or free from errors. Our guides are general information and are not legal advice: always check the latest official rules on GOV.UK.

#11. Your personal information

We use your personal information as set out in our privacy notice.

#12. Complaints

If you're unhappy with anything we've done, please tell us. Our complaints policy explains how we'll deal with it.

#13. Changes to these terms

We may change these terms from time to time, for example to reflect changes in the law or in how we provide the service. The version that applies to a booking is the one in force when the booking was made. If we make changes that affect you, we'll tell you before they take effect. Changes won't affect bookings you've already made, unless the law requires it.

#14. Other important terms

14.1 We may transfer our rights and obligations under these terms to another organisation. We'll tell you if this happens, and it won't affect your rights.

14.2 You may not transfer your rights under these terms to anyone else without our written agreement.

14.3 If a court decides that part of these terms is unlawful, the rest will continue in force.

14.4 If we don't insist on something straight away, we can still require it later.

14.5 Nobody else has any rights under these terms, except that a person who has paid for your lessons may enforce our refund obligations in relation to that payment.

#15. Governing law

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. You can bring legal proceedings in the courts of England and Wales. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you can also bring proceedings in your local courts.