Terms and Conditions

1. OUR STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1.1 What these terms cover.
These are the terms and conditions on which we supply our services to you, including any parts we use when we are providing our services. We use the term “you” to mean the individual (where you are a consumer) or the business (where you are a business).

1.2 Are you a business client or a consumer client?
In some areas, you will have different rights under these terms depending on whether you are a business or consumer. You are a consumer if:

1.2.1 You are an individual.

1.2.2 You are obtaining services from us wholly or mainly for your personal use (not for use in connection with your trade, business, craft or profession).

1.3 Why you should read them.
Please read these terms carefully before you submit your order to us. These terms tell you who we are, how we will provide our services to you, how you and we may change or end the contract, what to do if there is a problem and other important information. If you think that there is a mistake in these terms or your works order or you require any changes, please contact us to discuss.

1.4 Changes to these terms.
These terms can only varied by an agreement in writing between you and us.

2. INFORMATION ABOUT US AND HOW TO CONTACT US

2.1 Who we are.
We are First-Rate Maintenance Limited, a company registered in England and Wales. Our company registration number is 11140667 and our registered office is at 101 Percy Street, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 7RY. Our registered VAT number is 353 7614 89.

2.2 How to contact us.
You can contact us by telephoning our team at 0191 249 6493 or by writing to us at help@first-ratemaintenance.com or First-Rate Maintenance Limited, Preston Avenue, Percy Park, North Shields, NE30 2BE.

2.3 How we may contact you.
If we have to contact you, we will do so by telephone or by writing to you at the email address or postal address you provided to us in your works order.

2.4 "Writing" includes emails.
When we use the words "writing" or "written" in these terms, this includes emails.

3. OUR CONTRACT WITH YOU

3.1 Your works order.
It is important that you provide us with all required information to complete your works order form, whether you are ordering via our website or over the phone.

3.2 How we will accept your works order.
Our acceptance of your works order will take place when we email you to accept it and provide you with confirmation of your chosen date and appointment time. At this point, a legally binding contract will come into existence between you and us.

3.3 Our contract with you.
The contract between you and us will consist of these terms and your completed works order form (including any updates to your works order form). These documents will constitute the whole contract between us and you for the provision of the services.

3.4 Which document takes priority?
If there is any conflict between these terms and your completed works order form, your completed works order form will apply first.

3.5 If we cannot accept your works order.
If we are unable to accept your works order, we will inform you of this and will not charge you for the services. This might be because of unexpected limits on our resources which we could not reasonably plan for, because we have identified an error in the price or description of the services or because we are unable to meet a date or time you have specified.

3.6 Your works order number.
We will assign a number to your works order and tell you what it is when we accept your works order. It will help us if you can tell us this number whenever you contact us about your works order.

3.7 We only sell to the UK.
Our website is solely for the promotion of our services in the UK. Unfortunately, we do not accept orders to provide our services to addresses outside the UK.

4. OUR SERVICES

4.1 The types of services that we provide.
Details of the types of services that we provide are included on our website. We may vary the types of services that we provide from time to time either by adding new services or removing existing services.

4.2 Our services to you.
The scope of the services that we will do our best to provide to you are set out on the works order form. We may change the scope of the services to cover any additional requirements from you which were not included in the original scope of services or, following inspection of your property, to deal with any material situation that was not apparent when the original scope of services was prepared.

4.3 Parts.
If possible during the order process or following inspection of your property, we will tell you if any new parts are required in order for us to provide the services. We can source such parts for you (if required) and will let you know the options (where available) and the price of such parts prior to ordering them for you and using them in the services. We will not be liable to you for any delay in the supply of such parts.

4.4 Transfer of risk and title.
The risk in and title to all new parts shall transfer to you on completion of the services.

4.5 Manufacturer’s warranties.
You shall be entitled to the benefit of any warranty given by the manufacturer of the parts for the period of such warranty as long as the manufacturer agrees that we may transfer the benefit of any such warranty to you and you don’t do anything that you have been told in writing would invalidate the warranty.

5. YOUR RIGHTS TO MAKE CHANGES

5.1 You can request a change to the services.
If you wish to make a change to the services you have ordered prior to the date that we are due to provide the services, please contact us.

5.2 What we will do.
We will let you know if the change is possible. If it is possible, we will let you know about any changes to the price of the services, the timing of supply or anything else which would be necessary as a result of your requested change. We will then ask you to confirm whether you wish to go ahead with the change. If you do confirm that you wish to go ahead with the change, we will email you to accept the change and issue you with an updated works order form.

5.3 No change.
If we cannot make the change or you no longer want to go ahead, you may want to end the contract.

5.4 On arrival at your property.
Once we have inspected your property, we will confirm to you whether or not we are able to provide the services as set out on the works order form. The reasons why we may not be able to provide the services as set out on the works order form may be due to health and safety issues which prevent us from performing the services or because the issue is not as you described it in the works order form. If we are unable to provide the services, we will end the contract. You will be required to pay us an aborted visit fee of £30 + VAT but you will not be required to pay any other fees for the services.

5.5 What if a change to the services is necessary following our inspection of your property?
We will let you know as soon as possible about any necessary changes to the services following our inspection that are required in order for us to provide the services. We will also let you know the likely price of the change and any other changes to the services as a result of this necessary change. We will do our best to let you know this in advance of the change but you agree that in an emergency, this may not be possible. We will formalise the necessary changes as soon as we can by issuing an updated works order form.

5.6 Payment for necessary changes.
You agree that where a necessary change to the services is required, you will pay for any increase in the price that we have told you about.

6. OUR RIGHTS TO MAKE CHANGES

6.1 Minor changes to the services.
We may change the services:

6.1.1 to reflect changes in relevant laws and regulatory requirements; and

6.1.2 to implement minor technical adjustments and improvements, for example to address a security threat. These changes will not affect your use of the services.

6.2 More significant changes to the services and these terms.
In addition, we may make more significant changes to these terms or the services including a change to the price, but if we do so we will notify you and you may then contact us to end the contract before the change takes effect.

7. PROVIDING THE SERVICES

7.1 When we will provide the services.
When we confirm our acceptance of your works order, we will let you know of the date and time-slot during which we will come to your property to provide the services.

7.2 How long will it take to provide the services.
The estimated length of time that it will take to provide the services is as told to you during the order process. This is our best guess at the time we accepted your works order. Once we arrive at your property and have done our inspection, we will confirm whether we think our estimate is correct or whether it is likely to take more or less time to complete our services. We will use our reasonable endeavours to provide the services within the estimated time but you accept that this is an estimate only and we will not be liable to you if the services take longer to provide than we have estimated.

7.3 Standard of service.
We will provide the services using reasonable skill and care.

7.4 We are not responsible for delays outside our control.
If our supply of the services is delayed by an event outside our control, then we will contact you as soon as possible to let you know and we will take steps to minimise the effect of the delay. Provided we do this we, will not be liable for delays caused by the event, but if there is a risk of substantial delay, you may contact us to end the contract.

7.5 If you do not allow us access to your property to provide services.
If you do not allow us access to your property to perform the services as arranged (and you do not have a good reason for this), you will still be required to pay an aborted visit fee of £30 + VAT but you will not be required to pay any other fees for the services. If, despite our reasonable efforts, we are unable to contact you or re-arrange access to your property, we may end the contract and clause 11.2 will apply.

7.6 What will happen if you do not give required information to us.
We may need certain information from you so that we can supply the services to you, for example, your correct address, a correct explanation of the issue, information about your property and any other information that we reasonably ask you to provide during the order process. If you do not give us this information within a reasonable time of us asking for it, or if you give us incomplete or incorrect information, we may either end the contract (and clause 11.2 will apply) or make an additional charge (based on our published half-hourly rates) for any extra work that is required as a result. We will not be responsible for supplying the services late or not supplying any part of them if this is caused by you not giving us the information we need within a reasonable time of us asking for it.

7.7 What you need to do in order to ensure that we can provide the services to you.
You are required to do the following in order to ensure that we can provide the services to you:

7.7.1 ensure that we have full and free access to your Property on the agreed date and time-slot and take all necessary steps to eliminate or remedy any obstructions to or interruptions in the performance of the services;

7.7.2 take all such steps as may be necessary to ensure the safety of our representatives who visit your Property in connection with the services;

7.7.3 inform us in advance of any known hazards or dangers associated with your Property.

7.8 Reasons we may suspend the supply of services to you.
We may have to suspend the supply of a service:

7.8.1 due to staffing shortages or sickness;

7.8.2 to change the way that we can provide the services to reflect changes in relevant laws and regulatory requirements;

7.8.3 to make changes to the services as requested by you or notified by us to you.

7.9 Your rights if we suspend the supply of services.
We will contact you in advance to tell you we will be suspending supply of the services, unless the problem is urgent or an emergency. You may contact us to end the contract for a service if we suspend it, or tell you we are going to suspend it, in each case for a period of more than 7 days.

7.10 We may also suspend supply of the services if you do not pay.
If you do not pay us for the services when you are supposed to (see clause 8.4) and you still do not make payment within 7 days of us reminding you that payment is due, we may suspend supply of any further services to you until you have paid us the outstanding amounts. We will contact you to tell you we are suspending supply of the services. We will not suspend the services where you dispute the unpaid invoice (see clause 8.7).

8. PRICE AND PAYMENT

8.1 How we calculate the price for the services.
How we will calculate the price will depend on the type of services that we are providing.

8.1.1 For most day-to-day services, we will charge for our services on an hourly basis. The charge out rate and hourly rate for such services are set out on our website. The total that we will charge you for such services will be calculated as follows:
(a) charge out rate for attending your property (which includes the first hour of our work); PLUS
(b) a fee calculated on a half-hourly basis (rounded-up to the nearest half-hour) for all time we spend providing the services at your property after the first hour; PLUS
(c) a fee for all parts used in providing the services other than those standard parts carried by our operatives (unless we decide otherwise). We will inform you of the fee for such parts as soon as we can and prior to us using any such parts in the services; PLUS
(d) VAT.

8.1.2 For services that are likely to take longer than a day to complete, we will charge for our services on a daily basis. The day rate for our services is set out on our website. The total that we will charge you for such services will be calculated as follows:
(a) a fee calculated on a daily basis (rounded-up to the nearest day) for each day that we spend providing the services; PLUS
(b) a fee for all parts used in providing the services other than those standard parts carried by our operatives (unless we decide otherwise). We will inform you of the fee for such parts as soon as we can and prior to us using any such parts in the services; PLUS
(c) VAT.

8.1.3 For certain larger projects (such as a new roof or a new boiler), we will calculate a price PLUS VAT for providing the services. We will let you know this price before we start providing the services.

8.2 Estimates and Final Price.
If we can, we will let you know how long the services that you have requested usually take and an estimate of our fees. You accept that this is an estimate only and the final price may be more, depending on how long the services actually take to provide and the parts required. You also accept that we may not be able to provide you with an estimate. We will keep you updated on how long the services are actually taking. You agree to pay the final price that we invoice to you, even if it is higher than any estimate that we provided if you have asked us to continue to provide the services.

8.3 We will pass on changes in the rate of VAT.
If the rate of VAT changes between your order date and the date we supply the services, we will adjust the rate of VAT that you pay.

8.4 When you must pay and how you must pay.
We will invoice you for the cost of services on completion of the services. You must pay each invoice within thirty (30) calendar days of the date of our invoice.

8.5 Our right of set-off if you are a business customer.
If you are a business customer you must pay all amounts due to us under these terms in full without any set-off, counterclaim, deduction or withholding (other than any deduction or withholding of tax as required by law).

8.6 We can charge interest if you pay late.
If you do not make any payment to us by the due date we may charge interest to you on the overdue amount at the rate of 4% a year above the base lending rate of Bank of England from time to time. This interest shall accrue on a daily basis from the due date until the date of actual payment of the overdue amount, whether before or after judgment. You must pay us interest together with any overdue amount.

8.7 What to do if you think an invoice is wrong.
If you think an invoice is wrong, please contact us promptly to let us know. You will not have to pay any interest until the dispute is resolved. Once the dispute is resolved, we will charge you interest on correctly invoiced sums from the original due date.

9. YOUR RIGHTS TO END THE CONTRACT

9.1 You can always end your contract with us.
You may contact us at any time to end the contract for the services, but in some circumstances we may charge you certain sums for doing so, as described below.

9.2 What happens if you have good reason for ending the contract.
If you are ending the contract for a reason set out at paragraph 9.2.1 to 9.2.5 below, the contract will end immediately and we will refund you in full for any services which have not been provided or have not been properly provided. The relevant reasons are:

9.2.1 we have told you about an upcoming change to the services or these terms which you do not agree to (see paragraph 6.2);

9.2.2 we have told you about an error in the price or description of the services you have ordered and you do not wish to proceed;

9.2.3 there is a risk the services may be significantly delayed because of events outside our control;

9.2.4 we suspend the services for technical reasons, or notify you are going to suspend them for technical reasons, in each case for a period of more than 30 days; or

9.2.5 you have a legal right to end the contract because of something we have done wrong.

9.3 Exercising your right to change your mind if you are a consumer.
You have a legal right to change your mind within 14 days of the day after the day we email you to confirm acceptance of your works order and receive a refund if you have paid any money in advance. However, once we have completed the services you cannot change your mind, even if the 14 day period is still running. If you cancel after we have started the services, you must pay us for the services provided up until the time you tell us that you have changed your mind.

9.4 What happens if you end the contract without a good reason.
If we are not at fault and you are not a consumer who has a right to change their mind (see paragraph 9.3) but you decide to end the contract, the contract will end immediately. We will refund you for any services not yet provided unless you cancel less than 24 hours before the start of the time-slot when we are due to attend your property, in which case you will be charged the full fee estimate (or charge out rate if we have not provided an estimate) as reasonable compensation for the net costs we will incur as a result of your cancellation.

10. HOW TO END THE CONTRACT WITH US (INCLUDING IF YOU ARE A CONSUMER WHO HAS CHANGED YOUR MIND)

10.1 Tell us you want to end the contract.
To end the contract with us, please let us know by doing one of the following:

10.1.1 Phone or email. Call us on 0191 249 6493 or email us at help@first-ratemaintenance.com. Please provide your name, home address, works order number and, where available, your phone number and email address.

10.1.2 Online. Follow the instructions in the confirmation email that we sent to you.

10.1.3 By post. Write to us at the address listed above including details of your works order and your name and address.

10.2 Deductions from refunds if you are a consumer exercising your right to change your mind.
If you are a consumer exercising your right to change your mind, we may deduct from any refund an amount for the supply of the service for the period for which it was supplied, ending with the time when you told us you had changed your mind. The amount will be in proportion to what has been supplied, in comparison with the full coverage of the contract. If you tell us that you have changed your mind less than 24 hours before the start of the time-slot when we are due to attend your property, you will be charged the full fee estimate (or charge out rate if we have not provided an estimate) as reasonable compensation for the net costs we will incur as a result of your cancellation. We will consider extenuating circumstances on a case by case basis.

10.3 When your refund will be made.
We will make any refunds due to you as soon as possible. If you are a consumer exercising your right to change your mind then your refund will be made within 14 days of your telling us you have changed your mind.

11. OUR RIGHTS TO END THE CONTRACT

11.1 We may end the contract if you break it.
We may end the contract at any time by writing to you if:

11.1.1 you do not make any payment to us when it is due and you still do not make payment within 7 days of us reminding you that payment is due; or

11.1.2 you do not, within a reasonable time of us asking for it, provide us with information that is necessary for us to provide the services.

11.2 You must compensate us if you break the contract.
If we end the contract in the situations set out in paragraph 11.1, we will refund any money you have paid in advance for services we have not provided but we may deduct or charge you reasonable compensation for the net costs we will incur as a result of your breaking the contract.

11.3 We may stop providing the services.
We may write to you to let you know that we are going to stop providing the services. We will let you know at least 7 days in advance of our stopping the services and will refund any sums you have paid in advance for services which will not be provided.

12. IF THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THE SERVICES

12.1 How to tell us about problems.
If you have any questions or complaints about the services, please contact us. A copy of our complaints policy is available on request. You can telephone us at 0191 249 6493 or write to us at help@first-ratemaintenance.com or First-Rate Maintenance Limited, The Bruce Building, 115 Percy Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RY.

12.2 Summary of your legal rights as a consumer.
See the box below for a summary of your key legal rights in relation to the services if you are a consumer. Nothing in these terms will affect your legal rights.

Summary of your key legal rights
This is a summary of your key legal rights. These are subject to certain exceptions. For detailed information please visit the Citizens Advice website www.adviceguide.org.uk or call 03454 04 05 06.
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 says:
a) You can ask us to repeat or fix a service if it's not carried out with reasonable care and skill, or get some money back if we can't fix it.
b) If you haven't agreed a price beforehand, what you're asked to pay must be reasonable.
c) If you haven't agreed a time beforehand, it must be carried out within a reasonable time.

12.3 Our guarantee in addition to your legal rights.
We offer the following goodwill guarantee which is in addition to your legal rights (as described in paragraph 12.2) and does not affect them. In the unlikely event there is any defect with the services:

12.3.1 if remedying the defect is impossible or cannot be done within a reasonable time or without significant inconvenience to you, we will refund the proportion of the price you have paid for the defective services.

12.3.2 in all other circumstances we will use every effort to fix the defect free of charge, without significant inconvenience to you, as soon as we reasonably can and, in any event, within 7 days. If we fail to remedy the defect by this deadline, we will refund the proportion of the price you have paid for the defective services.

13. OUR RESPONSIBILITY FOR LOSS OR DAMAGE SUFFERED BY YOU IF YOU ARE A CONSUMER

13.1 We are responsible to you for foreseeable loss and damage caused by us.
If we fail to comply with these terms, we are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breaking this contract or our failing to use reasonable care and skill, but we are not responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable. Loss or damage is foreseeable if either it is obvious that it will happen or if, at the time the contract was made, both we and you knew it might happen, for example, if you discussed it with us during the order process.

13.2 We do not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you 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 employees, agents or subcontractors; for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; for breach of your legal rights in relation to the services and for defective services or goods under the Consumer Protection Act 1987.

13.3 When we are liable for damage to your property.
We will make good any damage to your property caused by us while providing services at your property. However, we are not responsible for the cost of repairing any pre-existing faults or damage to your property that we discover while providing the services.

13.4 We are not liable for business losses.
We only supply our services for domestic and private use. If you use the services for any commercial, business or re-sale purpose, we will have no liability to you for any loss of profit, loss of sales or business, loss of business opportunity, loss of agreements or contracts, loss of anticipated savings, loss of use or corruption of software, data or information, loss of or damage to goodwill and/or indirect or consequential loss.

14. OUR RESPONSIBILITY FOR LOSS OR DAMAGE SUFFERED BY YOU IF YOU ARE A BUSINESS

14.1 Nothing in these terms shall limit or exclude our liability for:

14.1.1 death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or the negligence of our employees, practitioners, agents or subcontractors (as applicable);

14.1.2 fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation;

14.1.3 any matter in respect of which it would be unlawful for us to exclude or restrict liability.

14.2 All terms implied by sections 3 to 5 (inclusive) of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 are excluded.

14.3 Subject to paragraph 14.1, the following types of losses are wholly excluded:

14.3.1 loss of profits;

14.3.2 loss of sales or business;

14.3.3 loss of business opportunity;

14.3.4 loss of agreements or contracts;

14.3.5 loss of anticipated savings;

14.3.6 loss of use or corruption of software, data or information;

14.3.7 loss of or damage to goodwill; and

14.3.8 indirect or consequential loss.

14.4 Subject to clause 14.1 and 14.3, our total liability to you for all other losses arising under or in connection with any contract between us, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, shall be limited to the amount paid by you for the services in the calendar year prior to the date on which the claim is made.

15. HOW WE MAY USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

How we may use your personal information.
We will only use your personal information as set out in our Privacy Policy.

16. OTHER IMPORTANT TERMS

16.1 We may transfer this Agreement to someone else.
We may transfer our rights and obligations under these terms to another organisation. We will always tell you in writing if this happens and we will ensure that the transfer will not affect your rights under the contract.

16.2 You need our consent to transfer your rights to someone else (except that you can always transfer our guarantee).
You may only transfer your rights or your obligations under these terms to another person if we agree to this in writing. However, you may transfer our guarantee at clause 12.3 to a person who has acquired any item or property in respect of which we have provided the services. We may require the person to whom the guarantee is transferred to provide reasonable evidence that they are now the owner of the relevant item or property.

16.3 Use of sub-contractors.
We shall be entitled, at our absolute discretion, to delegate the performance of the whole or any part of the services to an agent or subcontractor.

16.4 Nobody else has any rights under this contract (except someone you pass your guarantee on to).
This contract is between you and us. No other person shall have any rights to enforce any of its terms, except as explained in clause 16.2 in respect of our guarantee. Neither of us will need to get the agreement of any other person in order to end the contract or make any changes to these terms.

16.5 If a court finds part of this contract illegal, the rest will continue in force.
Each of the paragraphs of these terms operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful, the remaining paragraphs will remain in full force and effect.

16.6 Even if we delay in enforcing this contract, we can still enforce it later.
If we do not insist immediately that you do anything you are required to do under these terms, or if we delay in taking steps against you in respect of your breaking this contract, that will not mean that you do not have to do those things and it will not prevent us taking steps against you at a later date. For example, if you miss a payment and we do not chase you but we continue to provide the services, we can still require you to make the payment at a later date.

16.7 Which laws apply to this contract and where you may bring legal proceedings if you are a consumer.
These terms are governed by English law and you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the services in the English courts.

16.8 Which laws apply to this contract and where you may bring legal proceedings if you are a business.
If you are a business, any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with a contract between us or its subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims) shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of England and the courts of England shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any such dispute or claim.