Stopcocks Women Plumbers
Terms and Conditions
- THESE TERMS
- What these terms cover. These are the terms and conditions on which we, Stopcocks Group Ltd Trading as Stopcocks Women Plumbers, supply services to you.
- 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 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, please contact us to discuss.
- INFORMATION ABOUT STOPCOCKS WOMEN PLUMBERS AND HOW TO CONTACT US
- Who we are. We are franchisors. The contract for works will be directly between you (the customer) and your Stopcocks Plumber (Franchisee) who is a self-employed, and holds the relevant qualifications and insurance to carry out the requested work in your property. The contract will be governed by the terms and conditions set out below. In the event that we do not have a suitably qualified woman plumber in your area we will contact our sister company Register of Tradeswomen CIC immediately, on your behalf. Any work carried out through Register of Tradeswomen will be subject to RTW’s terms and conditions
- How to contact us. You can contact us by telephoning our customer service team at 0800 862 0010 or by writing to us at mica@stopcocks.uk
- 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 order. When we use the words “writing” or “written” in these terms, this includes emails.
- STOPCOCKS WOMEN PLUMBERS CONTRACT WITH YOU
- How Stopcocks will accept your order. Acceptance of your order will take place when we tell you that we are able to provide you with the services, when the franchisee can provide you with the work you require, and once you accept the estimate of fees or quoted fees and our terms, at which point a contract will come into existence.
- YOUR RIGHTS TO MAKE CHANGES
- If your requirement changes please contact your plumber directly or call our customer service team. They will let you know if the change is possible. If it is possible they will let you know about any possible changes to the price, their timing or anything else which would be necessary as a result of your requested change and ask you to confirm whether you wish to go ahead with the change.
- OUR RIGHTS TO MAKE CHANGES
- If it becomes apparent that there is more work involved than was contracted for, or the work you require differs from that initially contracted for, your plumber will discuss this with you immediately and let you know the new price, their timing or anything else which would be necessary as a result of the change. Only once you confirm whether you wish to go ahead, the contract will be amended with the new agreed terms.
- PROVIDING THE SERVICES
- When we will provide the services. We will supply the services to you from the date we agree with you. The services may need to be provided in stages and if this is the case, we will keep you informed and updated of the stages and arrange dates for the provision of each stage of the service.
- We are not responsible for delays outside our control. If the Stopcocks Group or the franchisee’s performance is affected by an event outside our control then we/they will contact you as soon as possible to let you know and will take steps to minimise the effect of the delay. Provided we/they do this we/they 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 and receive a refund for any services you have paid for but not received.
- If you do not allow access. If you have asked us to provide a plumber to you at your property and you do not allow her access as arranged or they cannot access the requisite area for any reason, there may be a charge for additional costs incurred as a result. If, despite all reasonable efforts, the plumber is unable to contact you or re-arrange access to your property we may end the contract and clause 8.2 will apply.
- What will happen if you do not provide required information. We may require additional information from you in order to provide the services. If this is required, we will contact you to ask for this information. If you do not, within a reasonable time of us asking for it, provide us with this information, or you provide us with incomplete or incorrect information, we may either end the contract (see Clause 8.1) or make an additional charge of a reasonable sum to compensate us for any extra work that is required as a result. We will not be responsible for providing the services late or not providing 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.
- Reasons works at your property may be suspended. We may have to suspend the services to:
- deal with technical problems or make minor technical changes;
- update the services to reflect changes in relevant laws and regulatory requirements;
- make changes to the services as requested by you or notified by us to you (see clause 5).
- Your rights if works at your property are suspended. We will contact you in advance to tell you we will be suspending the services, unless the problem is urgent or an emergency. You may contact us to end the contract if we suspend the services, or tell you we are going to suspend them, in each case for a period of more than 1 week and we will refund any sums you have paid in advance for services not provided to you.
- We may also suspend the services if you do not pay. If you do not pay us for the services when you are supposed to and you still do not make payment within 7 days of us reminding you that payment is due, we may suspend the services until you have paid us the outstanding amounts. We will contact you to tell you we are suspending the service. We will not charge you for the services during the period for which they are suspended. As well as suspending the services we can also charge you interest on your overdue payments (see clause 10.3).
- YOUR RIGHTS TO END THE CONTRACT
- You can always end the contract before the services have been supplied and paid for. 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.
- What happens if you have good reason for ending the contract. If you are ending the contract for a reason set out at (a) to (e) 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:
- we have told you about an upcoming change to the services or these terms which you do not agree to (see clause 5.1);
- 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;
- there is a risk the services may be significantly delayed because of events outside our control;
- we suspend the services for technical reasons, or notify you we are going to suspend them for technical reasons, in each case for a period of more than 1 week; or
- you have a legal right to end the contract because of something we have done wrong.
- What happens if you end the contract without a good reason. If you are not ending the contract for one of the reasons set out in Clause 7.2, the contract will end immediately but we may charge you reasonable compensation for the net costs we will incur as a result of your ending the contract.
- STOPCOCKS’ RIGHTS TO END THE CONTRACT
- We may end the contract if you break it. We may end the contract at any time if:
- 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;
- 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;
- you do not, within a reasonable time, give access to your property to enable the tradeswoman to carry out the work; or
- you are violent, abusive, intimidating or threatening towards us/the tradeswoman.
- You must compensate us if you break the contract. If we end the contract in the situations set out in Clause 8.1, 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. We may also take legal action should your breaking the contract cause significant loss or harm to us which we are not able to settle amicably.
- 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 2 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.
- IF THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THE SERVICES
- How to tell us about problems. If you have any questions or complaints about the services, please contact us. You first point of contact is the plumber providing the services. However, you can also contact us by telephoning our customer service team at 0800 862 0010 or by writing to us at mica@stopcocks.uk. You must tell us about any problem within a reasonable time after the work is carried out. In the vast majority of cases this must be as soon as you are aware of it or less than 6 months after completion of the work.
- Summary of your legal rights. See the box below for a summary of your key legal rights in relation to the services. 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:
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.
if you haven’t agreed a price beforehand, what you’re asked to pay must be reasonable.
if you haven’t agreed a time beforehand, it must be carried out within a reasonable time.
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- PRICE AND PAYMENT
- The price for the services. The price of the services (which includes VAT if applicable) will be at the rate agreed with you before providing the services. We use our best efforts to ensure that the prices of services advised to you are correct. However, due to the nature of the service, prices may need to be adjusted.
- When you must pay and how you must pay. You may be asked to make an advance payment, i.e. a deposit for the materials or services before we start providing them. We will invoice you for the balance of the price of the services when we have completed them or completed a segment / stage of services. You must pay each invoice within 7 calendar days after the date of the invoice. We accept the following payment methods:
- By BACS
- By cheque
- By cash
- 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 the 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.
- What to do if you think an invoice is wrong. If you think an invoice is wrong please contact your plumber promptly to let them 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.
- OUR RESPONSIBILITY FOR LOSS OR DAMAGE SUFFERED BY YOU
- 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. We are also not responsible for any loss or damage which we explained would result in providing the services you required and for which you consented to.
- 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.
- When we are liable for damage to your property. If a franchisee causes damage while she is working on your property, she will make good any damage to your property caused by her while doing so unless (i) damage to your property is necessary to provide the services you required, e.g. the service requires the removal of floorboards or plasterwork which will either be destroyed or which she cannot replace or repair; (ii) she warned you of the foreseeable damage; and (iii) you asked her to proceed with the service despite the risk of damage and loss to your property. Additionally, we are not responsible for the cost of repairing any pre-existing faults or damage to your property that the franchisee discovers while providing the services. We are also not responsible for (i) damage caused by other tradespersons you hire to carry out certain works, (ii) damage or delay caused to our work as a consequence of other tradespersons’ interference with the franchisee’s work or her work spaces on your property.
- We are not liable for business losses. We only supply the 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 business, business interruption, or loss of business opportunity.
- PERSONAL INFORMATIONAND PHOTOS
- How we will use your personal information. We will use the personal information you provide to us to:
- provide the services;
- process your payment for such services; and
- if you agreed to this during the order process, to inform you about similar products that Stopcocks Women Plumbers provides, but you may stop receiving these communications at any time by contacting us.
- We will only retain your personal information within the network of Stopcocks Group and only give your personal information to third parties where the law either requires or allows us to do so.
- Photographs. Your plumber may photograph their work in your home for their own use and sometimes for use in our publicity. If for our publicity we will seek your permission before using it for that purpose.
- OTHER IMPORTANT TERMS
- We may transfer this agreement to someone else. We may transfer our rights and obligations under these terms to another organisation or another franchisee or a plumber from our sister company The Register of Tradeswomen CIC. We will always tell you if this happens and we will ensure that the transfer will not affect your rights under the contract. If you are unhappy with the transfer you may contact us to end the contract within 3 days of us telling you about it and we will refund you any payments you have made in advance for services not provided.
- Nobody else has any rights under this contract. This contract is between you, Stopcocks Women Plumbers and your plumber. No other person shall have any rights to enforce any of its terms.
- 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.
- 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 or 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.
- Which laws apply to this contract and where you may bring legal proceedings. These terms are governed by English law and you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the services in the English courts. If you live in Scotland you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the services in either the Scottish or the English courts. If you live in Northern Ireland, you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the services in either the Northern Irish or the English courts.