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.
1.1 What these terms cover. These are the terms and conditions on which we supply our services to you. We use the term “you” to mean the individual named in the Pre-Admission Assessment Report (PAAR) unless the individual has an advocate acting on their behalf where “you” refers to the advocate but the individual has the right to receive the services.
1.2 Who do these terms cover. These terms are between us and you.
1.3 Other important documents that relate to you. A PAAR and a financial information form have also been completed in relation to the services we will provide to you. We have provided you with a copy of these completed documents.
1.4 What do these documents do?
(a) These terms – they 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.
(b) PAAR – this sets out specific details of the services and recommendations for your needs.
(c) Financial information form – this sets out the price for our services based on your anticipated needs and anticipated length of stay and who is responsible for paying.
1.5 Why you should read them. Please read these terms, the PAAR and the financial information form carefully as these documents will form a legally binding contract between us – clause 3 below provides details on how and when the legally binding contract will be formed. If you think that there is a mistake in these terms, the PAAR or the financial information form, please contact us to discuss before you pay your deposit.
1.6 Which have precedence. In the event of any conflict between the documents, the PAAR will apply first above the financial information form and then these terms.
2.1 Who we are. We are Steps Rehabilitation Limited a company registered in England and Wales. Our company registration number is 07923565 and our registered office is at Alexander House, 30 Troutbeck Road, Sheffield S7 2QA.
2.2 How to contact us. You can contact us by telephoning our team at 0114 258 7769 or by writing to us at sales@stepsrehabilitation.co.uk or Alexander House, 30 Troutbeck Road, Sheffield S7 2QA.
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 the PAAR.
2.4 "Writing" includes emails. When we use the words "writing" or "written" in these
terms, this includes emails.
3.1 How our contract with you will be formed and how we will confirm your admission. We will issue you with a completed PAAR and a financial information form and a copy of these terms. If you are happy with the details, we will agree an admission date with you and issue you with an invoice for the deposit. You must pay the deposit prior to the agreed admission date. Please note that until you have paid the deposit, your admission date is not guaranteed. Your payment of the deposit constitutes your request for our services and your agreement to these terms. Our acceptance of your request will take place when we confirm to you receipt of your deposit and the date you will be admitted to care, at which point a legally binding contract will come into existence between you and us.
3.2 If we cannot accept your booking. If we are unable to accept your booking for any reason, we will inform you of this in writing and will not charge you for the services and we will return any deposit paid by you. This might be because of unexpected limits on our resources which we could not reasonably plan for.
4.1 What we provide. We provide rehabilitative care and treatment under the supervision and instructions of a healthcare professional (e.g. physiotherapist) and as more particularly set out in the PAAR.
4.2 Our standards of service. We pride ourselves in the high standards of service provided. We are registered by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and as such standards of service will need to comply with their requirements as a minimum. The CQC will also from time to time assess our facility and rate it based on its current assessment criteria.
4.3 What we do not provide. The services that are not included will be referenced in the PAAR if appropriate.
4.4 Consent. By agreeing to these terms, you are giving your consent to us accessing your medical notes held with a general practitioner, healthcare provider or hospital upon our request. You are also giving us your permission to speak to your sponsor, insurer or other parties as and when the need arises.
5.1 You can request a change to the services. If you wish to make a change to the services, please let us know as soon as you can. If the change relates to you going home temporarily or having to stay in hospital or your stay in hospital is extended or any other absence, you need to give us at least 14 days’ prior notice of such change.
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, their timing or anything else which would be necessary as a result of your requested change and issue an amendment form to you confirming the changes to you in writing. If the change relates to any absence and you don’t give us at least 14 days’ prior notice, we will continue to charge you for 14 days’ during your absence because we are unable to allocate your room to someone else at short notice or if your absence is only temporary.
5.3 If you want to go ahead with the change to the services. If you do wish to go ahead with the change, you must sign and return the amendment form to us. By signing the form, you are agreeing to the changes in the services including any price increase detailed in the form. If you do not sign the amendment form but you commence receiving the changes to the services, we are entitled to treat this as your agreement to the changes in the services including any price increase detailed in the form.
5.4 What if a change is necessary? You may have to have a change to the services because, for example, the actual length of your stay is longer than the anticipated length of your stay set out in the PAAR.
5.5 What will happen then? We will let you know as soon as possible about any changes to the price of the services 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 amendment form for you to sign. If you do not sign the amendment form but you continue receiving the necessary changes, we are entitled to treat this as your agreement to the necessary changes in the services including any price increase detailed in the form. If the actual length of your stay is longer than the anticipated length of your stay and you continue receiving our services beyond the anticipated length of your stay, we are entitled to treat this as your agreement to the necessary change to the services including any price increase which will be based on the weekly rates we told you about before you entered into a contract with us.
5.6 Payment for necessary changes. You agree that where a necessary change to the service is required, you will pay for any increase in the price that we have told you about.
6.1 Minor changes to the services. We may change the services:
(a) to reflect changes in relevant laws and regulatory requirements;
(b) to implement minor technical adjustments and improvements, for example to address a security threat. These changes will not affect your use of the services; or
(c) to ensure that the standards of care for the individual is maintained.
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 give you at least 14 days’ prior notice of the change. If you do not agree with the change, you can contact us to end the contract before the change takes effect. You will receive a refund for any services you have paid for after the 14 day notice period but have not received due to you terminating the contract.
7.1 When we will provide the services. We will supply the services to you from the date you are admitted. Our services will be carried out until the end of the agreed duration (including any agreed or necessary extension to your anticipated length of stay) or until either you end the contract for the services as described in clause 8 or we end the contract by written notice to you as described in clause 9.
7.2 We are not responsible for delays outside our control. If our performance of the services is affected 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 and receive a refund for any services you have paid for but not received.
7.3 What will happen if you do not provide required information to us. We will need certain information from you so that we can provide the services to you which we will request from you prior to your admission. We may need further or additional information from you following your admission and 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 consent to obtain this information from a third party, or you provide us with incomplete or incorrect information, we may either end the contract (see clause 9.1) 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.
7.4 Reasons we may suspend the services. We may have to suspend the services to:
(a) update the services to reflect changes in relevant laws and regulatory requirements;
(b) staff sickness/absences;
(c) make changes to the services as requested by you or notified by us to you (see clause 6).
7.5 Your rights if we suspend the services. We will contact you in advance to tell you we will be suspending the services, unless the problem is urgent or an emergency. If we have to suspend the services for longer than 7 consecutive days, we will adjust the price so that you do not pay for services while they are suspended. 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 14 consecutive days and we will refund any sums you have paid in advance for services not provided to you.
7.6 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 (see clause 11.4) and you still do not make payment within 7 days of us reminding you that payment is due, we may suspend supply of all non-essential services until you have paid us the outstanding amounts. We will contact you to tell you we are suspending supply of the services. We may suspend the services where you dispute the unpaid invoice. 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 11.5).
8.1 You may end the contract. 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.
8.2 What happens if you have good reason for ending the contract. If you are ending the contract for one of the reasons set out at (a) to (e) below (which we refer to as a good reason), 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. We may keep your deposit as this covers our costs in preparing for and dealing with your admission. The good reasons are:
(a) we have told you about an upcoming change to the services or these terms which you do not agree to (see clause 6.2);
(b) 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;
(c) there is a risk the services may be significantly delayed because of events outside our control;
(d) we suspend the services or notify you that we are going to suspend them, in each case for a period of more than 14 days; or
(e) you have a legal right to end the contract because of something we have done wrong.
8.3 What happens if you end the contract without a good reason. If you are not ending the contract for one of the good reasons set out in clause 8.2, the contract will not end until 14 days after the day on which you contact us letting us know that you want to end the contract. We will refund any advance payment you have made for services which will not be provided to you but we may keep your deposit as this covers our costs in preparing for and dealing with your admission. For example, if you tell us you want to end the contract on 4 February, the services will stop on 18 February. We will only charge you for services up to and including 18 February and will refund any sums you have paid in advance for services after 18 February (except your booking fee). We may charge you the booking fee and/or 14 days’ base package cost.
9.1 We may end the contract if you break it. We may end the contract at any time by writing to you if:
(a) you do not make any payment to us when it is due and you still do not make payment within seven (7) days of us reminding you that payment is due;
(b) 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 or your consent to obtain information from third parties, or
(c) do not attend on the agreed date of admission.
9.2 You must compensate us if you break the contract. If we end the contract in the situations set out in clause 9.1 we will refund any money you have paid in advance for services we have not provided but we may keep your deposit as this covers our costs in preparing for and dealing with your admission and we may charge you for 14 days’ package cost.
9.3 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 but we may keep your deposit as this covers our costs in preparing for and dealing with your admission.
10.1 How to tell us about problems. If you have any questions or complaints about the services, please contact us and obtain our Complaints Policy.
10.2 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 the service. - 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.
11.1 Where to find the price for the services. The price of the services will be the price set out in the financial information form unless we have agreed another price in writing. We take all reasonable care to ensure that the prices of services advised to you are correct. We may review the price every 3 months and will give you at least 14 days’ notice of any increase in the price – please see clause 6.2.
11.2 Who pays for your treatment. You will be liable to pay for our all services including any changes to the services that we agree with you or are necessarily required.
11.3 When you must pay and how you must pay. We will invoice you at the intervals agreed with you and/or as detailed in the financial information form. We will invoice you at least 3 weeks in advance of the services being provided that we are invoicing you for. You must pay each invoice within 7 calendar days after the date of the invoice (we call this the due date). Payment must be by bank transfer.
11.4 We can charge interest if you pay late. If you do not make any payment to us by the due date, we will send you a reminder. If you have still not paid us within 7 days of 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. We may also suspend provision of non-essential services – please see clause 7.6.
11.5 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.
11.6 Circumstances in which you will have to pay us in addition to the price. In order to protect our legitimate business interests, you agree that (unless we have given our consent) you will not at any time during the term of the contract or for twelve (12) months after it ends, directly or indirectly solicit or entice away (or attempt to solicit or entice away) any person engaged by us in the provision of the services. If you do, you agree to pay us, on demand, twelve thousand pounds (£12,000). This amount is a genuine pre-estimate of the cost of the disruption that such inducement would cause to the efficient conduct of our business.
12.1 We are responsible to you for foreseeable loss and damage caused by us.
(a) 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. 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 our initial meetings.
(b) Our responsibility for foreseeable loss or damage caused by us is limited to a sum of £10 million including damages and reasonable legal costs.
(c) We are not responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable.
12.2 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.
12.3 We are not liable for business losses. We only supply the services for 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.
12.4 We are not liable for any damaged, lost or stolen valuables. We advise you not to bring any of your personal valuables onto our premises. We do not take any responsibility for your valuables and we are not responsible for any damaged, lost or stolen valuables. This includes vehicles parked in the car park. You are advised to take out appropriate insurance to cover any such items.
13.1 How we will use your personal information. We will only your personal information to:
(a) provide the services; and
(b) process your payment for such services.
13.2 Privacy Policy. You can find further details on how we will access and use your personal information (including how long we will retain it for) in our Privacy Policy which you can find here.
13.3 We will only give your personal information to third parties where the law either requires or allows us to do so or with your permission.
14.1 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.
14.2 Rights under this contract. This contract is between you and us. No other person except the individual shall have any rights to enforce any of its terms.
14.3 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.
14.4 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.
14.5 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.