Terms and Conditions

These are the Smart Choice Cleaning terms of business and you enter into this Agreement once you make an order for our services by phone, email, in person, or in writing.

All requests and notifications regarding the service must be communicated directly to our office staff. To ensure that communications are logged correctly, contact should not be made via the on-site cleaning staff.

Services

1.      The Contractor provides a full range of domestic and small office cleaning services. The term “cleaning” does not include the removal of oil, paint, varnishes or other such substances.

2.      The Contractor has a 2.00-hour minimum service period and will provide the Client with an estimate before work commences. Any quotes provided by the Contractor, including any description of jobs to be performed, are estimates only and do not represent a guarantee of work to be performed during the contracted hours. The ability of the Contractor to complete the quoted tasks for each service may vary depending on the state of the property; the additional cleaning required or any other factor outside of the Contractor’s control.

3.      Unless specifically directed otherwise, the Contractor will only perform the services during the agreed contracted hours. If the amount of time needed to provide the services differs significantly from the initial estimate, then an adjustment to the price will be necessary. From time to time, the Client may request that the Contractor perform additional work in excess of the agreed hours and in such circumstances, the Contractor will invoice the Client for any additional hours worked. If the conditions in the Client’s home change (i.e., a new pet or additional household members), it may be necessary to revise the service charge.

4.      In addition to the general cleaning services, the Contractor can provide the Client with add-on services such as ironing, interior window cleaning, cleaning the inside of the oven etc. Such services must be requested in advance and additional fees will be incurred when such services are requested.

5.      Upon specific request of the Client, the Contractor can provide carpet cleaning services and pressure washing services, although the Contractor takes no responsibility for this provided service and is not liable for any damage that may be caused by these processes.

6.      The Contractor shall not be liable for failure to carry out work if prevented from doing so as a result of any circumstances beyond the Contractor’s control, such as servant shortage, illness, or unavailability etc. The Client will not be charged for any work not actually undertaken by the Contractor in such circumstances.

Payments

7.      All work performed by the Contractor under this Agreement will be invoiced to the Client based on the number of hours worked and not on any other basis. The Contractor will agree with the Client the number of hours that will be worked and will invoice the Client in accordance with that Agreement.

8.      The Contractor’s charges will be invoiced per calendar month, and invoices are required to be paid on the 15th day of the following calendar month for services provided or on the day of cleaning of a one-off clean. In the event of any payment not being received, the Contractor reserves the right to add compound interest at 3% per week to the overdue sum. The Contractor reserves the right to recover any outstanding debt by way of Petty Debt Court and/or to suspend service until accounts are settled in full.

9.      Payment methods for the charges of the Contractor will be made by direct debit for all regular contracts and by bank transfer directly to the Contractor for all other contracts/services provided. On the occasion Clients may need to pay by cheque, there will be an additional administration fee of £2.00

10.    The Contractor reserves the right to re-evaluate its charges at any time to allow for business-related costs referred to above and shall give the Client 14 days advance notice of any changes.

Access to Property

11.    In order to enable the Contractor to undertake the services, the Client agrees to give the Contractor a key and/or details of any relevant access codes. If the Client has an alarm and if a code is not provided to the Contractor, it is expected that the alarm will be turned off on the days that the services are to be provided. The Client accepts that arrival times may vary due to circumstances beyond the Contractor’s control, such as road works, traffic delays, and parking difficulties.

12.    The Contractor agrees to keep any details of keys and access codes strictly confidential and take all reasonable steps to ensure the security of any physical keys and access codes. The Contractor accepts no liability of any nature for any losses that may arise from the Client’s provision of any key and/or access details and the Client hereby indemnifies the Contractor in respect of any losses that may be sustained as a result, howsoever caused.

13.    If the Contractor is prevented from gaining access to the Client’s property to carry out work as arranged, the time lost to the Contractor shall be considered to be 1 hour per employee involved and the Contractor reserves the right to invoice the Client accordingly.

Breakage/Damage and Rectification

14.    If the Client has a concern regarding the quality of the service provided, he or she is obliged to raise that concern immediately and, in any event, no later than 24 hours of the service being provided. If the concern is justified, the Contractor will arrange for the re-cleaning or rectification of the area under dispute for no additional charge. The Client will remain liable to pay for hours worked by the Contractor providing the initial services (other than those hours spent rectifying the concern), and the Contractor will offer no refund.

15.    The Contractor is insured; however, it shall not be liable for any loss, damage, spillage, or injury arising from the breaking or disintegration during cleaning by the Contractor’s servants or agents of any cracked, defective or broken parts of the property (structure and content) of the Client nor will the Contractor be liable for any loss, damage, spillage, scuffs, scratches, paint discolouration, or injury arising from the general wear and tear resulting from the cleaning by the Contractors servants or agents. The Contractor expects the Client to secure and/or move any items of either extreme monetary or sentimental value and assumes that all surfaces are sealed and ready to be cleaned without causing harm. The Contractor takes no responsibility for items of either extreme monetary or sentimental value that have not been secured and/or moved.

16.    The Contractor reserves the right to take all reasonable steps to make good any damage for which it may be liable under this Agreement in lieu of making payment in respect thereof. Subject to the Contractor taking all reasonable steps to make good any damage for which it is liable under this Agreement, it shall not be liable to the Client for any further compensation.

17.    Where the Contractor is liable to compensate for damaged items, such compensation will be limited to the actual value of the item at the time of breakage and not the cost of a replacement item, the whole in accordance with the principles applied by its insurer. For the avoidance of any doubt, the obligation of rectification and/or replacement is limited only to the actual item or area damaged and not to replacement or rectification of an entire set or workspace. The Contractor is not liable to reimburse replacement items purchased by the Client prior to consent by the Contractor.

18.    If the Contractor provides ironing services to a Client, the Client is expected to provide the Contractor with an ironing board and iron in good working order. The Contractor shall not be liable for any damage caused to items of clothing caused by a defective ironing board or iron nor will the Contractor undertake or be responsible for any haberdashery services in respect of any items submitted for ironing.

Cancellation and Changes

19.    It is a condition of this Agreement that the Client provides a minimum of 24 hours notice to cancel work as arranged. If less than 24 hours notice is given, the time lost to the Contractor shall be considered to be one hour per employee involved and the Contractor reserves the right to invoice the Client accordingly.

20.    The Contractor will not tolerate any form of verbal, physical, or written abuse of its servants or agents and reserves the right to refuse or withdraw its service with immediate effect and without notice.

21.  All cancellations or changes to the original agreement need to be communicated to the Contractor in writing via one of the following options: by email at info@smartchoicecleaning.co.uk; through our cancellation facility at www.smartchoicecleaning.co.uk; or by post to Smart Choice Cleaning, Unit 3, Rocquaine Industrial Centre, Route De Rocquaine, St Pierre du Bois, GY7 9HS

Obligations of the Client

22.    The Client shall provide, free of charge, all necessary electricity, hot water, heating, ventilation, and other facilities, which may be required to enable the Contractor to carry out the work. The Contractor reserves the right to refuse to carry out its services in environments unsafe for working in, including extreme heat or cold. All fragile, breakable and/or high value (whether sentimental or expense) items must be secured or removed before the Contractor provides each service and the Contractor takes no responsibility for any damage caused to such items.

23.    The Contractor uses its own cleaning products and tools and trains its cleaners in the use of those products and tools. If the Client requests that the Contractor use the Client’s cleaning products or tools, the Contractor will not accept liability for any loss or damage arising out of the Contractor’s use of those products or tools in providing the cleaning services.

24.    It is a condition of the Agreement that the Client hereby undertakes that he or she will not during the period of the Agreement or for the period of 12 months after the termination thereof:

a. Refer any person or persons employed by the Contractor to anyone unless the Client refers the Contractor itself; or

b. Offer to give to any person or persons employed by the Contractor any employment similar to his or her employment with the Contractor, the expression “Client” in this context includes in the case of a company its beneficial owners.

25.    If the Client acts in breach of clause 22 above, a fee of £1000 will be payable and will be due within 30 days of notification by the Contractor to the Client.

26.    If the Client is not completely satisfied with the services provided, it must inform the Contractor immediately (and in any event no later than 24 hours after the services were undertaken). Failure to do so will result in the Contractor having no obligation of rectification or replacement subject always to the damage being attributable to the actions of the Contractor.

Liability

27.    No claim against the Contractor in respect of alleged negligence of the Contractor, its servants or agents, or any alleged defect in the Contractor’s plant, machinery or materials or in respect of any other matter shall be valid unless the Contractor receives notice in writing thereof at its Registered Office within seven days after the happening of the event giving rise to the claim. Unless notified otherwise, any claim will be referred directly to the Contractor’s insurer for assessment. Clients are expected to provide photographic evidence where possible.

28.    The Contractor undertakes to be fully insured in respect of the Employer’s Liability.

29.    The liability of the Contractor in respect of any one claim or series of claims successfully brought against the Contractor in a Court of Law and arising from any one incident involving negligence of itself, its servants or agents, or through any defect in its plant or machinery shall be limited to the sum of £5,000,000.

Confidentiality and Data Processing

30.    The Contractor recognises that this Agreement creates a confidential relationship between the Contractor and the Client and that information relating to the Client’s affairs may become known to the Contractor and/or its servants during the term of this Agreement. The Contractor agrees to, and to ensure its servants agree to, keep confidential any personal data regarding the affairs of the Client and not to disclose such information to any other person except as described in the Privacy Notice set out below or as otherwise required by law.

31.    The Client recognises that the Contractor may be required to collect and process personal data relevant to the Client and hereby agrees to the collection and processing of any personal data for the purposes of administering the Contractors obligations under this Agreement and as described in the Privacy Notice set out below. For the purposes of clauses 28 and 29, the terms “process” and “personal data” are in accordance with the Data Protection (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2017.

Variation

32.    The Contractor reserves the right to amend these terms for any reason and will provide the Client with no less than seven days advance notice of any changes to these terms.

Termination

33.    The engagement of the Contractor under this Agreement shall continue unless and until determined by not less than 14 days’ notice in writing given by either party to the other. Termination by the Contractor of its engagement under this Agreement shall be without prejudice to its rights against the Client for failure to pay the Contractor’s charges.

Governing Law and Disputes

34.    This contract and the arrangements referred to therein are subject to the laws of Guernsey and any disputes arising out of this contract or the arrangements referred to therein shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts and tribunals of Guernsey.

Privacy Notice

Smart Choice Cleaning Ltd. (referred to as “Contractor” in the above Conditions of Contract, and “we”, “us” and “our” below) is committed to protecting the privacy of all the individuals we deal with and will treat your information confidentially in accordance with this Privacy Notice. Please read this Privacy Notice carefully.

Who we are:

This Smart Choice Cleaning business is locally owned and operated by us in Guernsey. We are responsible for protecting the personal information you provide to us when you use our services. If you have any questions about how we use your personal information or wish to access, update or request that we delete your personal information, please contact us using the details provided below.

What personal information we collect and why:

The personal information we collect from you includes your name and contact details. It will also include information about the transactions you undertake with us, and the details of the payment card(s) you use to pay us. We collect this information when you contact us, and when we provide you with our services. The personal information we collect is used to administer our records and to provide you with our services.

Please note that we enter the personal information you give to us onto a database maintained in Guernsey (the “Smart Choice Cleaning” database). This enables us to keep an electronic record of your details, to have ready access to your information, to efficiently provide you with our services and to comply with any statutory, regulatory or reporting obligations to which we are subject. The personal information we enter into the Smart Choice Cleaning database is also used for direct marketing purposes (this is explained below), and to enable the Contractor to generate anonymous statistics about the use of our services and to comply with any statutory, regulatory or reporting obligations to which it is subject.

Direct marketing:

In accordance with your marketing preferences, we may use your personal information to contact you by post, phone or email with information about our services. If you would like to change your marketing preferences (for example, to stop receiving information about our services), you can contact us at any time at info@smartchoicecleaning.co.uk.

Who may access your personal information?

We may disclose the personal information we collect from you:

• to third parties that provide services on our behalf and under our instruction (such as IT service providers); and

• to third parties when we request that we share such information and you permit us to do so.

We may also disclose your personal information where we believe it is required by law or regulation, where necessary to exercise, establish or defend legal rights, or where disclosure is necessary to protect your vital interests or those of another person.

International transfers:

Please note that some of the recipients of your personal information referred to above are situated in countries located outside of the European Economic Area (“EEA”). Countries outside of the EEA may not have laws that offer the same standards of data protection as those inside the EEA, although your personal information will at all times be treated in accordance with this Privacy Notice.

Your rights:

You have the right to access, correct and update any of your personal information that we hold. You can exercise any of these rights by contacting us using the details provided at the outset of the Privacy Notice.

Contacting the Regulator

If you feel that your data has been handled incorrectly or you are unhappy with our response to any requests you have made to us regarding the use of your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the data protection regulator – The Office of the Data Protection Authority (ODPA). You can contact them for advice by writing to:

The Office of the Data Protection Authority
Block A
Lefebvre Court
Lefebvre Street
St Peter Port
GY1 2JP

You can also telephone (01481) 742074 or email info@opda.gg, or you can submit a complaint online at www.odpa.gg and complete the ‘make a complaint’ section.