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Terms & conditions applying to our services
These are the terms that apply to all business relationships between you, the client, and ourselves, The Writing House Limited. When you ask us to work on a project, you are agreeing to all these terms in connection with our copywriting, public relations and allied services.
Charging for our work
When we give you a quotation for the cost of a project, it will be in writing and identified as an estimate. We base our estimates on the nature of the project and the number of hours we expect it to take, including the likely cost of bought-in or subcontracted goods and services if these are required.
The costs of a project may sometimes vary from the estimated costs in our quotation, for example:
- if you ask for changes during the course of the project;
- if you default, delay or otherwise disrupt the project;
- because of unexpected increases in our overheads or expenses; or
- because of circumstances not reasonably within our control.
We will advise you in writing if this occurs before incurring further costs.
In connection with your project, we will charge you for any materials and services we buy in from outside suppliers. For most bought-in goods or services, we will charge you at cost plus a small handling fee that covers our time in selecting, briefing and managing the purchase. Where the costs are a significant part (more than five per cent) of the overall cost of the project, we will detail them in our quotation if we can. If the need arises after the contract has been placed, we will discuss them with you before we proceed.
If you supply us with information or designs that we use in the supply of our services to you, you accept that we will charge you for any extra work and expenses incurred as the result of any errors they contain.
Other than items required specifically for your project, we provide all the equipment and software we need. The cost of routine business expenses, such as UK phone calls and travel to meetings within 20 miles of our offices, is also included in our fees. However, exceptional expenses such as international phone calls, delivery charges, and 'out of area' travel will be invoiced at cost. Where we think it likely that such costs will be significant (say, more than five percent of our fees and other itemised charges), we have provided a specific estimate in our quotation.
About our invoices
Unless we have agreed a different timetable with you, we will issue
invoices monthly.
You must pay our invoices in full within 30 days of the invoice
date. We may charge interest on any arrears not paid after 30 days,
at the rate of two per cent of the outstanding balance each month
until we have had payment in full.
Any VAT on our fees and other charges that are payable to us or to a third party will be detailed on our invoices.
Acceptance of our work
While we are skilled in communications activities such as copywriting and public relations, we are not experts in your line of business and do not necessarily have a detailed understanding of any specific regulations that apply or of the marketplace in which you operate. For this reason, we will always ask you to check any press releases carefully before they are issued and to thoroughly check other work before it is accepted for publication or use. In confirming your satisfaction with our work, you accept full responsibility for the accuracy of its content and all statements made.
If you do not notify us within two working weeks of any errors in the work we deliver, we will consider it to be complete and invoice accordingly.
Your rights in what we deliver
All copyright and other intellectual property rights in connection with our work on clients' projects belong to us alone.
Once a project is complete and our invoices for it have been paid in full, you have the right - known as a licence - to use our written work and any associated designs and photography we have produced for you for the purpose intended. Different terms may apply where work or materials are bought in from a third party on your behalf.
If you supply us with any work to incorporate into our writing or in connection with the project, it is your responsibility to make sure that:
- you already own the copyright and all other rights in the work; or
- you have the necessary licence or other legal permission to use and reproduce it; and
- our use of it will not infringe any third party rights.
If you do not comply with these obligations, you accept that you will compensate us for any claims, damages, legal action or expenses we face as a result.
Cancellation
We have the right, by writing to you, to cancel any commitments we have made if:
- you break any of your obligations under this agreement; or
- you substantially change or call a halt to a project while it
is still in progress.
If you do break your obligations or if we cancel our commitments, you will immediately be responsible for paying any fees and expenses resulting from us carrying out your instructions up to the date of cancellation.
If you cancel a project at any stage, we may invoice you in full:
- for all the work we have done up to that point, at our usual hourly rate;
- for time we have scheduled to work on your account over the following 30 days; and
- for any costs we face for outside supplies already ordered for
the project.
If you call a halt to a project before it is finished, you have no copyright licence or similar rights in the work we have done so far. Nor can you make use of our work or exploit it in any way.
In the case of ongoing 'retainer' projects for the regular supply of services to an agreed value, you understand that we will programme the project into our schedule for some months ahead and may have declined to undertake work for other clients on the basis of our commitment to you. You therefore agree to give us two months' notice of the cancellation of such projects.
Confidentiality
Both you and we agree to do everything reasonably possible to protect each other's confidentiality where this is required. Because you have engaged us to help tell your employees or others about your business and your new developments, we ask you to specifically identify each piece of information you give us that must be kept in confidence.
Our right to sub-contract
We are entitled to sub-contract any of the work to be carried out on your project provided that this isn't to the detriment of our service to you.
Liability
We maintain employer's liability insurance, public liability insurance and professional indemnity insurance to cover our work. Our liability in relation to the provision of our services will be limited to £500,000, and you must agree to indemnify us against any claim that exceeds this figure.
Once you have approved our work, you will indemnify us against any costs, expenses, damages and demands we incur as a result of any civil claims or proceedings brought against us that arise through its use, including any alleged infringement of intellectual property rights that results from our use of material at your request.
If you let us have any items or material, you do so at your own risk. We are not responsible if they are subsequently lost or damaged.
For the avoidance of doubt …
You are engaging The Writing House Ltd to undertake your project for you, not a particular member of our team. We will, of course, ensure that those who work on your project are fully aware of your needs and have the skills and expertise required to undertake it. In general, the person you deal with day to day will be the person who does the majority of the work.
You will pay us a fee and, if appropriate, for any expenses we
incur on your project. It is our responsibility to pay our staff,
make appropriate deductions for tax and National Insurance and so
on. Should the relevant authorities make any claim against you for
tax or National Insurance payments due with respect to members of
our team, please refer them to us.