Terms and Conditions of Business
By agreeing a Project Contract with me (Sarah Seymore t/a The German Copywriter) you (the Client) acknowledge receipt of and agreement with these terms and conditions.
These terms and conditions are designed to make working with me as easy and straightforward as possible. There is some legal terminology due to the nature of the document. Please get in contact if you have any queries.
General
These terms and conditions apply to the Project Contract agreed by you and me.
I confirm that I am self-employed, am responsible for my own income tax and National Insurance contributions, am not VAT-registered and will not claim benefits granted to the Client’s employees (if applicable).
I will fulfil the Project as agreed in writing by you and me in the Project Contract, and will complete the Project myself at such times and places as determined by me, using my own equipment. No part of the Project will be sub-contracted out.
Commencement of Work
Before your Project is undertaken, I require a confirmation email, stating:
- Your full name and billing address
- You have read and agree to my terms and conditions
- You are authorised to commission the Project
- You agree to my fees.
No work will be undertaken until the cost has been accepted so failure to respond may slow down turnaround of the work.
Under the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998 you and I may keep on record contact details and other data as is necessary. Either may view the other’s records to ensure that they are relevant, correct and up to date.
Expenses
Any reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in completing the Project, including postage, travel, meeting time, and stationery, will be itemised on my invoice and reimbursed by you when the invoice is paid.
Documents and Other Material
Documents sent to me by post, courier or email will be sent at your expense and risk.
If, at an early stage in the Project, it becomes apparent that it requires significantly more work than anticipated in the Project Contract, the agreed fee and deadline will be renegotiated.
If you alter the brief before completion of the Project or request additional work, we will renegotiate a new agreed fee and deadline. The fee and deadline originally agreed in the Project Contract will no longer apply.
If you are unable to supply necessary materials or if you are not available to make essential decisions, I will extend the Project deadline and the terms of the Project Contract will be deemed to have changed accordingly.
Deadlines and Scope of Work
We will agree timescales for completion with you before the Project starts. Generally, all projects are completed within 30 days, but this is dependent on regular communication, input and feedback from you.
Subject to the previous condition, the completed Project will be delivered on or before the deadline agreed, for the agreed fee.
Delivery of the Project will be deemed to have been made at the time I send the email(s) or upload the file(s), or dispatch the Project to you by ordinary post or courier service.
For proofreading and editing Projects, all changes should be checked by the client to ensure that their original meaning is retained.
For copywriting Projects, two drafts are included in the project fee. Additional amendments and revisions are charged at a cost of £36.00 per hour. The minimum billing increment is 15 minutes.
If I am unable to meet the agreed deadlines due to extenuating circumstances beyond my control (e.g. serious illness), I will not be liable for any loss or damages because of any delay to the Project. In this unlikely event, I will inform you about any delays as early as possible.
Fees
Fees are agreed on a price-per-project OR an hourly basis OR per 1000 words, as specified before the Project begins. Fees are based on the information and brief you have supplied.
The agreed fee is non-negotiable once agreed, unless additional work is required, in which case we will agree a new fee and deadline.
Volume discounts are available for large projects.
Payment
I will submit my invoice to you on completion of the Project unless otherwise agreed.
In some circumstances, full or part-payment may be required before work begins. If the Project is lengthy, I may invoice periodically for completed stages. This will be specified in the Project Contract.
Payment will be due within 14 days of the date of my invoice. If payment is delayed beyond 30 days, in accordance with the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 – Amended and Supplemented in 2002, compensation (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/20/section/5A), interest will be due (interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate for the period between the due date and payment date https://www.gov.uk/late-commercial-payments-interest-debt-recovery/charging-interest-commercial-debt).
You will pay any bank or other charges in connection with transferring payment to me and will be liable for costs incurred by me connected directly or indirectly with the performance of the Project Contract, including recovery of the costs of collection of unpaid invoices and court fees.
Cancellation
If you cancel the Project with half or more than half of the Project complete, the full agreed fee will be due. If you cancel the Project with less than half the Project complete (determined by the agreed Project fee, time agreed or agreed number of words to be written, copyedited or proofread), half the agreed fee will be due.
If you cancel the Project less than a month before the Project is booked to begin, and after the Project Contract has been agreed, half the agreed fee will be due. If you cancel the Project between one and two months before the booking is due to start, 25% of the agreed fee will be due. If you cancel the Project with more than two months’ notice, there will be no charge.
If I am unable to meet the Project deadline because of circumstances unforeseen (including fire, flood or other disruption), you may cancel the remainder of the Project and pay only for work already carried out, or renegotiate a new deadline for final delivery of the full Project. I will have no obligation to compensate you for any part I cannot complete.
If unforeseen circumstances as referred to in the previous condition lead you to cancel the Project, you will contact me at the earliest opportunity to discuss cancellation terms. I will strive to be considerate and fair and may reduce or waive my fee if I deem it appropriate.
We both have the right to cancel the Project Contract at any time if there is a serious breach of its terms.
Confidentiality
Until the Project is complete, its nature and content will be kept confidential and not made known to anyone other than you and your contractors, without prior written permission.
I will sign a confidentiality agreement if required and you will indemnify me against any action associated with accidental disclosure or loss of such information by either of us.
Intellectual Property Rights
All materials provided by you remain your property. Once my invoice is paid, a Project will become your copyright.
The copyright of writing Projects will remain with me but I grant you permission to use the Project for free for uses agreed in the Project Contract (https://www.gov.uk/copyright/overview). If you wish to use the Project for any other purpose or publish it by any means other than that originally agreed, you will contact me first. An additional fee may be due. I reserve the right, once the Project has been used for the agreed purpose and excluding cases where privacy or confidentiality is a concern, to use any part of the Project for marketing purposes, including downloadable PDFs of the final version.
The copyright of proofreading and copyediting Projects will remain with you. All content remains inaccessible to third parties and will not be released to anyone apart from yourself. After work is returned it is not kept on computer or hard copy and will never be used by myself or anyone else. Non-disclosure agreements are welcome if the content of your document is of a highly sensitive nature.
It may be necessary and/or appropriate to use your literature in researching a Project. If you supply this, you confirm that you own the copyright to that material and will indemnify me against any claim arising from the suggestion that the new work breaches existing copyright.
Infringement of copyright and plagiarism are serious offences and I do not take responsibility for any content submitted by a Client. The final decision to submit work or publish material in the public or private domain is the responsibility of the Client.
I reserve the right to use any extracts of my work for my portfolio.
Liability and Indemnity
Whilst I make every effort not to breach any copyright, you agree to indemnify me against action that may arise as a result of using our services.
You are responsible for the accuracy and thoroughness of all information provided to me in order to complete the Project. I will accept no liability for consequential loss, damage of whatever nature, or claims by third parties, if it should prove that the information provided to me was incorrect or incomplete, even if such information was provided in good faith.
You will indemnify me against all claims by third parties due to an alleged infringement of any copyright, property, patent or other intellectual property right associated with the Project and against all claims by third parties ensuing from the use of the Project.
Errors and Omission
I make every effort to ensure that the project is proofread, grammatically accurate and factually referenced where applicable. However, I cannot guarantee that every project is completely free from typographical, grammatical or factual errors.
I am not responsible for costs incurred as a result of errors appearing in the final, published form of the Project. The Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (the association for editorial professionals) has guidelines on this: www.ciep.uk/standards/standards-in-proofreading/#text-perfect
All work undertaken on your behalf will meet the criteria listed on the website. I do not guarantee that the Project will pass or achieve a particular grade or position in the search engine results page as the topical content, research, basic structure and IT infrastructure remains your own.
Complaints
You must notify me in writing of any complaint relating to a Project I have carried out within 14 days of its final delivery. The voicing of a complaint will not discharge you from the obligation to pay the Project fee due to me. If I take up the complaint, this does not mean that I consider the complaint justified or submitted on time.
If I agree that the Project is unsatisfactory, I will rectify or replace it within a reasonable time and at my own expense. This will not apply if you have made changes to the Project or had it changed since my delivery of the final Project to you. If I am unable to rectify or replace the Project within a reasonable time, I will offer you a discount on the fee due.
Dispute
In the event of any dispute arising under this agreement, you agree to try and resolve any disagreements with Sarah Seymore in good faith before starting any legal proceedings.
Terms of Website Use
This website is operated by Sarah Seymore, a sole trader registered in Wales at 49 Cae Haidd, Llanymynech, SY22 6FA.
To contact me, please see my Contact page.
These are the conditions of use of this website. Please read them carefully as by viewing and using this website you indicate your acceptance of them and your agreement to be bound by them. You can print these conditions if you would like to retain a copy. My Privacy Notice sets out how I will process information about you and also forms part of these conditions.
If you are a consumer, nothing in these conditions will affect your statutory rights and if any of these conditions is held to be illegal, invalid or unenforceable in law, then it shall be deleted from these conditions but the remaining conditions will survive and continue to be enforceable.
Accessing My Website
I reserve the right to revise this website or withdraw access to part or all of it at any time. I may also change these conditions from time to time so you should check back regularly as you will be bound by any changes from the next time you access the website.
The material and information on this website is directed solely at and is to be used only by persons who access it from within the United Kingdom and these conditions are only available in English. The release, publication or distribution of the information contained on this website in jurisdictions outside the United Kingdom may be restricted by laws that apply in other jurisdictions.
Viruses and Hacking
I cannot guarantee the speed or security of this website and I shall not be responsible for or liable to you for any loss or damage caused to your computer equipment, programs or data arising as a result of the presence of any viruses, electronic bugs, Trojan horses or other technologically harmful material that may infect your computer due to the use of this website.
Limitation of Liability
While I will use reasonable endeavours to verify the accuracy of any information I place on the website, I make no warranties, whether express or implied in relation to its accuracy. The website is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis without any representation or endorsement made and I make no warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, in relation to the website, or any transaction that may be conducted on or through the website including but not limited to, implied warranties of non-infringement, compatibility, security, accuracy, conditions of completeness, or any implied warranty arising from course of dealing or usage or trade.
I make no warranty that the website will meet your requirements or will be uninterrupted, timely or error-free, that defects will be corrected, or that the site or the server that makes it available are free of viruses or bugs or represents the full functionality, accuracy, and reliability of the website. I will not be responsible or liable to you for any loss of content or material uploaded or transmitted through the website.
To the fullest extent permissible under applicable law, I disclaim any and all warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, in relation to the products and services. This does not affect your statutory rights as a consumer, nor does it affect your Contract Cancellation Rights.
I will not be liable, in contract, tort (including, without limitation, negligence), pre-contract or other representations (other than fraudulent or negligent misrepresentations) or otherwise out of or in connection with the Conditions for
- any economic losses (including without limitation loss of revenues, profits, contracts, business or anticipated savings) or
- any loss of goodwill or reputation or
- any special or indirect losses suffered or incurred by that party arising out of or in connection with the provisions of any matter under the Conditions.
Nothing in the Conditions shall exclude or limit our liability for death or personal injury resulting from our negligence.
Severance
If any part of the Conditions shall be deemed unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed to be severable from the Conditions and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any of the remaining provisions of the Conditions.
Waiver
No waiver by me shall be construed as a waiver of any proceeding or succeeding breach of any provision.
Survival
Each provision of the Conditions shall be construed as separately applying and surviving even if for any reason one or other of those provisions is held to be inapplicable or unenforceable in any circumstances.
Copyright and Trademarks
The copyright in all website design, text, graphics, the selection and arrangement thereof, and all software compilations, underlying source code, software (including applets) and all other materials on this website belongs to me.
You may download and print extracts from this website if you want to keep a copy or for your administrative purposes provided that you do not modify any material and you retain the copyright notice and provided that you do not make commercial use or gain from the website or any of its content. Any other use of material on this website is strictly prohibited without our prior written consent.
All brand names used in the website are trademarks or trade names of their respective holders. Your use of any of these names or titles may constitute an infringement of the holders’ rights.
Other Important Terms
I reserve the right to make changes to these Terms. Any changes will be posted to the site and will take effect immediately. You should therefore read the Terms each time you visit my website.
The Conditions and any disputes shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Wales and you irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.
All of the above does not affect your statutory rights.
Last updated: 18/05/2023