Terms & Conditions of Booking

1. The agreement

The agreement is between Executive Chauffeurs UK and the person or organisation that places the booking. That person is described here as the client, whether or not they travel.

Where a booking is placed on behalf of someone else, the client confirms that they are authorised to do so and accepts these conditions for all passengers travelling under that booking. The client remains responsible for payment and for the conduct of the passengers.

Journeys are arranged under a private hire operator licence, which is what permits us to accept and dispatch bookings at all. All work must be booked in advance through the operator. Vehicles cannot be hailed and do not stand for hire.

2. Quotations and pricing

Quotations are fixed and confirmed in writing before travel. The quotation states the route, the date and time, the vehicle class and the total price, and it includes the chauffeur, fuel, standard waiting time and, where applicable, meet-and-greet at the arrivals hall.

Charges that cannot be known in advance are itemised separately and passed on at cost: airport car park and drop-off fees, congestion and clean air zone charges, tolls and ferry crossings, and any parking the journey requires. Where a journey is quoted by the hour, the minimum hire period is stated in the quotation.

A quotation is valid for the period stated on it, normally 7 days, and is subject to availability until it is confirmed. If the route, timing, passenger count or luggage load changes materially from what was quoted, the price will be requoted before the journey proceeds.

Prices are quoted in pounds sterling. Where VAT applies to a journey it is shown separately on the quotation and on the invoice. Gratuities are entirely at the client's discretion and are never added automatically.

3. Making and amending a booking

A booking exists only once we have issued a written confirmation containing the journey reference, the price and the timings. Verbal arrangements, unanswered messages and diary placeholders do not create a booking, however far in advance they were discussed.

All changes must be routed through the client service desk, either through the contact page or on WhatsApp at +44 7775 554848. Please do not ask the chauffeur to change a route, add a stop, extend the hire or alter a timing: the chauffeur cannot vary the agreement, and a change agreed at the roadside will not be reflected in the booking record or the price.

We will always try to accommodate a change, including a same-day one, but a change is effective only when we confirm it in writing. Changes that extend the journey, add stops or move it into a busier period may carry an additional charge, which we will tell you about before we confirm.

It is the client's responsibility to check the confirmation and to tell us promptly if any detail is wrong. Address errors are the single most common cause of a late arrival, and a postcode alone is not always sufficient for a large site.

4. Timing, waiting and airport arrivals

For a standard pickup we include fifteen minutes of complimentary waiting time from the booked time. Beyond that, waiting is charged in fifteen-minute increments at the vehicle class rate stated in your quotation.

For airport arrivals, waiting time is measured from the actual landing time rather than the scheduled one. We monitor the flight and adjust the chauffeur's dispatch accordingly, so a delayed flight does not consume your allowance. We include sixty minutes from touchdown on international arrivals and forty-five minutes on domestic arrivals, which covers immigration, baggage reclaim and the walk to the meeting point.

If you clear the terminal early, please message the desk and we will bring the vehicle forward wherever the chauffeur is already on site. If immigration or baggage takes longer than the included allowance, waiting is charged from the end of that allowance, and we will keep the vehicle in place unless you tell us otherwise.

We plan journeys with a sensible allowance for traffic and for the specific pickup point, but we cannot guarantee arrival at a particular time. Where a fixed deadline matters, such as a check-in cut-off or a court listing, please tell us at the time of booking so that the departure time can be set against it.

5. Vehicles, capacity and luggage

The vehicle class is confirmed at the time of booking. The specific make, model, year and colour are subject to availability on the day, and we may substitute a vehicle of equivalent or higher standard. A request for a particular model can be noted but cannot be guaranteed unless we confirm it separately in writing.

Seating and luggage capacities quoted for each class are practical figures rather than theoretical maximums. Please tell us the number of passengers and the number and size of cases when you book: an executive saloon that seats three does not carry three large cases, and a party arriving from a long-haul flight is frequently the point at which this matters.

Child seats are provided where they are requested at the time of booking and the child's age and weight are given. The law places responsibility for correct use of a child restraint on the person in charge of the child, and our chauffeurs will assist but cannot secure a child in a seat on your behalf.

Food and hot drinks are not consumed in the vehicles, and all our vehicles are non-smoking, which includes vaping. Where a vehicle requires specialist cleaning after a journey, a valeting charge reflecting the actual cost and the lost availability may be applied.

6. Payment

Unless an account has been agreed, payment is taken before travel against the confirmed quotation. Account clients are invoiced on the terms recorded in their account agreement, and invoices are payable within the period stated on them.

Additional charges arising during the journey, including extended waiting, additional stops, tolls and parking, are itemised and invoiced after the journey with the supporting detail. We will not add charges that were not either quoted or incurred at cost.

We may charge interest on overdue accounts at the statutory rate under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 where the client is a business. Where recovery action is necessary, reasonable costs may be added.

7. Delays and matters outside our control

We are not liable for delay or non-performance caused by events outside our reasonable control, including severe weather, road closures, accidents on the network, industrial action, civil emergency, government restriction or the failure of a third-party transport operator.

Where such an event affects a journey, we will tell you as soon as we know, offer an alternative vehicle or timing where one can be found, and refund the fare for a journey that cannot be carried out at all. We will not be responsible for consequential losses such as a missed flight, a missed connection or a lost commercial opportunity.

Where a vehicle becomes unserviceable before or during a journey, we will arrange a replacement as quickly as the circumstances allow, which may involve a licensed partner operator working to equivalent standards.

8. Conduct and refusal of carriage

Passengers are asked to travel with regard for the chauffeur, the vehicle and other road users. Our Passenger Conduct and Acceptable Use policy sets out what that means in practice and what happens when a journey has to be ended early.

A chauffeur may decline to begin or continue a journey where a passenger is abusive or threatening, where the number of passengers exceeds the legal capacity of the vehicle, where a child cannot be carried safely, or where continuing would put anyone at risk or require an unlawful act. In those circumstances the full fare remains payable.

The client is responsible for loss or damage caused to the vehicle by a passenger, beyond fair wear and tear, and for the reasonable cost of putting it right.

9. Liability, complaints and law

We hold the insurance described on the Licensing and Insurance page and maintain the licences required for the work we carry out. Nothing in these conditions excludes liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be excluded.

Subject to that, our liability for any single journey is limited to the price paid for it, and we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss. Property left in a vehicle is dealt with under our Lost Property Policy, and we do not accept liability for valuables left unattended.

Complaints are handled under our Complaints Procedure. These conditions are governed by the law of England and Wales and are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of its courts. Consumers keep all rights available to them under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.