Terms & Conditions

Definitions

1. You’ – refers to you, the client
2. ‘We’, ‘Us’ and ‘Our’ – refers to NDORS Lancashire
3. ‘Police’ – refers to the originating police force
4. ‘Time Limits’ – a period set by the Police in which you need to complete your course
5. ‘Interpreters’ or ‘Assistants’ – refers to those who have been agreed to attend and provide assistance at the time at which the course booking was made.
6. ‘Late Attendance’ – Clients must be present up to 15 minutes before the course start time and must be present after the break at the time stated by the Trainer; anyone arriving after this time will be deemed as late and will not be allowed to continue the course.

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY

The following terms and conditions will apply to any client who books and completes an NDORS (National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme) course in Lancashire and apply to Interpreters or Assistants. If you choose to book with another service provider, you will be bound by their terms and conditions that may differ. The Driver Retraining Course is an alternative to prosecution; failure to complete will result in the matter being referred back to the originating Police Force.

We have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to abuse towards any member of staff. Anyone found to be giving verbal abuse may face removal from the course and refusal of another course. There will be no appeal process.

If you are attending a Safe and Considerate Driving Course (SCD), also refer to Section 10.

1. Failure to Comply with Terms and Conditions

Failure to comply with the terms and conditions will be certified as non-completion; for the benefit of doubt this includes clients that do not attend or complete their course within the time limit imposed by the originating Police Force. In such cases the offer of a Diversionary Course may be withdrawn, and you will be prosecuted for the original motoring offence. In some cases clients may be entitled to a partial refund and should contact the NDORS Team to arrange this; please note refunds can only be credited via the original method of payment.

2. How to Book your Course

Course bookings can be made by calling the NDORS Team: 01772 410950, 9 am to 3 pm, Mon-Fri (excluding Bank Holidays) OR online via the DORS+ Portal.

Safe and Considerate Driving Course: You must call the NDORS Team on the above number to book your course.

3. Booking and Completion

The course must be completed within the time limit imposed by the referring Police Force. To complete your course, you must be present throughout, actively take part, make a positive contribution and demonstrate a willingness to improve your driving skills.

For Virtual Courses:

i. You must have a device with a front-facing camera, a microphone and speakers, access to Zoom (free to download as an app or available on a web browser) and a strong and sufficient internet connection. Please be aware that the camera will be able to see behind you, and that virtual or blurred backgrounds are not permitted on Virtual Courses.  Please also have with you a pen or pencil and some paper.

ii. You must be completely alone for the entire duration of the Course, unless you require an Interpreter or Assistant with you as agreed beforehand with us.

iii. You must be in a private location. You must not be interrupted for the duration of the Course. Your location must be quiet as any background noise or activity can disturb other clients and the Trainer. You must not be in a vehicle. If your location is deemed inappropriate by the Trainer, you will be removed from the Course.

4. Course Fees

The course fee is payable in full at the point of booking using a credit or debit card. We do not have the facility to take payments via instalments, cheques, postal orders or cash. Any expense or loss associated with attending the course e.g. loss of earnings, travel or childcare expenses will be met by the client.

5. Re-Arranging Your Course Date/Time, Failure to Attend/Late Attendance, Cancellations

i. Clients who need to change the course date or time must contact the NDORS Team who may, providing there is sufficient time, be able to accommodate such a request. A £45 administrative charge for rearranging a course will be incurred if less than 5 working days’ notice has been given; as such, we strongly advise clients to consider any anticipated commitments prior to booking a course.

ii. Consideration may be given to waiving the above administration fee on production of written evidence and subject to review by the NDORS Team, confirming:

• An illness certified by a doctor
• Jury service
• Notification of a hospital appointment
• A Court Appearance.
• A bereavement (close relative).

Any supporting evidence/documents must be emailed to NDORS@lancashire.police.uk or posted by recorded delivery.

iii. Course Cancellation and Not Rebooking

An administrative charge will be incurred dependent on the amount of notice you provide; this relates to: Speed Awareness, Motorway Awareness, What’s Driving us or National Rider Risk Awareness courses

Cancellation with less than 5 working days’ notice £45.00 – You need to contact the NDORS Team to arrange a cancellation; the remaining fee will be refunded to the card on which the course payment was made.

Please note, cancelling your course may result in you being prosecuted for the original offence. You may no longer be liable for a fixed penalty, and the case may be referred to court where additional costs may be incurred if you are convicted by the Magistrates.

iv. Course Attendance – You must arrive promptly for your course.

• For Classroom Courses, please allow time for parking and entrance into the venue. Please be aware that the venue does not have waiting room facilities; because of this, if you arrive too early, you may be asked to wait in your vehicle.
• For Online Courses, please log in 15 minutes before your course start time to allow for registration.
• If you arrive after the course start time you are unlikely to be admitted by the Trainer, and depending on your offence date and availability, you may be unable to book another course, please contact the NDORS Team. The Trainer and any venue staff will not be able to assist with rebooking the course.

v. If we cancel the course: In the unlikely event we are unable to deliver a course due to exceptional circumstances, every effort will be made to contact you beforehand via phone and email to offer you another course at your convenience within the time constraints of your fixed penalty. Once the course is cancelled, you must contact us within 7 days of receiving the email to rebook or you will be refunded fully back into your account. Should it not be possible to agree another course date, a full refund will be issued. However, any expenses or loss associated with attending the course e.g. loss of earnings or childcare expenses will still be met by the client.

6. Additional Requirements

i. Every consideration will be given to support disability, mobility, language, religious and other additional requirements, provided they are indicated at the time of booking.

ii. We do not provide foreign language interpreters, but you may bring your own; however, we do insist that interpreters are at least 18 years of age and have sufficient language skills to accurately facilitate the course content.

iii. You must notify the NDORS Team in advance of the course date to ensure an extra space is available for your Interpreter/Assistant; failure to do so may result in admittance being refused. We will need to know their name, and they will have to bring photo ID with them to the course. If you change your Interpreter/Assistant, you must notify the NDORS Team as soon as possible.

iv. We do arrange British Sign Language interpreters; please contact the NDORS Team at the time of booking.

v. Breastfeeding

• Please contact NDORS Lancashire to notify us before the course start date so that appropriate arrangements can be made.
• Please note that any arrangements must also take into consideration the interests of everyone on the course; you must attend the whole course to achieve completion. We recommend having childcare available.
• Classroom Course: You are not permitted to breastfeed, express milk or bring a baby to a classroom course. If you require support, please contact the NDORS Team.
• Virtual Course: You can be offered the opportunity to breastfeed during a virtual course. Please be aware of the need to be able to show only your facial profile on the screen and to mute your microphone if necessary.

7. Identification

Clients, Interpreters and Assistants must bring original identification.

i. Examples of acceptable photographic ID:

• Photocard Driving Licence (an expired photocard does NOT invalidate the licence)
• A valid passport
• An expired passport
• Formal ID Cards (armed forces, police, student union, company ID card)
• Tachograph Card
• Local Authority/Taxi ID
• Blue Badge (parking for people with disabilities)
• Firearms Certificate/Shotgun Licence
• Voters ID.

ii. Photocopies or photos, on mobile phones/devices, are NOT acceptable forms of ID – an original document must be available to be inspected at course registration.  This is not an exhaustive list. Where there is uncertainty in the client matching the photographic ID, further information/security checks will need to be checked by the course provider, for further due diligence. Where necessary, go back to the police.

iii. If you wear a form of head dress that covers your face for personal or religious reasons, you will be required to remove or adjust this to allow the Trainer to establish your identity. This will be carried out privately at your request. If you require someone of the same gender to carry out the identification, please contact the NDORS Team prior to your course.

iv. You may wear a face mask, but these are not provided, so if you would like to wear a face mask/covering please bring one with you. You will be asked to remove this briefly so the Trainer can check your identification.

v. It is an offence to attempt to illegally misrepresent the true identity of another driver by attending the course in place of somebody else. Should this occur, any individual involved will be removed from the course and may be subject to prosecution for a more serious offence.

8. Mobile Phones / Smartphones / Electronic Devices / Communication Aids

i. With the exception of a device being used to participate in a Virtual Course, use of mobile communication devices is strictly forbidden. Any other mobile communication devices, including mobile phones, tablets, or computers in the vicinity and/or room must be switched off, or to ‘Do Not Disturb’, ‘Meeting’ or ‘Silent’ modes and stored out of sight. The vibrate function should be turned off to minimise disruption. This requirement will include smart watches or other connected devices, alarms, and notifications.

ii. If you require the use of communication aids (other than hearing aids), please contact the NDORS Team by telephone or email before booking your course so that we can discuss alternative provision. Failure to observe this may result in the Trainer requesting you leave the course.

9. Conduct, Personal Appearance and Dress Code

Maintaining a comfortable environment in which all course attendees can participate is important.

i. For Online Courses:

• Ensure your environment is appropriate for learning; your home environment will be the classroom, which will be visible to other attendees; therefore, the setting and the background used must reflect this.
• You must be in a well-lit, private space, appropriately seated and equipped with your course logbook or a pen and paper. A comfortable and distraction-free environment is important for all course clients and therefore, as a participant, you are responsible for your general presentation; ensuring you are alone so that distractions are minimised, e.g. no children, pets, phones, music or potential interruptions (unless you have informed the office you will require an interpreter or assistant). Children or dependent adults may not be present during the course. You may not undertake the course in a moving vehicle, or using a virtual background, as this may cause distraction for your Trainer and other participants.
• If your Trainer believes your environment to be unsuitable, you will be removed from the course and referred back to the NDORS Team.

ii. Clients participating on Courses must conduct themselves in a respectful manner to the Trainers and other clients attending. Disruptive behaviour, intoxication, non-compliance, or misbehaviour whilst on a Course is unacceptable. 

iii. Unfit to take part: You must not be under the influence of alcohol or drugs. You must be in a fit state to participate in the course.  Any evidence of your being unfit to participate satisfactorily will result in removal from the Course. Following such event, you will not be able to reschedule the Course, and you will be referred back to the Police. You will not be eligible for any refund.

iv. Abusive or disruptive behaviour, or failure to participate fully: If you are abusive and/or disruptive or you fail to participate fully during the course, the Trainer will ask you to leave. In these instances, you will not be able to reschedule, and you will be referred back to the Police. You will not be eligible for any refund.

v. You are required to be appropriately dressed for the consideration of other clients, e.g. no work clothes such as overalls and muddy boots; however, a clean uniform is acceptable. Clients are required to be appropriately dressed for the consideration of others as they will be visible for the duration of the course. This also extends to underwear, nightwear or any clothing which includes offensive or inappropriate slogans or logos.

Should you not adhere to the above, you may be refused admittance or asked to leave the course. There will be no appeal process.

10. Safe and Considerate Driving

1. Eyesight Requirements

i. The law requires that all licensed drivers meet the following eyesight requirements (including drivers aided by prescribed glasses or contact lenses).

ii. In good daylight, you must be able to read the registration mark fixed to a vehicle registered under current standards:

• At a distance of 20 metres with letters and numbers 79 mm high by 50 mm wide on a car registered since 1 September 2001 or
• At a distance of 20.5 metres with letters and numbers 79 mm high by 57 mm wide on a car registered before 1 September 2001

iii. If glasses or lenses are worn to complete the eyesight check, they must be worn for the duration of the in-car training. Any driver unable to meet these standards will be refused the practical course and will be advised not to drive away from the venue and referred back to the NDORS office.

2. Manual or Automatic

i. When booking your course, you have selected your choice of automatic or manual vehicle so that a suitable vehicle can be made available. You will be unable to change this on the day of your course.

Please make every effort to attend and complete your course. Should you need to rearrange for either personal reasons or in respect of non-compliance with these terms and conditions, an administration fee will be required. The following administration fees apply to cancellation or rearrangement of your Safe and Considerate Driving Course and reflect the costs incurred by the NDORS Team dependent upon the notice given:

• Failure to attend your Safe and Considerate Driving course – failure to attend your course on the day without notifying the NDORS Team will result in the matter being referred back to the issuing police force. £126 of your course fee will be retained to cover the cost of resources, and you will receive a partial refund of £39.
• Cancellation of your Safe and Considerate Driving course with more than 10 days’ notice – Your course will be cancelled, and the matter will be referred back to the issuing police force. £20 of your course fee will be retained to cover administrative costs, and you will receive a partial refund of £145.
• Cancellation of your Safe and Considerate Driving course with less than 10 days’ notice – Your course will be cancelled, and the matter will be referred back to the issuing police force. £126 of your course fee will be retained to cover the cost of resources, and you will receive a partial refund of £39.
• Rearranging the date and/ or time of your Safe and Considerate Driving course with less than 10 days’ notice – A fee is payable to cover the cost of resources as it is unlikely those resources can be reallocated given the lack of notice. A fee of £126 will be payable on top of the original course fee to rearrange your course.
• Rearranging the date and/or time of your Safe and Considerate Driving course with more than 10 days’ notice – In the event that we have the availability to rearrange within your expiry time limit. As a generous notice period has been provided, administration fees are waived.

11. Data Security

In order to administer course bookings, the FastForm online booking system provided by Clarity Information Solutions Ltd will be utilised. Payments for course bookings made online or by telephone will be processed by a PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliant payment provider. Client personal details will be held in our booking system for 12 months, after which they will be anonymised and held for 3 years.

12. Client Feedback

Lancashire Constabulary is always striving to improve the education of road users and to provide an enjoyable but instructive learning experience. Upon completion, you will be contacted by the NDORS Team and asked to comment on your experience, from the initial booking to the final educational outcome. Any information collected will be anonymised and only used as an aid to service improvement.

13. No Smoking Policy

i. Online Courses: Please refrain from smoking until the designated break.

ii. Classroom Courses: Designated smoking and vaping areas will be determined by your chosen course venue. Once the course has begun clients will not be permitted to leave the classroom for this purpose; smoking or vaping is only permitted during the designated break times.

14. Complaints Procedure

Should you wish to make a complaint, please contact us in writing via post or email.

15. NDORS Lancashire Team Contact Details

Email: NDORS@lancashire.police.uk (Monday – Saturday excluding Bank Holidays)
Address: NDORS Lancashire Team, SRU, PO Box 1329, Preston, PR2 0SX
Phone Number: 01772 410950 Monday to Friday between 09:00 – 15:00 (excluding Bank Holidays)