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TERMS & CONDITIONS

Date Updated: 1st of September 2024

The Service provider is Castle Cars Tonbridge Ltd. The customer is the person who accepts any offer of service from the service provider. The passenger is the person travelling or in the case of a group of people, the lead person named on the booking. The service is the transportation service that the service provider and the customer agree.

Booking

Bookings may only be made through our office by telephone or email using the booking form on our website (www.castle-cars.com). Under no circumstances should any booking be made with the driver, and no responsibility will be accepted by the company for any made in that way. The drivers are prohibited from offering any business cards other than those provided by Castle Cars Tonbridge Ltd, and in most cases, it would be illegal for them to accept any bookings made direct to them. This would render them uninsured and could have serious repercussions for both passengers and driver alike in the event of an accident.

The service provider will make every effort to provide a service with minimum inconvenience. However, circumstances beyond the control of the service provider may prevent execution of the service. The following are examples of such circumstances and will be interpreted as Force Majeure, but these examples are not an all-inclusive list:

  • Motor accidents causing traffic delays
  • Restricted vehicular access and road works
  • Exceptional or severe weather conditions
  • Complying with legal requests
  • Ash clouds or any other natural occurrence
  • Industrial action
  • Vandalism or terrorism
  • Delays caused by other customers
  • Extraordinary changes to flight status

The service provider will use every reasonable means to ensure that the vehicle(s) arrive at the appointed times stated on the booking form. The service provider, as stated, will not incur any liability or consequential losses whatsoever in the event of any delay due to causes beyond its control.

The service provider will not be responsible for any errors in information provided by the customer. It should be noted that all telephone conversations between the service provider and the customer using the company booking lines are recorded. These recordings could be used to verify the contractual terms agreed in cases of disputes between the customer and the service provider. In the event that the Customer requires more than 4 passengers to travel in a vehicle and has not specified this at the time of booking of the Original Journey additional charges may be levied by the Company, at its then standard charge rates, which are available on request for the provision of a larger vehicle or the carriage of additional passengers in excess of 4.

If the booking is cancelled upon arrival of the vehicle to collect the Customer of any passenger(s) a cancellation fee will be payable by the Customer to the Company. Any cancellation fee is based on the distance from base to the pickup point at current TMBC rates.

The service provider reserves the right to refuse to carry any person who is thought to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs or whose behaviour is considered to pose a threat to the safety of the other passengers or themselves. If the driver believes also that the passenger’s actions could cause damage to the vehicle they can also refuse to carry the passengers.

At the time of booking the customer must supply all information required and requested by the service provider. It is important that if the customer has special requirements appertaining to them personally, then these should be discussed with the service provider and agreed at the time of booking.

The Customer (person making the booking) will be responsible for the conduct of all passengers(s) and shall pay for any loss and/or damage caused by such passenger(s) to the vehicle or any other property of the Company, including but not limited to cleaning costs following any spillage or soiling of the vehicle. The standard Soiling Fee is £100.

Booking confirmation will be sent via SMS and/or email to the customer to the mobile telephone / email address given at the time of booking. It is the customer’s responsibility to contact Castle Cars Tonbridge Ltd if they have not received the booking confirmation within 24 hours.

It is the customer’s obligation and responsibility to check the details on the booking confirmation and report back any errors. The service provider will not be responsible for any errors that occur as a result of the confirmation not being checked.

Any changes to the original booked service may result in an alteration to the price. This change will be made to reflect any additional costs incurred by the service provider.

By making a booking with Castle Cars Tonbridge Ltd you are entering into a legal contract to pay for that service. Any refusal may result in legal or County Court action for recovery.

Payment

Payment can be made by Cash or Card, or a combination of both. All major Credit and Debit Cards are accepted in the vehicles. However, it should be considered that due to network issues that a card reader may not work in some areas, and an alternative method of payment may be required. If possible, the driver or passenger should call the office to make payment over the phone before leaving the vehicle.

Any other arrangement made is between the passenger and driver and the company is not responsible for this.

Prepayment will usually be able to be made at the time of booking if preferred by card or bank transfer.

If a receipt is required, please ask the driver at the time of payment. Once you have left the vehicle our booking system should issue an automated receipt if an email address has been given, but this will not include any additional charges such as tolls, parking costs, drop off charges, or the time element of any fare so is not likely to be accurate.

If an account is held by the customer passenger with the company, then this should be notified to us at the time of booking. If not done so it may not be possible at the time of departure from the vehicle and alternative payment should be made.

Any deliberate non-payment will result in the customer / passenger being barred from using our service, and the company will take all steps to recover the payment through legal means. This will incur further charges if necessary.

Not paying a taxi fare in the UK is a criminal offence under the Theft Act 1978. It is also known as making off without payment. The maximum sentence for this offence is 2 years imprisonment if tried on indictment or 6 months imprisonment if tried summarily.

Fares and Waiting

Fares are charged at Tonbridge and Malling Hackney Carriage Tariff and shown on a meter unless a fixed price has been agreed. Our prices are comprised of a combination of time and distance when driving speed is below 8mph. Airport prices etc are charged at a fixed rate. Any fixed prices / rates do not include Waiting Time. Except for Airport Transfers (as detailed below) the driver will wait for 5 minutes only beyond the booked time before starting the meter / charging waiting time. If no contact is made with the customer / passenger, then the driver may leave at this time to prevent further delays to his next passenger. It is the responsibility of the customer / passenger to be ready to travel at the booked time and there is no guarantee of a driver being able to return later. If a driver can return a charge may be made for the earlier missed booking.

Waiting time is charged at a standard rate of £0.40 per minute (£24.00 per hour) for a car. This will increase by 50% on bank holidays or between 2330-0559 on any other day, and by 100% on Xmas Day.

Waiting time is charged at a standard rate of £0.60 per minute (£36.00 per hour) for vehicles licensed to carry over four passengers. This will increase by 50% on bank holidays or between 2330-0559 on any other day, and by 100% on Xmas Day.

Airport Transfers

Waiting time for airport collections is applied from 60 minutes after the plane has landed for customers with hold luggage and 30 minutes after the plane has landed for customers with hand luggage.

During this time every effort will be made by the service provider to locate the customer, and the company encourages communication between the driver and passenger. This will help to facilitate a smooth meeting at the arrivals hall. The driver will usually call the passenger after the flight has landed to discuss when and where to meet. This is done to minimise both waiting and parking costs for the passenger(s). Although the driver will make every effort to get to the arranged meeting point as near as possible to the agreed time this may be dependent on car parking spaces etc being available.

The driver will be authorised to leave the airport after every reasonable effort has been made to locate the customer and cancellation charges may then be applied. If the customer is unable to find the driver upon exiting the arrivals hall or seaport, they should in the first instance make telephone contact with Castle Cars Tonbridge Ltd. The driver will then be contacted to resolve the issue. The service provider will not pay or incur any costs if the passenger fails to follow this procedure. Unless authorised by the service provider, any additional costs incurred by the customer will be their responsibility.

The passenger will pay the drop off / parking fee as charged by the airport authority.

Any flight landing after 2330 will incur a £10 surcharge in addition to the standard airport cost.

Should passenger(s) need to go to more than one terminal they will be charged a drop off fee for each one (as charged by the airport authority) in addition to a £5 surcharge to the company.

Refusal of Service

The service provider reserves the right to refuse to carry any person who is thought to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs or whose behaviour is considered to pose a threat to the safety of the other passengers or themselves. If the driver believes also that the passenger’s actions could cause damage to the vehicle, they can also refuse to carry the passengers.

Eating and drinking in the vehicle is not permitted.

Drivers and passengers are not permitted to smoke in a licensed vehicle at any time. This is a strict legal requirement.

The driver is not permitted to carry more passengers than the legal number stated on the vehicle license plate and will refuse any requests by the passengers to do so.

Castle Cars Tonbridge Ltd operate a strict policy against persons who are threatening, abusive, violent, use racist language etc toward Drivers, Staff or other company representatives. Any person doing so will be barred from future use of our services, possibly permanently. Any associated addresses linked with that / those person(s) could also be affected.

Carriage of Children

UK law states that taxis are exempt from legislation relating to children travelling in a baby seat, child seat or booster seat. However, it is at the discretion of the Parent/Guardian as to whether they are used. Castle Cars Tonbridge Ltd cannot be held responsible for any injury or loss should child seats or booster seats not be used.

A child must be secured in a seatbelt if of an age suitable to do so. Any child carried on a lap must not have a seat belt around them. This should be around the carrying adult.

It is the responsibility of the customer to provide the correct equipment for their child’s travel.

The service provider will store customer’s equipment securely in the office for use on return airport journeys.

Carriage of Pets

While we appreciate that your pets are very important to you (most of our team are also pet owners) we regret that we are unable to carry most animals during the evenings and weekends. This is the time that most people will be dressed in their better clothes for an event or evening out, and do not expect to be covered in pet hair etc.

It must be made clear at the time of booking that you have a pet so that a suitable vehicle and driver can be allocated to the booking. Some drivers have allergies so although we will do our best to accommodate your request this cannot be guaranteed.

We will do our best to help you to take a pet to a Vets etc during normal daytime hours (0900-1800) and in an emergency at other times, but all small animals must be kept in a suitable carrier, and dogs must be kept off all seats, with every precaution taken to avoid the shedding of fur on to the upholstery.

The passenger is responsible for the behaviour of their pet and a soiling fee of up to £100 could payable if this is not adhered to. Muddy / Wet dogs are not allowed at any time!

Lost Property

It is the customer’s / passenger’s responsibility to ensure that all their own property is taken at the time of departure from the vehicle.

Any property found in a vehicle will be passed to the office at the earliest opportunity where the staff will make every effort to reunite it with its owner. If the owner cannot be traced it will be passed on to Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council Licensing Dept.

If the customer claims they have left property in a vehicle, but the service provider is subsequently unable to locate the property, the service provider accepts no responsibility for the missing property or its replacement.

Assistance

Although our drivers are expected to provide whatever reasonable assistance is requested of them this may depend on their own health and physical condition. Drivers are not legally permitted to enter a customer’s personal dwelling even when they are assisting and will refuse requests to do so. They are required by Castle Cars Tonbridge Ltd to assist with luggage, shopping and other personal items when requested if able. They are permitted to take the items to either the front or back door of a customer’s dwelling, except in the case of flats or apartments where it can only be taken to the main entrance / lobby. CANCELLATION

Cancellation of any booking must be made in adequate time to prevent financial loss to the company. For MPV / Minibus bookings this would be no less than 12 hours. For Airport transfers, and any journey over £60 in value this would be a minimum of 24 hours before expected travel. For normal ‘local’ bookings enough notice must be given that the driver has not been dispatched, usually 60 minutes at least. A cancellation charge may be payable if sufficient notice is not given.

Finally

Castle Cars Tonbridge Ltd cannot be held responsible for any loss financial, professional, missed connection times, flights, trains due to the PHV or HCV not arriving at the pick-up / destination points at the booked time due to unforeseen circumstances, including adverse weather, traffic conditions, road traffic accidents / emergency roadworks / road closures or being given the wrong booking information. While we aim to arrive as close to requested times, peak travel times may vary.

We will make every effort to provide a clean, safe and efficient service to you with a clean, pleasant, helpful and friendly driver. In return we expect our staff and vehicles to be treated with respect and dignity.

If you have any complaints / issues regarding a driver / booking or journey, please contact a member of the management team as soon as possible to discuss this before leaving a poor review for us. We will always make every effort to ensure the satisfaction of our customers, and every complaint is always thoroughly investigated.