Sevenoaks Driving Lessons – Learner Driver Terms

Last updated: 29 September 2026

These terms apply to all driving lessons and driving test support we provide. Please read them before you book. In particular, please read section 3 (your right to cancel), section 5 (late cancellation charges) and section 15 (our responsibility to you).

1. About us

1.1 Lessons are provided by Geoff Newman, a sole trader trading as Sevenoaks Driving Lessons ("we", "us", "our"). Geoff is a DVSA Approved Driving Instructor. Our address is 46 High Street, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN13 1JG. You can contact us by phone on 01732 617 882 or by email at hello@sevenoaksdrivinglessons.co.uk.

1.2 All lessons are given by Geoff personally. We will not use a substitute instructor without your agreement.

1.3 Your agreement with us is made up of these terms and your booking confirmation. If there is a conflict, the booking confirmation applies to the details it sets out, such as lesson dates, times and prices. Our Website Terms of Use apply only to use of our website and do not apply to your lessons.

2. Booking your lessons

2.1 After you have made an enquiry, if we are able to offer you lessons, we will send you a link to our booking form.

2.2 On the booking form, you will be asked to give your details and to read and accept these terms. Your agreement with us is formed when we confirm your booking by email.

2.3 If you are under 18, a parent or guardian must also complete the booking form and accept these terms. By doing so, they personally agree to be responsible for paying your lesson fees, any late cancellation charges under section 5 and any test-day fees under section 9. This does not affect any of your own rights as a consumer. We may contact your parent or guardian about bookings and payments. We will only discuss your driving progress with them if you agree.

2.4 The date, time, length and pick-up and drop-off location of each lesson will be agreed when it is booked. Lessons can be booked in different lengths to suit you.

3. Your right to cancel within 14 days

3.1 Because you book with us remotely, you have a legal right to cancel your agreement within 14 days of the day we confirm your first booking, without giving any reason. Any further lessons you book with us form part of the same agreement.

3.2 To cancel, tell us by phone or email using the details in clause 1.1. You can use the model cancellation form in Appendix B, but you do not have to.

3.3 If you want lessons to start within the 14-day period, you can ask for this on the booking form. If you then cancel within the 14 days, you will only pay for the lesson time you have received up to the point you tell us, including part of a lesson. You will not be charged a late cancellation fee under section 5 for any lesson that is cancelled because you cancel your agreement during this period. If all the lessons you have booked have been fully provided within the 14 days at your request, you will no longer have the right to cancel, and we will ask you to acknowledge this on the booking form.

3.4 After the 14-day period, you can still stop having lessons at any time (see clause 5.5).

4. Paying for lessons

4.1 The price of your lessons will be confirmed when you book. You pay for each lesson on the day of the lesson by cash or bank transfer (BACS). We do not take deposits or advance payments.

5. Cancelling or changing a lesson

5.1 If you need to cancel or rearrange a lesson, please give us at least 48 hours' notice before the lesson start time, by phone, by text, or by using the cancellation link in your booking confirmation email. Notice is given when we receive it. A text, or a cancellation made through the link, counts as received when it is sent. Please do not simply delete or decline a calendar reminder, as we will not be notified and the lesson will still count as booked.

5.2 If you give less than 48 hours' notice, or do not attend a lesson, the full lesson fee is payable. This is because it is not usually possible to fill a lesson slot at short notice, and each cancelled lesson is lost income for us.

5.3 We may waive or reduce this charge if you cancel because of a genuine emergency or serious circumstance outside your control, such as sudden illness, an accident or a bereavement. We will consider every request fairly and may ask for reasonable information about what happened.

5.4 Any late cancellation charge will be added to your next lesson payment. If you are not having further lessons, we will send you an invoice, payable within 14 days.

5.5 You can stop having lessons with us at any time by telling us. You will not have to pay anything further, apart from any late cancellation charges already due.

6. If we cancel, change or shorten a lesson

6.1 We will always try to give you as much notice as possible of any change, and at least 48 hours where we can.

6.2 Occasionally we may need to cancel or rearrange a lesson at short notice, for example because of instructor illness, a problem with the vehicle, unsafe weather, or to support another learner's driving test. If this happens, you will not be charged for the cancelled lesson, and we will offer you priority rebooking at the earliest available time that suits you.

6.3 If we arrive late or need to end a lesson early, we will try to make up the time on the day. If we cannot, you will only pay for the lesson time you actually receive.

6.4 Nothing in this section affects your legal rights if we fail to provide a lesson with reasonable care and skill (see section 15).

7. Price changes

7.1 We may change our lesson prices from time to time, for example to reflect increases in fuel, insurance or vehicle running costs.

7.2 We will always honour the price agreed for any lesson you have already booked. New prices will apply only to lessons booked after the change. We will give you at least 4 weeks' notice of any price change by email or text. If you do not want to continue at the new price, you can stop having lessons with us without any charge, whatever the notice period in section 5.

8. Your licence and fitness to drive

8.1 You must hold a valid UK provisional or full driving licence and show it to us when asked, including before your first lesson.

8.2 You must meet the legal eyesight standard and be medically fit to drive. Please tell us before your lesson about any medical condition or medication that could affect your driving.

8.3 You must not drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs. This includes the morning after drinking.

8.4 If the instructor reasonably believes you are not fit to drive safely, the lesson will not go ahead or will be ended. If this is because of something you could reasonably have avoided or told us about in advance, such as alcohol, drugs or not having your licence, the full lesson fee is payable. If it is because of sudden illness, you will not be charged for any lesson time you do not receive.

9. Driving tests

9.1 You can use our car for your practical driving test if the instructor believes you are ready to take it safely. We will talk openly with you about your progress. If we think you may not be ready, we will tell you as early as possible, so you have time to move your test without losing your DVSA fee. The DVSA currently requires at least 3 full working days' notice to change a test without losing the fee.

9.2 If we decide shortly before the test that you are not safe to take it, we will not provide the car and you will not be charged our test-day fee. If we could reasonably have warned you earlier and did not, we will also reimburse the DVSA test fee you lose.

9.3 Our test-day fee covers a one-hour lesson before the test and use of the car for the test. It is payable on the day.

9.4 Please discuss any test date with us before you book, move or cancel a test that uses our car. If a test is booked or moved without agreement, we may not be available and cannot guarantee use of the car.

9.5 You can choose whether the instructor sits in on your test and attends the examiner's debrief. We recommend this, as it helps us support your next steps, but it is your decision.

9.6 You are responsible for arriving on time and bringing your licence and any other documents the DVSA requires. If your test does not go ahead for either of these reasons, our test-day fee is still payable, and we are not responsible for the DVSA fee.

9.7 If the DVSA cancels your test at short notice, you will only pay our fee for the one-hour lesson before the test, which we will still give you where practical. If that lesson does not go ahead, nothing is payable. In some cases, you may be able to claim out-of-pocket expenses from the DVSA.

9.8 Being judged ready for your test is a professional opinion, not a guarantee that you will pass.

10. How many lessons you may need

10.1 The DVSA says learners typically need around 45 hours of professional lessons plus 22 hours of private practice. Every learner is different, and the number of lessons you need will depend on your experience, how often you have lessons and practise, and how you progress.

10.2 We may recommend booking lessons regularly and in advance to secure the times that suit you, as availability can be limited. This is guidance only. You are never required to book a set number of lessons, and we cannot guarantee that you will pass within any particular number of lessons.

11. Vehicles and insurance

11.1 Our tuition car is fitted with dual controls, kept roadworthy and fully comprehensively insured for driving lessons and tests.

11.2 If you have lessons in your own car, you are responsible for making sure it is roadworthy, taxed, has a valid MOT, displays L-plates and is insured for you to drive as a learner. We may ask to see evidence, and we may decline to give a lesson in a car that does not meet these requirements. We remain responsible for our own acts and omissions, including giving instruction with reasonable care and skill.

11.3 When lessons take place in your own car, our insurance covers us on a third-party basis only. This means it does not cover damage to your car. Your own insurance must cover you to drive as a learner while supervised by a professional driving instructor. If you want your car to be covered for damage, your own policy will need to be fully comprehensive. Please check your policy with your insurer before your first lesson.

12. Behaviour, safety and passengers

12.1 We may end a lesson immediately if your behaviour is abusive, aggressive, threatening, or makes it unsafe to continue. In these cases, the full lesson fee is payable. For less serious issues, we will give you a warning first.

12.2 Smoking and vaping are not allowed in the car. If you need a break to smoke or vape, you can ask for one, but the break will count as part of your lesson time.

12.3 Other passengers are not normally allowed during lessons, to help you concentrate and to keep the lesson safe. If you need a religious or cultural chaperone, please ask us in advance. We will agree to this where there is space in the car and our insurance allows it.

13. In-car cameras and recordings

13.1 Our car is fitted with cameras that record video and audio, both inside and outside the car, during lessons. There is a notice in the car to let you know. You can ask us to switch off interior audio recording for your lessons at any time.

13.2 We use recordings mainly for insurance purposes, so that if there is an accident, incident or claim, we have evidence of what happened for our insurer and can resolve any complaint fairly. We also use them as a training aid, to review your progress with you and for our own instructor training. We do this because we have a legitimate interest in having reliable evidence for insurance purposes and in running safe, high-quality lessons. The camera's memory card automatically records over older footage, so recordings are deleted after about seven days, unless we save a clip to deal with an incident or complaint, or you ask us to keep a clip to review your progress.

13.3 We will only publish footage online (for example, on our website or YouTube channel) if you give separate consent. This consent is entirely optional and is not a condition of having lessons. If you are under 18, we will also ask for your parent or guardian's agreement.

13.4 You can withdraw your consent to publication at any time by contacting us. We will not publish any new footage of you, and we will remove existing footage from our own website and channels as soon as reasonably practicable. We cannot control copies that other people may already have made.

13.5 DVSA rules only allow cameras that face outside the car and do not record audio inside the car during a driving test. We will switch off interior video and audio recording before your test begins.

13.6 Only Geoff can view recordings. Saved clips are kept securely on password-protected devices and deleted once they are no longer needed. If you have any concerns about recording, or would like a copy of footage of you, please contact us using the details in clause 1.1. Our Privacy Policy explains more about how we handle recordings and your rights.

14. Reviews, testimonials and photographs

14.1 We may ask you for a review, testimonial or pass photo. Providing one is entirely optional.

14.2 If you give us a review or testimonial, you keep ownership of it. You give us free, non-exclusive permission to reproduce it on our website, social media and other marketing, showing your name in the form you choose (for example, your first name only).

14.3 We will only publish photographs of you with your consent and, if you are under 18, your parent or guardian's agreement. We may make minor edits to photographs, such as cropping or adjusting lighting and colour, but we will not change their meaning or alter your likeness. You can withdraw consent at any time, and we will remove the photograph from our own website and channels as soon as reasonably practicable.

14.4 We will publish reviews honestly and will not edit them in a way that changes their meaning.

15. Our responsibility to you

15.1 We will provide lessons with reasonable care and skill. If we do not, you can ask us to repeat or put right the part of the service that was not provided properly. If that is not possible, you are entitled to a reduction in price. Nothing in these terms affects your legal rights as a consumer.

15.2 We are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breaking these terms or failing to use reasonable care and skill. Loss or damage is foreseeable if it was obvious it would happen, or if both you and we knew it might happen when the agreement was made. We are not responsible for loss or damage that is not foreseeable.

15.3 We are not responsible for loss or damage to the extent it is caused by your own actions, such as not following the instructor's directions, driving outside our lessons, or not telling us about a medical condition, except where our own failure to take reasonable care contributed to it.

15.4 Lessons are provided for private use. We are not responsible for business losses, such as loss of earnings or business opportunities.

15.5 We do not exclude or limit our liability in any way where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, and for breach of your legal rights as a consumer.

16. Events outside our control

16.1 We are not responsible for delays or for failing to provide a lesson where this is caused by an event outside our reasonable control. Examples include serious accidents, road closures or major diversions, severe weather that makes driving unsafe, sudden instructor illness or a family emergency, DVSA strikes or test centre closures, and government restrictions. Ordinary traffic is something we plan for and is not an event outside our control.

16.2 If this happens, we will tell you as soon as possible. You will only pay for lesson time you actually receive, and we will offer you priority rebooking.

17. Complaints

17.1 If you are unhappy with any part of our service, please contact us using the details in clause 1.1. We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days and aim to resolve it within 14 days.

17.2 If your complaint is about the conduct of an Approved Driving Instructor and we cannot resolve it, you can also complain to the DVSA.

18. Your personal information

18.1 We use your personal information to arrange and provide your lessons and as described in section 13. We will send you messages about your lessons, such as booking confirmations, reminders and changes, by email, text or WhatsApp. With your agreement, we may also set up a WhatsApp group with you, your parents or guardians and anyone who accompanies you for private practice, so that we can work together on your progress. You can leave any group at any time. We do not send marketing messages. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle your information and your rights.

19. Other important terms

19.1 We may update these terms from time to time. Updated terms apply to new bookings from the date they are published. They will not change lessons you have already booked unless you agree. If you are already having lessons with us, we will give you at least 30 days' notice of any significant change by email or text. If you do not agree to the change, you can stop having lessons with us at any time, without any charge for lessons cancelled during that notice period.

19.2 You may not transfer your rights under these terms to anyone else without our agreement.

19.3 If a court finds any part of these terms unlawful, the rest will continue in full force.

19.4 If we do not enforce any of these terms immediately, we can still enforce them later.

19.5 No one other than you, your parent or guardian (where clause 2.3 applies) and us has any right to enforce these terms.

19.6 These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. You can bring legal proceedings in the courts of England and Wales. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you can also bring proceedings in your local courts. Nothing in this clause removes any mandatory legal rights you have where you live.

Appendix A – The Yellow Car Game

This appendix is just for fun and does not form part of your agreement with us. The game is optional and will never be played when it could distract you or affect safe driving. The instructor may pause or end the game at any time.

• The game starts when the lesson begins, and points reset with each new lesson.
• Only cars count (no vans, buses or other vehicles).
• The car must be at least 80% yellow. Gold is not yellow; if unsure, compare with the yellow on the rear number plate.
• The car must be moving; parked cars do not count.
• The first person to say "yellow car" scores the point. Phrases such as "no returns" have no additional effect.
• 1 point is awarded for each eligible yellow car, and 10 points for each eligible yellow Mini.
• Each yellow car may be counted only once per lesson.
• Physical contact (for example, punching or tapping) is strictly prohibited.
• No personal or additional rules may be introduced.

Appendix B – Model cancellation form

Complete and return this form only if you wish to cancel your agreement within the 14-day cancellation period (see section 3).

To: Geoff Newman trading as Sevenoaks Driving Lessons, 46 High Street, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN13 1JG. Email: hello@sevenoaksdrivinglessons.co.uk

I hereby give notice that I cancel my contract for the supply of the following service: driving lessons.

Booking confirmed on: __________

Name: __________

Address: __________

Signature (only if this form is sent on paper): __________

Date: __________