Richard Dinsmore

65 College Drive

Manchester

M16 0AD

11th December 2017

Payment and Cancellation Policy

Dear Parents/Students,

After careful consideration, I have decided to update the terms of the Payment and Cancellation Policy, in the hope that it improves the quality and consistency of lessons to students. As many of my students prefer the convenience of having lessons at their home, the following changes will allow me to continue to offer teaching at the same rate, rather than have to increase the price to reflect the added investment of time and cost to do so.

Please can I ask that you read the following document carefully and return it to me by the next lesson. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to speak to me directly.

From 1st January 2018 the following changes come into effect:

  • Lessons will be booked in groups of 5 lessons and the regular lesson time will be agreed for the term. All lessons are then confirmed within the diary and cannot be changed.
  • Any changes or cancellation of lessons thereafter, including for illness, and advised within the required time as stated below,will be held in credit for up to 3 months from the missed lesson and must be used within this time.
  • Rescheduled lessons are offered as per my available teaching times. Rescheduled lessons will be offered on either a Wednesday or Sunday, or other time as specified by me, and a suitable time agreed.
  • Repeated absences could mean that lessons are suspended or terminated indefinitely as this can impact my ability to offer stable and reliable tuition.

For the majority of students, payment is made on a termly basis which consists of 5 lessons. Lessons are booked in for the 5 weeks and payment is taken no later than lesson 1 of the new term. By the end of the final lesson, payment is then dueand paid no later than the day ofthe first lesson of the new term. Payment is considered late if not received by the start of this date and I reserve the right to withdraw lessons until new payment has been made. Please also note that persistent delays in payment impact on my ability to offer ongoing tuition and lessons may be withdrawn.

As paying termly offers the greatest flexibility, if for any reason you wish to change these times, Imust be advised no later than 3.30pm on the day of tuition, otherwise full payment will be required for that lesson and no rescheduled lesson time will be offered.Please aim to provide as much notice as possible as sadly cancelling a lesson after this time means I will have to charge you. Please bear in mind that any changes to lesson times during a term can only be rescheduled and not refunded, where the above notice period is provided. In exceptional circumstances, a rescheduled lesson may be offered. Please see further details regarding rescheduled lessons below.

For those wishing to continue to pay weekly, lessons are booked in provisionally for 5 lessons andpayment is made by the end of each lesson, at which time I can re-confirm the nextlesson. If for any reason you wish to change this time,please tell me before re-confirming your next lesson, otherwise full payment will be required.For any student who wishes to change or cancel a lesson after this period, full payment of the lesson is due. In exceptional circumstances, a rescheduled lesson may be offered. Please see further details regarding rescheduled lessons below.

Please be aware that weekly lessons can only be paid for in cash or cheque and is due at the end of the lesson. Payment is considered late if not made directly after each lesson and I reserve the right to withdraw lessons until any arrears have been paid.

Rescheduled lessons are granted when sufficient notice is given to change the agreed time of a lesson within a term. In order that I can maintain some flexibility within the timetable, and avoid having to charge for a change to a lesson, a rescheduled lesson will be available within 3 months from the date of the affected lesson. Rescheduled lessons will be offered on either a Wednesday or Sunday, or other time as specified by me, and agreed by both parties. This lesson will include an additional 30 minutes, charged at the standard rate of £20. This allows me to offer you use of the original lesson with additional time to off-set my time and additional cost to come to you. Alternatively the lesson can be rescheduled to take place at my home, at a time convenient to me, and no additional lesson time is required.

In exceptional circumstances, where a last minute change is required,please call me to discuss this, especially if it is outside the above cancellation period and I will do my best to offer a rescheduled lesson or refund. However, if a student is repeatedly absent, I reserve the right to remove the student from the teaching timetable in order to accommodate new students. This may mean losing the timeslot previously heldand being unable to offer tuition in the future due to no furtheravailable timeslots.Where I have to cancel a lesson, advanced notice will be given, otherwise a credit for the lesson will be offered, or refund if you prefer.

As most students now payvia online banking, this is the preferred option and ideal for those paying for lessons termly. Again, please may I ask that payment is made no later than the day of the lesson or start date of the new term.To pay via online banking please send payment to account

R DINSMORE,Sort Code 01-07-71, Account No. 52257924. Please state your name as reference when making payment online e.g. JONES LESSON. For those students who wish to pay by cheque, please make payable to R. DINSMORE.For those that pay for lessons weekly by cash, please have the correct amount as it is not always possible for me to provide it. In any cases where I don’t have sufficient change I will hold the additional amount in credit for future lessons.

I appreciate that students and families will have different commitments and that they may decide they need to change a regular lesson time slot. Due to travel times between lessons it is not always possible to accommodate a change to a specific time and lessons may be withdrawn if no suitable alternative can be found, so please discuss this as early as possible to avoid it impacting on future lessons.

Finally, with regards to termination of lessons, I require a term’s notice (5 Lessons) if students are thinking of stopping lessons, unless otherwise agreed in writing. This allows me to make sure that ongoing student lessons remain uninterrupted and not adversely affected. Please note that any change to lessons within a term should adhere to the above cancellation timescales, otherwise I reserve the right to charge for the lesson, in line with other private teaching professionals.

Please could I ask you to signthe following slip and return it at your next lesson.Thank you for your continued support.

Yours Sincerely,

Richard Dinsmore BA(Hons)
Pianist/Tutor
Tel: 07590 017 319

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[Please Print FULL NAMES below]

Pupil Name……………………………………………………..

Parent/Guardian (if student under 18 years of age)……………………………………………..

I (the Pupil or the Pupil’s parent or guardian)accept the offer of tuitionon the terms and conditions set out herein and agree to be bound by them until termination of this Agreement.

Payment & Cancellation Policy [January2018]. A full copy of these t&c’s are available online at

Signed...... Date......

(Pupil or, if the Pupil is under 18, the Pupil’s

parent or guardian)

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