The small(ish) print:
Terms & Conditions
I wish it was five simple bullet points, but Terms & Conditions are one of those necessary things. It is written as simply as the law allows.
Rogue Bee Communications is owned exclusively by Vicky Westmore, registered as a self-employed soletrader, so references to the business or the individual are the same.
1) Acceptance of terms
Rogue Bee Communications will discuss the Client’s needs and/or review the Client’s brief and provide a proposal and quote.
Rogue Bee Communications as sender and the Client as the recipient will acknowledge acceptance of these terms either through an email noting acceptance or acceptance is acknowledged with the confirmation of a project.
A project is confirmed when Rogue Bee Communications receives an email from the Client stating that the Client is commissioning the work. If a Client is contracting with Rogue Bee Communications on behalf of any group of individuals other than themselves alone, on behalf of a company, or a third party, the Client confirms that they are authorised to enter into a contract on their behalf.
Electronic signatures and confirmation via email shall be considered legal and binding.
2) Engagement
Rogue Bee Communications provides services as an independent communications specialist and writer.
Content or consultancy provided to the Client does not render in any way Rogue Bee Communications or Vicky Westmore an employee, worker, or agent of the Client.
Rogue Bee Communications will have no right or authority to incur expenditure on behalf of the Client or enter into contracts on behalf of the Client.
Rogue Bee Communications will determine the time commitment required in order to ensure the content and/or consultancy is provided in a timely, efficient, and professional manner. The times and days worked are at the sole discretion of Rogue Bee Communications. The Client does not have a right to any control over the working day at Rogue Bee Communications. Schedules and deadlines will be mutually agreed between the Client and Rogue Bee Communications. Progress updates will be provided to the Client.
Rogue Bee Communications works independently and not on Client premises, except for attending meetings as part of the project, which are arranged in advance at mutually agreed times between Rogue Bee Communications and the Client.
Rogue Bee Communications shall only receive payment when content or consultancy is agreed in advance and shall not receive any payment for periods where services are not provided, including illness, injury, holiday and when they are simply not needed.
The Client has no obligation to make work available beyond the project or content that has been commissioned and agreed upon. Rogue Bee Communications has no obligation to accept further or ongoing work, once a project has been completed satisfactorily for the Client.
The Client acknowledges Rogue Bee Communications is in business on its own account and provides services on a non-exclusive basis. Rogue Bee Communications will not work with clients where there could potentially be a conflict of interest with an existing client, unless both clients are happy there isn’t a conflict, which would be discussed and agreed in advance with the clients involved.
Rogue Bee Communications will bear its own expenses incurred in the course of providing the content and consultancy and provide and use its own equipment, including MacBook Pro and design software, office equipment (printers, scanners), own office, car and mileage, and all subscriptions to relevant products and professional membership organisations as needed for the business of Rogue Bee Communications.
3) Data supplied by client
The Client remains responsible for all customer and employee data. Any data given to Rogue Bee Communications to use for marketing purposes must meet all legal and ethical guidelines, including any necessary permissions from customers to be contacted.
The Client remains responsible for keeping their data up-to-date and legal.
Rogue Bee Communications will never share data supplied by a Client or data it has access to through working with the Client. All Clients must make sure they are GDPR compliant.
4) Assets supplied by client
The Client must have the necessary legal and ethical permissions to use the assets they supply for use. This includes (but is not limited to) images, videos, written copy and testimonials from their clients.
The Client is responsible for the accuracy of the information they provide, including statistics and information to use in materials, such as information about their company or technical information to craft content from.
The Client is responsible for all trademark, servicemark, copyright and patent infringement clearances. The Client guarantees to Rogue Bee Communications that any elements of text, graphics, photos, designs, trademarks, or other artwork that the Client provided for inclusion in the project are either owned by the Client or that the Client has permission to use them.
Any assets supplied will only ever be used for the Client that supplied them.
Where stock imagery is sourced by Rogue Bee Communications, a preview will be presented to the Client and only purchased when the Client approves the cost. Stock imagery will only be purchased from a reputable image site, such as Shutterstock, where the correct licenses are all in place.
5) Confidentiality
Any information Rogue Bee Communications learns of through working with a Client, either in formal or informal discussions, in whatever medium this takes place, shall remain confidential between the Client and Rogue Bee Communications.
Information already in the public domain is not subject to confidentiality.
6) Deadlines
Deadlines must be agreed by the Client and Rogue Bee Communications in writing in advance and are subject to Rogue Bee Communications being supplied all necessary assets and information requested in order to complete the work by the deadline.
7) Payment
A 25% deposit will be required to be received before work commences. A deposit invoice will be produced and the total deducted from the final invoice.
Invoices will be produced on completion. Depending on the type of project, invoices may be produced for work completed at relevant stages. All quotes and invoices will be itemised. No payment shall be due from the Client unless Rogue Bee Communications has issued an invoice in respect of the relevant payment.
Invoices must be paid within 14 days of their issue date. If you would like to arrange different payment terms up to a maximum of 30 days, this must be arranged in advance of work commencing.
A £35 service charge is payable for reissuing each unpaid invoice at 30, 60 and 90 days from the date of the original invoice.
The Client does not own the work or any part of its copyright until payment has been made in full.
Rogue Bee Communications reserves the right to withhold the delivery of further work until past-due balances are paid. Late payment charges may also be applied.
Rogue Bee Communications is responsible for its own income tax liabilities and national insurance and engages its own qualified chartered accountant to prepare the reports to HMRC. The balances are paid in full and on time by Vicky Westmore.
8) Quotes
Quotes are given using the information known about the project in consultation with the Client. Every effort will be made to complete the work within the original quote.
If a project requires work that was not clear from the original brief or is out of scope of the quote and proposal accepted, there may be additional costs. The Client will always be informed in advance and any further costs agreed upon in advance.
If the Client does not agree to the additional costs then the work will remain in the original scope of the project and the additional work will not be undertaken.
9) Cancellations
If you commission the services of Rogue Bee Communications and later decide not to progress the project then work undertaken up until notification must still be paid in full.
Charges may also apply for cancellation of work already booked in, due to loss of earnings through reserving space that could have been for another client. This will not exceed the normal rate charged for the time reserved.
10) Sign off
Every effort will be made to provide all materials and consultancy to the highest standard and free of errors. Rogue Bee Communications takes this very seriously.
Within your quote the process will be detailed and this includes up to 3 rounds of amends from first draft to final sign off.
Rogue Bee Communications takes responsibility for the work provided up until sign off. If mistakes have been made or the work is not satisfactory (very unlikely and never happened before!) this will be fixed at Rogue Bee's own cost.
Rogue Bee Communications will obtain sign off by the Client before anything is printed or sent out (including digitally). Once the Client has signed off the work then they are responsible for any costs or losses incurred resulting from errors, such as reprinting. Without accepting liability, Rogue Bee Communications will amend files and assist the Client.
Rogue Bee Communications holds Professional Indemnity Insurance and the certificate can be produced upon request.
11) Copyright
On completion of the project and after final payment is received, Rogue Bee Communications will cede to the Client rights to the copy in the form for which it was originally intended. For example, copy required for a web page will need further copyright negotiation if it is later sold as a book.
All writing and content created by Rogue Bee Communications, including on its website and in proposals, remains the copyright of Rogue Bee Communications, owned by VickyWestmore. You may not adapt or copy any item, whole or in part, other than to demonstrate to a client or colleague the nature of Rogue Bee's work with a view to commissioning. You are only permitted to use content supplied as commissioned work and only once full payment for that work has been received.
Rogue Bee Communications may use all or part of a completed project in their portfolio with reference to the Client name, to demonstrate the work, once the client has made the work public. Nothing confidential or not available to the public would ever be used. The Client can also opt out of this if they would like to.
12) Other providers engaged for projects
Rogue Bee Communications collaborates with talented designers, web developers, and photographers (this is not an exhaustive list).
Rogue Bee Communications can engage its own network of providers to work on a project. If Rogue Bee Communications directly engages another supplier for a Client project, Rogue Bee shall be responsible for paying that supplier and ensuring the high standard expected of Rogue Bee Communications before it is sent to the Client.
If the Client enters into their own separate contract with a provider, that contract and payment will be between the Client and the provider.
Rogue Bee Communications will make every effort to collaborate successfully with any provider but will only be responsible for the part of the project Rogue Bee Communications has been commissioned to provide.
13) One last thing
In the event that Rogue Bee Communications decides not to exercise some of its rights under this agreement, it is a one-off in-kind decision, not a waiver, and does not mean Rogue Bee Communications waives its right to enforce other terms and conditions on the current project, or the terms and conditions in full on a subsequent occasion or project.