Terms and Conditions

1.About these terms

These terms apply to every cleaning service provided by SK Cleaning Solutions. By booking a clean, you agree to them.

1.1 “We”, “us” and “our” means Stephanie Kinchlea, trading as SK Cleaning Solutions, Brentwood, Essex. Website: skcleanings.co.uk. Email: SKcleaningsolutions@outlook.com. Phone: 07852 881829.

1.2 “Client” or “you” means the person or business that books a service with us.

1.3 “Business Client” means a client booking in the course of business, including estate agents, letting agents, landlords with a portfolio, property managers, builders and commercial premises.

1.4 “Private Customer” means an individual booking for their own home, not for business purposes. Section 11 gives Private Customers extra rights, and it takes priority over anything else in these terms.

1.5 “Services” means the cleaning work described in your quote or booking confirmation, such as end of tenancy, deep, regular, after-builders or commercial cleaning.

1.6 These terms apply in place of any terms you send us, unless we agree otherwise in writing.

2.Quotes and bookings

A booking is confirmed once we send written confirmation by email or text, and these terms form part of it.

2.1 Quotes are valid for 30 days and are based on the information you give us about the property’s size, condition and the work needed.

2.2 Every quote and booking confirmation includes a link to these terms. Business Clients may also be asked to confirm acceptance of these terms before their first booking. Making a booking after receiving them counts as acceptance.

2.3 Bookings made on behalf of others. Where an estate agent, letting agent or property manager books a service for a landlord, tenant or other third party, the agent that places the booking is the Client and is responsible for payment, unless we have agreed in writing, before the job, to invoice the third party directly.

2.4 Please tell us at the time of booking about anything that may affect the job, including pets, parking restrictions, alarm codes, key collection arrangements, heavily soiled areas or items needing special care.

3.Prices and property condition

Published prices are “from” prices for a property in reasonable condition, and the final price may change if the job is larger or dirtier than described.

3.1 If, on arrival, the property is significantly larger, dirtier or more cluttered than described, we will tell you before starting and give a revised price. You may accept it, or cancel, in which case section 5 applies as a cancellation on the day.

3.2 If we cannot reach you within 30 minutes, we may either complete the work included in the original quote only, or charge any extra time at our standard hourly rate of £24 per cleaner, per hour.

3.3 End of tenancy cleans include the oven, fridge and inside cupboards. Extras such as carpet cleaning, inside window frames or fridge-freezers on other cleans are charged separately and quoted in advance.

3.4 We supply all cleaning products and equipment unless agreed otherwise. We are not currently VAT registered, so no VAT is added to our prices. If this changes, we will give Business Clients at least 30 days’ notice.

4.Access and property requirements

You must make sure we can get in and work from the booked start time; if we can’t, the job may be charged as a late cancellation.

4.1 On the day of the clean, you must provide:

• access to the property at the booked time, including keys, codes or someone to let us in
• working electricity and hot water
• for end of tenancy cleans, a property cleared of the outgoing occupant’s belongings and rubbish

4.2 Waiting time. If we are delayed getting in, the first 30 minutes are free. After that, we may charge waiting time at £24 per cleaner, per hour.

4.3 No access. If, after waiting 60 minutes, we still cannot get in, or cannot carry out the work because of 4.1, the booking will be treated as cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice and charged under section 5.

4.4 Where parking is not available at the property, any parking charges we have to pay will be added to the invoice at cost. We will tell you about these at booking where we can.

5.Cancellations and rescheduling

Business Clients can cancel free of charge with more than 48 hours’ notice; later cancellations are charged as below. Private Customers, see section 11.

5.1 Cancellations must be made by phone, text or email. Notice counts from when we receive it.

5.2 Moving a booking to a new date counts as a cancellation if it is done with less than 48 hours’ notice, but we will waive the charge if we can fill the original slot.

5.3 Regular cleaning. Visits cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice are charged in full. Either side may end a regular cleaning arrangement with 14 days’ notice.

5.4 If we have to cancel, for example due to illness, severe weather or an emergency, we will tell you as soon as possible and offer the next available date. You will not be charged for a booking we cancel. Our responsibility is limited to rescheduling or refunding anything already paid.

6.Payment

Business Clients must pay each invoice in full within 14 days of the invoice date.

6.1 We will invoice on the day the work is completed, or at the end of each month for regular or commercial contracts.

6.2 Payment is due from the Client that placed the booking (see section 2.3). Payment is not conditional on you being paid by your landlord, tenant or any other third party, and deposit disputes between them do not delay payment to us.

6.3 Payment is by bank transfer to the account shown on the invoice, quoting the invoice number. We do not accept cash payments to individual cleaners.

6.4 If you dispute any part of an invoice, you must tell us in writing within 7 days of receiving it, explaining why. You must still pay the undisputed part by the due date.

6.5 You may not deduct or withhold any amount from an invoice, for example to set against a complaint, unless we have agreed to it in writing.

6.6 We may ask new clients, or clients with overdue invoices, to pay in advance or pay a deposit before a booking is confirmed.

7.Late payment

If a Business Client pays late, we may claim interest and compensation under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 and pause further work.

7.1 Interest. Overdue amounts carry statutory interest at 8% a year above the Bank of England base rate, from the due date until payment is received.

7.2 Fixed compensation. We may also claim a fixed sum for each overdue invoice:

7.3 Recovery costs. Where our reasonable costs of recovering the debt are higher than the fixed sum, for example debt collection or legal fees, we may claim the difference.

7.4 Pausing work. If any invoice is more than 7 days overdue, we may suspend all further bookings for that Client, including confirmed ones, until every overdue amount is paid. A booking suspended for this reason is not a cancellation by us under section 5.4.

7.5 Our reminder process. We will send a reminder when an invoice becomes due, a second reminder 7 days later, and a final notice at 14 days overdue before taking further action.

8.Re-clean guarantee

If anything within the agreed scope of an end of tenancy clean is missed, we will return and re-clean it free of charge, provided the conditions below are met.

8.1 You must report the issue to us within 48 hours of the clean being completed, with clear photos of each area.

8.2 The property must be unchanged and unoccupied since our clean. The guarantee does not apply once new tenants, builders or other trades have been in, or after the check-out inspection if it took place without us being told of a problem.

8.3 The guarantee covers only items included in the original booking. It does not cover marks, stains or damage that cannot be removed by normal cleaning, such as permanent staining, limescale etching, worn surfaces or pre-existing damage.

8.4 The guarantee is a re-clean, not a refund. You must give us reasonable access to carry it out. Refusing a re-clean does not entitle you to withhold payment.

8.5 For other types of clean, please let us know within 24 hours if you are unhappy with any area, and we will put it right where reasonable.

9.Damage, breakages and liability

We hold public liability insurance and take care with every property, but damage must be reported within 48 hours for us to consider a claim.

9.1 If you believe we have caused damage, tell us in writing within 48 hours of the clean, with photos. We will not normally accept claims reported later, or after other people have had access to the property.

9.2 Where we are responsible, we may choose to repair the item, pay the reasonable cost of repair, or pay its replacement value, allowing for age and wear.

9.3 We are not responsible for:

• damage caused by an existing fault, poor installation or wear and tear, such as loose tiles, fragile fittings or failing seals
• items that were not reasonably secured, or damage from products or equipment you asked us to use
• valuables, cash or fragile items left out that you have not told us about
• delays or losses caused by lack of access or the conditions in section 4

9.4 For Business Clients, we are not liable for any loss of profit, loss of rent, re-letting delays or other indirect losses. Our total liability for any booking is limited to the amount recoverable under our public liability insurance.

9.5 Nothing in these terms limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot be limited by law.

10.Work we do not carry out

For safety and insurance reasons, the following are not included in any of our services. If we find them on arrival, we may stop work on the affected area and charge for the time spent.

• biohazards, including bodily fluids, sharps, drug paraphernalia or animal waste beyond normal pet hair
• pest infestations or droppings
• heavy or spreading mould needing specialist treatment
• work at height beyond a standard step ladder, or outside windows above ground floor
• moving heavy furniture or appliances
• removal of rubbish, belongings or bulky waste, unless agreed in advance at an extra charge
• any area we reasonably consider unsafe to work in

11.Private Customers

If you are a Private Customer, this section replaces sections 5, 6 and 7, and nothing in these terms affects your statutory rights.

11.1 Your legal rights. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, we must carry out the Services with reasonable care and skill. If we don’t, you can ask us to put it right, or in some cases ask for a price reduction.

11.2 14-day right to cancel. If you book online, by phone, by email or away from our premises, you can cancel within 14 days of booking without giving a reason. If you ask us to carry out the clean within those 14 days, you will pay for any work already done if you cancel. Once the clean is fully completed at your request, the right to cancel ends.

11.3 Cancellation charges. Outside the 14-day period, or where the clean falls within it at your request:

These charges reflect the time we have set aside and are unlikely to be able to rebook at short notice.

11.4 Payment. Payment is due on the day of the clean by bank transfer or card, unless we agree otherwise.

12.Complaints, data and general terms

Please contact us first with any complaint, and we will aim to respond within 5 working days.

12.1 Complaints. Email SKcleaningsolutions@outlook.com or call 07852 881829 with details and photos where relevant.

12.2 Non-solicitation. Business Clients agree not to employ or directly engage any cleaner introduced by us, for 6 months after their last job for you, without our written agreement.

12.3 Your data. We only use your details, and those of tenants or landlords you give us, to arrange and carry out bookings, invoice and keep records. We do not sell or share them for marketing. You can ask us what we hold about you at any time.

12.4 Photos. We may take before and after photos for quality and evidence purposes. We will not use photos showing personal items, addresses or people for marketing without permission.

12.5 Changes to these terms. We may update these terms from time to time. The version on our website at the time of your booking applies to that booking.

12.6 Law. These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and any disputes will be dealt with by the courts of England and Wales.