Access to Work Client Terms

InSignLanguage Ltd · Document code ISL-LEG-B12 · Read with the Client Terms (ISL-LEG-B01), the Consumer Booking Addendum (ISL-LEG-B02) and the Cancellation and No-Show Schedule (ISL-LEG-F-I) · Governing law: England & Wales

Version 1.0 · Effective 17 September 2026.

Access to Work is a government grant that pays for the communication support you need at work. Most people have heard of it. The hard part is getting through it: the consultation, the evidence, the application, the monthly claims, and the reviews when your hours or your role change. Our Client Services Department runs that process for you. These terms set out how it works and what each of us is responsible for.

They are written in plain English. If you would like them explained in BSL, ask and we will arrange it at no cost.

1. Who these terms are for

These terms apply wherever InSignLanguage delivers interpreting or related communication support that is paid for, in whole or in part, by an Access to Work award held by you.

The contract is between InSignLanguage Ltd and you as the grant-holder, whoever pays the invoice. If you hold the award in your own name you are a consumer for these purposes, even though the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) meets some or all of the cost. The Consumer Booking Addendum (ISL-LEG-B02) then applies to you and prevails over anything in these terms that differs. Where your employer contracts with us separately, our Client Terms (ISL-LEG-B01) govern that arrangement.

For you as a consumer the order of precedence is: the Consumer Booking Addendum first, then these terms, then the Client Terms. Nothing here limits your statutory rights.

2. What we provide

Under an Access to Work award we provide some or all of the following, according to what your award covers:

• Video Relay Service (VRS) — qualified BSL interpreters on demand through the InSign UK App or Microsoft Teams, for day-to-day communication at work.

• In-person interpreting — a registered interpreter on site for meetings, training, interviews and events. Two interpreters working in rotation where the assignment is long or demanding.

• Lipspeaking and note-taking — where those are the right support for you, and your award covers them.

• Recorded BSL — a BSL Video Presentation of workplace documents, delivered to camera by a Registered Sign Language Interpreter. Our BSL Video Presentation Terms (ISL-LEG-B06) govern it.

• Access to Work administration — consultations, help preparing your application or amendment, the monthly claim and the Support Worker Record of Tasks, and correspondence with the scheme where you have authorised us to act.

• Employment and workplace support — advice on reasonable adjustments, guidance on communication at work, and help talking to your employer.

Consultations are delivered however suits you: VRS, Microsoft Teams, text relay or in person.

3. Your consultation

We start with a consultation. It establishes what you actually need, and it is the record the scheme relies on later. In it we:

• confirm how you prefer to communicate, and put BSL interpretation in place for the conversation itself;

• assess your needs — your role, whether you are in post, starting a job or job-seeking, where and how you work, the activities that need support, and anything already causing you difficulty;

• explain what the grant covers and what it does not, and who is responsible for what;

• explain how the monthly claim works and when it is due;

• set out which of our services fit your needs, and how to book them;

• agree a support plan, the next steps on your application or amendment, and a date to review it.

It is worth starting early. There is a queue at the DWP end, and the wait is the part of the process nobody can shorten.

4. Working with us

4.1 The commitment we ask for

While you are an Access to Work client of InSignLanguage, you agree that you will:

• appoint InSignLanguage as your Access to Work provider for BSL interpreting and related communication support, and authorise us to act as your representative with the scheme on that support — applications, claims, evidence and correspondence; and

• book the interpreting funded by that award through InSignLanguage.

4.2 Why we ask for it

The consultation, the application work, the monthly claims and the chasing are not separately funded. We carry them because we deliver the interpreting the award pays for. That is the bargain, and we would rather you understood it now than discovered it later.

4.3 What this commitment is not

• It is not a restriction on your award. The grant is yours. Nothing here reduces it, transfers it, or gives InSignLanguage any right over it.

• It does not stop you contacting the DWP. It is your grant and your relationship with the scheme. Contact them whenever you want to, about anything. We ask only that you tell us what was said, so the records we hold and the claims we prepare stay accurate.

• It is not a restriction on which interpreter you work with. Tell us your preferences, decline an interpreter, ask for a change. We allocate from our registered pool to suit you.

• It is not permanent and it carries no charge. You may end it at any time by telling us. We will hand over cleanly, in writing, and make sure the scheme’s records are right. Moving your support elsewhere costs you nothing.

4.4 Funding integrity

We claim from the DWP only for support we have actually delivered. We do not claim for an assignment that did not happen, and we never present another provider’s work as ours. If you move some or all of your support to another provider, tell us and we will make sure the scheme’s records reflect that. It protects you, because you are the grant-holder and the claim is made in your name.

5. The monthly claim

Your award is paid against a claim you submit each month. You must submit it on the date agreed with the scheme. If it is late, payment is delayed; if claims stop, funding stops.

Each month your account manager in our Client Services Department will:

• review the support you have used;

• confirm the interpreter sessions and VRS usage on record;

• prepare your claim summary and the Support Worker Record of Tasks (SWROT) covering the period;

• check for missing or inconsistent detail before it goes anywhere;

• help you complete and submit the electronic claim; and

• answer any follow-up the DWP sends.

We invoice the DWP only once we hold a signed claim and a SWROT covering the period.

If a claim is missed or rejected. We will tell you what went wrong, correct it with you, and agree a revised timeline. Where a claim stays unresolved we may need to pause new bookings until it is sorted, and we will say so before we do it rather than after. We will keep any support already confirmed running wherever we can.

6. Telling us when something changes

A change in your circumstances is anything that could affect your award, your support plan, or how we deliver your interpreting. It includes:

• a change to your job role, duties or working hours;

• a change of line manager or team;

• a change of workplace, location, or your pattern of remote working;

• a change in your employment status, including the outcome of a probation period;

• moving to a new employer;

• extended sickness, leave or absence;

• a change in how you prefer to communicate; and

• anything else that may need your funding or support allocation revised.

Tell us as soon as you know. Then book a consultation so we can work out what it means for your support. If we do not hear, the risks fall on your funding: claims can be delayed, support may be paused while the position is reviewed, the DWP may ask you to resubmit, and funded support can be allocated wrongly or lost through no fault of ours.

7. Varying your support

Any change to the support you receive under these terms — interpreting hours, VRS usage, recorded BSL, employment support or Access to Work activity — goes through a variation.

A variation is usually needed when your award changes, when you need more hours or minutes, when your responsibilities grow or shift, when you move team or department, when your employer asks for support to be delivered differently, when your communication needs change, or when a new workplace adjustment is put in place.

Variations start with a consultation, so the review is documented and auditable and the evidence behind your claims stays accurate. In it we review your needs, identify any gaps or risks in your communication support, advise whether an Access to Work amendment is needed, update your support plan, tell your employer where that helps, and record the change.

A variation takes effect once the consultation is complete, the change is confirmed in writing, and Access to Work has approved it where approval is needed. Until then your existing arrangements continue unchanged.

8. Booking, cancelling and rescheduling

Bookings are made through the InSign UK App, our website, or by contacting the team. We confirm a booking once we have the information we need and, where relevant, funding is in place.

Lead times, cancellation charges, lateness and no-shows are governed by the Cancellation and No-Show Schedule (ISL-LEG-F-I), with the plain-language summaries in the Face-to-Face Interpreting Booking Policy (ISL-LEG-B07) and the Online Interpreting Booking Policy (ISL-LEG-B08). Where those and Annex I differ, Annex I governs.

Two points matter particularly on Access to Work work:

• The scheme’s own rules apply on top. Access to Work will not always meet a cancellation charge that Annex I makes payable. Where a charge falls due and the DWP declines to fund it because the cancellation falls outside your grant conditions, that amount is invoiced to you as the grant-holder.

• Rescheduling does not extend your funding period. Where a booking is moved within the same funding period we reconfirm and re-evidence it, so the claim and the SWROT match the session that actually happened.

9. What we are responsible for, and what we are not

We support you to secure reasonable adjustments, give you guidance on communication and workplace matters, and help you navigate the Access to Work process.

We are not responsible for your job performance, for decisions your employer makes, or for conduct issues at work. Interpreters facilitate communication. They do not advise, advocate, or act as a witness to any document.

We are not liable for delays caused by the DWP’s own processing, for your employer’s decisions or workplace outcomes, or for the consequences of these terms not being met on your side. Nothing in these terms limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be limited — including, for you as a consumer, liability that cannot be limited under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Section 12 of the Client Terms sets out the full position.

10. Costs

Where your award covers the support, there is nothing for you to pay. Where something falls outside it, we will tell you before we deliver it, not afterwards.

Anything the award does not cover is payable by you: support requested beyond your funded hours, cancellation charges the DWP declines to fund, and any service you ask for that sits outside the award. Travel, expenses at cost and recording are dealt with in our Travel (ISL-LEG-B09), Expenses at Cost (ISL-LEG-B10) and Recording and Broadcast (ISL-LEG-B11) policies.

Where you arrange support privately rather than through the award, our standard fees and payment terms in section 6 of the Client Terms apply.

11. Standards we work to

Every interpreter we allocate holds the registration, qualifications, insurance and clearance appropriate to the assignment. Legal and medical work, and any appointment where consent or capacity is to be established, goes to a Registered Sign Language Interpreter. Section 3.2 of the Client Terms sets out the allocation rules in full, and our DBS and Vetting Policy (ISL-LEG-F-E) covers clearance.

We hold certification to ISO 9001:2015 (quality management) and to ISO 18841:2018 (interpreting services), certificate ATCISO2479, valid to 8 December 2028. We maintain an information security management system aligned to ISO/IEC 27001:2022. We are not certified to ISO 17100:2015, we do not claim to be, and we are not currently taking on new translation work.

Our interpreters work to the published codes of conduct of the NRCPD, RBSLI and SLRPDC. Our Service Level Agreement (ISL-LEG-F-D) sets out our response times, quality targets and hours of service.

12. Your information

Your personal data, including the Access to Work correspondence you have authorised us to handle, is processed under our Privacy Notice (ISL-LEG-E01). Health and disability information is special-category data and is handled under the additional safeguards in our Appropriate Policy Document (ISL-LEG-F-H). You can exercise your data rights at any time — our Data Subject Rights page (ISL-LEG-E03) explains how.

Interpreters and staff are bound by written confidentiality undertakings and by their professional codes. We do not record assignments except in the circumstances set out in section 9 of the Client Terms, which require your written request and the informed consent of everyone taking part, given and confirmed in their own language.

13. Ending this agreement

13.1 How long it runs

These terms take effect when you accept them and continue for the duration of your Access to Work award and any further award that follows it, unless replaced by a new agreement.

13.2 If you want to end it

We ask for six months’ written notice, or notice up to the end of your current award period if that comes sooner. Send it to finance@insignlanguage.co.uk. The reason we ask is practical: interpreters are booked ahead, and six months lets us hold your cover steady while you move.

There is no charge for ending this agreement, whatever notice you give. If you need to leave sooner, tell us and we will wind down in an orderly way. You will not pay an early termination fee, an exit charge, or any sum calculated by reference to what remains in your award. Your statutory rights, including your cancellation rights under the Consumer Booking Addendum, are unaffected.

Separately from this, you may end the commitment in section 4.1 and move your interpreting to another provider at any time, with no notice and no charge. See section 4.3.

13.3 If we need to end it

We may end this agreement on 30 days’ written notice, and immediately where you give us information you know to be false, where your conduct creates a safeguarding or safety concern, or where something you do puts your Access to Work funding or our ability to deliver at risk. We will tell you why.

13.4 What happens then

Assignments already confirmed are honoured or wound down under Annex I. Outstanding claims are closed, submitted or handed over so nothing owed to you is lost. Access to our app and support channels ends. We confirm your departure in writing and, on request, give you a summary of the support delivered for your Access to Work history and a handover pack for your new provider.

14. If something goes wrong

Tell us straight away at support@insignlanguage.co.uk, or in BSL by recorded video or a VRS slot at no charge. Our Complaints Procedure (ISL-LEG-A07) sets out what we will do and when: acknowledgement within 2 working days, a substantive response within 10, and an escalation route through the Head of Operations, the Director and Data Protection Lead, and then the Chief Executive.

If you have been through our procedure and are still not satisfied, you can take a complaint about an interpreter’s professional conduct to their register, a data protection complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office, and a complaint about the scheme itself to Access to Work at the DWP.

15. General

15.1 Acceptance. You accept these terms by signing, electronically or on paper, or by clear recorded confirmation on a consultation call. We record the version you accepted, the date and the method.

15.2 Changes. We may update these terms. The current version is published here. The version that applies to an assignment is the one in force when we confirmed it, and we will tell you before a material change takes effect.

15.3 Other documents. These terms are read with the Client Terms, the Consumer Booking Addendum, the Cancellation and No-Show Schedule, the Service Level Agreement and the Privacy Notice. Where you are a consumer and they differ, the order in section 1 applies.

15.4 Restrictive covenants. The arrangements in Annex G (ISL-LEG-F-G) bind business clients and interpreters. They place no restriction on you as an Access to Work beneficiary, and they do not affect your choice of interpreter or your entitlement.

15.5 Governing law. These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales, and the parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of its courts.

If you would like any part of this explained in BSL, ask. We will arrange it at no cost, and we would rather you understood it than signed it.

InSignLanguage Ltd · 26 Domum Road, Portsmouth PO2 0QZ · Company number 10943637 · VAT registration number GB 298 6629 31 · ICO registration ZC163713 · support@insignlanguage.co.uk