Terms and Conditions of Service

InSignLanguage Ltd — version 1.5

These Terms and Conditions ("Terms") govern the supply by InSignLanguage Ltd (company number 10943637, registered office 26 Domum Road, Portsmouth PO2 0QZ; ICO registration ZC163713) of British Sign Language (BSL) interpreting — in person, Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) and Video Relay Service (VRS) — together with translation, Deaf-awareness training and related services (the "Services").

They form a contract between InSignLanguage Ltd ("InSignLanguage", "we", "our", "us") and the organisation or person to whom the Services are supplied (the "Client", "you", "your").

InSignLanguage is the supplier of the Services in every engagement. Where a partner or framework sits in the commercial route to you, the interpreting service and its quality remain ours.

If you are booking as a consumer — an individual booking for purposes outside a business — the Consumer Booking Addendum applies alongside these Terms and prevails over them wherever the two differ. See section 2.4.

These Terms apply unless a separate written agreement signed by both parties expressly varies them. Read them with our Service Level Statement, Privacy Notice, Cancellation and No-Show Schedule and the relevant Booking Confirmation.

1. Definitions

Defined terms have the meaning given in our Glossary, which is the single authoritative source. The terms used most often here:

• Assignment — A specific booking accepted by InSignLanguage for one of the Services.

• Approved Organisation — A registered client account that has accepted these Terms and any applicable Data Processing Agreement, and contracts in the course of a business.

• Booking Confirmation — The written confirmation we issue for each Assignment, setting out the agreed scope, time and price.

• Interpreter — A BSL interpreter, translator or other practitioner allocated to an Assignment.

• Manual-Confirmed Booking — A booking between a Client and an Interpreter who have not previously worked together through us, which our bookings team confirms after competence and availability checks.

• Self-Confirmed Repeat Booking — A booking between a Client and an Interpreter who have previously worked together through us, which the Interpreter's acceptance confirms directly.

• RSLI / TSLI — Registered Sign Language Interpreter / Trainee Sign Language Interpreter, as registered with the NRCPD.

• Service-User — A Deaf, Deafblind, hard-of-hearing or hearing person taking part in an Assignment.

• Working Day — A day other than a Saturday, Sunday or English bank holiday.

• UK GDPR — The UK General Data Protection Regulation as defined in the Data Protection Act 2018.

2. How a contract is formed

2.1 Formation

A contract is formed when we issue a Booking Confirmation in response to your request. The Booking Confirmation and these Terms together form the contract. We may decline a request at any time before issuing a Booking Confirmation.

2.2 Manual-Confirmed Bookings

Where you and the allocated Interpreter have not worked together through us before, our bookings team confirms the Assignment after checking the Interpreter's competence for the subject matter and their availability. The contract forms when we issue the Booking Confirmation.

2.3 Self-Confirmed Repeat Bookings

Where you and the Interpreter have worked together through us before, the Interpreter may accept your request directly. Acceptance confirms the booking and we issue the Booking Confirmation to record it. These Terms apply in full to Self-Confirmed Repeat Bookings.

2.4 Consumers

If you are an individual booking for purposes wholly or mainly outside a business, you are a consumer. The Consumer Booking Addendum then applies alongside these Terms and prevails wherever they differ — including your statutory cancellation rights under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 and your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Nothing in these Terms limits those rights.

2.5 Access to Work

Where the booking is delivered under Access to Work (AtW), the contract is between InSignLanguage and the AtW grant-holder, whoever pays the invoice. Section 11 applies, and where the grant-holder is a consumer, section 2.4 applies too.

3. The Services

3.1 Standards

We deliver the Services in line with:

• ISO 9001:2015 (quality management), to which we are certified;

• ISO 18841:2018 (interpreting services), to which we are certified — certificate ATCISO2479, valid to 8 December 2028;

• the published codes of conduct of the NRCPD, RBSLI and SLRPDC;

• our Quality Policy (QMS-001) and Client Service Standards (OPS-010).

Translation. We are not currently taking on new translation work, and we are not certified to ISO 17100:2015. Nothing in these Terms is a representation that we deliver translation to that standard. Where translation is supplied to you under a separate written agreement, that agreement governs it. Where a certified, sworn or attested translation is required, you will need a translation provider.

Recorded BSL. Where you need information in BSL outside a live Assignment, we provide a BSL Video Presentation — an interpretation delivered to camera by a Registered Sign Language Interpreter and recorded. It is provided under ISO 18841:2018 and is not a translation. Our BSL Video Presentation Terms govern it.

3.2 Who we allocate

Every Interpreter we allocate holds the registration, qualifications, insurance and clearance appropriate to the Assignment. Specifically:

• Interpreters hold current professional registration and professional indemnity insurance, and — where the setting requires it — an enhanced DBS, PVG or AccessNI check.

• Legal assignments are allocated to a Registered Sign Language Interpreter (RSLI) whose training and experience we have confirmed as appropriate to legal work before the Assignment.

• Medical assignments are allocated on the same registered basis. Where any consent is to be signed, or the appointment may reasonably lead to one, we allocate an RSLI; a Trainee Sign Language Interpreter (TSLI) is not allocated to those appointments.

• A TSLI is not allocated to legal proceedings, police or court settings, child-protection or safeguarding meetings, mental-health assessments, disciplinary or grievance hearings, or any appointment where consent or capacity is to be established. Where a TSLI is allocated to other work, they work under the supervision arrangements their registration requires.

We confirm the specific qualifications of an allocated Interpreter on request before the Assignment.

3.3 Assignments needing authorisation

Personal, legal and medical assignments are accepted only where they have been identified as such at booking and authorised by us. Tell us the setting and subject matter when you book. If an Assignment turns out on the day to be materially different from the one booked — in particular if it becomes a legal, medical or safeguarding matter — the Interpreter may decline to continue, and section 5 applies as though the Assignment had been cancelled at short notice.

3.4 Scope and notice

Each Assignment is scoped in the Booking Confirmation: date, start time, expected duration, language pair, format (in person / VRI / VRS), subject matter, location or video link, and any special requirements.

Standard VRS calls are scheduled in 30-minute slots. In-person assignments are booked against a minimum charge period set out in our price list. Face-to-face Assignments requested with less than 10 Working Days' notice are accepted on a reasonable-endeavours basis — we will always try, and we will tell you quickly if we cannot cover it.

3.5 What is not included

Unless we agree otherwise in writing, the Services do not include:

• legal, medical, financial or other professional advice — Interpreters facilitate communication and do not advise, advocate or act as a witness to any document;

• preparation outside the agreed Assignment time;

• travel beyond the agreed location;

• recording, photography or distribution of the Assignment (see section 9);

• attendance at an Assignment materially different from the one booked (see section 3.3).

4. Your obligations

You agree to:

• give us accurate booking information in good time, including subject matter, specialist vocabulary, reference documents and any briefing material that helps the Interpreter prepare;

• tell the Service-User and other participants that an Interpreter will be present;

• provide a safe working environment: appropriate lighting, clear sight-lines, a suitable position for the Interpreter, and reasonable rest;

• allow rest breaks — an Interpreter working continuously needs 15 minutes' rest for every 60 minutes of interpreting. For longer or more demanding Assignments we allocate two Interpreters who work in rotation. Rest breaks are a working requirement, not a discretionary courtesy;

• for VRI and VRS, provide adequate bandwidth, working video and audio, and a private space appropriate to the subject matter;

• obtain any consents needed from Service-Users in relation to the Assignment;

• pay our invoices in full and on time (section 6).

4A. Lone working and Assignments in private homes

We will not allocate an Interpreter to work alone with an individual in a private residence.

Where an Assignment takes place in a private home, you confirm at the point of booking that a third party — the professional being met, a family member, a carer or a colleague — will be present throughout the Assignment.

If that person is not present when the Interpreter arrives, the Interpreter will not enter and will not begin work. The Assignment will be treated as cancelled by you and charged in full under section 5. The Interpreter is paid in full in those circumstances; their payment is not contingent on any payment by you to us.

This is not a matter of preference. It reflects the duty placed on agencies engaging freelance workers by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, and it protects the Interpreter and the Service-User equally — from risk to physical safety, and from any allegation of misconduct.

Where an Assignment involves lone working, work outside normal hours, or a private residence, we will agree with you any steps needed to reduce risk before the Assignment is confirmed. You agree to tell us at the point of booking anything about the location or the circumstances that could affect the Interpreter's safety — including whether the Service-User lives alone, whether animals will be present, and anything that has happened at the location previously.

5. Cancellations, lateness and no-shows

The full position is in our Cancellation and No-Show Schedule (Annex I), which governs. It is reproduced here for convenience; if the two ever differ, Annex I prevails.

5.1 Client cancellations

• 15 days or more — No charge

• 8 to 14 days — 50% of the agreed fee

• 7 days or less (including the day itself) — 100% of the agreed fee

• No-show on the day — 100% of the agreed fee plus reasonable travel and disbursements

Where an Assignment is block-booked or pre-paid through Access to Work, the AtW rules apply in addition. Consumers should read section 2.4 — statutory cancellation rights are unaffected.

5.2 Interpreter lateness

Interpreters are ready at the agreed start time. If an Interpreter will be late we tell you as soon as we can and will offer to extend the Assignment by the lost time, supply a replacement, or credit the affected part of the fee.

5.3 Client lateness

If the Service-User or another party joins late, the Assignment still ends at the agreed time. An Interpreter is not obliged to wait more than 15 minutes past the agreed start, after which the Assignment may be treated as a no-show.

5.4 Our cancellations

If we have to cancel — for example because no suitably qualified Interpreter is available — we give you as much notice as we can and offer alternatives. We do not charge for an Assignment we cancel.

6. Fees and payment

6.1 Fees. As set out in our price list or agreed in writing, exclusive of VAT. Pre-agreed travel, accommodation and disbursements may be added.

6.2 Invoicing. We invoice on completion of each Assignment, or monthly in arrears for account clients. Payment is due 30 days from the invoice date unless agreed otherwise in writing.

6.3 Late payment. We reserve our rights under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 to statutory interest, fixed compensation and reasonable recovery costs. This section does not apply to consumers.

6.4 Disputes. Tell us in writing within 14 days of receiving an invoice you dispute, with your reasons. Undisputed amounts remain due on the due date.

7. Confidentiality

Each party keeps the other's confidential information confidential and uses it only for the contract. Interpreters and translators are bound by written confidentiality undertakings and by the professional codes in section 3.1. These obligations continue after the contract ends.

8. Data protection

Where we provide Services on behalf of a client organisation, you are normally the controller and we the processor for your Service-Users' personal data. Our Article 28 obligations are set out in full in Annex A — Data Processing Agreement, which is available on request and is required for any standing account. In summary, we:

• process personal data only on your documented instructions;

• bind all authorised personnel to confidentiality;

• apply technical and organisational measures meeting UK GDPR Article 32;

• assist you with data-subject rights requests;

• notify you of a personal-data breach without undue delay, and in any event within 48 hours of becoming aware, so you can meet your 72-hour ICO deadline;

• delete or return the data on termination at your written request, unless we must retain it by law.

Our Privacy Notice explains what we do as a controller in our own right.

9. Recording

We do not record Assignments. Automated note-takers, transcription tools and recording software are not permitted in an Assignment by default, and we will remove one that joins uninvited.

An Assignment is recorded only where you have asked in writing, the Service-User has given explicit, informed consent, and we have confirmed that consent is capable of being given and understood in the Service-User's own language — for a Deaf or Deafblind Service-User, that means consent obtained and confirmed in BSL or their preferred communication, not a ticked box. Where we are required to record by law, we tell you.

Recordings are processed only for the purposes in our Privacy Notice and kept for the minimum period in our retention schedule.

10. Intellectual property

Subject to payment in full, you receive a non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to use any translation deliverable for your internal business purposes. We retain all intellectual property in our methodologies, templates, glossaries and pre-existing materials.

11. Access to Work bookings

Where the Assignment is delivered under Access to Work:

• the contract is with the AtW grant-holder, who is responsible for any sums the DWP does not cover;

• we invoice the DWP only once we hold a signed claim and Support Worker Record of Tasks (SWROT) covering the period;

• if the DWP rejects all or part of a claim because the booking falls outside the grant conditions, the unrecovered amount is invoiced to the grant-holder;

• the grant-holder must tell us promptly if their award changes — rate, hours or end date.

12. Liability

12.1 Our liability. We perform the Services with reasonable care and skill to the standards in section 3.1. Subject to 12.3, our total aggregate liability under or in connection with the contract (in contract, tort including negligence, or otherwise) is limited to the greater of (a) £100,000 or (b) 125% of the fees paid or payable in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim.

12.2 Indirect loss. We are not liable for indirect, special, incidental, consequential or punitive loss, or for loss of profit, revenue, business, goodwill, data or anticipated savings.

12.3 What we cannot exclude. Nothing excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any liability that cannot be excluded under English law. For consumers, nothing limits liability that cannot lawfully be limited under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

12.4 Your liability. You are responsible for loss we suffer from your breach of these Terms, including incorrect or incomplete booking information, late cancellation or no-show.

12A. Working with our interpreters

We introduce you to Interpreters and invest in matching, briefing and quality assurance. Where we have introduced you to an Interpreter, the arrangements in Annex G — Restrictive Covenants apply.

Annex G is tiered and proportionate. In plain terms: for a defined period after an Introduction, we ask that bookings with that Interpreter run through us — or that you take the published Introduction Fee licence, which releases the relationship so you may contract directly. The Introduction Fee is the price of an optional release, not a penalty for breach. A genuine relationship with an Interpreter that pre-dates our Introduction, and was notified to us in writing at or before the first Assignment, is outside these arrangements entirely.

Access to Work work carries a funding-integrity obligation (notification and anti-fraud) rather than any restriction on whom an Interpreter may serve.

13. Insurance

We maintain professional indemnity, public liability and employers' liability insurance at levels appropriate to the Services. Certificates are available on request.

14. Force majeure

Neither party is liable for failure to perform (other than payment) because of an event beyond its reasonable control, including acts of God, war, civil unrest, fire, flood, epidemic or pandemic, industrial action, or failure of a third-party telecommunications or video platform.

15. Term and termination

15.1 Single Assignment. The contract ends when the Assignment has been performed and paid for.

15.2 Accounts and frameworks. Either party may terminate on 30 days' written notice. Either may terminate immediately for a material breach not remedied within 14 days of written notice, or on insolvency.

15.3 Effect. Termination does not affect rights accrued before it. Clauses that by their nature survive — confidentiality, data protection, intellectual property, liability and section 12A — continue.

16. Complaints

If you are unhappy with any part of our Service, tell us straight away at support@insignlanguage.co.uk so we can put it right. Our full procedure, which meets ISO 18841 section 6.4, is in our Complaints Procedure.

17. Anti-bribery, modern slavery and ethics

We comply with the Bribery Act 2010 and the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Our Modern Slavery and Ethical Trading Statement is published on our website.

18. General

18.1 Notices. In writing, to the email or postal address on the Booking Confirmation or in the Client account record.

18.2 No partnership or agency. Nothing creates a partnership, agency or employment relationship.

18.3 Third parties. A person who is not a party has no rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.

18.4 Assignment. You may not assign or sub-contract any part of the contract without our written consent.

18.5 Whole agreement. These Terms, the Booking Confirmation, and any DPA or framework agreement signed by both parties form the whole agreement and supersede previous correspondence.

18.6 Severance. If any provision is held invalid, the rest continue in force.

18.7 Variation. We may update these Terms. The current version is published on our website; the version applying to an Assignment is the one in force when the Booking Confirmation was issued.

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

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

Related policies: Lone Working Policy (ISL-LEG-F-B), DBS and Vetting Policy (ISL-LEG-F-E) and Remote Interpreting Policy (ISL-LEG-F-F).

InSignLanguage Ltd · Company number 10943637 · VAT registration number GB 298 6629 31