Our Terms, Conditions and Commitment to Confidentiality

Quotations

Written quotations are available on request and will remain valid for a period for a period of three months unless the client’s requirements change, either before work commences or during the assignment. If this happens, we reserve the right to amend our original quotation.

Clients will be asked to complete an Assignment Form, which will detail the work you require from The Office Elf, before any work commences. Signing the Assignment Form indicates acceptance of our Terms and Conditions, a copy of which will be issued to the client with the Assignment Form.

Invoice and Payment Terms

For one-off jobs (i.e. individual jobs, not repeat or regular assignments) and invoice will be issued with your completed work and payment will be required within seven days of the date of the invoice. Preferential terms are available for regular clients, up to a maximum of 30 days from the date of the invoice.

We reserve the right to charge interest on overdue amounts at the rate of 3% per month on the outstanding balance from the date of the invoice until final payment is made. The client will bear the responsibility for payment of any bank charge incurred by The Office Elf arising from any cheques returned unpaid by the bank.

Termination of Regular Assignments

Should a client wish to terminate a regular assignment, notice should be given in writing that this is required. Payment will be required for any work undertaken for the client up to the date of termination.

The Office Elf reserves the right to terminate a regular assignment at its discretion. Whilst every effort will be made to give as much notice to the client as possible of termination, no guarantee can be given of a minimum notice period.

Computer Files

Clients’ files will be retained by The Office Elf for a period of six months only, with the client’s permission, unless the client wishes to extend this period by payment of a retention fee for a further fixed period of time. After this time, the client’s files will be deleted from our records. We strongly advise clients to send original material by a traceable method of delivery and to keep a copy of all original data sent electronically to The Office Elf.

In the interests of security and maintaining virus-free computer systems, The Office Elf will scan all incoming email, files or disks for viruses and will not open any unsolicited attachment to an email or an email containing no message along with the attachment.

Proofreading

The Office Elf will make every effort to ensure that proof-reading assignments are completed to a high standard but final responsibility for errors in completed work rests with the client. If errors are found in the work and reported to The Office Elf within 48 hours of receipt of the completed work, The Office Elf will make any corrections free of charge. This offer does not include corrections arising from the client changing their mind regarding the style or layout to be followed during the course of the proof-reading assignment where the client has not informed The Office Elf in a reasonable time.

The Office Elf will not undertake any proof-reading or editing assignment containing material which it considers to be illegal, immoral or otherwise objectionable. Clients are responsible for ensuring that any completed document is used in an appropriate way that does not infringe any copyright or plagiarism laws.

Copyright

The Office Elf retains copyright for all original material produced. Copyrighted work may only be used for the purpose for which it was commissioned. Any further use of the work is subject to the client seeking agreement for this use from the Office Elf.

Insurance

The Office Elf will provide such insurance as is required by law to protect its public liability to its clients. It does not provide insurance to cover the value of clients’ documents whilst in its possession or whilst in transit and clients are advised to ensure that any documents of value are covered under their own insurance in these instances. The Office Elf will, however, ensure that documents are posted in a secure manner and by a traceable method of delivery if they wish, the cost of which will be borne by the client and charged to their invoice.

In the interests of Health and Safety, our insurance does not permit us to receive visitors in our office. Visits will be made to your premises by prior arrangement whenever they are required.

Our Commitment to Confidentiality

The Office Elf will not share our clients’ personal details with any third party under any circumstances unless specifically requested to do so by the client.

We will adhere to the UK Data Protection Act 1998.

We will not disclose information relating to our clients’ businesses or use information to which we are party to benefit ourselves or any third party.

We will only request as much personal information relating to our client or their business which is necessary for us to undertake an assignment in a professional manner.

The Office Elf will endeavour to protect the personal information submitted by its clients, but must advise clients that no method of transmission via the internet, or any electronic storage of information, is guaranteed to be 100% secure. The Office Elf cannot, therefore, accept responsibility for any failure in the systems it puts in place to protect its clients’ information.