1.1. Private drivers BV (hereinafter Private drivers) with registered offices at Gaston Crommenlaan 8 in 9050 Ghent, registered with the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises under number 0729.620.340. Private drivers enters into an agreement with the Client, whereby they agree to appoint a suitable Driver to transport the Client to his destination.
1.2. Driver: a private Driver appointed by Private Drivers who brings the Client to his destination in the Client's own vehicle.
1.3. Client: the Client enters into an agreement with Private drivers, and is transported to and from its destination by the designated Driver following payment of a fee. The Client makes his vehicle available for this Service.
1.4. Service: the service provided consists of a transportation contract whereby a Driver, on behalf of Private drivers, drives the Client to his destination. The vehicle used for this service is provided by the Client. The Service provided constitutes an obligation of means.
2.1. The following general terms and conditions and the special conditions shall apply to all quotations, undertakings and contracts to which Private drivers is a party. These general terms and conditions shall take precedence over all other general terms and conditions. The Client is deemed to be familiar with and irrevocably accept these terms and conditions by placing the order and thereby explicitly and completely waives the applicability of his own general and/or special terms and conditions.
2.2. These general and special terms and conditions can be consulted on the website www.privatedrivers.be.
The correspondence whereby the Client invokes one or more provisions of the general terms and conditions, or requests the execution of one or more provisions, only becomes valid if sent by registered letter to the registered office of Private drivers, Gaston Crommenlaan 8 in 9050 GENT. If the Client addresses the correspondence to Private drivers by registered letter, it shall send a copy by email to jens@privatedrivers.be. Any correspondence by registered letter sent without such a copy shall be deemed never to have been received by Private drivers.
When the Client makes a quotation request via the website, he must confirm this quotation before it becomes binding. The quotations are valid for a period of (15) fifteen days. The Client shall provide the necessary information via the website. He will have to indicate the place of departure, the time of departure, the destination and the estimated duration of the planned trip. In this way, a valid quotation can be established.
When the quotation is confirmed, there can be no deviation from the hours to be performed unless a new quotation is drawn up or written agreement is issued by Private drivers.
5.1. When the Client confirms the quotation, the contract between the parties comes into effect.
5.2. The execution of the contract starts when the Driver leaves for the address where he has to pick up the Client.
5.3. At the start of the contract the Client must sign a statement confirming that he is the owner of the vehicle with which the services will be provided. If he is not the owner of the vehicle, the Client shall sign a declaration stating the correct identity of the owner of the vehicle and accompany it with a signed document from the owner of the vehicle proving his written consent.
5.4. At the start of the contract, the Client shall ensure that in terms of insurance and technical aspects, the vehicle complies with all legal obligations. The Client provides comprehensive insurance for the vehicle.
5.5. It is the Client's responsibility to ensure that the vehicle is in good order.
5.6. Before the start of the contract, the Client must provide Private drivers with proof that he has the necessary insurance and proof of the technical inspection of the vehicle.
5.7. The duration of the contract refers to the duration of the Service. A new contract will be concluded for each Service.
6.1. Private drivers appoints the Drivers who will chauffeur the Clients. Private drivers provides high-quality Drivers, including a thorough screening beforehand, which must demonstrate that the Drivers are capable of driving all types of vehicles safely. This screening will consist of Private drivers verifying the driving experience, the vehicles the relevant Driver has previously driven, and whether any driving courses have been followed. Private drivers reserves the right to make a discretionary assessment at any time as to whether a Driver meets its standards.
6.2. The Clients cannot refuse the Drivers. The Driver that will be appointed for the Client will be the one closest to the Client.
6.3. The Driver is appointed per trip.
6.4. The compensation for the transfer of the Driver to the place of departure of the Client shall be charged to the Client based on a kilometre allowance, estimated at EUR 0.25 per kilometre.
7.1. The prices quoted by www.privatedrivers.be exclude VAT. Prices are charged at an hourly rate and are calculated per hour that the Driver is at the Client's disposal. Each quarter of an hour started will be charged.
7.2. For journeys made at night, a surcharge of 20% shall be charged. For journeys made on Sundays and public holidays, a surcharge of 50% shall be charged. If the journey takes longer than 8 hours, a meal allowance for the Driver will be charged (valued at €14.95).
- Night journeys are defined as journeys between 22:00 and 6:00. - Public holidays include the following public holidays:
- 1 January (New Year's Day)
- Easter and Easter Monday (variable dates)
- 1 May (Labour Day)
- Ascension Day (sixth Thursday after Easter)
- Pentecost and Whit Monday (seventh Sunday and Monday after Easter)
- 21 July (Belgian bank holiday)
- 15 August (Assumption Day)
- 1 November (All Saints' Day)
7.3. Surcharges are calculated per effective hour that the Driver is at the Client's disposal during hours that count as night work, or on Sundays and public holidays.
7.4. Drivers can be booked for a minimum duration of 3 hours. If you need a Driver for a shorter journey, you will still be charged for 3 hours as this is the minimum duration of a journey. The Client pays for the entire duration that the Driver is at his disposal. This is from the moment the Driver arrives at the departure point until the moment the Driver drops the Client off at the departure point.
7.5. Drivers can be booked for a maximum period of 1 week. During this period, the Driver is at your full disposal, on the understanding that the Driver remains at all times under the authority of Private drivers, and that the Client can only give instructions to the Driver. These instructions are limited to indicating where the Driver should take the Client, where the Driver should wait, and possibly providing a newspaper and/or breakfast. The Driver shall receive all further appointments and instructions concerning working hours from Private drivers.
7.6. If an overnight stay is included in the service, the rest hours during the night will not be taken into account. The rest hours can be a maximum of 6 hours, and the overnight stay shall take place between 00.00 and 06.00 hours. The Client shall ensure that the Driver is properly accommodated in a hotel or B&B and shall bear the cost of the evening meal, overnight stay and breakfast.
8.1. If the Client wishes to make a reservation, this must be done at least 24 hours before the start of the service. Availability cannot be guaranteed within 24 hours.
8.2. Reservations may be cancelled free of charge if made in a timely manner. Timely is defined as: at least 24 hours before the start of the service.
8.3. Cancellations within the period of 24 hours before the start of the service will incur a fee of 3 working hours.
9.1. The Driver provides a performance statement with the hours worked to Private drivers. Private drivers prepares the invoice for the Client based on this performance statement.
9.2. All payments are to be made within eight days of the invoice date. In the event of non-payment on the due date, interest on the outstanding balance of 10% shall be payable by operation of law and without notice of default, even if a period of grace is granted.
In the same case, the balance of the debt shall also be increased by a fixed compensation of 10% to cover the extrajudicial collection costs, with a minimum of €125.00, without prejudice to the costs of collection, if any. If there are several outstanding invoices, the fixed compensation shall be payable on each of the invoices.
10.1. The insurance of the vehicle is the full responsibility of the Client. The Client shall ensure that a special insurance policy is in place, under which the Driver benefits from civil liability and comprehensive cover.
10.2. The insurances that the Client must definitely have taken out before he can make use of our services are:
- civil liability insurance in accordance with Article 2 of the Motor Insurance Act;
- comprehensive insurance that includes theft, additional driver and passenger insurance.
11.1. Private drivers is entitled to terminate the contract without notice or compensation in the following cases:
- if the Client commits a breach of one of its contractual obligations;
- if the Client is in a state of insolvency;
11.2. When one of the above-mentioned events occurs, all outstanding invoices shall become immediately due and payable.
12.1. The Service provided constitutes an obligation of meansc. If the Client has any complaints, he must raise them in writing within 8 days of the Service.
12.2. If the invoice is contested, the invoice can only be accepted if this objection is raised within a period of 8 days after receipt of the invoice.
13.1. Private drivers is never responsible for:
- fuel expenses;
- fines;
- fee or other parking charges;
- maintenance costs;
- repair or towing costs;
- taxes;
- court fees;
In other words, all costs related to the vehicle, both direct and indirect, are to be borne 100% by the Client.
13.2. Private drivers is only liable in the event of intent or gross negligence of the Drivers, in all other cases there can be no liability on the part of Private drivers.
No liability is accepted from Private drivers in the event that the destination is not reached or not reached in time due to traffic conditions such as congestion, accident on the road, weather conditions, changes in traffic conditions, bad functioning of the GPS, etc.
13.3. The liability of Private drivers is limited to the amount they are insured for under their insurance policies. The organisation can never be held liable for any other consequential damages.
13.4. Private drivers shall not be liable for damages resulting from non-performance or late performance of the service due to force majeure. Force majeure shall be understood to mean circumstances that were unforeseeable and unavoidable at the time of the conclusion of the contract, and which occur beyond our control when they constitute a serious impediment to the performance of the contract. These circumstances include war and riots, natural phenomena, government measures, strikes, seizure, labour disputes, fire, shortage of means of transport, exceptional traffic problems.
13.5. In the event of force majeure, Private drivers may choose to suspend or cancel the contract.
13.6. In the event of force majeure, the Client will never be able to claim compensation.
14.1. The Client may only use the services of Private drivers through a contract with Private drivers and is prohibited to use the services of Drivers who are or have been employed by Private drivers without the intervention of Private drivers.
14.2. If the Client nevertheless uses a Driver who is/was employed by Private drivers, the Client shall owe compensation to Private drivers. This compensation shall be equal to €5,000 and shall double for each infringement.
In the event of non-payment of one of our invoices on the due date or in the event of total or partial non-performance of the contracting party's obligations, all claims against the same shall become immediately due and Private drivers may suspend the execution of the current contracts.
If one of the provisions or part of a provision of these terms and conditions should be declared null and void, this invalidity shall not affect the validity of the other provisions, which shall remain applicable. The parties will immediately and in good faith negotiate a valid provision to replace the void provision, which will correspond to the purpose of the void provision as much as possible.
17.1. Private drivers acts in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation.
17.2. Under the agreement, personal data may be processed for the purposes set out in this agreement. The personal data will only be processed if this results from the execution of the agreement (informing the client about changes in the services, etc). If Private drivers processes the personal data for other purposes, it will request the Client's prior consent. Private drivers will give the Client the opportunity to exercise his rights concerning his personal data. The Client will be informed of these rights (and many other matters) in the privacy policy, as set out on the Private drivers website.
18.1. Only Belgian law shall apply.
18.2. All disputes relating to the contract fall under the jurisdiction of the Commercial Court of Ghent, Ghent Division.
General terms and conditions Private drivers - July 2019.