Terms and Conditions

Grammarsmithing (Harriet Hammersmith)

So that we both know where we stand, please confirm that you accept my terms and conditions. If anything is not clear, please ask. The person accepting these terms and conditions must do so in writing and, if acting on behalf of an organisation, be authorised to do so.

  1. Definitions and general points
    ‘Job’ means each piece of work commissioned by you.

‘Service’ is the treatment you require for your text, as defined on the services page of the Grammarsmithing website. If the treatment you require for your text does not fall tidily into one of the services, you will need to provide me with a brief for the job.

I reside in Scotland and am a citizen of both the UK and the US. I am self-employed and therefore responsible for my own National Insurance contributions and income tax.

  1. Agreement of terms
    Before starting a job, you and I will agree and confirm in writing:
  • the service to be provided, or a brief
  • the date for the delivery of the job to me (or dates, if it is to come in instalments)
  • how the job will arrive with me (i.e., on paper or digitally and, if digital, which file format)
  • how my suggested changes to the text will be presented to you
  • an estimate of the time required to complete the work based on a typical sample of the text; note that this timetable is for one pass of a text and includes time spent on ancillary tasks (e.g., assimilating the brief and writing up queries arising from the job)
  • that you, or a named person within your organisation, will be promptly available to answer queries raised by me
  • the date(s) for delivery of the completed job to you
  • how the job will be delivered back to you
  • the fee for the job, which will usually be in the form of a quote (but an estimate can be provided if you’d prefer one)
  • which expenses (if any) are to be borne by you (e.g., courier, postage, travel to meetings)
  • to whom, or to which department, invoices are to be sent.
  1. Timetable slippage
    If your delivery of the job to me is delayed to the extent that this will have an impact on the timetable we have scheduled, I will try and reschedule timings to our mutual agreement.

I reserve the right to refuse or cancel the job if it is delivered (or is likely to be delivered) to me too late to fulfil without impacting on other jobs and/or compromising my professional standards.

  1. Fees
    Once the fee for a job has been agreed it is non-negotiable and not subject to change except if:
  • the quality or standard of writing in the overall text is significantly different from that of the sample provided, in which case I will provide you with a revised quote (and maybe timetable) if I accept any additional work involved
  • you decide to extend the scope of the job, in which case I will provide you with a revised quote if I accept the additional work
  • you or I decide to cancel the job.

If you cancel the job and more than one-third has been completed (based on its word count) I reserve the right to invoice for the full amount of the quoted fee. If I cancel the job, I will not invoice for any work completed.

  1. Deposits
    If the job is relatively large and/or if it seems likely to be spread out over a considerable time, I require a deposit (normally 25% of the quoted fee) in advance of work starting.
  2. Payment
    Invoices will normally be sent by email on the same day as the date on the invoice. The settlement period is within 30 days of the date on the invoice, not from the date you read the email and/or approve payment.

I am not VAT registered and so do not charge VAT. Payment can be made in cash, by bank transfer or BACS. I do not accept payment by PayPal. Payment is to be made in pounds sterling. Any bank charges for currency transfer/conversion will be borne by the client.

  1. Interest on overdue invoices
    I reserve the right to claim statutory interest at 8% above the Bank of England Base Rate from the date the debt becomes overdue in accordance with the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, and to claim an additional sum for pursuing the debt as provided for in the 2002 revision of the Act. I retain the copyright in the work until payment has been made in full.
  2. Acceptance and complaints
    As a member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), I have the training, experience and knowledge to give you a high quality service.

I will do my best to make your job error-free, but you accept that no job done by one human, however skilled, can ever be totally error-free. You accept that, particularly with copy-editing, there will always be scope for a difference of opinion rather than right or wrong.

You will promptly confirm the receipt of the job (or instalments) sent back to you and you must, within 7 days of the receipt of a completed job, confirm that you are happy with it; a non-response will be interpreted as satisfaction.

If you have reason to complain, please do so in writing within 7 days of receiving a completed job. Your complaint will be dealt with in a confidential manner, and I will endeavour to resolve things to your satisfaction. As a member of the CIEP, I am bound by its Code of Practice.

9. Unfortunate or unforeseen circumstances
In the event of unfortunate circumstances affecting me (e.g., illness, bereavement), I will advise you as soon as possible.

If either of us is the victim of extraordinary events beyond our control (e.g., crime, flood, strike), liability and obligation may be cancelled.

  1. Backups and legal
    I have anti-virus and digital backup provisions, and use only reputable cloud storage providers.

However, the insurance of any original, physical materials (hard copy) while they are in my keeping and when in transit between you and me is your responsibility.

Although I may draw attention to legal issues (if any) arising from the job (e.g., libel, reproduction of copyright material), you are responsible for these matters.

  1. Waiver
    If I do not exercise my rights on one occasion, this is not a waiver of my other rights or to enforce my Terms and Conditions in the future.
  2. Jurisdiction
    I operate within the law prevailing in Scotland.
  3. Refusal
    I reserve the right to refuse to take on any project.
  4. Portfolio and acknowledgement
    You will provide up to 2 complimentary copies of work published in hard copy if I request it. Where work is published on the world-wide-web you will advise me of its URL. Where work is published on an intranet, you will provide me with a high-quality printout if I request it.

There is no requirement for you to mention me in a published work’s acknowledgements section. However, if you are proposing to do this, you will give me the opportunity to review any such mention prior to publication and/or to decline to be mentioned.

  1. Personal information
    I will collect this personal information from you:
  • your name
  • your email address, and maybe a phone number
  • if you become a client, your postal address.

I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office and comply with UK General Data Protection Regulation.

I will not otherwise share your contact details without specific authorisation unless required to do so by law.

  1. Commercial confidentiality
    I will not share your confidential commercial information with any third parties unless required to do so by law.
  2. Revisions
    From time to time I may change my terms and conditions. The date of the last revision was 20 July 2022.