Terms & Conditions

1.About Us

Benington 4x4 Centre ('we', 'us', 'our') is a specialist Land Rover and Range Rover garage operating from Benington Park Farm, Benington, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SG2 7BU. We are a sole trader / partnership business operating under English law.

These Terms and Conditions govern the provision of vehicle servicing, repair, diagnostic, MOT preparation, parts supply and all other services we offer ('the Services'). By instructing us to carry out work on your vehicle, you agree to be bound by these terms.

If you are a consumer (an individual acting outside a trade, business or profession), you have additional rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and other consumer protection legislation. Nothing in these terms affects those statutory rights.

2.Estimates and Quotations

Any estimate provided is an approximation of the likely cost based on information available at the time. It is not a fixed-price quotation unless confirmed in writing as such.

Where additional work is identified during inspection or repair, we will contact you to obtain your authorisation before proceeding. We will not carry out additional work without your approval, except where it is strictly necessary to prevent immediate danger to persons or property, or where the additional cost is genuinely minor and incidental to the agreed work.

Written quotations are valid for 30 days from the date of issue unless otherwise stated in writing.

Where we have provided a fixed-price quotation, we will honour that price for the work specified, provided the vehicle's condition and the scope of work do not materially differ from the information on which the quotation was based.

3.Authorisation of Work

By leaving your vehicle with us, you authorise us to carry out the work agreed at the point of booking or as subsequently agreed in writing or verbally.

Authorisation may be given in person, by telephone or by email. We may make a record of verbal authorisations for our files.

You confirm that you are the registered keeper or legal owner of the vehicle, or that you have the express authority of the owner to instruct us to carry out work and to enter into these terms on the owner's behalf.

4.Parts and Materials

We use quality new, reconditioned or genuine OEM parts as appropriate to the work required and the age and condition of the vehicle. Where you request a specific type or brand of part, we will endeavour to source it; however, availability cannot always be guaranteed.

Parts supplied by us carry the manufacturer's warranty. We are unable to provide any warranty in respect of parts supplied by the customer, and we accept no liability for failure of customer-supplied parts or any consequential damage arising from their use.

Replaced parts will be returned to you on request, except where they must be returned to the supplier under a core exchange or warranty scheme.

5.Completion Times

We will provide an estimated completion time when you book your vehicle in. Whilst we make every effort to meet this, completion times are estimates only and may be affected by parts availability, the discovery of additional work required, or other factors outside our reasonable control.

We will notify you as soon as reasonably practicable if we anticipate a significant delay. Time is not of the essence for completion unless expressly agreed in writing.

6.Payment

Payment is due in full upon collection of your vehicle unless a credit account has been agreed in advance in writing.

We accept cash, debit card and credit card. Cheques are not accepted.

We reserve the right to exercise a lien over your vehicle — that is, to retain possession of it — until all outstanding charges for work carried out have been paid in full. This right is exercised in accordance with the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977.

A storage charge of £20 per day (inclusive of VAT where applicable) may apply if a vehicle is not collected within 5 working days of notification that work is complete, unless prior arrangement has been made.

In the event of non-payment, we reserve the right to recover outstanding amounts through legal proceedings and to claim reasonable costs and interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 where applicable.

7.Warranty on Work Carried Out

We warrant our workmanship from the date of completion, subject to the vehicle being used and maintained in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations and the nature of the work carried out.

This warranty does not cover fair wear and tear, damage caused by accident, misuse, neglect, use of incorrect fluids or fuels, or modifications carried out by a third party after our work was completed.

To make a warranty claim, please contact us as soon as the issue arises. Do not authorise third-party repairs without first contacting us, as this may invalidate the warranty claim.

Consumer customers have additional statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, including the right to a repeat performance or a price reduction where a service does not conform to contract. These statutory rights are not affected by this warranty.

8.Consumer Right to Cancel

If you are a consumer and you have contracted with us at a distance (for example, entirely by telephone or online) or off our premises, you may have a right to cancel under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

Where this right applies, you have 14 calendar days from the date of the contract to cancel without giving a reason. If you request that we begin work within this 14-day period, you acknowledge that you may be required to pay for any services already performed up to the point of cancellation.

This cancellation right does not apply to services that have been fully performed with your prior express consent, or to contracts entered into on our premises in the ordinary course of business.

9.Liability

We take reasonable care of your vehicle whilst it is on our premises. However, we accept no liability for loss or damage caused by circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including theft by third parties, fire, flood, storm or acts of God.

Subject to clause 9.3 below, our total liability to you in connection with the Services shall not exceed the total charges paid by you for the specific work giving rise to the claim.

Nothing in these terms limits or excludes our liability for: (a) death or personal injury caused by our negligence; (b) fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; (c) breach of the terms implied by the Consumer Rights Act 2015 that cannot be excluded; or (d) any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited by applicable law.

We are not liable for any indirect, consequential or economic loss, including loss of earnings, vehicle hire costs, loss of use, or loss of profit, except where such loss arises from our fraud or wilful misconduct.

10.Customer's Responsibilities

You are responsible for ensuring that the vehicle is taxed, insured and in a roadworthy condition when delivered to us, except where the purpose of the visit is specifically to address a roadworthiness issue.

Please remove all valuables, personal belongings and any items of importance from your vehicle before leaving it with us. We accept no responsibility for personal belongings left in the vehicle.

You must inform us of any known defects, hazards, warning lights, special requirements or modifications relating to the vehicle before work commences. Failure to do so may affect our ability to carry out the work safely and may limit our liability.

11.Uncollected Vehicles

If your vehicle is not collected within 14 days of notification that work is complete, and we have been unable to contact you despite reasonable attempts, we reserve the right to charge a storage fee of £20 per day from the date of that notification.

If a vehicle remains uncollected for 90 days and all reasonable attempts to contact you have failed, we may exercise our rights under the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977 to sell or dispose of the vehicle to recover outstanding charges. We will give you written notice of our intention to do so before taking any such action.

12.Data Protection

We process your personal data in accordance with our Privacy Policy, which is available at benington4x4centre.com/privacy. By instructing us to carry out work, you acknowledge that we will process your personal data as described in that policy.

We process personal data under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. Our lawful bases for processing include contract performance, legitimate interests and legal obligation.

13.Complaints

If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of our service, please raise the matter with us as soon as possible. You can contact us at info@benington4x4centre.co.uk or call 01438 869432.

We will acknowledge your complaint promptly and aim to resolve it within 14 working days. If we are unable to resolve the matter to your satisfaction, consumer customers may wish to seek independent advice from Citizens Advice (www.citizensadvice.org.uk) or consider alternative dispute resolution.

14.Governing Law

These Terms and Conditions are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. Any disputes arising out of or in connection with these terms shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales, save that consumer customers may bring proceedings in the courts of their country of residence within the United Kingdom.

15.Changes to These Terms

We reserve the right to update these Terms and Conditions at any time. The current version will always be available on our website. Changes will not affect services already contracted before the date of change. Continued use of our services after any changes constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.