Instructor Terms & Conditions

These Terms and Conditions ("Terms") form a legally binding agreement between The Driving Instructors ("we", "us", "the Platform") and any approved driving instructor ("you", "Instructor") who registers on or uses the thedrivinginstructors.com platform.

By submitting an application, activating an account, or accepting a student booking through the Platform, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms in full.

To join the Platform you must hold a current, valid DVSA-issued ADI (Approved Driving Instructor) badge and be fully licensed to provide paid driving tuition in the United Kingdom.

Applications are reviewed by our team. We reserve the right to decline any application at our sole discretion without providing a reason.

You must notify us immediately if your ADI badge is suspended, revoked, or lapses for any reason. Continued use of the Platform without a valid badge is a material breach of these Terms and will result in immediate removal.

You are responsible for maintaining adequate public liability insurance and any other cover required by law or your professional body.

You agree to deliver all lessons to the standard expected of a qualified ADI. This includes arriving on time, maintaining a safe and roadworthy vehicle, and treating every student with professionalism and respect.

You must not discriminate against any student on the basis of age, gender, race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or any other protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010.

Any complaint received from a student will be investigated by the Platform. Where a complaint is upheld, we may issue a formal warning, suspend your listing, or remove you from the Platform permanently.

Repeated cancellations, no-shows, or failure to respond to allocated bookings within the required timeframe will be treated as a breach of these Terms.

We operate a quality-first platform. Instructors who do not meet the standard expected of their students will be removed.

Grounds for immediate removal without prior warning include: a student safety incident, loss of ADI badge, fraudulent activity, abusive behaviour toward a student or Platform staff, or any criminal conviction relevant to your role.

Grounds for removal following a warning include: two or more upheld student complaints within any 12-month period, a pattern of late cancellations, failure to deliver lessons that have been paid for, or consistently poor student feedback.

Upon removal you will lose access to your instructor portal, your profile will be unpublished, and any pending lead-unlock credits will be forfeited without refund.

You may appeal a removal decision by emailing info@thedrivinginstructors.com within 14 days. Appeals are reviewed by a senior member of the team and our decision is final.

When a student makes a paid booking through the Platform, the booking is first reviewed by our admin team. We will allocate the booking to a suitable instructor — where a student has expressed a preference, we will honour that preference where possible.

Once a booking is allocated to you, you must accept or decline within the timeframe shown in your instructor portal. Failure to respond will be treated as a decline.

If you decline a booking you must provide a clear, honest reason. Repeated declines without good cause may result in fewer allocations or removal from the Platform.

You must not contact a student to arrange lessons outside the Platform in relation to a booking that originated through the Platform. Circumventing the Platform to avoid the £10 platform fee is a material breach of these Terms.

The Platform retains a £10 fee from each paid student booking. The remaining balance (the student's deposit, being two hours at your stated hourly rate minus £10) is held by the Platform until the lesson has been delivered.

Payment to you is released within 7 days of the lesson being marked as delivered and verified. Verification requires confirmation from both you and the student that the lesson took place as agreed.

You will not receive payment for any lesson that is not verified. If a student disputes that a lesson was delivered, the Platform will investigate and its decision on whether to release funds is final.

Payments are made to the bank account you register in your instructor portal. You are responsible for ensuring your bank details are accurate and up to date. We accept no liability for payments made to an incorrect account as a result of details you provided.

You are solely responsible for declaring all income received through the Platform to HMRC and paying any tax, National Insurance, or VAT due. The Platform does not deduct tax on your behalf.

In addition to paid bookings, the Platform may offer free student enquiries ("leads") that you can choose to unlock for a fee of £10 per lead.

Lead unlock fees are non-refundable once the student's contact details have been revealed to you, regardless of whether the student proceeds to book lessons.

You must not share, sell, or transfer unlocked lead information to any third party.

Once a student has completed their first booking through the Platform and has chosen to continue lessons with you, it becomes your responsibility to retain that student.

This means proactively communicating with the student, scheduling future lessons in a timely manner, and maintaining the quality of instruction that led them to choose you.

The Platform provides the introduction. Building and maintaining the ongoing relationship with your learner is your professional responsibility.

If a student returns to the Platform to find a different instructor as a result of poor communication or service on your part, this will be recorded and may count toward the complaint threshold in clause 4.

You are responsible for ensuring that all information on your profile — including your hourly rate, areas covered, transmission type, and availability — is accurate and kept up to date.

You must not misrepresent your qualifications, experience, pass rate, or any other information on your profile.

We reserve the right to edit, suspend, or remove your profile at any time if we believe it contains inaccurate, misleading, or inappropriate content.

Student personal data (name, contact details, address) shared with you through the Platform is provided solely for the purpose of delivering the booked lesson. You must not use it for any other purpose, share it with third parties, or retain it beyond what is necessary.

You must comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 in respect of any personal data you handle.

Our full Privacy Policy is available at thedrivinginstructors.com/privacy.

The Platform acts as an introduction and payment-handling service only. We are not your employer, agent, or partner. You are an independent self-employed instructor.

We accept no liability for any loss, injury, or damage arising from lessons delivered by you to students. You are solely responsible for the safe delivery of all tuition.

Our total liability to you under these Terms, in contract, tort, or otherwise, shall not exceed the total platform fees paid by you in the 12 months preceding the claim.

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by email to the address registered on your account. Continued use of the Platform after the effective date of any change constitutes your acceptance of the updated Terms.

The current version of these Terms is always available at thedrivinginstructors.com/instructor-terms.

These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any dispute arising under these Terms shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.