Terms & Conditions

These Terms and Conditions make things clear for both of us in the unlikely event of a dispute. It’s your responsibility to read these before contracting with me, as they’ll apply whether or not you have done so.

 

By hiring me to write for you, you’re contracting with Oliver Petts, a UK sole trader who trades as ‘Crown Copywriting’.

 

1) Basic agreements

By contracting with me, you agree that:

• You’ve had the opportunity to read these Terms and Conditions.

• You’ll follow these Terms and Conditions.

• These Terms and Conditions take precedent over any other Terms and Conditions. This applies whether or not you usually contract under your own Terms and Conditions.

 

2) Confirming our contract and starting the project

Once we’ve agreed on your project’s requirements, a fee, and a deadline, our contract is confirmed. I’ll only start working on the project after this confirmation.

 

If you hire me on behalf of any other group or company, you confirm that you’re authorised to do so.

 

3) Contracting with me on behalf of your client

If you hire me on behalf of an agency of any kind to work on a project for one of your clients:

• You confirm that you’re authorised to do so.

• A contract is only made between me and that agency.

• No contract is made between me and any client of that agency.

• You agree to indemnify me against any claim by any client of that agency for compensation or damages that come as a direct or indirect result of using (or inability or unwillingness to use) the material I write for you.

 

4) My right to contract directly with one of your clients

If you represent an agency of any kind and want me to work on a project for one of your clients, but want me to contract directly with that client, then a contract (subject to agreement) will be made between your client company and me.

 

You also acknowledge that I’m free to conduct business and further develop a direct relationship with that client without reference to you, and without compensation or commission of any kind being payable.
 

5) What you’re entitled to for our agreed fee

Once we’ve agreed a fee, I aim to support the copy until you’re happy with it, without any further fee being due. This includes rewriting everything from the start after you’ve reviewed the first draft, if you wish for me to do so.

 

To avoid the possibility of this policy being abused, the service you’re contractually assured for the fee we agree is define as and limited to:

• Preparation of a first draft.

• Submission of a first draft.

• Use of your feedback to prepare a second draft if requested.

• Submission of a second draft.

 

Revisions you request based on a change in the project made after the project’s requirements and fee are confirmed might incur an additional fee.

 

Unless agreed otherwise, my fee includes time spent attending your briefing(s) (if deemed necessary) and any travel expenses incurred.

 

6) My Guarantee

My goal is to give you an excellent service for our agreed fee that makes you want to hire me again. In almost all cases, this is what happens.

 

However, misunderstandings can occur in any creative process.

 

If you’re not happy with a draft I’ve written for you, please discuss it with me. I’ll take reasonable action to resolve these concerns as appropriate.

 

If you’ve given me proper opportunity to address your concerns but still feel I’ve failed to deliver work suitable to your purpose when measured against the requirements of your brief, you’ll be free to terminate our contract with no payment whatsoever being due. Proper opportunity to address your concerns is defined as working in genuine collaboration with me through at least three additional draft submissions after you inform me in writing of your dissatisfaction after receipt of the second draft copy I write for you. If you’ve made part payment in advance, this will be reimbursed to you. This doesn’t imply any liability or admission of failure or inability to complete the contract on my part.

 

In such a case, you agree not to use any material whatsoever contained in any draft I’ve prepared for you. You also agree to absolve me of all responsibility for any loss of income or for any costs or damages suffered by you or by any third party as a result of any delay caused to your business or the business of any third party.

 

7) Payment terms

I’ll submit an invoice either:

• Along with the second draft copy.

• Within 10 working days of submitting the first draft copy if no second draft is requested. In this case, I’ll assume you’ve accepted the first draft copy as submitted.

 

Payment will be due within 30 days of submission of the invoice, unless we’ve expressly agreed otherwise in writing. Invoices will be sent electronically.

 

I reserve the right to seek 50% of the project fee to be paid in advance of my starting work on your project, if I choose to do so. The balance must be paid within 30 days of my final invoice.

 

You’ll pay by bank transfer using the payee details shown on the invoice, unless we’ve agreed on an alternative payment method. In such a case, you or your accounts department must obtain from me the details required to complete the alternative payment.

 

The existence of an ‘end of following month’ payment practice in your company’s handling of accounts payable doesn’t change your obligation to make payment by the due date shown on the invoice(s) I send you.

 

Once I start working on your project, our agreed fee for the full project is deemed to be incurred unless we’ve specifically agreed payment milestones. You have no right to refuse or reduce payment because of your critical response to the copy I write for you. You acknowledge my right to pursue payment in full should you choose for any reason to do this.

 

8) Late payment

If an invoice isn’t fully paid within five working days of the due date, I reserve the right to charge interest. This will be applied as per the Department of Trade and Industry ‘Better Payment Practice’ guidelines of 8% plus the prevailing Bank of England reference rate. The following compensation payments will also be due:

• £40.00 for debts under £1000.00

• £70.00 for debts between £1000.00 and £10,000.00 inclusive.

• £100.00 for debts over £10,000.00

 

If full payment isn’t received within 60 working days of the due date, the invoice will be subjected to legal action and recovery proceedings.

 

I reserve the right to commute or cancel any ongoing contract I have with you in the event of a non-payment issue arising at any point. In such a case, you agree not to use any material whatsoever contained in any draft I’ve prepared for you.

 

9) Cancellation

You’re free to cancel a project at any point before our contract is confirmed, with no fees payable.

 

If you cancel a project after written confirmation has been received by email or letter, but before a first draft has been submitted, a cancellation fee of 50% will be due.

 

If you cancel a project after the submission of the first draft, the agreed fee will be due in full.

 

This doesn’t affect your statutory rights, nor your rights under the terms of my Guarantee (6, above), which protects you if, after a fair and proper process of collaboration, you feel the copy I’ve delivered isn’t suitable for your purpose.

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I reserve the right to cancel our contract at any point. In such a case, no payment will be due. 

 

10) Jurisdiction

You agree to be subject to and comply with UK Jurisdiction in the settlement of any disputes arising from our contract.

 

11) Meeting deadlines

On very rare occasions, I might need to slightly push back an agreed time of submission, perhaps due to workload or unexpected circumstances. Therefore, I reserve the right to push back the agreed delivery date of any copy by up to 48 hours. Where this is necessary, I'll do my best to give you notice of this at least 24 hours before the date originally agreed.

 

12) Non-disclosure agreements

I’m happy to sign any non-disclosure agreement for data, information or materials you pass to me as part of a project for yourself or for your client. In this case, you agree to indemnify me against any action whatsoever, by you or your client, associated with the accidental disclosure or loss of this information.

 

13) Your own draft copy

As part of your project, you might ask me to look at draft copy you’ve written for you yourself or that’s been written for you by somebody else. By sending me this draft copy, you affirm that you’re the copyright holder, or that you have permission from the copyright holder to allow all or part of this material to form part of the new copy I write for you. In this case, you indemnify me against any claim arising from subsequent suggestions that the new copy I write breaches existing copyright in any way.

 

When you ask me to look at an existing draft, you acknowledge that the copy I write for you might be similar to all or part of this existing draft, but that the copy I write for you will be considered an original work under the terms of our contract, without regard for the existence of the original draft.

 

14) Referencing other people’s content

If you send me research or sample copy from someone else’s printed collateral or website as guidance type or style of copy you want, I’ll take great care to ensure the copy I produce for you in no way breaches the copyright of the content owner. However, you agree to indemnify me against any direct or indirect action arising as a result of using the content as reference material.

 

15) Your right to use the copy I write for you

When you hire me, you’re purchasing the copyright for the content I write for you. This is assigned to you on my receipt of full payment of all fees due.

 

I reserve the right to use the copy, in part or in full, for self-promotion or advertising purposes, unless specifically forbidden to do so by a confidentiality or non-disclosure agreement.

 

16) If you’re a copywriting agency, writing agency or other such company

If you’re a copywriting agency, writing agency or other such company that commissions copywriting or writing projects, I’m only liable to pay you your agreed percentage commission once I have been paid in full by the client you’ve hired me to write for. If the client pays only a partial amount of the agreed full fee (and no more), then I’m only liable to pay you the agreed percentage commission of that partially paid fee by the client.

 

17) Errors and literals

I thoroughly proofread all my submission to ensure the copy I write for you is free of spelling mistakes and other literals. Early drafts might contain such errors, but I do my best to remove these before I submit a final draft to you.

 

However, you are ultimately responsible for checking for spelling mistakes and literals. You absolve me of responsibility for any costs incurred as a result of such errors appearing in the final published form of any collateral in which you use the copy I write for you. This applies whether or not these errors appeared in any draft of the copy I write for you.

 

18) My collaboration with other copywriters

When you hire me, you acknowledge that I might contract the services of other competent professional copywriters to help me deliver all or part of the work you request. In this case, I’ll review and amend the work before it’s submitted to you. I’ll also ensure the work is of the quality and professionalism you’d expect had I written it in its entirety myself.

 

19) Legalities

I make every attempt to make sure my work complies with the law. However, it’s your responsibility to submit all copy for legal review.

 

20) No waiver

No failure by me to enforce any right under these Terms and Conditions is a waiver of that right. No waiver of any breach of these Terms and Conditions is a waiver of any other or subsequent breach.

 

This draft of these Terms and Conditions was published on 11/08/2021.