HCML Client Terms and Conditions

1.1 These are the terms and conditions on which we supply services for the benefit of our clients. We provide two types of service in two different ways. Our main service is the provision of injury case management, rehabilitation and other treatment services (“Healthcare Services”). Our ancillary service is the provision of related non-clinical support services such as taxis and gardeners (“Support Services”). We normally provide Healthcare Services by undertaking the work ourselves or through our sub-contractors (“Delivered Services”). However sometimes we may source, arrange, book and administer  the Healthcare Services or  Support Services (“Administered Services”) through the use of external providers (“External Providers”). In all cases, the Healthcare Services are carried out by appropriately medically qualified professionals (“Practitioners”) undertaken or arranged by us for our clients, the individual patients, referred to us by a range of instructing parties.

1.2 You are any person receiving the benefit of Healthcare Services or Support Services whether by way of Delivered Services or Administered Services (together the “Services”) undertaken or arranged by us where: 

1.2.1 A third party (or “Instructing Party”) has referred you to us and is paying for the Services (“3rd Party Funded Client”). Such third parties include (1) employers referring their employees; (2) insurance companies referring their policyholders (3) insurance companies referring non-fault claimants with a personal injury claim who are not their policyholders as a result of third party assistance (4) solicitors referring their clients involved in personal injury claims with agreed funding in place (5) occupational health companies working for employers who need to outsource or sub-contract medical diagnostic and treatment work; or 

1.2.2 If you are paying for our services yourself (a “Private  Client”), then these terms shall also apply to you subject to some differences which are set out in these terms; or

1.2.3 If you are involved in bringing a legal claim as a result of suffering a personal injury caused by a third party and your Instructing Party is not paying for the Services (a “Claimant  Client”), then the payment terms set out in clause 11.5 below shall apply. 

1.3 These terms do not apply where we are providing services to you in our capacity as a sub-contractor on behalf of another provider such as medical agencies sub-contracting diagnostic and treatment services to us in respect of their clients.

1.4 Please read these terms carefully. These terms tell you who we are, how we will provide services, payment terms, how you and we may change or end the contract, what to do if there is a problem and other important information. If you think that there is a mistake in these terms, please contact us to discuss.

2.1 We are Health & Care Management Limited trading as.”HCML” (Company Number 04702271) which is a company incorporated in England & Wales and whose registered office is Melrose House, 42 Dingwall Road, Croydon, CR0 2NE, UK. Our registered VAT number is GB815051658.

2.2 You can contact us by telephoning our consumer service team on 020 8649 8006 or by writing to us at HCML, Melrose House, 42 Dingwall Road, Croydon, CR0 2NE or by sending us an email to info@hcml.co.uk.

2.3 If we have to contact you we will do so by telephone or by writing to you at the email address or postal address you provided to us.

2.4 ”Writing” includes emails. When we use the words “writing” or “written” in these terms, this includes letters and emails.

2.5 “The expression “HCML”, when used in these terms and conditions, shall mean and include HCML as defined in clause 2.1 and all other Group Companies (meaning in relation to HCML, HCML itself, its subsidiaries, any holding company or parent company of HCML and any subsidiary of any such holding company or parent company as such terms are defined in section 1159 of the Companies Act 2006; (if any)”.

3.1 First Introduction: We will telephone or write to you (using contact details provided by your Instructing Party) to confirm that we have received instructions (an “Instruction”) from your Instructing Party to arrange an appointment or number of appointments (the “Appointment”) for you for the provision of particular Services and that you will be contacted by the Practitioner separately for an Appointment(s) to be arranged at a particular time and place. Please do not attend any other appointment other than stated in our First Introduction letter unless they have been subsequently authorised by us. Your acceptance of our offer and these terms will take place when you confirm your consent on-line via our electronic Consent Form (referred to below) or via email or failing that when you attend your first Appointment in person at which point a legally binding contract will come into existence between you and us (“Start Date”). Our First Introduction letter refers to and incorporates these terms which are set out on our website at www.hcml.co.uk/policies-compliance/, and these terms will apply to your first Appointment and all subsequent Appointments introduced and authorised by us for you. If you cannot attend your first or any subsequent Appointment, please let the Practitioner know as soon as possible. Please note that we will expect you to attend all your Appointments and you may not cancel unless you do so in accordance with the terms of our Did Not Attend Policy below in Clause 8. Please complete the Consent Form we sent to you and follow the procedures in the form to confirm your consent on-line or via email or you can take it to your Appointment. The Consent Form authorises your results and all invoices from the Practitioner to be sent to us.

3.2 Subsequent Appointments. Any subsequent or further Appointments which were not authorised in our First Introduction letter will need to be notified by us to you. If the Practitioner offers further appointments, please contact us first to confirm our authorisation regarding fees and payment, otherwise we may not be able to confirm agreement to the further appointment. 

3.3 We only undertake Services within the UK. Our website is solely for the promotion of Services in the UK.

4.1 If you wish to make a change to the time or date of your Appointment please contact the Practitioner and they will let you know if the change is possible. We will let you know about any other changes to the Services (e.g. the price if you are a Private Client), and ask you to confirm whether you wish to go ahead with the change. 

5.1 We may make minor changes to the Services:

5.1.1 to implement minor technical adjustments and improvements, for example to address a security threat. These changes will not affect your use of the Services;

5.1.2 to reflect changes in relevant laws and regulatory requirements.

5.2 In addition, we may make more significant changes to these terms or the Services relating to the price, your Practitioner or the Appointment details, but if we do so we will notify you and you may then contact us to end the contract (and receive a full refund if you are a Private Client) before the changes take effect.

6.1 We supply our Delivered Services to you when we undertake Healthcare Services for you through case management services or at Appointments through our Practitioners. We are responsible for the provision of the Healthcare Services carried out by us or our own sub-contracted Practitioners (who are not External Providers).

6.2 We carry out Administered Services when we arrange the provision of the Healthcare Services or Support Services by an External Provider – to make sure the appointment is offered and provided and for the agreed price. When selecting External Providers we undertake appropriate checks on them including: (1) ensuring that they have the necessary ability, resources, facilities, qualifications and integrity to carry out the Services to professional standards required in their industry and (2) ensuring that the External Provider holds appropriate insurance cover in place which covers the Services and that they will deal with any complaints in accordance with their professional obligations.

6.3 However please note that such External Providers are not sub-contractors of ours providing Services on our behalf and therefore we cannot guarantee that their Services will be provided in accordance with HCML’s requirements. We undertake the appropriate checks on External Providers to ensure their suitability (as set out in clause 6.2) and thereafter the External Providers owe you a duty of care as set out in clause 6.4.

6.4 In respect of the Services carried out by External Providers the duty of care to you is between the External Provider and you. When you receive Services from an External Provider you will become a client of the External Provider and accordingly, control, responsibility and liability for the Services shall remain with that External Provider and all applicable laws regarding the doctor/patient (or supplier/customer) relationship shall apply as between that External Provider and you. As such, if the External Provider undertakes additional Services without the prior approval of HCML in a situation where the additional service is reasonably incurred and in your best interests as a patient or customer, you may be personally liable for the payment of such services even if you are a 3rd Party Funded Client (see Clause 11.4).

6.5 Any complaints regarding the Services by an External Provider will be referred by us to the External Provider to deal with and respond, and we will facilitate contact between the relevant parties in this respect and thereafter cease to be involved save that the External Provider will be required, subject to its professional duties, to notify us of the outcome of the complaint in order that we can manage our contractual relationship with the External Provider.

6.6 If the performance of the Services is affected by an event outside our control (or that of our Practitioners) then we will contact you as soon as possible to let you know and we will take steps to minimise the effect of the delay. Provided we do this we will not be liable for delays caused by the event but if there is a risk of substantial delay you may contact us to cancel an Appointment, end the contract (and receive a refund for any services you have paid for but not received if you are a Private Client).

6.7 We will need certain information from you so that we (and our Practitioners) can provide the Services to you effectively and safely, for example, any pre-existing medical conditions relevant to your treatment or whether you have an infectious disease. While the Practitioner will normally ask you for this information at the start of your treatment, we also expect you to actively volunteer this information to us at the earliest opportunity. If you do not provide us with this information, or you provide us with incomplete or incorrect information, we may either end the contract (see Clause 8.1) or make an additional charge of a reasonable sum to compensate us and/or the Practitioner for any extra work that is required as a result. We will not be responsible for providing and/or arranging the Services ineffectively, late or not providing any part of them if this is caused by you not giving us the information we need.

6.8 We may have to re-arrange the time and date for Appointments to:

6.8.1 deal with unexpected staff absences of the Practitioner or unavailability of suitable premises due to reasons outside of our control;

6.8.2 make changes to the Services as requested by you or notified by us to you (see Clause 5);

6.8.3 deal with technical problems or make minor technical changes;

6.8.4 update the Services to reflect changes in relevant laws and regulatory requirements.

6.9 We will contact you in advance to tell you we need to re-arrange the time and/or date of an Appointment, unless the problem is urgent or an emergency. If we have to re-arrange the Appointment to a date that is much later than originally planned, you may cancel the Appointment and end the contract in respect of any subsequent Appointments and we will refund any sums you have paid in advance (if you are a Private Client) for Services not provided to you.

6.10 If you are a Private Client and you do not pay us for the Services when you are supposed to (see Clause 11.6) and you still do not make payment within 24 hours of your next Appointment, we may postpone Appointments until you have paid us the outstanding amounts. We will contact you to tell you we are postponing your Appointments. We will not postpone Appointments where you dispute the unpaid invoice (see Clause 11.8). As well as postponing Appointments we can also charge you interest on your overdue payments (see Clause 11.7).

7.1  You can cancel an Appointment and end the contract before our Services have been supplied and paid for. You may contact us to cancel an Appointment and end the contract for the Services, but in some circumstances we may charge you certain sums for doing so, as described below.

7.2 If you are cancelling an Appointment (or cancelling all Appointments and thus ending the contract) for a reason set out below the Appointment will be cancelled (and/or the contract will end immediately) and we will refund you in full (if you are a Private Client) for any Services which have not been provided or have not been properly provided. The relevant reasons are:

7.2.1 we have told you about an upcoming change to the Services or these terms which you do not agree to (see Clause 5.2); 

7.2.2 we have told you about an error in the price or description of the Services and you do not wish to proceed; 

7.2.3 you are cancelling an Appointment in accordance with the terms of our Did Not Attend Policy (see clause 8 below);

7.2.4 there is a risk the Services may be significantly delayed because of events outside our control;

7.2.5 we postpone an Appointment for resource or technical reasons, or notify you we are going to postpone an Appointment for resource or technical reasons, in each case for a period of more than 2 weeks; or

7.2.6 you have a legal right to cancel an Appointment and/or end the contract because we have failed in some respect.

7.3 In most cases we will not have met with you in person before the Start Date, and if you are an individual acting for purposes which are wholly or mainly outside your trade, business, craft or profession, the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 also apply to you.  This means you have the right to cancel an Appointment and end the contract within fourteen days without giving any reason.  The cancellation period will expire at the end of fourteen days after the Start Date (referred to in clause 3.1).  To exercise the right to cancel, you must inform us of your decision to cancel by a clear statement (e.g. a letter sent by post or email) using the contact details on our letter or by completing and returning the cancellation form available on our website at www.hcml.co.uk/policies-compliance/.  To meet the cancellation deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right to cancel before the cancellation period has expired.  If you cancel the contract during the cancellation period, we will reimburse you for any payment you have made on account without delay and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to cancel the contract. Unless you agree otherwise, we will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used. You will not incur any fees as a result of the reimbursement. If you requested us to continue with your Appointments or any treatment or other service during the cancellation period, we reserve the right to ask you to pay us an amount which is in proportion to what has been performed until you have communicated to us your cancellation.

8.1 If you are unable to attend an Appointment, please contact us as soon as possible and we will endeavour to re-arrange the Appointment to a mutually acceptable time and date.

8.2 You (or your Instructing Party on your behalf) must give us at least 72 hours’ notice (“Required Notice”) if you wish to cancel or move an Appointment. If we booked the Appointment to occur within 72 hours of the Instruction, we will waive the Required Notice provided you (or your Instructing Party) has notified us of the cancellation at any time before the Appointment. If you (or your Instructing Party) has not given us the Required Notice or you do not attend the Appointment without giving us the Required Notice, we will charge you (or your Instructing Party if you have one) the full price in respect of the Appointment (our “DNA Fee”) unless in our reasonable view you had exceptional reasons for failing to give us the Required Notice. We will consider the circumstances on a case by case basis, but we generally apply the meaning of “exceptional circumstances” to cover situations such as where you have just had a serious accident, or has been unexpectedly hospitalised, or has suffered a close bereavement or has a serious infectious disease.

9.1 We may cancel an Appointment and/or end the contract at any time by writing to you if you materially breach the terms of this contract including in particular:

9.1.1 you persistently breach the terms of our Did Not Attend Policy; or

9.1.2 you (or your Instructing Party) do not make any payment to us when it is due and you still do not make payment within 60 days of us reminding you (or your Instructing Party) that payment is due;

9.1.3 your behaviour is abusive, threatening, or insulting to our staff or the staff of the Practitioner or your conduct is otherwise unreasonable.

9.2 If we end the contract in the situations set out in Clause 9.1 we will refund any money you have paid in advance for Services we have not provided (if you are a Private Client) but we may charge you for any appointments which you failed to attend in breach of our Did Not Attend Policy.

9.3 We may write to you to let you know that we are going to stop providing and/or arranging the Services. We will let you know at least 72 hours in advance of our stopping the Services and will refund any sums you have paid in advance for Services which will not be provided (if you are a Private Client).

10.1 If you have any questions or complaints about our Services, please contact us. You can contact us by telephoning our consumer service team at 020 8649 8006 or by emailing us at info@hcml.co.uk or by writing to us at HCML, Interchange, 81-85 Station Road, London CR0 2RD.

10.2 If you have any questions or complaints about the Services provided by an External Provider, you need to contact the External Provider. If you do not know who to contact, please contact us and we will provide you with the necessary contact details.

10.3 Here is a summary of your key legal rights in relation to the Services. Nothing in these terms will affect your legal rights. 

Your key legal rights below are subject to certain exceptions. For detailed information please visit the Citizens Advice website www.citizensadvice.org.uk or call 0800 144 8848 (England) or 0800 702 2020 (Wales). The Consumer Rights Act 2015 says:
– you can ask us to re-arrange an Appointment if it has not been provided according to the time, date, place and with the Practitioner we had arranged, or you may ask for a refund of any our fees paid (if you are a Private Client) if you don’t want to re-arrange the Appointment.
– if we haven’t agreed a price before an Appointment if you are a Private Client, what we will ask you to pay must be reasonable.
– if you don’t receive a time for an Appointment from the Practitioner within the time period stated in our Introduction letter, we will ensure you get an Appointment within a reasonable time.

11.1 The price of the Services (which includes VAT where applicable) will be the price agreed with you if you are a Private Client or agreed with any relevant third party if you are a 3rd Party Funded Client or Claimant Client at or prior to the date of your referral. We take all reasonable care to ensure that the prices of Services advised to you are correct. However please see Clause 11.3 for what happens if we discover an error in the price of the Services you book. The price includes the provision of our Delivered Services and the provision of the Healthcare Services or Support Services by External Providers (arranged by us).

11.2 We will pass on changes in the rate of VAT. If the rate of VAT changes between the date you book an appointment and the date we provide the Services, we will adjust the rate of VAT that you pay, unless you have already paid for the Services in full before the change in the rate of VAT takes effect. At the time of issuing these terms and conditions, no VAT is currently payable in respect of the provision of the Services. 

11.3 It is possible that, despite our best efforts, some of the Services may be incorrectly priced. We will normally check prices before arranging an Appointment so that, where the Services’ correct price at your Appointment date is less than our stated price at your Appointment date, we will charge the lower amount. If the Services’ correct price at your Appointment date is higher than the price stated in our price list, we will contact you for your instructions at least 24 hours before your Appointment. If we accept and process your booking where a pricing error is obvious and unmistakeable and could reasonably have been recognised by you as a mispricing, we may end the contract, refund you any sums you have paid (if you are a Private Client) and not perform the Services.

11.4 Where you are a 3rd Party Funded Client, we will seek reimbursement of our fees from that your Instructing Party provided this has been agreed by us at the time of arranging your first Appointment. However, there are some circumstances where you may become liable to pay our fees as follows:

11.4.1 If you incur a DNA Fee (as set out in clause 8) and this is not paid by your Instructing Party, we will invoice you for such fees and you will need to pay these fees within 30 days of receipt of our invoice.

11.4.2 If your Instructing Party fails to pay any of our fees which are due and payable and not subject to a bona fide dispute (for example your Instructing Party becomes insolvent) and such fees remain unpaid after 12 months, we will invoice you for such fees and you will need to pay these fees within 30 days of receipt of our invoice.

11.5 Where you are a Claimant Client, the following terms apply:

11.5.1 If no third party (such as an insurer) has agreed to fund the price of our services, you are responsible for paying our fees but you do not need to pay for your treatment immediately. HCML agrees to offer you credit on the following terms (the “Credit Agreement”) which is an exempt agreement under Article 60F, Chapter 14A, The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001:

11.5.1.1 The Credit Agreement is for a fixed sum of the total price of the fees which are set at our standard rates;

11.5.1.2 Only one payment is due and this is a single lump sum payable at the end of the Credit Period (defined below);

11.5.1.3 The credit is provided without interest or other charges;

11.5.1.4 The Credit Period expires the earlier of (1) the conclusion of your personal injury legal claim in your favour and the recovery of our fees from the third party (or their insurer) that caused your injury, or (2) 364 days from the date of the contract (which is the date that the contract is formed as referred to in clause 3.1) or (3) 9 months from the date of your final Appointment;

11.5.1.5 We will invoice you for our fees on completion of your treatment but payment will only become due at the end of the Credit Period. This invoice will be sent to you c/o your solicitor or other legal representative.

11.5.2 Where a third party has agreed to fund the price of our services, we will seek reimbursement of our fees from that third party provided this has been agreed by us with you at the time of booking your first Appointment.

11.6 Where you are a Private Client, we will ask for and we require you to make payment of the full price for your Appointments immediately upon completion of the first Appointment. We accept payment with debit and credit cards only. Unfortunately cash cannot be taken.

11.7 We can charge interest if you pay late. If you do not make any payment to us on the due date (under Clauses 11.1 to 11.4 and 11.6) we may charge interest to you on the overdue amount at the rate of 2% a year above the base lending rate of National Westminster Bank plc from time to time. This interest shall accrue on a daily basis from the due date until the date of actual payment of the overdue amount, whether before or after judgment. You must pay us interest together with any overdue amount. 

11.8 If you think a price is incorrect please contact us promptly to let us know. You will not have to pay any interest until the dispute is resolved. Once the dispute is resolved we will charge you interest on correctly invoiced sums from the original due date.  amount. 

12.1 We are responsible to you for foreseeable loss and damage caused by us. If we fail to comply with these terms, we are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breaking this contract or our failing to use reasonable care and skill, but we are not responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable. Loss or damage is foreseeable if either it is obvious that it will happen or if, at the time the contract was made, both we and you knew it might happen.

12.3 We do not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors; for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; for breach of your legal rights in relation to the services as summarised at Clause 10.3.

12.3 We do not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors; for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; for breach of your legal rights in relation to the services as summarised at Clause 10.3.

12.4 We are not liable for business losses. We only supply and/or arrange the Services for personal and private use. If you use the services for any commercial, business or re-sale purpose we will have no liability to you for any loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption, or loss of business opportunity.

13.1 We may use your personal data that you or your Instructing Party provides to us as follows:

13.1.1 In order to provide and/or arrange the Services in performance of the contract between us;

13.1.2 In order to process your payment for such Services if you are a Private Client;

13.1.3 Otherwise in accordance with the terms of our Privacy Policy which is available on our website at http://www.hcml.co.uk/privacy-policy/.

13.2 We shall be the data controller in respect of such personal data when providing our Services and your rights in respect of such personal data are set out in our Privacy Policy.

13.3 We will share your personal data with External Providers (including Practitioners) in order that you can receive the benefit of the Healthcare Services (or Support Services) and such External Providers will also become data controllers of such personal data. The External Provider is not processing such personal data on our behalf. If you wish to exercise any rights in respect of the personal data controlled and processed by the External Provider (for example making a subject access request), you will need to contact the External Provider. If you do not know who to contact, please contact us and we will provide you with the necessary contact details.

13.4 In all other circumstances we will only give your personal data to other third parties where the law either requires or allows us to do so or where you have provided us with your documented consent. 

14.1 We may transfer this contract to someone else. We may transfer our rights and obligations under these terms to another organisation. We will contact you to let you know if we plan to do this. If you are unhappy with the transfer you may contact us to end the contract within 90 days of us telling you about it and we will refund you any payments you have made in advance for services not provided. 

14.2 You may only transfer your rights or your obligations under these terms to another person with our written consent. We may withhold our consent if we have good reason to do so. 

14.3 Nobody else has any rights under this contract. This contract is between you and us. No other person shall have any rights to enforce any of its terms. 

14.4 Even if we delay in enforcing this contract, we can still enforce it later. If we do not insist immediately that you do anything you are required to do under these terms, or if we delay in taking steps against you in respect of your breaking this contract, that will not mean that you do not have to do those things or prevent us taking steps against you at a later date. For example, if you miss a payment and we do not chase you but we continue to provide the services, we can still require you to make the payment at a later date.

14.5 If a court finds part of this contract illegal, the rest will continue in force. Each of the paragraphs of these terms operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful, the remaining paragraphs will remain in full force and effect.

14.6 These terms are governed by English law and you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the services in the English or Welsh courts. If you live in Scotland you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the services in either the Scottish or the English courts. If you live in Northern Ireland, you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the services in either the Northern Irish or the English courts.