Published: March 2019
Between us: On Point Copywriting (“I”, “me” or “we” in this document)
And you: Client (“you” or “client” in this document)
Hi there. It’s Huw Bendon, owner of On Point Copywriting here. I’m not one for reams of small print – On Point’s way is to be open, honest, flexible and helpful.
And part of that is to show you the terms, standards and the processes and protections we’ve put in place to protect you and us and deliver a product and client service that is, well…. On Point!
If anything is unclear, ask me. I’ll be happy to clarify.
What On Point Copywriting does
You are hiring On Point Copywriting to carry out some or all of the following:
- Concept development
- Writing
- Copy editing
- Proof reading
for the price agreed via written quotation, orally or as covered in a retainer agreement.
What do we both agree to do?
As my client, you agree:
- You have the power to enter into this contract on behalf of your organisation.
- To provide On Point Copywriting with everything we need to complete the project, when we need it.
- To review our work, provide feedback and sign-off within agreed timescales.
- To settle accounts promptly in accordance with the guidelines set out below.
On Point Copywriting agrees:
- We have the experience and ability to perform the services you need from us.
- We will carry this service out in a professional manner to an agreed time-scale.
- We will respect the confidentiality of any information you entrust to us.
Our ways of working with you
On Point Copywriting will endeavour to tailor its service to fit your requirements. As a point of reference, here are some of our default practices. We are happy to modify these where possible to fit in with your needs:
- We will work remotely, delivering work electronically and conducting briefings via telephone and email.
- Work will normally be produced using Microsoft Word. If our copy-editing or proof-reading services are used, we will use tracked changes to show amendments.
- We have adopted the Economist Style Guide as a house style. Grammar will generally be implemented in accordance with this and if you ask a technical question, this will be what we refer to.
Changes and revisions
More often than not, we expect that clients will require some changes made to the first draft that we submit. That’s fine. However, if a fixed price has been agreed, this will normally be limited to one round of changes within the scope of the initial brief.
If you ask for changes that are completely different from what was briefed initially, this may be considered as a separate job, and subject to a further cost. The reason for this is that On Point Copywriting’s price will have been determined based upon the original brief, and changing it will create workload that has not been budgeted for.
Therefore, it is important for you to be sure of what you are asking for when giving a brief.
Once a project is signed off by you, that will normally conclude the assignment unless some special provision has been made or ongoing work is covered by a retainer agreement.
Copyright
When full and final payment as described in our quotation or retainer agreement has been received, copyright of the work we produce is automatically assigned to you. You can then use the work as you wish.
However, until final payment is received, copyright of the work remains with On Point Copywriting.
We love to show off our work, so may wish to display and link to your completed project as part of our online or offline portfolio. We will ask your permission for this first.
Deadlines
We believe in hitting deadlines, but can only do this with your help. So we can’t be responsible for a missed deadline if you have been slow to supply materials or not provided feedback to agreed timescales.
We also can’t be responsible for deadlines missed due to circumstances completely beyond our control, like medical emergencies, floods, war, acts of god and so on.
Non-disclosure
On Point Copywriting respects your confidentiality. We will not pass on any sensitive information or documents to third parties, unless agreed to by you: for instance, if we are working with an associate organisation to deliver your project.
Payments
As a gesture of trust we normally carry out some or all of our work before payment. It is, however, important to us that payment does not become too detached from the time that we carry out the bulk of the work on a project. We invoice in different ways depending on the size of the project. Generally, following these guidelines:
| Ad hoc projects, less than one day of billable work | Invoice upon project sign-off |
|---|---|
| Ad hoc projects, more than one day of billable work | Invoice 50% on project commencement, and 50% upon project sign off |
| Retained client | Invoice in first week of month |
Our preferred method of payment is the Go Cardless Direct Debit system and we will send you an invitation to set-up your payments when we start working with you. This automatically collects payments when they become due after 14 days, removing the need for you to make manual payments.
As a small business, prompt payment is important to us. We have our own people and suppliers to pay too. We are registered for VAT. Our payment terms are 14 days. Please pay within these timescales manually if you are not using Go Cardless.
If we do not receive any feedback after submitting work to you (at any stage – the initial draft or subsequent edits), we will follow up to try to obtain feedback and sign-off. If we encounter complete radio silence, we will assume you are happy the work has been completed and will issue the invoice.
Cancellation
If you wish to cancel a project, you will only be charged for any time or costs already committed to it.
If you wish to cancel a retainer agreement, there is a two-month notice period, during which the retainer fees will be payable.
Other stuff
We will do our best to ensure all facts and statements in our work are true and that it doesn’t infringe upon any copyright or other right of a third party.
On Point Copywriting has professional indemnity insurance cover of up to £250,000.
If any provision of this agreement shall be unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from this agreement and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.
You cannot transfer your obligations under these terms to anyone else without our permission. These terms stay in place unless superseded by an updated version which will be made available via our website, and need not be renewed.
Although the language is simple, the intentions are serious and these terms form a legal document under exclusive jurisdiction of English courts.
Please keep a copy of this document for your records. We are looking forward to working with you.
