Terms

The agreement

A commission begins when you accept a written proposal from Lohuis Signature. That proposal — vehicle, chauffeur, timings, category and cost — governs the work. Where it differs from these terms, the proposal prevails.

These terms are sent with every proposal, as a document you can keep. The version in force on the day you accept a proposal is the one that applies to it.

The client is whoever places the commission. These terms apply to the party travelling under it and to anyone authorised to act on the client's behalf.

Several clauses below treat a private client differently from a business. A private client is a natural person acting outside their trade, business or profession. Everyone else is a business.

Rates and payment

Rates are quoted per commission. Proposals to private clients include VAT; proposals to businesses exclude it unless stated. Additional stops, tolls and parking are charged at cost, and waiting beyond the allowance is charged as set out under Arrival and waiting.

A first commission is settled before the day, by card or transfer. Where we have opened an account, commissions are invoiced and payable within fourteen days. Late payment carries the statutory interest and nothing beyond it.

Retainers are invoiced monthly in advance, and what each one covers is set out in its proposal. A retainer does not renew automatically. It may be ended before its term, but months already invoiced are not refunded.

Where fuel, duty or a third party's charges move sharply between the proposal and the day, a quoted rate may be adjusted. We will say so before the day, and you may withdraw the commission at no cost if the new figure does not suit.

Changes and cancellation

Timings may be moved at no cost wherever we can absorb them. Where a change cannot be absorbed, the original commission is treated as cancelled at the notice given and the new timing is booked as a fresh commission. We keep the cost of that as low as the day allows.

Cancellation is charged against the notice given, counted back from the agreed start time, because what can be recovered falls away as the day approaches. The proposal states which category a commission falls under.

Each middle band includes both of its limits.

None of this is a penalty. At the notice stated the chauffeur and the vehicle are already held for you and cannot be placed elsewhere, and sums committed on your behalf are rarely recoverable.

If you are a private client and the actual loss is plainly less than the sum charged, we charge the actual loss instead. Ask, and we will show you the arithmetic.

Third-party bookings made on your behalf follow that supplier's own terms.

Arrival and waiting

Flights are tracked. Sixty minutes of waiting are included from the moment the aircraft lands, however early or late that turns out to be.

At any other address, fifteen minutes are included from the agreed time.

Beyond the included time, waiting is charged per half hour or part of one, at the vehicle's hourly rate.

Where the party cannot be reached and does not travel, the commission is charged in full. Tell us you are delayed and we will wait; silence is the only thing we cannot work around.

Vehicles and chauffeurs

We reserve the right to substitute a vehicle of equal or better standard where necessary. Chauffeurs observe traffic law, driving-hours rules and their own judgement on road and weather conditions; those judgements are final. Smoking is not permitted in our vehicles.

Damage caused by the party, inside or out, is charged at cost with fifteen per cent for arranging the repair. Cleaning beyond the ordinary is treated the same way.

A chauffeur may end a commission where behaviour puts the vehicle, the party or the chauffeur at risk. That is a safety judgement rather than a commercial one, and it is rarely needed.

If we cannot carry out a commission — a vehicle fails and nothing of equal or better standard can reach you in time, or anything else on our side prevents it — you pay nothing for what we could not do, and anything already paid for it is refunded.

Your own vehicle

Where we drive a car you own, it must be roadworthy, hold a valid APK or its equivalent in the country of registration, be taxed, and be insured for a driver who is not its owner. Please tell us of any condition, modification or handling matter before the day.

Damage our chauffeur causes that has nothing to do with driving — a door opened into a wall, a bumper scratched while luggage goes in or out — is ours to put right.

Everything else falls under the car's own insurance, including damage arising on the road, any excess, and any effect on the policy's no-claims record. Mechanical failure, wear, and anything already wrong with the car when it reaches us are not ours.

Concierge arrangements

Where we reserve accommodation, tables, tickets or access on your behalf, we act on your instruction and in your name. The contract is between you and that house, and its own terms, deposits and cancellation windows apply alongside ours.

We choose carefully and press your case if something goes wrong. How far we stand behind a house is set out under Liability.

Sums we pay out on your behalf are recharged at cost; a handling fee, where one applies, is stated in the proposal.

Journeys

A journey is written for one party and priced as a whole. Routes are reconnoitred and alternatives held in reserve; we may re-cut a day for weather, closure, road conditions or safety without that being a change to the commission.

A journey is cancelled on the notice set out above. Houses and tables are held months ahead, so any non-refundable sum already committed on your behalf remains payable whatever the notice.

Where a journey depends on third-party suppliers, Liability sets out how we stand behind them.

Liability

We carry the insurance required for passenger transport in the Netherlands.

We are not liable for delay or loss caused by matters genuinely outside our control — traffic, weather, closures or industrial action.

Where a third party we engaged — a house, a supplier, anyone else a commission relies on — fails you, we will pursue them on your behalf. We do not underwrite their performance, but nor do we hide behind them where the choice of that party was ours and was careless.

Personal effects remain your responsibility. Anything found in a vehicle is kept safe and returned to you; carriage is at your cost.

Nothing here limits our liability for death or personal injury, or for damage caused by our own intent or conscious recklessness.

Privacy

We hold what a commission needs — names, contact details, addresses, flight details, and any preference or requirement you share with us — and use it only to plan, carry out and invoice the work. It goes no further than the chauffeur and the suppliers the commission depends on. It is never sold, and never used to market to you without your consent.

We keep it no longer than our administration and the law require. You may ask what we hold, have it corrected, or have it deleted where the law allows. Personal data is handled under the General Data Protection Regulation (AVG).

Complaints and governing law

Dutch law applies. Should something go wrong, tell us first — most matters are settled by conversation. Put it in writing within fourteen days of the commission and you will have a considered answer within five working days.

That fortnight is how long a day stays reconstructable, not a limit on anyone's rights. A private client keeps whatever time the law allows, however long after the event they come to us.

Failing that, disputes go to the competent court in Amsterdam. If you are a private client you may instead choose the court the law would otherwise appoint: tell us within one month of our writing to you about this clause, and that is where the matter goes.

Language

These terms exist in English and in Dutch and each says the same thing. If you are a business and the two ever differ, the English governs. If you are a private client, the law gives you the reading that favours you, and we will not argue with it.