Every order placed with Litterate implies the unconditional and irrevocable agreement by the client with these terms and conditions, which the client acknowledges having read and accepted. These terms and conditions will always take precedence over any ordering or purchasing conditions of the client, even if (i) the latter were sent to Litterate before these terms and conditions were sent to the client and/or even if (ii) they exclude the applicability of these terms and conditions.
An agreement is only considered to have been formed once the client accepts Litterate’s quotation by email or in writing.
By placing an order, the client accepts Litterate’s rates and General Terms and Conditions.
Translations and writing assignments are performed with due observance of professional secrecy which implies that Litterate undertakes never to disclose or disseminate the content of an order without the client’s consent. The same principle applies to language training if course materials from the client are used during the training program.
Unless expressly stipulated otherwise in writing, Litterate is not bound by the delivery deadlines specified by the client. In the same regard, the delivery times indicated by Litterate are also purely indicative and non-binding. Delivery outside of the indicative period will not constitute grounds for termination of the agreement, nor for a reduction in price or the right to compensation.
Once the client agrees by email or in writing to the proposed price and deadline for a translation or writing job, the order will be considered final and cannot be cancelled. This means that from that moment on, the full amount of the invoice for the order is will be due to Litterate.
The client accepts that Litterate may outsource all or part of the order to one or more third-party service providers without prior consultation. With respect to language training services, the client will be consulted prior to the start of the training should these (need to) be outsourced. If both parties cannot reach an agreement, the client is entitled to cancel the language training free of charge.
A language training session may be cancelled or postponed free of charge if Litterate is notified at least twelve (12) hours in advance by email. For training sessions to be held on a Monday morning, notification of cancellation must be provided no later than the Friday afternoon prior to this. The client will be invoiced for the full cost (100%) of a missed session for which cancellation was received too late. This rule does not apply to lessons given via Skype; these may always be cancelled free of charge.
Limitation of liability: Litterate may only be held liable in the event of an intentional error on its own part. Furthermore, notwithstanding the foregoing, Litterate’s possible liability, except in cases of fraud, will always be limited in scope to the sums invoiced and paid by the client in respect of the translation or writing order concerned. Litterate will in no way be liable to the client or to third parties for indirect damage. This is damage that is not directly the result of a shortcoming on the part of Litterate. Indirect damage includes economic losses, loss of profits, loss of savings, loss of clients, loss of contracts, loss of income, loss of time, loss of goodwill, loss of reputation, loss or damage to data, whether contractual, non-contractual or otherwise. This list is not exhaustive. Litterate will not accept any liability for translations or texts modified after delivery without its consent and/or approval.
Unless otherwise stated on the invoice, Litterate invoices are payable in Euros by bank transfer to the account number indicated on the invoice, and within 30 days of the invoice date. Any bank charges will be borne by the client.
Depending on the nature, duration and scope of the assignment, one or more advance payments may be requested before the start of and during the course of the translation or writing assignment, and the services provided may be invoiced at the end of each month in the form of interim invoices. The work will only be started or continued after payment of the advance or interim invoice has been received.
Any complaints concerning translations, texts or invoices must be communicated in a letter sent by registered mail, no later than seven (7) working days after delivery, failing which the translation or text and the invoice will be deemed accepted, thus precluding the right to file complaints later on. Lodging a complaint in no way implies the suspension of the client’s payment obligation.
Partial payment does not constitute a protest or objection. Formal protest must be submitted as stipulated in point 12 above.
If the term of payment is exceeded, a default interest of 10% per month will be charged on the invoice amount or on the unpaid invoice balance by operation of law and without a formal notice of default being required. In addition, if the deadline for payment is exceeded, the amount due will automatically be increased by a fixed compensation of 10%, subject to a minimum of 100 Euros by operation of law and without a notice of default being required. Late payment of the principal amount does not constitute a waiver of the aforementioned additional costs.
If the payment deadline for one invoice is not met, Litterate reserves the right (i) to demand the immediate payment of all other outstanding invoices regardless of whether or not payment is due at that time, and (ii) to suspend the completion of current orders, without this giving rise to any right to compensation.
The Courts of Antwerp have sole jurisdiction to take cognizance of any disputes. The Dutch version of these General Terms and Conditions is binding. Litterate’s services and invoices are governed by the laws of Belgium.
The nullity of one or more provisions of these General Terms and Conditions will not affect the validity of the remaining provisions.
