Terms and conditions for a mobile mechanic

A mobile mechanic works on driveways, kerbsides and car parks, without a ramp, on vehicles nobody has inspected before. Your terms need to deal with callout and diagnostic charges, work you cannot finish once the wheel is off, parts warranties and who pays when a vehicle has to be recovered. I draft a full set of customer terms around your business for a fixed fee of £995, in five working days.

Who this is for

Mobile mechanics, mobile diagnostics technicians and mobile servicing businesses in England and Wales, whether you trade as a sole trader or a limited company. Most of your work is for private motorists, who are consumers with rights you cannot draft away. Many mobile mechanics also carry work for van fleets, taxi operators, garages and leasing companies, which sits on a different legal footing. One set of terms can cover both if it is written to.

What matters in a mobile mechanic's terms

Callout charges, diagnostics and no fault found

An intermittent misfire that will not repeat while you are standing there is still two hours of your day. Your terms should set out what the callout covers, how diagnostic time is charged, and that the charge is for the investigation rather than a promise of a cure. Be careful what you say when the booking is taken: under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 information a consumer relies on in deciding to book becomes binding, and the service must be performed with reasonable care and skill. Quote a figure that reflects everything the customer will actually be asked to pay.

Authorising extra work once you have started

Half of these jobs change once the wheel is off. A pad change reveals a seized caliper, a cambelt job reveals a leaking water pump, a sump plug shears. Your terms should require the customer's authorisation, in writing or by text, for additional parts and labour at a revised price, before you carry on. They should also say what happens if the customer refuses: the vehicle may be left immobilised, the work already done is chargeable, and recovery to a garage is at the customer's cost. Without that clause you are arguing about a bill nobody agreed.

Parts, warranties and what you cannot take back

Parts you supply are goods. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 they must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described, with a short-term right to reject within 30 days, and none of that can be excluded against a consumer. Your terms should separate the parts warranty from your labour guarantee and say what falls outside both: consumables, wear items, and damage flowing from a fault the customer declined to have fixed. Retention of title over a fitted part is close to worthless once it is bolted into the vehicle, so the terms should lean on payment timing instead.

Driveways, kerbsides and vehicles you did not build

You do not control the site. Your terms should make the customer responsible for safe, legal and accessible parking, for any permission needed from a landlord, employer or managing agent, and for disclosing previous repairs and known faults. They should let you stop and reschedule where the ground, the weather or passing traffic makes the work unsafe. Corroded sills and seized jacking points are a fact of older vehicles, so allocate that risk before a jack goes near them. Old oil, filters and batteries you take away are waste, and a business transporting waste must be registered with the Environment Agency under the Control of Pollution (Amendment) Act 1989.

Consumer cancellation rights and urgent repairs

Work booked by phone or online, or agreed at the customer's door, is a distance or off-premises contract under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. The customer has fourteen days to cancel, and where the cancellation information was never given that period can extend by up to twelve months. The exceptions that matter to you are urgent repairs the consumer requested, covering that work only, and services fully performed within the period at the consumer's express request and with their acknowledgement. An off-premises job of £42 or less sits outside the regulations. Your booking process has to capture those requests, not just your terms.

Payment terms and what you are on the hook for

Most private jobs are paid on the day, and you cannot add a surcharge when a consumer pays by card: the Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012 prohibits it. Fleet and trade accounts are different, and the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 gives you interest at eight per cent over the Bank of England base rate plus fixed compensation on each overdue debt. The real exposure on commercial work is a vehicle off the road: hire charges, missed deliveries, lost bookings. Exclude those and cap the rest, subject to the reasonableness test under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977.

What it costs

Customer or supplier terms and conditions, £995. One set of terms, customer-facing or supplier-facing, drafted around your business. Five working days.

Review of your existing terms, £495. You already have terms and want to know how much of a problem they are. Returned marked up with my amendments and an explanation of the changes. Three working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the terms and conditions drafting page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A full set of terms drafted around your business, not a template with your name inserted
• A covering note in plain English explaining every commercial choice I made and why, so you can defend the terms in a negotiation without ringing me
• Liability, payment, termination and IP provisions set at a level that will survive a procurement review
• Consumer-facing wording drafted to be enforceable where you sell to consumers
• Guidance on how to incorporate the terms properly, which is where most businesses actually fail
• One round of amendments after you have read them

What is not included

• Negotiating your terms with individual customers
• Sector-specific regulatory compliance beyond the contract terms themselves
• Website privacy notice and cookie compliance, which I quote separately
• Terms governed by the law of another country

Questions I am often asked

A customer wants me to fit parts they bought online. What should my terms say?

You can agree to fit them, and many mobile mechanics do, but the terms should record that the part is the customer's responsibility, that you give no warranty on it, that labour is chargeable again if it fails or turns out to be wrong for the vehicle, and that you may decline to fit anything you consider unsafe or unsuitable.

Can one set of terms cover private motorists and fleet customers?

One set can do both, provided it carries a section that applies only to consumers and a section for account customers dealing with credit terms, purchase orders and interest on late payment. What fails is a business document handed to a private motorist, because the clauses you most want to rely on are the ones that will not bind a consumer.

A customer says the fault has come back. What do my terms need to cover?

Your terms should require the customer to come to you first and give you a reasonable opportunity to inspect before another mechanic touches the vehicle. They should also record your complaints process. Under the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015, where a consumer complaint cannot be resolved you must point the customer to a certified ADR provider and say whether you will use it.

Related guidance and services

• Terms and conditions drafting, £995, the service this page describes
• Contract review, £495
• Ask Caesar, £495 a month
• Terms and conditions for a locksmith
• Terms and conditions for a handyman service

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: September 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.