Terms of engagement

1. Provider and contact details

Tarusov Transcription is the trading name of Lee Tarusov, a sole trader.

Postal address: Lytchett House, 13 Freeland Park, Wareham Road, Poole, Dorset BH16 6FA, United Kingdom
Email: lee@tarusovtranscription.co.uk
Website: tarusovtranscription.co.uk

In these Terms, Tarusov Transcription, we, us and our refer to Lee Tarusov trading as Tarusov Transcription. Client, you and your refer to the person or organisation named in the accepted quotation. An Assignment is the specific service described in that quotation. Assignment Material means recordings, meeting content, documents, instructions and personal data supplied or made available for an Assignment. Deliverable means the transcript, notes or other output described in the quotation.

2. Application and contract formation

An enquiry does not reserve a date or oblige either party to proceed. We normally provide a written quotation describing the service, scope, format, expected source or attendance duration, price, turnaround, delivery and assignment-specific handling arrangements. Unless stated otherwise, a quotation is open for acceptance for 14 calendar days and remains subject to availability.

A contract is formed only when you accept the quotation and these Terms in writing, provide any purchase-order reference or booking payment stated as a condition, and we confirm the Assignment in writing.

If you instruct us for another person or organisation, you confirm that you have authority to bind it and incur the agreed charges. Tell us before acceptance if another entity will be the contracting client, data controller or invoice recipient.

The contract consists, in descending priority, of any expressly agreed written variation or data-processing terms; the quotation and assignment-specific handling terms; these Terms; and the Privacy Notice. A purchase order is administrative authority only and its standard terms do not amend the contract unless expressly accepted in writing. Website or Terms changes apply only to later Assignments unless both parties agree otherwise.

3. Services and agreed scope

Services may include transcription from authorised audio or video, live electronic notetaking, reviewed post-meeting notes, a record checked against an authorised recording, live-display notes, formatting and agreed related work. The quotation controls the required style, including full or strict verbatim, intelligent verbatim, structured notes or a custom format.

Work outside the quotation, including extensive restructuring, translation, formal minute writing, detailed research, redaction, indexing or conversion to a materially different format, requires a written scope change and may affect price and timing. We provide the service with reasonable care and skill. No percentage accuracy is promised unless the quotation states a measurable standard and its conditions.

4. Client authority and responsibilities

• Have lawful authority to commission the Assignment and provide or permit access to Assignment Material.
• Give required notices and obtain required consents, permissions, ethical approvals or other authority for recording, monitoring, transcription, notetaking and disclosure.
• Communicate our attendance and role to participants where required.
• Identify authorised recipients and access restrictions.
• Provide accurate instructions, speaker names, terminology, templates and deadlines in time.
• Keep an independent backup of source recordings and documents.
• Use the Deliverable lawfully and appropriately.

Do not send recordings, evidence, case files or sensitive third-party information through the public enquiry form. You must not supply unlawful, malicious or infringing material or ask us to act unlawfully. We may pause or refuse work where authority, legality, safety, conflicts, sanctions, technical suitability or instructions cannot reasonably be resolved.

For a business client, you are responsible for direct loss and reasonable cost we incur because you materially breach this section, only to the extent caused by that breach and after reasonable mitigation. This does not apply to a consumer where prohibited by law.

5. Recorded transcription

Turnaround begins when we have usable Assignment Material, complete instructions, any required payment and confirmation that work may begin. Working days exclude Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays in England unless agreed otherwise. Published next-working-day and two/three-working-day options refer to delivery days, not continuous elapsed hours or a count of nine-hour working periods. The quotation confirms the acceptance cut-off and exact UK delivery date and time; work starts only after our written confirmation.

Price and feasibility may depend on recording length, audibility, speakers, overlap, accents, terminology, timecodes and formatting. If the material differs materially from the information quoted, we will explain the effect and seek agreement to revised price or timing before continuing materially beyond the original scope.

Unclear content may be marked inaudible, uncertain or phonetic. We are not responsible for words that cannot reasonably be established from the source, or errors caused by inaccurate names, terminology or instructions not supplied in time.

6. Live notetaking

Live work is remote or in person as quoted. You must provide timely platform access, joining details, a suitable working position, reliable audible access, reasonable breaks and a safe environment.

Full or strict-verbatim capture without a recording may be agreed only for a suitable meeting. Feasibility depends on speech rate, speaker overlap, audio clarity, terminology, structure, breaks and session length. We may recommend an authorised recording where exact checking or completion is required.

Unless expressly agreed otherwise, live notes are a professional contemporaneous record, not CART, speech-to-text reporting, shorthand, official court reporting, a certified transcript or a substitute for a formally appointed accessibility service. Suitability for a formal accessibility need must be agreed in advance.

We do not secretly record meetings. Any recording must be expressly authorised and agreed in advance. If a meeting begins late, ends early or becomes inaccessible for reasons outside our control, reserved time remains chargeable to the extent quoted and reasonably incurred. Additional time is subject to availability.

7. Prices, minimum charges and VAT

Prices are in pounds sterling. Recorded-transcription rates, adjustments and minimum charges are stated in the quotation. Published website figures are a working basis, not a substitute for the accepted quotation.

Standard live notetaking is currently quoted from £70 per hour remotely and £90 per hour in person, with a two-hour minimum and additional attendance in 30-minute increments. The quotation states the applicable rate and any preparation, checking, urgent-delivery or formatting charge.

Agreed travel time, reserved travel days, fares, accommodation and non-refundable third-party costs are additional unless included. We do not currently charge VAT. If that status changes, new quotations will state the treatment. Consumer prices include applicable taxes unless clearly stated otherwise.

8. Booking payments, invoices and late payment

A first live Assignment normally requires a booking payment equal to 50% of the quoted attendance fee. It is credited against the final invoice and is not a surcharge. A booking is confirmed only by written confirmation after cleared payment, unless account terms are agreed.

The remaining balance is normally due within seven calendar days of delivery. Established organisational clients may be approved for 14-day or 30-day terms. Raise a genuine invoice query promptly and pay any undisputed amount by the due date. We may suspend unconfirmed or future work while an invoice is overdue.

For business-to-business debts, we may claim statutory interest and fixed recovery compensation under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, plus reasonable additional recovery cost where allowed. This does not apply to consumer debts.

9. Changes after confirmation

A requested change is effective only when accepted in writing. We will state any effect on scope, price, availability or delivery. If instructions, attendance duration or source material increase the work materially, we may pause at a sensible point and request a revised quotation. We will not impose an unagreed material price increase.

10. Cancellation and rescheduling

This section is subject to the consumer rights in section 11. Recorded transcription cancelled before work begins carries no work charge and any advance payment is returned less agreed non-refundable third-party cost. After work begins, work reasonably completed and unavoidable committed cost remain payable.

• Five or more working days before a live start: no attendance charge.
• Two to four working days: up to 25% of the booked attendance fee.
• Less than two working days: up to 50% of the booked attendance fee.
• Same-day cancellation, non-attendance or cancellation after the scheduled start: up to 100% of the booked attendance fee.

A charge will not exceed a reasonable estimate of our net loss after reasonable mitigation. Completed work and agreed non-refundable travel, accommodation or third-party costs remain payable. Any booking payment is applied and any balance returned.

One request to move a live booking may carry the payment to an available replacement date with at least two working days’ notice. A later or repeated change may be cancellation. If we cancel and cannot offer an acceptable alternative, we return payment for the unperformed service.

11. Consumers and the 14-day cancellation right

This section applies where you are an individual acting wholly or mainly outside your trade, business, craft or profession. For a distance contract, you normally have 14 days beginning the day after formation to cancel without giving a reason. Cancel by a clear statement sent to our email or postal address, or use Schedule 2.

We will not begin during that period unless you expressly request an early start. If you requested an early start and cancel before completion, a proportionate amount is payable for service supplied. If the service is fully performed after your express request and acknowledgment that full performance ends the cancellation right, that right is lost.

Where a consumer is entitled to a refund following statutory cancellation, we will make it without undue delay and no later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed of the decision to cancel, using the original payment method unless another method is expressly agreed without charge. Nothing removes rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 or other mandatory law.

12. Delivery, timing and authorised recipients

We deliver using the agreed method to agreed recipients. You must check recipient details. A turnaround or date is an estimate unless expressly guaranteed. We use reasonable care and notify you of a material known delay. Timing extends reasonably for late or defective material, changed instructions, unavailable access, third-party systems or events outside our control.

Risk in an electronic file passes when made available by the agreed method. Download, check and store it securely within any link-expiry period.

13. Review, corrections and acceptance

Review the Deliverable promptly, particularly names, numbers, dates, terminology and uncertain passages. Notify an apparent transcription, attribution, formatting or omission issue within 10 working days, with enough detail to locate it. We correct a verified in-scope error without charge. A reasonable issue found later will still be considered and statutory rights remain.

A correction does not include changing what was said, resolving genuinely inaudible content, adding unavailable material or converting to a materially different format. Re-performance or correction is the normal first remedy where possible and proportionate, without restricting a mandatory price reduction, refund or other right.

14. Confidentiality and security

Each party must keep the other’s confidential information confidential and use it only for the contract. Disclosure is permitted to an authorised recipient, professional adviser or approved technical provider who needs it and is suitably bound, or where law, a court or regulator requires it.

This duty does not cover information shown to be lawfully public, already lawfully known without restriction, lawfully received from another source or developed independently. Transfer, access, recipients, retention and deletion are agreed before material is supplied. Human access is limited to Lee Tarusov unless agreed. A separate NDA may supplement these Terms.

No method is entirely risk-free. Each party must use reasonable security and promptly report a relevant suspected incident. We do not use Assignment Material to train an AI model or for unrelated improvement. Automated speech recognition, generative AI or another technology-assisted content tool is used only if written terms identify the tool or service, purpose, provider, transfer and retention position, and you authorise it.

15. Data protection

Each party must comply with applicable data-protection law. We are an independent controller for our own enquiries, contracts, security, finance and legal records. For personal data in Assignment Material processed solely on the instructing controller’s directions, the client or disclosed principal is Controller and we are Processor. Schedule 1 contains the required terms.

You remain responsible for lawful, transparent and accurate instructions and for identifying special-category or criminal-offence data and legal conditions. We will tell you if an instruction appears to infringe data-protection law unless prohibited.

16. Retention, return and deletion

The Assignment’s written handling terms control. Unless agreed otherwise, source recordings, working notes, drafts and retained delivery copies for a one-off Assignment are kept through the 10-working-day correction window after confirmed delivery and deleted from active storage within the following two working days, subject to a necessary dispute hold or legal duty. The delivery message states the review deadline and deletion date. A Controller may instruct earlier return or deletion; we explain any resulting limit on source-based checking. A necessary hold is limited to relevant material, reviewed and ended when no longer needed.

On request before deletion, available material is returned using the agreed method. Material may remain temporarily in protected backups until routine overwrite, beyond ordinary use. Separate quotation, authority, acceptance, attendance, delivery, complaint and payment records may be retained for administration, tax and legal purposes as described in the Privacy Notice.

17. Intellectual property and permitted use

You retain rights in Assignment Material and warrant that our agreed use does not infringe another person’s rights. On delivery, we grant an interim licence for the lawful commissioned purposes while an agreed invoice is not overdue. This does not transfer rights in our templates or third-party material. After full payment, we grant you a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free licence to use, copy, adapt and distribute the bespoke Deliverable for the lawful commissioned purposes, transferable with the relevant matter or business record.

We retain rights in pre-existing templates, styles, methods, generic know-how and website material. Template elements in the Deliverable may be used with it, but the blank template may not be sold or presented as your standalone product. We do not publish client material, excerpts, testimonials or case details without separate written permission.

18. Nature and use of the Deliverable

A Deliverable records the source or meeting within scope. It is not legal advice, an investigation finding, a decision on facts or a guarantee of evidential admissibility. Unless expressly and genuinely applicable, it is not an official court transcript, certified transcript or independently authenticated record. Obtain advice about filing, publication, disclosure, redaction or reliance. Do not alter a Deliverable and represent it as unchanged work produced by Tarusov Transcription.

19. Liability

Nothing excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, deliberate misconduct, or liability that cannot lawfully be limited. We are responsible for reasonably foreseeable direct loss caused by our breach or negligence, but not to the extent caused by inaccurate instructions, unlawful or defective material, failure to keep a source backup, unauthorised use, a client-selected system or another matter outside our control.

For a business client only, subject to the preceding paragraph, neither party is liable for indirect or consequential loss or loss of profit, revenue, anticipated saving, opportunity, goodwill or reputation. Our aggregate liability arising from an Assignment, including confidentiality and data-protection claims between the parties, is limited to the greater of twice the fees paid or payable for that Assignment and £2,000. Each party must mitigate loss. A quotation or signed agreement may set a different cap.

For a consumer, we do not exclude foreseeable loss caused by breach or failure to use reasonable care and skill, but are not responsible for business loss suffered outside consumer purposes.

20. Suspension, termination and events outside control

Either party may terminate immediately for a material breach that cannot be remedied, or after a remediable breach is not corrected within a reasonable written period. We may suspend or terminate where continuing would be unlawful, unsafe, materially insecure or impossible because authority is absent.

Termination does not affect accrued rights. Properly completed work and unavoidable cost remain payable; any balance for unperformed work is returned subject to cancellation rights. Neither party is liable for delay caused by an event outside reasonable control if it mitigates and informs the other. If a material part is prevented for more than 30 days, either may terminate the affected work.

21. Complaints and disputes

Raise a concern promptly by email or post, identifying the Assignment and outcome sought. We aim to acknowledge within five working days and respond substantively within 15 working days where reasonably possible. The parties should first try good-faith written resolution. Business parties may agree mediation. This does not prevent urgent relief or recovery of an undisputed debt. We do not currently subscribe to a mandatory alternative-dispute-resolution scheme.

22. General terms and governing law

Neither party may assign the whole contract without written consent, not unreasonably withheld for a genuine business transfer. We may use approved technical subprocessors under Schedule 1, but no other person receives human access to Assignment content unless agreed.

If a provision is invalid, it is adjusted only as necessary and the remainder continues. Delay is not waiver. No third party may enforce the contract under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999, except a disclosed principal may enforce an express benefit.

Cancellation, breach, termination and legal notices must be sent by email or post to section 1 and take effect when received, except for statutory consumer cancellation. A consumer may cancel by any clear statement; statutory cancellation is in time if sent before the applicable cancellation period ends, even if received later. The contract is governed by the law of England and Wales. Business clients submit to the exclusive courts of England and Wales. A consumer elsewhere in the UK retains mandatory rights to local courts and local consumer protection.

Schedule 1: Controller-processor terms

A. Scope, roles and processing details

This Schedule applies where we process personal data in Assignment Material on behalf of the client or its disclosed principal. That party is Controller and Tarusov Transcription is Processor. The subject is transcription, live capture, review, formatting, checking, secure delivery, corrections and deletion. Processing lasts from first receipt or access until return or deletion under the handling terms.

Data may include names, contact details, voices, roles, opinions, statements, employment and case information, meeting metadata, and special-category or criminal-offence data contained in authorised material. Data subjects may include clients, employees, workers, interviewees, witnesses, meeting participants, customers, service users, advisers and other people mentioned.

B. Instructions and confidentiality

We process only on documented instructions in the contract, quotation, handling terms and later written directions, including for international transfers, unless UK law requires otherwise. If permitted, we notify the Controller before legally required processing. Anyone authorised to process data is bound by confidentiality. No additional person gets human access without written agreement.

C. Security

Taking account of processing, technology, cost and risk, we use proportionate measures including access control, authenticated accounts, agreed transfer and delivery, recipient checks, minimisation, device and account security, protected storage, incident handling and scheduled deletion. The Controller remains responsible for secure source creation, its own copies, participant access, recipient accuracy and systems it selects.

D. Subprocessors and international transfers

The Controller gives general written authorisation for necessary technical subprocessors. Relevant providers may include Microsoft 365 for business email, storage and delivery, and a secure transfer or meeting platform selected or approved by the Controller. We remain responsible for their data-protection performance as required by law and impose materially equivalent obligations.

Relevant providers are identified in the Privacy Notice, quotation or handling terms. Before adding or replacing a technical subprocessor under general authorisation, we give the Controller written notice of the provider, processing purpose, relevant locations and intended start date, with a reasonable opportunity to object on data-protection grounds. An expedited change requires specific written agreement before the new provider processes affected Assignment Material. If unresolved, either may terminate affected unperformed service without penalty other than incurred cost. Restricted transfers use an applicable UK adequacy regulation or approved safeguard with supplementary measures where required.

E. Assistance and incidents

Taking account of the processing and available information, we provide reasonable assistance with data-subject requests, security, breach assessment and notification, impact assessments and prior consultation. We do not respond substantively to a data subject for the Controller unless instructed or required.

We notify the Controller without undue delay after becoming aware of a personal-data breach affecting Assignment Data and provide available information reasonably needed. Notification is not an admission of fault. Routine or breach-related assistance is included; substantial repeated assistance caused by the Controller’s systems or instructions may carry an agreed reasonable charge.

F. Return, deletion and audit

At the end, we will, at the Controller’s choice and subject to written retention terms, return or securely delete personal data and copies unless UK law requires retention. Protected backup copies may remain only until routine overwrite, beyond ordinary use.

We make available information reasonably needed to demonstrate compliance and allow proportionate audits by the Controller or a confidential independent auditor. Ordinary audits are remote first, during reasonable hours, on reasonable notice and normally no more than once in 12 months, protecting other clients and system security. These arrangements do not limit audits or inspections reasonably required to demonstrate Article 28 compliance, respond to a substantiated concern or meet a regulatory requirement. The Controller bears its cost. We inform the Controller if an instruction appears unlawful unless prohibited.

G. Priority

This Schedule prevails over conflicting terms about processing personal data for the Controller. Nothing relieves either party of its direct legal obligations.

Schedule 2: Model consumer cancellation form

Complete and send this only if you wish to cancel a consumer contract.