How much does it cost?

The late return of vehicles will incur a penalty of £14.00 plus £11.00 (£22.00 with paid driver) per hour, for each hour, or part hour the vehicle is late.

Vehicles should be returned clean ready for use by the next group. There is a penalty charge for a vehicle requiring excessive cleaning at £28 per external clean and £49.00 for an internal valet.

Cancellations with less than 96 hours notice (4 days) will incur a charge of £50.

Damage to any vehicle by driver(s), passenger(s), or third parties will incur an insurance excess charge of £300 per incident. 

Invoices

From September 2019, a credit facility will be available for member groups and the group will be invoiced each week for any hires in the preceding week. All invoices must be settled in full within 30 days.

Invoices for vehicle hire(s) are calculated on the pricing plan in place at the time of the booking. It is therefore very important that your driver(s) complete the driver log sheet in full, or use the real time data capture App we provide for this purpose. If you have an invoicing query, please bring this to our attention within 5 working days of the invoice date. This does not affect your right to dispute an invoice after that time. In the event of an error or for any othersignificant reason, charges that require amending will be done so by means of an account credit for the agreed amount. If an invoice value is disputed groups must pay the undisputed value within 30 days.

Failure to comply with the payment terms will result in a stop on your group's transport service and/or for any further driver training sessions (booked or not), and late payment interest and compensation can be charged in line with current late payment legislation on overdue invoices.

Invoices can either be paid by:

• cheque - please make cheque payable to Bristol Community Transport, and ensure the invoice number(s) are written on the back of the cheque
• bank transfer - bank details are shown on invoices, please send email to [email protected] advising that payment has been sent, including the invoice number(s)
• cash at BCT office - a receipt will be issued, although we prefer to keep this to a minimum

The cost of fuel is included in the mileage charge. Vehicles are fuelled at our depot before your hire commences so you do not have to worry about refuelling.

For trips of a long distance or multi-day duration BCT will issue a fuel card, we will determine when it is appropriate to issue a fuel card based on the booking details. The card can be used at most filling stations to refuel our vehicle. Please return fuel receipts when returning the vehicle log sheet.

Should a fuel card be lost or stolen, this must be reported to the BCT office immediately. In the event of a lost/stolen card and you require fuel BCT will reimburse full cost upon receiving a fuel purchase receipt. Please ensure you write the name of your group and vehicle registration number on the back of any receipts.

In the event a fuel card is misused during the time the vehicle is hired all cost charged to the fuel card will be invoiced to the hiring group.

If you have an invoicing query, please bring this to our attention within two weeks of the invoice date. Invoices are to be paid within 30 days of the date of invoice. Failure to pay will result in a stop on your group's transport, and a late payment surcharge will be added to overdue invoices.

Single bookings can be made online by logging into your account and creating a booking request. You can book up to one year in advance.

Block bookings, or regular bookings for the same day/time every week will need to be booked through our offices via telephone or email.

Each member group nominates those individuals authorised to place bookings (this is done as part of the membership application process, or by updating your account online). It is important that you keep us informed of changes by managing your group’s account.

All booking requests are subject to availability.

We do ask that when your driver(s) come to collect transport they bring their MiDAS ID Card. If they have lost or forgotten to bring it, we may refuse to let them drive.

Keys can be collected from BCT office Monday to Friday between 7.30am to 4.30pm (excluding public holidays).

For weekend bookings keys will normally need to be collected from BCT between 2.00 and 04:00 pm on Friday afternoon so we can be sure trips go ahead as booked. This only applies to keys and NOT the vehicle. If a driver cannot collect keys at these times, or in person, they may contact us to make alternative arrangements. In such instances, a third party may be requested to produce relevant ID.

Minibus or coach drivers and companies don’t have to provide child car seats, however BCT has a small number of these available to groups. Please ensure you request these at the time of booking. All drivers of BCT vehicle must ensure they uphold the law in relation to the use of child restraints and whose responsibility it is to ensure all passengers are using the appropriate restraints (including seat belts).

Supervising children and infants

BCT's responsibilities under the relevant Transport Acts (especially under construction and use Regulations) are to ensure that passengers, including children, do not constitute a danger to other road users. For this purpose we require that there is an adult in the rear cabin of our minibuses when children are transported.

User groups may also have a responsibility under the Children Act (2004) to provide sufficient supervision for their charges if they are taking children. We advise groups that they need to look at their legislative framework as well as our policy. The standard practice amongst groups carrying children under the age of 8 is to have 1 adult (including driver) for each 5 children.