Terms and Conditions

These terms and conditions (“these Terms”) govern membership of HILT: Home of Independent Language Teachers and use of the HILT website, teacher directory and learner enquiry service. By becoming a HILT member, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree to these Terms, you should not become a member or use the HILT services.

HILT means HOME OF INDEPENDENT LANGUAGE TEACHERS LTD, company number 17417131, whose registered office is at 86 Ryknield Road, Kilburn, DE56 0PF, United Kingdom. You can contact HILT at hello@hiltcommunity.com.

In these Terms, “member” means an independent language teacher who holds an active HILT membership, “learner” means a person who uses the directory or enquiry service, and “directory” means the public HILT teacher directory.

HILT is a membership service and a directory and community for independent language teachers. HILT provides the membership service, the teacher directory and the learner enquiry and introduction service.

Individual teachers operate independently and provide language tuition themselves. HILT does not provide the tuition, does not employ the teachers, does not take a commission from lesson fees and does not process payments from learners to teachers.

Any agreement concerning tuition — including lesson prices, scheduling, cancellations, refunds and the provision and quality of lessons — is made directly between the teacher and the learner. HILT is not a party to that agreement.

Membership is available to independent language teachers.

HILT does not require members to hold particular teaching qualifications, certifications or a minimum level of teaching experience.

HILT does not independently verify every claim a teacher makes about their qualifications, experience or services. Information shown in a member’s directory profile is provided by the member.

HILT’s membership pricing tiers are:

• Members 1–25: £5 per month or £50 per year.
• Members 26–50: £7 per month or £70 per year.
• From member 51 onwards: £9 per month or £90 per year.

A member’s applicable pricing tier when they join is their lifetime membership pricing tier for as long as their membership remains continuously active. HILT may change the price offered to new members, but an existing continuously active member’s membership rate will not be increased.

If a continuously active member switches between monthly and annual billing, they retain the corresponding monthly or annual price from their original pricing tier. For example, a member on the £5/£50 tier may switch between £5 monthly and £50 annually.

If membership ends and the former member subsequently rejoins, this is a new membership and the price available to new members at that time applies. Their previous lifetime pricing tier is not restored.

A change to these Terms must not be used to remove the lifetime pricing tier of a continuously active member.

HILT currently uses Stripe to process membership payments. Membership may be paid monthly or annually.

Payment and card information is processed through Stripe’s payment services under Stripe’s own terms and privacy policy. HILT does not receive or store full card numbers. HILT receives only limited information, such as subscription status, amounts, dates and invoice records, needed to administer membership and meet its accounting obligations.

Monthly membership has an initial minimum three-month commitment, subject to the voluntary 14-day cooling-off period described below. If a monthly member does not cancel under the 14-day cooling-off provision, they are committed to paying for the initial three months.

After the initial three-month period has been completed, monthly membership becomes rolling monthly membership with no further minimum commitment.

Annual membership already exceeds the three-month minimum and therefore has no additional minimum-period requirement beyond the annual membership period.

HILT voluntarily gives a new member 14 days from first joining to change their mind. A new member who cancels during those first 14 days may receive a full refund of their initial membership payment.

A member’s HILT profile becomes active immediately after successful payment; HILT does not wait for the 14-day period to expire before activating membership.

If a member uses the cooling-off provision, their membership ends when the cancellation and refund are processed and their public teacher profile is removed from the directory. If they later rejoin, they join at the membership price then available to new members and do not retain the former lifetime pricing tier.

This is a voluntary HILT cancellation policy. Nothing in these Terms limits any statutory cancellation or other rights that may apply to a member.

Membership renews automatically unless cancelled.

Monthly membership renews monthly, subject initially to the three-month minimum commitment. Annual membership renews annually.

HILT will aim to send annual members a renewal reminder approximately 14 days before their annual renewal payment is due. A failure to receive or read a reminder should not by itself change the agreed renewal arrangements.

After the applicable minimum commitment, a member may cancel renewal before their next payment is taken. Cancellation prevents subsequent renewal, and membership continues until the end of the period already paid for.

After the voluntary 14-day cooling-off period, membership payments already made are normally non-refundable, subject to the specific exceptions in these Terms and any rights required by law.

In particular, an annual member who chooses to cancel after the cooling-off period does not receive a refund for unused months. Their membership continues until the end of the annual period already paid for.

A switch between monthly and annual billing normally takes effect at the end of the member’s current paid billing period. There is no part-period refund or prorating simply because a member chooses to switch billing frequency.

The member retains their original lifetime pricing tier when the new billing frequency begins.

If a renewal payment fails, HILT may allow a grace period of up to seven days for the payment to be successfully completed. During this period, the member will retain their membership and original lifetime pricing tier. If payment remains outstanding at the end of the grace period, HILT may terminate the membership. If the former member subsequently rejoins, the membership price available to new members at that time will apply.

Members are responsible for keeping their profile information accurate and reasonably up to date, including information about their languages, levels, location, rates, availability, biography and services.

HILT does not independently verify every statement a teacher makes about qualifications, experience or services. HILT may correct, hide or remove profile content that is clearly inaccurate, misleading, unlawful or inappropriate.

HILT reserves the right to suspend or terminate a membership where a member’s conduct could reasonably be considered to bring HILT, its members or the HILT community into disrepute, or where the member seriously misuses HILT’s services or acts unlawfully in connection with their membership.

HILT may temporarily suspend a member and hide their public profile while a serious concern is investigated. There is no immediate refund merely because an investigation or suspension is taking place. Where appropriate, HILT may give the member an opportunity to respond before a final decision is made.

If membership is restored, membership continues normally.

If HILT terminates membership for serious misconduct or serious breach of these Terms, HILT will provide a pro-rata refund for the unused portion of the member’s current paid membership period, calculated from the termination date, subject to any applicable legal rights or obligations.

Ordinary disputes about lessons, teaching quality, lesson fees, scheduling, cancellations or refunds are matters between the independent teacher and the learner. HILT is not responsible for resolving ordinary tuition or payment disputes between teachers and learners.

However, learners may report serious concerns about a HILT member to HILT, and HILT may investigate such concerns when deciding whether action concerning membership is appropriate.

Teachers retain ownership of the profile content and photographs they provide to HILT. By providing content to HILT, the member grants HILT a non-exclusive permission and licence to use that content as reasonably necessary to operate and promote HILT, including the HILT website, the teacher directory and HILT’s own promotional and social-media channels.

That permission should generally end when membership ends, although HILT may not always be able, or required, to retrieve or remove material already legitimately published or distributed, such as historical social-media posts.

Members must ensure that they own, or have the necessary permission to use, material they provide to HILT. Member content must not be unlawful, defamatory, discriminatory, misleading, or infringe another person’s intellectual-property, privacy or other rights.

HILT may add, remove or change membership features and benefits as the service develops. HILT will give reasonable advance notice of significant changes that materially reduce the membership service.

HILT may update these Terms when reasonably necessary, including because the service, the law or HILT’s features change. Minor changes may be published on the website.

Where a change materially affects existing members’ rights or obligations, HILT will give reasonable advance notice, normally by email. Changes to these Terms cannot be used to remove a continuously active member’s lifetime pricing tier.

If HILT permanently discontinues the paid membership service before the end of a member’s current paid period, HILT will provide a pro-rata refund for the unused portion of that paid membership period.

HILT aims to provide a reliable website and service but does not guarantee that the website will be uninterrupted, error-free or available at all times. HILT may suspend access for maintenance, updates or reasons beyond its control.

To the extent permitted by law, HILT’s liability for losses arising from its membership and directory service is limited to the membership fees the member has paid in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim.

HILT is not responsible for the tuition, conduct, qualifications or services of independent teachers, or for any agreement between a teacher and a learner. HILT is not liable for acts or omissions of independent teachers or learners.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any other liability that cannot legally be limited.

Information about how HILT collects, uses and protects personal information is set out in the HILT Privacy Policy. The Privacy Policy forms part of these Terms so far as it relates to the handling of personal information.

If you have a complaint or dispute, please contact HILT first at hello@hiltcommunity.com so that HILT has the opportunity to try to resolve it informally.

These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales, and any disputes arising from or connected with these Terms or HILT membership are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales, save where mandatory legal rights require otherwise.

If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact HILT at hello@hiltcommunity.com.