1. About these terms
These terms and conditions govern your use of careconsults.co.uk and set out the standard basis on which we provide our consultancy services. When we agree a specific engagement with you, we will confirm its scope, fees and timescales in a written proposal or engagement letter. If anything in that document differs from these terms, the engagement document takes priority.
By using this website or instructing us, you agree to these terms. Please also read our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.
2. Who we are
Care Consults is a trading name of ZM Legal Consultancy Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under company number 14565767, with its registered office at 66 Paul Street, London, England, EC2A 4NA. You can contact us at info@careconsults.co.uk or on +44 7351 121577.
3. Using this website
You may use this website for lawful purposes only. You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to it, introduce malicious code, or copy its content for commercial use without our permission.
The content on this website — including guides, checklists and articles — is provided for general information. It is not professional advice for your specific circumstances, and you should not rely on it as such. If you need advice tailored to your service, please get in touch and we will agree a proper engagement.
4. Our services
We provide consultancy support to care providers, including CQC registration support, compliance and governance reviews, tender support, mock inspections and ongoing support. The precise scope of each engagement — what is included, what is not, deliverables and timescales — is set out in your written proposal.
We will deliver our services with reasonable skill and care, drawing on our experience of the health and social care sector and current regulatory guidance.
5. Fees and payment
- Fees are agreed in advance as a fixed fee or day rate, as set out in your proposal, and are exclusive of VAT unless stated otherwise.
- Invoices are payable within 14 days of the invoice date, unless your proposal says otherwise.
- Reasonable travel and expenses are only charged where agreed in advance.
- If an invoice is overdue, we may pause work and charge interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.
6. Your responsibilities
Our advice is only as good as the information it is based on. To get the best from an engagement, you agree to:
- Provide accurate, complete and timely information about your service.
- Give us reasonable access to the premises, records and people relevant to the work.
- Make sure you have the right to share any information you give us.
- Make your own decisions — responsibility for running your service, and for what you submit to regulators and commissioners, always remains with you.
7. What we cannot promise
We are an independent consultancy. We are not part of, endorsed by or affiliated with the Care Quality Commission or any other regulator or commissioning body. Decisions about registration, ratings, enforcement and contract awards are made by those bodies alone.
That means we cannot guarantee a particular outcome — such as a successful registration, a specific inspection rating or a winning tender — however strong we believe your position to be. What we do promise is honest advice, thorough preparation and support based on real regulatory experience. Our services are consultancy support, not legal advice; where a matter needs a solicitor, we will say so.
8. Intellectual property
We retain ownership of the templates, tools, policies and other materials we create or supply. When you have paid our fees, we grant you a non-exclusive licence to use those materials within your own organisation for the purposes of the engagement. You may not resell them or share them outside your organisation. All content on this website belongs to us or our licensors.
9. Confidentiality
Each of us will keep the other’s confidential information confidential and use it only for the engagement. This does not prevent disclosures required by law or a regulator, or information that is already public. Our handling of personal data is described in our Privacy Policy.
10. Liability
Nothing in these terms limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be limited.
Subject to that, our total liability arising from an engagement is limited to the fees you have paid us for that engagement in the 12 months before the claim arose, and we are not liable for indirect or consequential losses such as loss of profit, contracts or goodwill. We hold professional indemnity insurance and will provide details on request. If you deal with us as a consumer, nothing in these terms affects your statutory rights.
11. Cancellation & rescheduling
- Either of us may end an ongoing engagement by giving the notice set out in your proposal (30 days unless agreed otherwise). You pay for work done up to the end date.
- Booked visits — such as mock inspections — can be rescheduled free of charge with at least 5 working days’ notice. Later changes may incur a reasonable charge for time we cannot re-book.
- If you are a consumer, you may have a 14-day cancellation right under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013; your proposal will explain how it applies.
12. General
- These terms, together with your proposal, are the entire agreement between us for the engagement.
- Changes to an engagement must be agreed in writing (email is fine).
- If any part of these terms is found to be unenforceable, the rest still applies.
- A delay in enforcing a right is not a waiver of it.
- No one other than you and us has rights under these terms.
13. Governing law
These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute — although we would always rather talk first.
14. Contact us
Questions about these terms, or about a current or proposed engagement, are always welcome.