Terms and Conditions

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Client Agreement

Nutritional Therapy Descriptor

“Nutritional Therapy” is the application of nutrition science in the promotion of health, peak performance and individual care. Nutritional therapy practitioners use a wide range of tools to assess and identify potential nutritional imbalances and understand how these may contribute to an individual’s symptoms and health concerns. This approach allows them to work with individuals to address nutritional balance and help support the body towards maintaining health.

Nutritional therapy is recognised as a complementary medicine and is relevant for individuals with chronic conditions, as well as those looking for support to enhance their health and wellbeing.

Practitioners consider each individual to be unique and recommend personalised nutrition and lifestyle programmes rather than a ‘one size fits all’ approach. Practitioners never recommend nutritional therapy as a replacement for medical advice and always refer any client with ‘red flag’ signs or symptoms to their medical professional. They will also frequently work alongside a medical professional and will communicate with other healthcare professionals involved in the client’s care to explain any nutritional therapy programme that has been provided.

Terms and Conditions

October 2023

Client Agreement (Capitalised terms are defined below and have the meanings ascribed to them herein)

You irrevocably agree that when you attend a Consultation provided by the Clinic you will be deemed to enter into this Agreement which automatically becomes a binding Contract between you and the Clinic and applies to your participation in the Services.

Your attention is particularly drawn to clauses 5, 7 and 10.

These Terms

    • These are terms and conditions on which we will supply the Service to you.
    • Please read these terms carefully before submitting an application to the Clinic.
    • In these terms and conditions, the definitions shall apply:
      • Clinic means the terms and conditions set out in this document as amended from time to time;
      • Conditions means the terms and conditions set out in this document as amended from time to time;
      • Contract or Agreement means the contract between us and you for the supply of the Services in accordance with these Conditions;
      • Consultation means the ongoing sessions with the Nutritional Therapist provided as part of the Services.
      • Group Services means online group support offered by the Clinic.
      • Nutritional Therapist means Melody Mackeown or individuals employed or engaged by the Clinic to provide the Services;
      • Services means the provision of nutritional therapy, as described in the above descriptor and as agreed between us and you including but not limited to a Consultation (or an initial Consultation).
      • Suitability Check means a 20-minute free session with the Nutritional Therapist to assess your needs and suitability of our Services.
    • A reference to a particular law or regulation is a reference to it as it is in force for the time being taking account of any amendment, extension, or re-enactment and includes any subordinate legislation for the time being in force made under it.
  • The Clinic
    • The clinic is operated by Melody Mackeown, MSc in Personalised Nutrition, Dip ION and Qualified NLP (neuro linguistic programming) practitioner. Melody Mackeown is registered a Nutritonal Therapist with BANT (British Association for Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine, www.bant.org.uk) and CNHC (Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council, www.CNHC.org.uk) and owns and runs the Clinic under the trading name Food4LifeCoach from her home in Putney, London
    • You can contact the Clinic by emailing us at [email protected] or via [email protected], whichever is agreed.

The Services

General

  • We offer a Suitability Check free of charge to all potential new clients to determine whether Nutritional Therapy is suitable for you based on what you tell us. Subject to the completion of the Suitability Check, we will discuss the Services which may be more beneficial for you.
  • We will provide the Services as agreed between you and the Nutritional Therapist. We will use suitably qualified nutritional therapists to provide the Services and will provide the Services with due care, skill and ability.
  • We will not provide any Services until we receive a declaration from you declaring any physical and/or medical limitations which may affect your ability to participate in the Service. You assume all responsibility of checking with your medical practitioner, physiotherapist, or other health care professional for medical readiness prior to participating in any of the Services.
  • Any Consultation between you and our Nutritional Therapist which is conducted as part of the Services shall be conducted in privacy and confidence.
  • We may have to make changes to your Consultation or programme, or suspend the Services:
    • to deal with technical problems or make minor technical changes;
    • to reflect changes in relevant laws or regulatory requirements; or
    • to make minor improvements to the Services.

If we are required to make any other changes to the programme, we will notify you in advance.

  • Other than as set out in this clause 3, all warranties and representations are excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law. We do not guarantee any particular results.

Group Services

As part of our delivery of the Services, we may invite you to join our social media groups where we offer  clients access to additional support and materials.

  • You agree to have your results anonymised and grant us the right to post such anonymised results within our social media groups. You can elect to opt-out of this option by notifying the Clinic either in writing.
  • We will not share any details within our social media groups or pages that will identify you or your nutritional programme unless agreed by you in writing.
  • Before granting access to the social media groups, you will be required to read and agree our social media rules that are in force from time to time. You will not have access to such Group Service until you agree to adhere to such rules.
  • We do not review or substantiate the information posted to the social media groups and therefore we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the Group Services or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained in the Group Services for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
  • The Group Services will be available to all clients who engage us to provide the Services. Any information which is shared as part of the Group Services, including information in relation to the Clinic, the Services, other members or clients, is confidential and you shall not use, disclose or share such information with any third party.

Client acknowledgements and obligations

We request that all clients particularly note the following provisions contained in this clause 5.

You acknowledge and agree that:

    • The degree of benefit obtainable from Nutritional Therapy may vary between clients with similar health problems and following a similar nutritional therapy programme;
    • nutritional advice delivered as part of the Services will be tailored to support health conditions and/or health concerns identified and agreed upon between both parties;
    • Our Nutritional therapists are not permitted to diagnose or claim to treat medical conditions;
    • nutritional advice is not a substitute for professional medical advice and/or treatment;
    • you are obliged to inform us of any changes which may occur to your medical records, medication or health during the term of the Contract;
    • the Services are intended to encompass your requirements as much as possible. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the Services are both safe and effective, there is a risk of adverse outcomes from a nutritional protocol and you acknowledge and agree that you are taking part in the Services of your own free will and are aware of the risks as stated by the Nutritional Therapist and/or the Clinic;
    • the advice or recommendations which you will receive from the Nutritional Therapist and/or the Clinic are not a substitute for medical advice from a qualified doctor;
    • the advice or recommendations which you will receive from the Nutritional Therapist and/or Clinic is personal and applies to you only. This same advice may be ineffective or even harmful when applied to other people with different backgrounds;
    • any changes in your diet and lifestyle may produce effects in your body, energy, health, and condition that are gradual in nature – not instantaneous;
    • the advice you shall receive will not be enough to achieve your nutrition or lifestyle goals unless you follow it diligently and commit to it fully;
    • we cannot guarantee a successful outcome of the Services, and although we will help you achieve your goals we do not warrant or represent that you will fully attain such goals due to factors outside of our control;
    • once you have completed a nutrition programme recommended by the Nutritional Therapist and/or the Clinic, the recommendations made during the programme may no longer be appropriate and no advice or recommendation shall be applicable after the termination date of the nutrition programme. If you choose to continue with the nutrition programme beyond termination, this is at your own risk.

In addition to the provisions of clause 1, you further understand and agree that:

      • you are responsible for contacting your GP about any health concerns you may have;
      • any information or guidance which the Clinic or Nutritional Therapist provide is not a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis and/or medical treatment of your GP or healthcare provider;
      • you give permission for the Clinic and the Nutritional Therapist to contact your GP regarding any agreed aspect of your nutritional programme;
      • if you are receiving treatment from your GP, or any other medical provider, you should tell him/her about any nutritional strategy provided by the Nutritional Therapist;
      • you will tell the Nutritional Therapist about any medical diagnosis, medication, herbal medicine, or food supplements, which you are taking as this may affect the nutritional programme.

Prior to any Consultation as part of the Services, you must submit all information as requested by the Clinic via phone, email, in-person, or by any other means of communication as is reasonably necessary.

You warrant and represent that:

    • all information provided by you is true, accurate and up to date;
    • you will communicate to the Nutritional Therapist and the Clinic any changes in your medical prescriptions, medical records, herbal prescriptions, supplements, or treatments for the duration of the Services;
    • you must inform the Nutritional Therapist and the Clinic promptly if any of the new changes in diet or lifestyle cause adverse effects.
    • Your registered GP remains your primary care physician and the appropriate contact in a health emergency. If you are unclear about the agreed nutritional therapy protocol/food supplement doses/time period given by the Nutritional Therapist and/or the Clinic, you should contact us promptly and not proceed until you have received clarification.

Fees, Payment and Bookings

  •  The fees for the Services are detailed in the invoice letter which is provided to you after your Suitability Check. The fees are inclusive of VAT, which we shall charge at the current rate.
  • Following your Suitability Check, you will be required to pay a deposit within 48 hours of booking the initial Consultation with the Nutritional Therapist or the full programme amount (Essential, Signature or Optimum).
  • The fees for the Services must be paid in advance. You may make payment in full or by way of monthly instalments in advance by BACS or direct debit as agreed with the Clinic.
  • For any package bookings (for example, 3 or 6 month advance bookings of a nutritional programme), the fees must be paid in full for each month in advance, or the total amount payable in advance.
  • No Consultation, timeslot or position is reserved until payment is received.
  • You must pay all fees for the duration of your selected Service, regardless of whether you attend or fail to complete the Service.
  • All payments must be made in a timely manner. If you do not make any payment due to us by the due date we may:
    • suspend the Services until such payment is made; or
    • charge interest to you on the overdue amount at the rate of 4% a year above the base lending rate of Bank of England from time to time. This interest shall accrue on a daily basis from the due date until the date of payment of the overdue amount, whether before or after judgment. You must pay us interest together with any overdue amount.
  • All Consultations must be booked at least 48 hours’ in advance directly between you and the Clinic. No Consultation shall be considered booked until you receive written confirmation from the Clinic via email.
  • For bookings less than 48 hours’ in advance, the Clinic may charge an additional fee.
  • Upon termination of the Contract for any reason, you shall immediately pay unpaid fees which are due for Services provided.

Refund, Reschedule and Cancellation Policy

  • For most of our Services bought online, you have 14 days after the date we confirm your order to change your mind about the Contract, but if you cancel the Contract before the Services have been fully performed, you agree that you will pay for the supply of the Services for the period for which they are supplied. The amount payable will be in proportion to what has been supplied, in comparison to the full coverage of the Contract.
  • If you change your mind, contact the Clinic on [email protected] or [email protected] (whichever ever email is agreed). We will refund you as soon as possible and within 14 days of you telling us you’ve changed your mind. We will refund you by BACS transfer once you have provided the Clinic with your bank details. We don’t charge a fee for the refund.
  • Cancellations of any of the booked Services are accepted up to 48 hours in advance, and substitute Consultations may be booked (subject to availability). If you have booked a package, all substitute Consultations must be booked before the expiry of such programme.
  • Cancellation with less than 48 hours but more than 24-hours’ notice will receive a 50% refund of the deposit paid for the cancelled Service. If you have booked an Essential, Signature or Optimum programme, cancellation with more than 48 hours’ notice shall be free of charge, save that all substitute Consultations must be booked in accordance with clause 3.
  • Cancellations within 24 hours of the booked Service is forfeited in full. If you are unable to attend a Consultation due to circumstances out of your control, the Clinic will determine on a case-by-case basis whether a Consultation credit may be offered. Additional evidence may be requested (e.g., a Medical Letter, evidence of flight delay etc). No refunds will be offered for any cancellation less than 24 hours prior to the Consultation.
  • Cancellations must be made by phone call or email. Any rescheduled Consultations as a result of a cancellation may be delayed by several weeks depending on the nutritional therapist’s availability.
  • We will contact you in advance to tell you we’re suspending supply, unless the problem is urgent or an emergency. If we suspend the service for longer than 48 hours we adjust the price so you don’t pay for any part of the Services that was due to be provided during such time.
  • There may be occasions where we stop providing a Service or cancel a Consultation. We let you know at least 48 hours in advance and we will refund any sums you’ve paid in advance for Services which won’t be provided or re-schedule the Consultation for a mutually agreeable time.
  • We can end our Contract with you and claim any compensation due to us if:
    • you don’t make any payment to us when it’s due and you still don’t make payment within 14 calendar days of our reminding you that payment is due;
    • you don’t, within a reasonable time of us asking for it, provide us with information, cooperation or access that we need to provide the Service.
  • If our supply of the Services is delayed by an event outside our control, we will contact you as soon as possible to let you know and do what we can to reduce the delay. As long as we do this, we won’t compensate you for the delay, but if the delay is likely to be substantial you can end the Contract and receive a refund for any Services you have paid for in advance, but not received, less reasonable costs we have already incurred.
  • If you breach any of your obligations in clauses, 5, 8 or 9, we will be entitled to suspend and/or terminate your access to the Services, at our sole discretion.
  • ,In the event of a suspension, or termination, in accordance with clause 11, you will not be entitled to a refund of fees paid.

Data Protection

    • How we use any personal data you give us is set out in our Privacy Notice available at: www.food4lifecoach.com/privacy-policy/ Please read this before signing the Contract.
    • The Clinic is registered with ICO, the UK’s independent authority set up to uphold information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals.
    • All Client data is kept on file for 7 years and the client has the right to request access until that time. All documents shared and secured in accordance with GDPR requirements. Sending documents via email does not guarantee security and is done so at the Client’s risk.
    • If required, the information you share with your Nutritional Therapist may be shared with your GP to assist in appropriate investigations and/or to make them aware of your health. It is a requirement, by the Nutritional Therapists’ regulators (BANT, CNHC), to make GPs aware of any symptoms considered a red flag. If you do not accept this, we will not be able to continue with this Agreement. Your information may be shared with third-party healthcare providers, including supplement companies and testing companies, as we support you with Nutritional Therapy.

Confidentiality and Intellectual Property

    • All content, materials and information provided to you (including but not limited to exercise or eating plans) by the Clinic or the Nutritional Therapist as part of the Services, and intellectual property rights within the same (Clinic Material), are confidential and the Clinic shall retain all right, title and interest in and to the same and shall belong exclusively to the Clinic. This includes, without limitation, trademarks, database rights, copyright, rights in designs, rights in know-how, confidential information, patents and rights in inventions, and any right or form of protection of a similar nature and having equivalent or similar effect to any of them which may subsist anywhere in the world registered or unregistered.
    • You may not at any time copy, reproduce, publish in any form, share, sell, dispose of or otherwise make available to a third party in any way any of the content, materials or information that we use in the Consultations.
    • The Clinic grants to you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sub licensable, revocable licence to use all or any of the content or material used in the Consultations for your personal use for the purposes for which the Consultations were provided only.
    • You acknowledge that rights in the Clinic Material are licensed (not sold) to you, and that you have no intellectual property rights in, or to, the Clinic Material or documentation other than the right to use the Clinic Material in accordance with these terms and conditions.
    • You may not without prior written consent of the Clinic and the Nutritional Therapist make any audio or video recording.

Limitation on Liability

    • Nothing herin shall limit the Clinic’s liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation or for any matter for which liability cannot be legally excluded or limited.
    • You expressly assume all risks of taking part in the Consultations, including but not limited to the risks of trying new foods, supplements, exercises and making lifestyle changes.
    • Due to the nature of Nutritional Therapy and lifestyle medicine, we do not guarantee any particular results. The degree of benefit obtainable from the programme may vary between clients with similar health problems and following a similar health programme. As with any endeavour, success is dependent on many factors, most notably your personal motivation, commitment and openness to following the programme.
    • We shall not be liable for any unforeseeable or business losses. Loss or damage is foreseeable if either it is obvious that it will happen or if, at the time the Contract was made, both we and you knew it might happen, for example, if you discussed it with us during the sales process.
    • If we are prevented from or delayed in performing our obligations by your act or omission or by any circumstance outside of our control, we shall not be liable to you for any costs, charges or losses sustained or incurred by you that arise directly or indirectly from such prevention or delay.
    • The provisions of this clause 10 shall survive termination of this Agreement.

Entire agreement 

You acknowledge and agree that the Contract constitutes the entire agreement and understanding between us and supersedes any previous arrangement, understanding or agreement between us relating to the provision of the Services.

Variation

No variation of the Contract shall be valid unless it is in writing and signed by or on behalf of each of us.

Assignment

You agree that the Contract is not transferable or assignable.

Counterparts

The Contract may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which, when executed, shall be an original, and all the counterparts together shall constitute one and the same instrument.

Third party rights

    • A person who is not a party to the Contract shall not have any rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any of its terms.
    • The rights of the parties to terminate, rescind or agree any variation, waiver or settlement under this agreement are not subject to the consent of any person that is not a party to the Contract.

Governing law and jurisdiction

    • The Contract and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with it or its subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims) shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law.
    • The parties irrevocably agree that the courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim that arises out of or in connection with the Contract or its subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims).

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This Privacy Policy, provides an explanation as to what happens to any personal data that you provide to us, or that we collect from you.

We do update this Policy from time to time so please do review this Policy regularly.

Information we collect in operating our website we may collect and process the following data about you:

  1. Details of your visits to our website and the resources that you access, including, but not limited to, traffic data, location data, weblogs and other communication data.
  2. Information that you provide by filling in forms on our website, such as when you registered for information or make a purchase.
  3. Information provided to us when you communicate with us for any reason.

Use of Cookies

On occasion, we may gather information about your computer for our services and to provide statistical information regarding the use of our website.

Such information will not identify you personally it is statistical data about our visitors and their use of our site. This statistical data does not identify any personal details whatsoever.

Similarly to the above, we may gather information about your general internet use by using a cookie file. Where used, these cookies are downloaded to your computer automatically.

This cookie file is stored on the hard drive of your computer as cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer’s hard drive. They help us to improve our website and the service that we provide to you.

All computers have the ability to decline cookies. This can be done by activating the setting on your browser which enables you to decline the cookies. Please note that should you choose to decline cookies, you may be unable to access particular parts of our website.

Our advertisers may also use cookies, over which we have no control. Such cookies (if used) would be downloaded once you click on advertisements on our website.

Use of Your Information

The information that we collect and store relating to you is primarily used to enable us to provide our services to you. In addition, we may use the information for the following purposes:

  1. To provide you with information requested from us, relating to our products or services. To provide information on other products which we feel may be of interest to you, where you have consented to receive such information.
  2. To meet our contractual commitments to you.

iii. To notify you about any changes to our website, such as improvements or service/product changes, that may affect our service.

If you are an existing customer, we may contact you with information about goods and services similar to those which were the subject of a previous sale to you.

By completing our Contact Forms or intake form you provide Consent for the use of your Personal Data as detailed above.

Storing Your Personal Data

We may transfer data that we collect from you to locations outside of the European Economic Area for processing and storing. Also, it may be processed by staff operating outside the European Economic Area who work for us or for one of our suppliers. For example, such staff maybe engaged in the processing and concluding of your order, the processing of your payment details and the provision of support services. By submitting your personal data, you agree to this transfer, storing or processing. We will take all reasonable steps to make sure that your data is treated securely and in agreement with this Privacy Policy.

In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) we have confirmed with all of the companies that process data on our behalf or that we use to provide services or products where personal data is involved that they are compliant and retain compliance with GDPR

Data that is provided to us is stored on our secure servers. Details relating to any transactions entered into on our site will be encrypted to ensure its safety.

The transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure and therefore we cannot guarantee the security of data sent to us electronically and transmission of such data is therefore entirely at your own risk. Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password so that you can access certain parts of our site, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential.

Our Policy is that we retain your Personal Data for a Period of 7 years from your last Treatment / Consultation or contact with us and at the expiry of this period your information will be deleted unless you request us to retain your information for a further period of time. All of the Personal Data is disposed of securely to ensure compliance with GDPR.

Disclosing Your Information

Once treatments commence your contact details will be disclosed to the laboratories in which we commission your tests, the dispensaries and supplement providers in which we or you order your treatments. Your personal data will not be disclosed to any other party without your express permission

Third Party Links

You mind find links to third party websites on our website. These websites should have their own privacy policies which you should check. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for their policies whatsoever as we have no control over them.

Access to Information

The General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) gives you the right to access the information that we hold about you. We will provide the information that we hold on you free of charge as long as this information hasn’t been provided to you already. If the information is a copy of information already provided or is excessive then an administration cost of £10 will be charged. Should you wish to receive details that we hold about you please contact us using the contact details below. You will need to provide suitable evidence that you are the person that the information pertains to before we will release it. Information will be provided to you within one month of receipt of request

Erasure of your information

If you are no longer undergoing or have not undertaken consultations and treatments from the London Clinic of Nutrition then you have a right to erasure of your information. Once we have received your request for erasure we will ensure all Personal Data we hold on you is erased within one month of the receipt of the request

Contacting Us

We welcome any queries, comments or requests you may have regarding this Privacy Policy. Please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected]