Terms and Conditions

In these terms and conditions ‘you/your/yours’ refer to the client and ‘I/me/mine’ refer to Jennifer Butt.

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

These terms and conditions regulate your interactions with me. You accept these terms when agreeing to your order, and they are valid during our entire interaction and in the future.

2. SERVICES

Our contract begins when you agree, whether in text or speech, to my offer for editing. An e-mail trail works as a sufficient contract, in agreement with these terms and conditions.

I will only provide the services you agree to. This document explains the scope of my services. I offer copyediting, line editing, developmental (structural) editing and language editing. I reserve the right to amend these services at any time.

In cases of academic editing, I will review appendices and back matter including footnotes. Unless otherwise agreed I will not review references.

I will make changes and comments in Microsoft Word or Google Docs, and all changes will be tracked. You are responsible for implementing the changes I suggest.

I will carry out the edit to the best of my ability and as required by my membership of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading. You acknowledge that perfection is not possible and that some mistakes may remain in the text even after editing.

I will not review the facts you present, nor will I research your sources, as this is your responsibility as an author. However I will point out obvious errors and query questionable proper names and references.  

I will communicate with you by email or telephone in English or German. My reports are in English.

3. Fees AND PAYMENT

I will provide you with an estimate on request but the fee is not fixed until I have seen the full scope of the work. I will agree my fee with you before I start work. Unless otherwise agreed, my estimate only includes one round of editing. Depending on the circumstances, I may quote a fixed price, a per-word charge or an hourly rate. I reserve the right to adjust my fee if there are any changes (additions, removals or modifications) to your order. You agree that if you cancel the order after I have started work, you will pay me for the time I have spent up to that point.

In the case of long texts or if you are an individual (as opposed to a company or organisation) I will normally ask for a 25% deposit before starting work. I may also ask for staged payments for very long texts such as a book.

All prices apply exclusively to work in Word or Google Docs documents. If you request any services that require a PDF file or paper form, you must inform me before confirming the order, as I may charge an additional fee for this service.

The prices we agree for one order may not apply to any future orders.

You are responsible for any additional costs that may be incurred for your order, including postage, shipping or client-specific software (not including Microsoft Office, Google Docs, Adobe Acrobat or any free software).

Unless we agree otherwise, you must pay in full as soon as you receive your invoice and no later than 14 days after receipt. In the case of overdue staged payments, I may stop work until I am paid. If your invoice is severely overdue, additional financial and legal consequences may apply.

Where VAT is chargeable, it is charged in addition to the quoted fee.   

4. CLIENT RESPONSIBILITIES

You must inform me of how you intend to use the text I will work on, especially if it is used for legal purposes or will be widely circulated (a published book, for example). You cannot make any claims against me if you use the text I have worked on for any other purpose than what you claimed.

You must let me know whether you want me to work in British or American English. If you want me to use certain terms (business or academic jargon or words borrowed from a foreign language), you must inform me before I start work. You must also inform me if you wish to retain certain spellings that deviate from standard British or American English spelling. This information should be sent in a style sheet along with your text. I will provide a sample style sheet if you require it.

You cannot make any claims against me if you have not provided me the information I need to complete your order to your liking.

5. PROCESSING TIME AND DELIVERY

I endeavour to meet your deadlines punctually and reliably. I do not assume any liability for delays caused by greater force for which no one is responsible (natural disasters, ‘acts of God’ and so on). All times agreed to refer to Central European Time (CET) or Central European Summer Time (CEST), depending on the relevant date.

If I am responsible for a delay longer than reasonable, you may withdraw from our contract without penalty.

I will return your texts in the format you desire, usually by e-mail. I assume no liability for a loss of the texts once I send them. Our contract is fulfilled once I have sent the document(s) as agreed. You accept full risk for any issues that may arise if documents are sent electronically. You are responsible for a final check of the files sent, as the data may have been corrupted. I accept no liability for damage caused by computer viruses or malware.

6. LIABILITY FOR DEFECTS

Since revisions of style and content depend heavily on my feel for language, they are only to be understood as suggestions for improvement. You are responsible for checking these suggestions and incorporating them into your work as you see fit. I am therefore not liable for final stylistic corrections and editing.

I am, however, liable for errors in the case of demonstrable intent or gross negligence, but not more than the amount of the relevant invoice. If I do not provide the service you paid for, you can file a complaint within five (5) working days of receiving your texts. In the complaint, you must state what section of text you found to have errors, using the comment function on the relevant software. If your complaint is valid, and you have demonstrated that I have grossly neglected to provide the service you paid for, you will receive a full refund. You cannot make a claim more than five (5) business days after receiving your texts from me.

If your complaint is justified and you are not seeking a refund, you must allow me a reasonable amount of time to make improvements at no cost to you, accounting for any other orders I must complete in the meantime.

If you do not object to my work, you assume full responsibility for your text as soon as you receive and accept it or no longer than five (5) business days after I have sent it to you. I do not accept any responsibility for changes you make after I have returned your documents, even within the five-day complaint period.

You alone are responsible for the legality of the content of your text, even while I am handling it. I reserve the right to refuse or stop services for texts I find objectionable or which infringe copyright.

7. CONFIDENTIALITY

I will only save your data (name, address and so on) for my own use and will not pass it on to others. However, I am not liable if your data is accessed illegally (‘hacked’ or stolen).

All texts are treated confidentially. I will keep the content of your work secret. You accept all risk when transferring the data to me electronically. I cannot guarantee absolute protection of electronically transmitted data and information, as it is always possible that unauthorised persons may gain electronic access to this information.

8. CLOSING PROVISIONS

Our business relationship/contract is exclusively subject to German law.

These terms and conditions apply to all of our interactions. If any changes in law affect one part of these terms, they do not affect the validity of any other parts. If any part of these terms and conditions are ruled unlawful or legally invalid, the remaining text is unaffected.

I reserve the right to change these terms and conditions without notice.

Valid from 2 March 2026