General terms and conditions

ARTICLE 1. DEFINITIONS

1. The contractor: Hardt Letselschade BV, hereinafter referred to as Hardt Advocaten, which carries out the work specified in Article 4.

2. The client: the natural person or legal entity who calls upon the assistance of Hardt Advocaten.

3. The assignment means the work to be performed by Hardt Advocaten, to be determined in mutual consultation between the client and Hardt Advocaten, and the conditions under which this must be done.

ARTICLE 2. APPLICABILITY

1. These general terms and conditions apply to all assignments granted or to be granted to Hardt Advocaten, as well as to negotiations regarding assignments, regardless of whether they have been concluded.

2. Deviations from these terms and conditions are only valid if they have been expressly agreed in writing and only relate to the assignment for which they were agreed, not to previous or subsequent assignments.

3. The applicability of any terms and conditions of the client is excluded, unless these terms and conditions have been expressly declared applicable to the assignment in writing by Hardt Advocaten.

4. The agreement is entered into for an indefinite period unless the content, nature or scope of the assignment given implies that it has been entered into for a specific period.

5. If one or more provisions of these terms and conditions are or become void, the remaining provisions of these terms and conditions will remain fully in force. The provision(s) declared void or invalid in that case will be given a meaning corresponding to the same extent as possible.

ARTICLE 3. AGREEMENT

1. The agreement is concluded when the client has placed the order by signing, returning, and receiving the order confirmation from Hardt Advocaten. The provisions of Book 7, Title 7 of the Dutch Civil Code apply to the order, except and insofar as these terms and conditions and/or the agreement with the client deviate from them.

2. The client instructs Hardt Advocaten to represent the client in relation to any damage suffered and to be suffered by the client as a result of the incident.

3. The work Hardt Advocaten performs for the client is called out-of-court legal assistance. Hardt Advocaten endeavors to recover damages suffered and to be suffered by the client without judicial intervention.

4. If necessary, Hardt Advocaten is entitled, but only after consultation with the client, to engage external experts in the execution of assignments. The associated costs are borne by the client, unless expressly agreed otherwise in writing.

5. The experts engaged by Hardt Advocaten will comply with the relevant professional rules when carrying out assignments. By placing an assignment, the client accepts any obligations and restrictions arising from the relevant professional rules.

ARTICLE 4. ASSIGNMENTS

1. In these terms and conditions, the term "assignment" refers to the following activities: determining and/or investigating, reporting on, advising on, and mediating in (personal injury) damages in the broadest sense of the word, recovering wage losses, recovering paid damages, and all other activities in the context of business operations that are not mentioned above.

2. If the assigned work is not mentioned in the first paragraph, it will be described in the order confirmation or agreement.

3. The results of the assignment are intended exclusively for the client, or any natural or legal persons designated by the client. Other third parties cannot derive any rights from this. Reports, letters, calculations, etc. may not be disclosed without the express written permission of Hardt Advocaten, unless Hardt Advocaten, given the nature of the assignment, is deemed to have given permission.

4. Hardt Advocaten is exclusively entitled to exercise all intellectual property rights to the data collected during the execution of assignments, as well as to the reports, advice, etc. issued by it, even after the assignment has been withdrawn, terminated or completed, even after the assignment has been withdrawn, terminated or completed.

ARTICLE 5. CONTRACTOR'S OBLIGATIONS

1. Hardt Advocaten will carry out the assignments it accepts to the best of its knowledge and ability, exercising the care of a good contractor.

2. The experts engaged by Hardt Advocaten will comply with the relevant professional rules when carrying out assignments. By placing an assignment, the client accepts any obligations and restrictions arising from the relevant professional rules.

ARTICLE 6. DATA PROVISION BY CLIENT

1. De opdrachtgever is verplicht Hardt Advocaten volledig en juist te informeren over alle voor de uitvoering van de opdracht relevante feiten en omstandigheden en is voorts verplicht alle relevante gegevens aan Hardt Advocaten ter beschikking te stellen.

2. If the client prematurely terminates the case with Hardt Advocaten or if the provisions of the first sentence of this article are not met, Hardt Advocaten may charge the client for the costs already incurred and/or offset them against the advances provided or to be provided to the client by the (insurer of the) liable party.

ARTICLE 7. CONFIDENTIALITY

1. Hardt Advocaten is obligated to maintain confidentiality towards third parties not involved in the execution of the assignment, except for any legal obligations to disclose certain information. This confidentiality applies to all confidential information provided to it by the client and the results obtained from processing it.

2. Opdrachtgever is gehouden geheimhouding in acht te nemen ten aanzien van alle gegevens en stukken, die betrekking hebben op de opdracht, welke in redelijkheid hebben te gelden als vertrouwelijk en geheim.

3. Hardt Advocaten is gerechtigd alle (medische) informatie en gegevens die van belang zijn voor de beoordeling van de schade door te zenden aan de desbetreffende wederpartij of diens verzekeraar, dan wel diens vertegenwoordiger, alsmede eventueel andere bij de schaderegeling noodzakelijk betrokken partijen.

ARTICLE 8. END OF ASSIGNMENT

1. The assignment ends upon completion. Hardt Advocaten is entitled to terminate any assignment prematurely or suspend its execution if it deems reasonable grounds to do so. In that case, Hardt Advocaten will, at its discretion, report its findings orally or in writing. Article 7:408, paragraph 2, of the Dutch Civil Code is hereby set aside.

2. Interim termination or suspension is in any case possible (i) if the client fails to fulfil its obligations towards Hardt Advocaten, (ii) if the client dies or – in the case of legal entities – decides to dissolve or (iii) if Hardt Advocaten fears on other grounds that the client will not fulfil its obligations towards Hardt Advocaten.

ARTICLE 9. LIABILITY

1. The contractual and non-contractual liability of Hardt Advocaten and of anyone working for or on its behalf, including subordinates and assistants, can only be based on breach of the obligations described in Article 5 of these terms and conditions.

2. Hardt Advocaten's liability extends only as set out in the following paragraphs. Where applicable, Hardt Advocaten also includes its director(s) and employees, and all those who work for Hardt Advocaten in any way whatsoever.

3. Hardt Advocaten shall under no circumstances be liable for damage caused – in any respect and in any form whatsoever – by the external experts it has engaged, or by the use of auxiliary materials or data or documents originating from the client or from third parties.

4. Hardt Advocaten is in no event liable for damage – in any respect and in any form whatsoever – that can be traced back to the malfunctioning of equipment used in the execution of the assignment, regardless of whether the malfunctioning is due to defects or external causes such as power outages. Equipment also includes operating systems and other software.

5. Hardt Advocaten's liability is limited to damage to persons and property, excluding damage to subordinates or property of the client. Hardt Advocaten is never liable for consequential or indirect damage.

6. If pure financial loss arises due to the culpable failure to meet a deadline, or due to another attributable shortcoming in the handling of the assignment by Hardt Advocaten, liability is limited to the amount stated in paragraph 8.

7. The maximum amount for which Hardt Advocaten can be held liable is limited to the amount paid out in the relevant case by the professional liability insurer.

8. If for any reason no payment is made under the professional liability insurance taken out by Hardt Advocaten, any liability will be limited to the fee charged by Hardt Advocaten, up to a maximum amount of € 10,000.00.

9. If Hardt Advocaten is held liable to third parties in connection with the execution of the assignment for damage for which liability to the client has been excluded or limited above, the client is obliged to indemnify Hardt Advocaten in this regard.

10. Iedere rechtsvordering tegen Hardt Advocaten vervalt na verloop van één jaar nadat de schade waarvoor Hardt Advocaten aansprakelijk wordt gehouden, zich voor het eerst heeft gemanifesteerd en in elk geval na verloop van vijf jaar nadat de schadeveroorzakende gebeurtenis heeft plaatsgevonden.

ARTICLE 10. LEGAL ASSISTANCE COSTS

1. As long as the case has not yet been brought before the court, these costs are referred to as "out-of-court legal assistance costs." These costs are considered part of the damages suffered by the victim and are recovered by Hardt Advocaten from the liable party, or their insurer.

2. The fee is determined by multiplying the hours worked in the relevant period by Hardt Advocaten's hourly rate, currently €220 per hour. The fee is increased by a 6% surcharge for office expenses and disbursements, and then invoiced to the liable party.

3. All rates quoted are exclusive of sales tax and other government levies.

4. Hardt Advocaten reserves the right to index the hourly rate annually based on any cost increases.

5. If the extrajudicial costs are reimbursed by an opposing party, the client authorizes that opposing party to pay the compensation directly to Hardt Advocaten. The client hereby assigns the claim for reimbursement of the extrajudicial costs to Hardt Advocaten, which accepts this.

6. If the extrajudicial costs are not reimbursed, Hardt Advocaten is prepared to waive these costs in certain cases.

7. The Client is at all times entitled to inspect the invoices drawn up by Hardt Advocaten and sent by Hardt Advocaten on behalf of the Client to the (insurer of the) liable party.

8. Hardt Advocaten is authorised and entitled to receive funds paid by the (insurer of the) liable party as compensation for the benefit of the Client on its own bank account or third-party account.

ARTICLE 11. TRANSFER OF CASE

If the Client chooses to transfer the handling of his/her case to another representative, the Client agrees that his/her personal injury file will be transferred to him/her after the fee due to Hardt Advocaten and the costs incurred by Hardt Advocaten for the file have been paid, or sufficient security has been provided in this regard by the Client or his/her representative, including by signing a deed of assignment, on the basis of which Hardt Advocaten is or may be paid its fee and costs incurred and Hardt Advocaten has agreed to this.

ARTICLE 12. APPLICABLE LAW

1. The formation of, including negotiations about, and the execution or performance of orders, is governed exclusively by Dutch law, even if the law of another country would apply under private international law.

2. All disputes arising from the legal relationship between Hardt Advocaten and its client(s) will be decided exclusively by the competent court in Central Netherlands.