Terms and Conditions

A.1 Who we are

The Expat Buddy is a trade name of Nathalie De Langhe, sole proprietor, Lange Zavelstraat 69, 2060 Antwerpen, Belgium. Company and VAT number: BE 1020.017.950. Email: info@theexpatbuddy.com. Website: theexpatbuddy.com.

In these terms, “we” and “us” refer to The Expat Buddy. “You” refers to the person or company that orders a service from us.

A.2 When these terms apply

1. These terms apply to every offer, booking and agreement for services of The Expat Buddy.
2. Part B applies to the Expat Admin Session. Part C applies to the Onboarding & Integration Audit. Part A applies to both.
3. If you are a consumer, you are a natural person acting for purposes outside your trade, business or profession. If you are a company, you act for professional purposes.
4. For companies, these terms take precedence over your own purchasing or general terms, unless we have agreed otherwise in writing.
5. Specific agreements in a quote or order confirmation take precedence over these terms.

A.3 Our services

1. We provide practical guidance on moving to, settling in and working in Belgium, and advice to companies on the onboarding and integration of international employees.
2. We do our best to deliver our services with care and expertise. This is an obligation of means (inspanningsverbintenis), not an obligation of result. We cannot guarantee a specific outcome, such as the approval of a permit, a decision by an authority or an employee’s decision to stay.
3. We are not a law firm. Our guidance is based on practical experience with Belgian permits and administration. It is not legal advice and does not replace advice from a lawyer. If your situation requires a lawyer, we will tell you.
4. Procedures and rules can change and can differ per municipality. We base our guidance on the information available at the time of the service.

A.4 Prices and payment

1. All prices are in euro. Prices for consumers include VAT. Prices for companies exclude VAT, unless stated otherwise.
2. The price that applies is the price shown at the time of booking or stated in the accepted quote.
3. For companies, late payment automatically and without prior notice gives rise to interest at the rate set by the Belgian Act of 2 August 2002 on combating late payment in commercial transactions, plus a fixed compensation of €40 for recovery costs, without prejudice to our right to claim higher proven recovery costs.

A.5 Intellectual property

1. All materials we create, such as checklists, reports, templates, the Onboarding Toolkit, our four-phase framework and our scan, remain our intellectual property.
2. You may use the materials we deliver to you for your own personal or internal use. You may not sell, publish or share them with third parties, or use them to offer similar services, without our written permission.

A.6 Confidentiality

We treat all information you share with us as confidential. We only use it to deliver our services, unless you agree otherwise or the law requires disclosure. This obligation continues after our agreement ends.

A.7 Personal data

1. We process personal data as described in our Privacy Policy.
2. For the audit, we process personal data of your employees on your behalf. We sign a data processing agreement with you for this before the interviews start.

A.8 Liability

1. We are only liable for damage caused by our own fault in delivering our services.
2. Our total liability per agreement is limited to the amount you paid for the service concerned.
3. We are not liable for indirect damage, such as loss of profit, loss of revenue, loss of opportunity or damage to reputation, nor for decisions taken by authorities, employers or third parties.
4. We are not liable for damage resulting from incorrect or incomplete information you provide to us.
5. These limitations do not apply in case of intent or gross negligence, fraud, death or personal injury, nor where the law does not allow them. For consumers, they never limit liability for failure to perform an essential obligation of the agreement.

A.9 Force majeure

If we cannot deliver a service because of circumstances beyond our control, such as illness, a technical failure of a third party or a public emergency, we will reschedule the service at the earliest possible moment. If rescheduling is not possible within a reasonable time, you can cancel and receive a refund of the amount paid for the part of the service not yet delivered.

A.10 Complaints

If you are not satisfied, email us at info@theexpatbuddy.com within 14 days after the service. We will respond within 10 working days and look for a solution with you.

A.11 Applicable law and disputes

1. These terms and every agreement with us are governed by Belgian law.
2. For companies, disputes fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Antwerp, division Antwerp.
3. Consumers can bring a dispute before the courts of their place of residence in Belgium or of our registered address. Consumers can also contact the Consumer Mediation Service (Consumentenombudsdienst), www.mediationconsommateur.be.
4. This does not affect the mandatory protection consumers enjoy under the law of their country of habitual residence.

A.12 Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. The version that applies is the one in force at the time of your booking or the acceptance of our quote.

B.1 The service

The Expat Admin Session is a 60-minute online one-on-one session with practical guidance on your situation in Belgium. Within 5 working days after the session, you receive a short written summary of your next steps by email.

B.2 Booking and payment

1. You book and pay online through our booking page (Cal.com, payment by Stripe). The price is shown before you book and includes VAT.
2. The agreement is concluded when you receive the booking confirmation by email.
3. If your employer is a client of The Expat Buddy, your employer can book and pay for the session on your behalf. In that case, the employer is our contracting party and is invoiced as agreed with the employer.

B.3 Your preparation

When you book, we ask a few questions about your situation. Please answer them as completely as you can, so the session can focus on your questions. You are responsible for the accuracy of the information you give us.

B.4 During the session

1. The session takes place by video call at the booked time. You receive the link in your confirmation email.
2. Your partner or a family member may join.
3. If you join late, the session still ends at the scheduled time.
4. If you don’t join within 15 minutes of the start time without letting us know, this counts as a no-show.
5. If the session cannot take place or is interrupted because of a technical problem on our side, we reschedule it free of charge.

B.5 Rescheduling and cancellation by you

1. You can reschedule or cancel free of charge up to 24 hours before the start of your session, through the link in your confirmation email. When you cancel, you receive a full refund.
2. If you cancel less than 24 hours before the session, or in case of a no-show, the session is not refunded, without prejudice to your right of withdrawal under B.6 where it still applies.

B.6 Right of withdrawal

1. As a consumer, you have the right to withdraw from the agreement within 14 days after the booking confirmation, without giving a reason.
2. To withdraw, send us a clear statement by email to info@theexpatbuddy.com, for example using the model withdrawal form in the Annex. Sending your statement before the withdrawal period ends is enough.
3. If you withdraw, we refund all payments within 14 days after receiving your statement, using the same payment method you used, at no cost to you.
4. If your session takes place within the 14-day withdrawal period, you ask us, when booking, to deliver the session during that period. You then acknowledge that you lose your right of withdrawal once the session has been fully delivered.
5. If you withdraw after the session has started but before it has been fully delivered, you pay an amount proportionate to the part of the service delivered up to the moment you informed us.

B.7 Cancellation by us

If we have to cancel a session, we let you know as soon as possible and offer a new time. If the new time doesn’t suit you, you receive a full refund.

C.1 Offer and agreement

1. Our quotes are valid for 30 days.
2. The agreement is concluded when you accept our quote in writing, by signature or by email.
3. Before the first interview, we sign a data processing agreement with you (see A.7).

C.2 What the audit includes

1. A 60-minute intake call.
2. 45-minute online interviews with up to five of your international employees.
3. An analysis of your onboarding process against our four-phase framework.
4. A written report with a score per phase and an action plan ordered by impact and effort.
5. A 90-minute walkthrough session with your HR team, and management if you wish.
6. The Onboarding Toolkit in your company’s name and colours.

The audit takes about three weeks from the intake. The timing depends on the availability of your employees for the interviews.

C.3 Your cooperation

1. You appoint one contact person for the audit.
2. You select the employees to be interviewed and inform them in advance about the audit and the processing of their data, using the information text we provide.
3. You send us your existing onboarding materials before or right after the intake.
4. You make sure the interviews can be planned within two weeks after the intake.
5. Delays on your side may shift the timeline. If the interviews cannot take place within six weeks after the intake for reasons on your side, we may invoice the work delivered up to then.
6. Participation in the interviews is voluntary for your employees. What they share stays confidential with us, as set out in the data processing agreement.

C.4 Price and launch price

1. The price is stated in the quote and excludes VAT.
2. For our first five audit clients, a launch price of €1.750 excl. VAT applies, instead of €2.950 excl. VAT. In return, you agree to:
   1. give us honest feedback on the audit in a short evaluation after delivery; and
   2. allow us to use the results in anonymised form as a case study, as set out in the data processing agreement. Your company name or logo is only mentioned with your prior written permission.

C.5 Invoicing and payment

1. We invoice 50% of the price when you accept the quote, and 50% on delivery of the report.
2. Invoices are payable within 30 days of the invoice date, unless stated otherwise on the invoice.
3. If an invoice remains unpaid after a written reminder, we may suspend our services until it is paid, in addition to the consequences set out in A.4.

C.6 Cancellation and rescheduling by you

1. Cancellation must be communicated in writing, by email.
2. If you cancel before the intake, you owe nothing and any amount paid is refunded. If you cancel after the intake but before the first interview, 50% of the price is due. If you cancel after the first interview has taken place, the full price is due.
3. An interview can be rescheduled free of charge up to 24 hours in advance. If an employee does not show up, we reschedule the interview once free of charge. After that, the interview counts as held.

C.7 Delivery and acceptance

1. The audit is delivered during the walkthrough session, when we hand over the report and the Toolkit.
2. You can send us remarks on factual errors in the report within 10 working days after delivery. We correct those free of charge.
3. Without remarks within that period, the report is considered accepted.

C.8 Use of the results

1. You may use the report, the action plan and the Toolkit within your own organisation, including your group companies, in line with A.5.
2. The report contains no personal data of individual employees, except quotes for which the employee gave written permission.

C.9 Support after the audit

Support with implementing the action plan is not included in the audit. We can agree on it separately, in a new quote.