Stephensons of Essex Ltd/NIBSbuses Ltd makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information on this website and that this website is available for use on a continuous basis. However, Stephensons of Essex Ltd/NIBSbuses Ltd. cannot guarantee the accuracy of this website or that it will be continuously available for use and will not accept liability for any inaccuracies or if you cannot use this website for any reason.
This website may contain links to other websites operated by third parties over which Stephensons of Essex Ltd/NIBSbuses Ltd. has no control, and Stephensons of Essex Ltd/NIBSbuses Ltd will not be responsible for the content, accuracy or availability of such websites.
Stephensons of Essex/NIBSbuses accepts no liability for any direct or consequential loss, distress or damages resulting from whatever cause through the use of any information obtained either directly or indirectly from this website.
By using this website, you are assumed to have accepted these Terms & Conditions.
25th August 2018
Privacy Policy
Our Privacy Policy can be viewed HERE
Our CCTV Policy can be viewed HERE
Code of Conduct – School Transport
Stephensons & NIBS want your journey to and from school to be as safe as possible. Every student has a personal responsibility for their own safety during every journey.
Parents/guardians also have an important role and following these simple rules will
help keep everyone as safe as possible.
At the bus stop
You are responsible for your safety and behaviour before you get on the bus, during
the journey and after you leave the bus. You must, therefore, ensure that you are
familiar with a safe procedure for getting to and from your pick up/drop off point and
ask your parent/guardian for advice if you have any concerns.
It is your and your parents’/guardians’ responsibility to make sure that you are at the pick-up point in time for the arrival of the bus. We recommend that you are at the bus
stop 5 minutes before the scheduled departure time of the vehicle as shown on the
timetable.
You should wait for the bus sensibly and safely without inconveniencing other bus users, local residents and businesses. Wait until the bus has stopped and the driver has opened the doors before moving towards it; do not push or jostle.
On the bus
You should board the bus and find a seat straight away. Where seat belts are provided,
they must be worn. Do not change seats during the journey or travel in the gangways,
on the platform, in the luggage areas or on the stairs. Put your bags under your seat as
they will be safer there, and do not obstruct the gangway, stairs or emergency exits.
Please make sure that your actions do not distract the driver as this could put you at
risk as well as the driver, your friends and other road users. You should not talk to the
driver whilst they are driving, except in an emergency. Never try to operate the doors
on buses unless it is an emergency and the bus has stopped.
Please stay in your seat until the bus has stopped moving and remember to take your personal belongings with you. If you have to cross the road after getting off the bus, use a pedestrian crossing if available. Allow the bus to move away before attempting to cross the road.
Please do not eat or drink in the vehicle. If you do have litter please put it in a bin. If you forget something, take care when returning to the bus as the driver may be pulling away; if so do not attempt to stop them, but instead telephone us during office hours: 01702 541511 (Essex) or 01440 704583 (Suffolk/Cambridgeshire) 01268 767870 (NIBS)
All passengers are carried subject to the provisions of the PSV (Conduct of Drivers,
Inspectors, Conductors and Passengers) Regulations 1990, as amended 1995. Any passenger who breaks these Regulations must give their name and address to the driver or inspector on request and may be removed from the bus by the driver, inspector or a police constable. If the bus is late or delayed
Occasionally the bus may be late and this may be beyond the control of the driver. If the bus is running late you should wait at the pickup point for 30 minutes before you make alternative transport arrangements for getting into school. Please make sure that you ask your parents/guardians what you should do if you are unable to board the
vehicle or if the bus doesn’t arrive within 30 minutes.
In the event of an emergency during the journey, such as a breakdown, the driver will judge whether it is better for you to stay on board or to leave the vehicle and you should follow their instructions.
Where possible, information about delays will be posted to the Service Updates pages of our websites, www.stephensonsofessex.com and www.nibsbuses.com
Tickets, passes and fares
Term and, where available, annual passes are sold for the selection of routes and services listed on our website.
The validity periods of these passes are displayed within the order cart. Please select the appropriate one for the period you require.
The term pass is for the exclusive use of the named holder, the ticket in non-transferable.
If you have a pass or season ticket, you MUST make sure that you have your bus pass with you before you leave home. When the bus arrives please have your pass ready and show it to the driver as you board. If you cannot show your pass, you will be required to pay the cash fare.
You may also be asked to produce your ticket to an Inspector during the journey.
Remember that your season ticket or pass is not valid unless it includes a photo. Your pass/ticket is only for your own use and you should not lend it to anyone else.
Lost tickets
If you are unable to show a valid bus pass or ticket to the driver, you MUST pay the daily cash fare. On all services, there is a strict “no ticket, no ride” policy.
If your pass is lost or damaged it will need to be replaced.
An administration fee will be charged for replacement tickets. We will not normally
agree to the issue of more than one replacement ticket per pupil in any school year.
Maintaining good standards of behaviour
We want you to enjoy your journey to and from school. If you have concerns regarding
the behaviour of other students, report it. Normal school rules apply on the bus,
including No swearing or verbal aggression, no bullying, no fighting, no spitting, no
smoking and no drugs.
Your school and/or your parents/guardians will be informed if you harass or bully
others, fight, cause a nuisance, are offensive, cause vandalism or throw objects. Such
issues are treated seriously. Thoughtless or selfish behaviour, which brings the school's
name into disrepute, will not be tolerated. If you damage our bus or other property,
the cost of repairing the damage will be charged to your parents/guardians.
Remember that you will lose your right to use the bus if you misbehave.We, the CSSE, the County Council and schools will investigate all instances of
unacceptable behaviour and will take appropriate disciplinary action, which could
include:
Official warnings, Detentions, Exclusion from school, Banning from the bus for an appropriate period of time or Payment for any damage caused.
You should be aware that we have CCTV systems fitted to most of our buses for public
and employee safety as well as the prevention and detection of crime. Criminal
damage or behaviour will be reported to the police. CCTV images are used in
accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation. A copy of our CCTV policy can be found on our main website.
By working together and supporting this policy we can maintain good standards of
behaviour on school buses and provide a comfortable, stress-free and friendly
environment, which will be enjoyed by all.
Parents & guardians
Please remember that you are responsible for the safety and behaviour of your
children so you must ensure they know how to get to and from the bus safely. We do
appreciate that you may not be at home if your child is unable to board the bus, so
you should agree with them who they should contact in the event of an emergency.
If the bus breaks down or is delayed in a traffic jam, students will be advised what
action to take by the driver. Students must remain seated unless told to leave the
vehicle by the driver. If any student leaves the vehicle against the driver's advice,
they do so at their own risk.
Please be aware that in the event of severe difficulties such as flooding on the roads or significant snowfall, it may be necessary for services to be cancelled in the morning or to miss out some stops. It may also be necessary for students to be returned from their schools earlier than the scheduled times. Such a decision will only be made in consultation with the Police, Local Authorities and schools, on safety grounds.
In the case of any early morning cancellation being necessary, announcements will be made via the local radio stations and the Service Updates page on our website
www.stephensonsofessex.com and www.nibsbuses.com. If our buses are unable to run because of adverse weather conditions, no refunds on season tickets will be made.
Parents/guardians are also advised that if their child is excluded from using the bus service for any period of time by either us, the CSSE, the County Council or by the Headteacher of the school concerned, they are not entitled to any refund in respect of their child's bus pass.
Comments and complaints
If you have a problem during a journey, please attempt to resolve this with the driver before leaving the bus.
If you are unable to resolve the problem with the driver or wish to raise an issue subsequently, you should always do so in writing or by e-mail to Stephensons at the head office address shown on our contact page.
We will use our best endeavours to operate punctually to the advertised timetable.
However, you are advised that, under the Company’s Conditions of Carriage, we will not be liable or accountable for any loss, damage, hurt, inconvenience or injury arising from the failure of our services to start or arrive at the advertised time or place or at all and will not be liable for any consequential loss.
About us
Stephensons of Essex Ltd/NIBSbuses have been trading for over 45 years and we operate bus services across Essex and in parts of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The safety of students on our school services is of paramount importance. We are licenced by the Traffic Commissioner for the Eastern Traffic Area, our licence numbers are PF0000454 and PF0006113. All our vehicles are serviced on a five weekly schedule, and safety checks are carried out by our drivers before starting service every day. We do not generally employ staff who have less than two years’ bus driving experience, or who are under the age of 25. All our school bus drivers are subject to checks with the Criminal Records Bureau.
Many of our services are operated on behalf of Essex, Suffolk or Cambridgeshire
County Councils and some others are run in conjunction with the Consortium of
Selective Schools in Essex (CSSE), whilst other routes are commercially provided.
Slightly different rules may apply to the sale or issue of tickets and passes according
to the type of service. Please refer to the relevant service page on our website
www.stephensonsofessex.com and www.nibsbuses.com for further information.
Contacts
Stephensons of Essex Ltd
Head Office:
Riverside Industrial Estate
South Street, Rochford, SS4 1BS
[email protected]
01702 541511 (office hours)
NIBS Buses
The Coach Station
Bruce Grove
Wickford
SS11 8BZ
01268 767870
[email protected]
Boreham Office (Ticketing office)
Industrial Estate
Waltham Road
BOREHAM
CM3 3AW
[email protected]
01376 503050 (office hours)
Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex (CSSE)
PO 3087, Chelmsford, CM1 3SY
01245 348257
[email protected]
Office open in school term times only
Essex County Council
Education & Social Care Transport Team
County Hall, Chelmsford CM1 1QH
[email protected]
08457 430 430
Cambridgeshire County Council
Education Transport Section
Box CC 1301, Castle Court, Shire Hall
Cambridge, CB3 0AP
[email protected]
0345 045 5208
Suffolk County Council
Passenger Transport
Endeavour House, 8 Russell Road
Ipswich, IP1 2BX
[email protected]
0845 606 6173
Details correct 26 May 2014
TICKETING REFUND POLICY
To surrender a termly or annual ticket, you must return the original ticket to us at Stephensons of Essex, Waltham Road, BOREHAM, CM3 3AW. We would recommend that you use some form of tracked postal service.
We cannot offer refunds on lost tickets (these may be covered by your household contents insurance) or on duplicate tickets.
Refunds are calculated from the date we receive the returned ticket.
ALL refunds are subject to an administration fee of
1. £20 for term tickets,
2. £35 for annual tickets.
The amount of refund you will be entitled to depend upon the type of ticket and method of payment.
TERM TICKETS
A ticket that has been purchased for either the autumn or spring term:
Tickets that are surrendered before the relevant term starts will be refunded in full.
For tickets that are surrendered part way through the term, we will calculate the number of days that it would have been available for use, multiplied by the relevant daily cash fare charged on the bus, and will refund the difference.
Passes surrendered near to the end of the term may have no refund value.
Worked example:
You paid us £409 for a full term ticket. You surrender it three weeks after the start of term. It would have available for 15 days, times the daily fare for the journey of £5.50, which comes to £82.50. We add the admin fee of £20 and your refund is £306.50 (£409.00 less £102.50).
Passes purchased for the summer term have no refund value unless surrendered before the summer term starts.
In the event that our services being unable to operate temporarily due to adverse weather, we regret that refunds will not be made kn season tickets.
ANNUAL TICKETS - PURCHASED BY DIRECT DEBIT
Whilst we do not offer refunds on annual passes purchased by direct debit, the Direct Debit guarantee means that you have the right to cancel your direct debit instruction with your bank or building society at any time. Written confirmation may be required.
Once Stephensons receives notification of this cancellation the bus pass will be hot-listed and will no longer be valid for travel.
Any subsequent journeys will be subject to the relevant daily cash fare, if available.
Once you have cancelled your instruction please return any travel passes to Stephensons of Essex, Waltham Road, BOREHAM, CM3 3AW.
ANNUAL TICKETS - PURCHASED IN ADVANCE WITH A SINGLE PAYMENT
If surrendered prior to December 31st, we will refund the spring and summer term amounts.
If surrendered between the 1st January and the 31st March we will refund the summer term amount.
A ticket surrendered after the summer term has started will have no refund value.
ANNUAL TICKETS FOR CLOSED DOOR SERVICES TO GREAT BADDOW HIGH SCHOOL - PURCHASED IN ADVANCE WITH A SINGLE PAYMENT
For closed door services to Great Baddow High School the following assumed daily rates will apply:
Zone C, £4.45 per day,
Zone B £4.20 per day,
Zone A £4.10 per day.
For tickets that are surrendered part way through the academic year, we will calculate the number of days that it would have been available for use, multiplied by the relevant assumed daily cash rate, and will refund the difference less the £35 annual ticket cancellation fee.
A ticket surrendered after the summer term has started will have no refund value.
ANNUAL TICKETS FOR CLOSED DOOR SERVICES TO GREAT BADDOW HIGH SCHOOL - PURCHASED BY DIRECT DEBIT
Whilst we do not offer refunds on annual passes purchased by direct debit, the Direct Debit guarantee means that you have the right to cancel your direct debit instruction with your bank or building society at any time. Written confirmation may be required.
Once Stephensons receives notification of this cancellation the bus pass will be hot-listed and will no longer be valid for travel.
Once you have cancelled your instruction please return any travel passes to Stephensons of Essex, Waltham Road, BOREHAM, CM3 3AW
UNPAID DIRECT DEBITS
Stephensons of Essex and NIBS reserve the right to apply an administration fee of £20.00 in the case that the customer’s bank declines the collection of a direct debit.
If a payment is declined then transport using the pass will be suspended, and the card will be hot-listed on our systems.
Transport will not be reinstated until any arrears in the Direct Debit schedule has been collected by us and the administration fee paid.
No refunds will be made in respect of journeys undertaken for which you may have had to pay a daily cash fare for during the suspension of the pass.
If paying by Direct Debit, please note that Stephensons of Essex Ltd NIBSbuses Ltd have appointed the BACS Approved Direct Debit Bureau, Eazy Collect Services Ltd (www.eazycollect.co.uk) to collect your payments. Stephensons of Essex will be shown on your bank statement for these direct debit payments.
In the event of buses being unable to operate due to adverse weather, we regret that refunds will not be made on season tickets. Likewise, we do not make refunds for casual non-pupil days or other reasons when schools may shut temporarily.
No refunds will be made in circumstances when a student’s conduct has resulted in a transport ban from our services.
TICKETS ISSUED ON BEHALF ON ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL ON THEIR FUNDED LOCAL BUS SERVICES 105 -107 Colchester to Walton on the Naze- 101 Point Clear to Brightlingsea, & 115 Weeley to Tendring TC.
ECC Bus Service Season Tickets are subject to both the following conditions and those of the operator.
1. The ticket is not transferable to another person and remains the property of Essex County Council/ Stephensons of Essex.
2. It is only valid on ECC subsidised local bus service as detailed on the front of the pass.
(Stephensons issue Smartcards, they do not have a route printed, the route available is one that you have chosen in the purchase process.
It is not valid on any other service, even if they cover the same section of the bus route. (Except that a Service 105 pass will be available on the route 107 variation and vice-versa)
3. It is only valid on the days shown and on the dates shown inclusive on the front of the pass.
(Stephensons us Smartcards, we do not print dates on the card, the card will be valid between the dates of the confirmed sale that you have made, recognisable by the electronic systems)
4. It is valid for travel only between any points shown or intermediately on the services(s) specified on the ticket. Season ticket holders wishing to travel before and beyond the specified points on their ticket will on boarding be charged the difference between the appropriate single fare for the journey covered by the season ticket and the full rate for the journey being made.
5. The ticket and supporting photo card must be shown to the driver (or conductor) on boarding the vehicle and when requested by officials of the operator or Essex County Council. (Stephensons do not issue, use or require Photo cards)
6. The card will become invalid if altered or defaced, and anyone attempting fraudulent use will be liable to forfeit the ticket and any resulting prosecution.
7. Scholar’s season tickets are only valid when accompanied by the photo card for the named passenger. A blank photo card is dispatched with tickets, which must be fitted with a photograph to identify the passenger. (Stephensons do not issue, require or issue Photo cards)
8. Photo cards do not expire but the photo must be a true likeness of the holder (Stephensons do not use or require photo cards)
9. The County Council and contracted operator(s) undertake to provide service between the points specified or at the time specified in the timetable where safe or reasonable to do so. The County Council nor Contracted Operator(s) cannot accept liability for failing to run a service due to circumstances outside of its control. This does not affect your statutory rights.
10. The pass and photo-card are the responsibility of the customer to look after. In the following instances an administration fee of £10 will be charged for replacement:
10.1. Lost or stolen ticket;
10.2. Defaced ticket;
10.3. Lost, stolen or defaced photo card;
11. Where a refund is required, an administration fee will apply. A refund can only be made for remaining journeys of over 1 week (Sunday to Saturday or equivalent 7 Day Period). Such instances include but are not limited to:
11.1. A change in school through choice
11.2. A change in school due to anti-social behavior
11.3. A change in residence (house move);
The period of refund will commence from the day after the date of receipt of a returned pass for refund. A charge of £5 for administration will be made. Any refund requested because a student has completed exams and left school will take into account that the ticket is no longer annual. The discount will be calculated as if the tickets had been purchased on a termly basis – for example: Annual ticket cost - (Autumn + Spring Termly ticket costs) - £5 Administration fee In cases of illness, where application for refund cannot be made at the time, a retrospective application will be considered for a period of 7 days or more upon production of a doctor’s certificate.
12. In line with the General Data Protection Regulation, information relating to applications will be held on file and used for the purpose of meeting your request for a Scholar’s Season Ticket. This can include informing you of ticket deadlines and changes in our service.