Legal

Terms and conditions

Version July 2026

• 1. Identification

Parel acupunctuur is a sole proprietorship with registered office at Van Couwenhovelaan 3, 3020 Winksele. It is a mobile practice. Treatments take place exclusively on-site, at the address provided by the client.

• 2. Applicability

These terms and conditions apply to all services, treatments, advice, and agreements between the acupuncturist and the client.

By making an appointment (online, by phone, or via e-mail), the client explicitly declares agreement with these terms and conditions.

Deviations from these terms are only valid if they have been agreed upon in writing and in advance.

• 3. Provision of services and best-efforts obligation

The acupuncturist performs treatments to the best of their knowledge, ability, and in accordance with professional standards within the framework of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

To support the acupuncture treatment, additional techniques may be applied, such as tuina (manual therapy), cupping (vacuum therapy), moxa (heat therapy), or gua sha (scraping technique).

The client is informed in advance about the application of these techniques. The client notes that techniques such as cupping and gua sha can cause temporary, harmless skin discoloration or redness, which are inherent to the treatment and cannot be considered as damage.

The agreement between the acupuncturist and the client involves an obligation of best efforts, not an obligation of result. Consequently, no guarantee can be given regarding the exact result or the success of the treatment.

Acupuncture is a complementary treatment method and does not replace a regular medical diagnosis or treatment by a doctor under any circumstances..

• 4. Consent and intake form

In order to ensure a safe and responsible treatment, the client must sign the digital consent form before the start of the very first treatment. The intake form (medical antecedents included) must be completed.

The intake form (including medical history) must be duly and accurately completed and submitted online or signed in writing.

Under no circumstances will the acupuncturist start a treatment until both forms are in her possession.

• 5. Duty to inform and professional secrecy

The client undertakes to accurately and fully provide all relevant information required for a safe and effective treatment (such as medical history, medication use, potential pregnancy, surgeries, or allergies). The acupuncturist is not liable for damages resulting from the provision of incorrect or incomplete information.

The acupuncturist is legally and deontologically bound by medical professional secrecy. All information shared by the client, whether medical or personal, will be treated with strict confidentiality, compliant to current GDPR privacy legislation. Information will under no circumstances be shared with third parties (such as a GP or specialist) without the prior, explicit (written) consent of the client, unless required by law in exceptional circumstances.

• 6. Rates and payment

The rates for the sessions are clearly stated on the website and are exempt from VAT (based on Articles 44 and 56bis of the Belgian VAT Code).

The stated rates include travel costs within the region of Herent – Leuven – Bertem-centrum – Erps-Kwerps, possible parking fees included. For travel outside this region, a previously agreed-upon supplement may be charged. Any risk of towing at the client’s location shall be borne by the client. The client should preferably ensure that a parking space is available.

Payment must be made on-site immediately after each treatment via cash or a payment app.

Rates are based on the stated duration of the session. For the initial session, the preferred rate mentioned on the website applies exclusively if the online intake form is fully submitted at least 48 hours prior to the appointment. The automatic timestamp of receipt of the digital form shall prevail. If the form is not digitally submitted within this period, the standard rate will be charged.

If a session starts later or runs over due to reasons beyond the responsibility of the acupuncturist (for example, because the client is not ready on time or has not yet completed the consent form), the acupuncturist reserves the right to charge a supplement of €20 per started quarter of an hour.

In case of non-payment or refusal of payment after the session, the acupuncturist reserves the right to immediately and permanently terminate the treatment and to refuse any future care of the client. Furthermore, in the event of late payment, the acupuncturist reserves the right to charge statutory late payment interest and a fixed indemnity, in accordance with the Belgian Code of Economic Law.

• 7. Cancellation Policy and No-Show Policy

Appointments must be cancelled or rescheduled at least 24 hours in advance. This can be done by WhatsApp or via e-mail.

In case of cancellations within 24 hours, or if the acupuncturist arrives at the location at the agreed time in the client’s absence (or if access to the home is denied), the scheduled session will be billed at the full rate. The client will receive an invoice for this by e-mail, which must be paid via bank transfer within 14 calendar days. As long as an outstanding balance has not been settled in full, the acupuncturist reserves the right to suspend or cancel future scheduled appointments, without the client being entitled to any form of compensation. If the acupuncturist themselves cancels the appointment less than 24 hours in advance (except in cases of exceptional circumstances), the client is entitled to an equivalent compensation, or the next treatment will be performed with a discount equal to that amount.

If the acupuncturist arrives at the location at the agreed time and the consent form has not yet been completed, they reserve the right to refuse treatment for safety reasons. In this case, the scheduled session will be fully billed. By way of derogation from the previous point, the acupuncturist may, if the schedule permits, offer the client the opportunity to complete the prior consent form on-site digitally. The time required for this purpose will be fully deducted from the actual treatment time, while the fee for the full session remains due

• 8. Responsability and et obligations of the client

The acupuncturist is only liable for direct damage that is the immediate result of a demonstrable gross negligence, and liability is limited to the amount paid out by the professional indemnity insurance insurance.

The acupuncturist is insured for third-party liability. Any unintentional damage caused by the acupuncturist to the client’s property during the intervention at home is covered by this policy, in accordance with the insurer’s terms and conditions.

The client undertakes to provide a clean, sufficiently lit, heated, and safe space in which the treatment can take place in peace and under optimal hygienic conditions. The acupuncturist may refuse to start the treatment if conditions compromise hygiene or safety, in which case the session fee remains due in full.

• 9. Privacy and data protection

The acupuncturist processes the personal and medical data of the client exclusively for the purpose of the treatment and in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The full privacy statement, including the legal retention periods of the medical file and your rights as a patient, can be viewed directly in the Privacy Policy section on this page.

• 10. Applicable law and competent courts

Belgian law is exclusively applicable to all agreements and legal relationships between the acupuncturist and the client.

In the event of a dispute, only the courts of the arrondissement of Leuven have jurisdiction.

In case of dispute, the parties shall first endeavor to reach an amicable settlement (if applicable via the mediation commission of the professional association). If an amicable settlement can not be reached, exclusive jurisdiction shall belong to the courts of the judicial district of Leuven.

Privacy policy

Version July 2026

• 1. Who is responsible for your data?

Francisca Smets, trading under the practice name Parel acupunctuur with company number 1039.014.807, is the data controller for your personal data. You can contact her for privacy-related questions or requests via the «Contact» button on the top of the website

• 2. What data are processed and why?

To offer you a safe and effective treatment, the following data are processed:

• Identification and contact data: Name, address, date of birth, telephone number, and e-mail address for reasons of invoicing, appointment management, and contact within the framework of mobile care.
• Health data: Medical history, current complaints, lifestyle, medication use, pregnancy, surigical operations, and the evolution of treatments (including additional techniques such as cupping, tuina, moxa or gua sha) for reasons of establishing a traditional Chinese diagnosis and safely executing the treatments.
• Financial data: Bank account number or payment details during electronic payment for reasons of accounting and fiscal obligations.

• 3. Legal basis for processing

Your data are processed solely on the basis of the following legal grounds:

1. Your explicit consent: For processing your health data, you give your explicit prior consent through the consent form.
2. Legal obligation: Parel acupunctuur is legally required to maintain a patien file and keep correct accounts.
3. Performance of a contract: The data is necessary to correctly execute the treatment agreement at home.

• 4. How long is your data stored?

• Medical files: In accordance with Belgian regulations for healthcare providers, Parel acupunctuur is required to securely store your patient file for a minimum of 30 years after the last patient contact.
• Financial/Administrative data: This is stored for the legal fiscal term of 10 years.
• Cancelled appointments (without treatment): If you filled out the intake form but cancelled the appointment without any treatment, your medical data will be permanently deleted after a maximum of 6 months. Your financial data will only be kept for the statutory fiscal period if a cancellation fee was charged.

• 5. Sharing data with third parties

Your data is covered by professional secrecy and is treated with strict confidentiality. Parel acupunctuur never shares your data with third parties for commercial purposes. Data is only shared

• if you have given your explicit prior written consent (e.g., for the GP)
• if this is legally required
• if it is necessary for practice operations (for example, the software provider of our secure digital patient file, with whom a data processing agreement has been concluded).

• 6. Security of your data

Parel acupunctuur takes the necessary technical and organizational measures to protect your data against loss, theft, or unauthorized access. Digital files are stored in a secure and protected environment. As the practice operates on a mobile basis, no paper medical files are transported unattended.

• 7. Your rights

Under the GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of acces and copy: You have the right to view your file and request a copy.
• Right to rectification: You can have incorrect administrative data adjusted.
• Right to erasure data : You can request that data be erased, except for the medical data that we are legally required to store for 30 years.
• Right to withdraw or change your consent: You have the right to withdraw your consent for future data processing and treatments at any time. You can also change or limit your consent for specific additional techniques (such as cupping, moxa, or gua sha) at any time. This does not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.

To exercise any of these rights, you can contact us via the «Contact» button at the top of the website.

• 8. Complaints

If you believe that Parel acupunctuur is not processing your data correctly, please let us know through the «Contact» button at the top of the website. You also always have the right to file a complaint with the Belgian Data Protection Authority (GBA): www.dataprotectionauthority.be

• 9. Cookie policy

Parel acupunctuur uses functional and analytical cookies on its website. These are small text files stored on your computer, tablet, or smartphone during your first visit to this website. They are exclusively necessary for the technical operation of the website and your ease of use.

You can opt out of cookies by setting your internet browser so that it no its saves cookies. In addition, you can delete all information previously stored via your browser settings.