Terms and Conditions

These are the terms and conditions subject to which we allow you to use Our Website. By visiting or using Our Website, or make an order for Services, you agree to be bound by them.

We are Angus Smith Personal Trainer, a company registered in United Kingdom, number 07519 080 496.

Our address is Sound Mind & Body Front Street Benton Newcastle upon Tyne, NE77XE

VAT Registration Number: [number]

You are: Anyone who uses Our Website or buys any Service from us in any circumstances.

It is now agreed as follows:

1. Definitions

“Detailed Specification”

means the written specification of the Work you have instructed us to do, and which we will prepare for your approval.

“Documentation”

means the instruction manuals user guides and other documentation agreed to be written by you.

“Intellectual Property”

means intellectual property owned by us, of every sort, whether or not registered or registrable in any country, including intellectual property of all kinds coming into existence after today; and including, among others, patents, trade marks, unregistered marks, designs, copyrights, software, domain names, discoveries, creations and inventions, together with all rights which are derived from those rights.

“Our Website”

means any website or service designed for electronic access by mobile or fixed devices which is owned or operated by us or any member of the [name] group of companies. It includes all of the web pages owned by us.

“Price”

means the price for our Services as set out on Our Website.

“Services”

means all of the services available from Our Website, whether free or charged.

“Work”

means the work we do to provide the Services you have ordered.

2. Interpretation

In this agreement unless the context otherwise requires:

2.1. a reference to one gender shall include any or all genders and a reference to the singular may be interpreted where appropriate as a reference to the plural and vice versa.

2.2. a reference to a person includes a human individual, a corporate entity and any organisation which is managed or controlled as a unit.

2.3. in the context of permission, “may not” in connection with an action of yours, means “must not”.

2.4. the headings to the paragraphs to this agreement are inserted for convenience only and do not affect the interpretation.

2.5. any agreement by either party not to do or omit to do something includes an obligation not to allow some other person to do or omit to do that same thing;

2.6. [except where stated otherwise,] any obligation of any person arising from this agreement may be performed by any other person;

2.7. in any indemnity, a reference to costs or expenses shall be construed as including the estimated cost of management time of the indemnified party, [such cost calculated £200 per hour].

2.8. these terms and conditions apply to all supplies of Services by us. They prevail over any terms proposed by you.

2.9. this agreement is made only in the English language. If there is any conflict in meaning between the English language version of this agreement and any version or translation of this agreement in any other language, the English language version shall prevail.

3. Basis of contract

3.1. In entering into this contract you have not relied on any representation or information from any source except the definition and explanation of the Services given on Our Website.

3.2. If you use Our Website in any way and make an order on behalf of another person you warrant that you have full authority to do so and you accept personal responsibility for every act or omission by you.

3.3. Subject to these terms and conditions, we agree to complete the Work and to provide to you some or all of the Services described on Our Website at the Prices we charge from time to time.

3.4. You acknowledge that you understand exactly what is included in the Services and you are satisfied that the Services you intend to buy are suitable and satisfactory for your requirements.

3.5. So far as we allow use of our Intellectual Property, we grant a licence to you, limited to the terms set out in this agreement.

3.6. Our contract with you and licence to you last for [one year from the date of start / payment]. Any continuation by us or by you after the expiry of one year is a new contract in the terms then shown on Our Website. Your continued use of our Services after that shall be deemed acceptance by you of the changed Service, system and/or terms.

3.7. The contract between us comes into existence when we receive payment from you for a Service.

OR

3.8. The contract between us comes into existence only when we write to you to confirm that we agree to provide to you the Service you want. Your payment does not create a contract. If we decline to provide a Service we shall immediately return your money to your credit card.

3.9. We do not offer the Services in all countries. We may refuse to supply a Service if you live in a country we do not serve.

3.10. Subject to all the terms in this agreement, we authorise you to access and use Our Website and to download and print a small part of the content. This licence is conditional not only on your compliance with all of the terms of this agreement, but also on your using the Content only as intended by us, for your use in connection with the Work.

3.11. Some of our Services are now or may in future, be available to you only subject to additional terms. Those terms will be set out on Our Website. You now agree that if you choose to use any such service, the relevant terms will become part of this agreement.

3.12. If we give you free access to a Service or feature on Our Website which is normally a charged feature, and that Service or feature is usually subject to additional contractual terms, you now agree that you will abide by those terms.

3.13. We may change this agreement and / or the way we provide the Services, at any time. If we do:

3.13.1 the change will take effect when we post it on Our Website.

3.13.2 you agree to be bound by any changes. If you do not agree to be bound by them, you should not use Our Website or the Services.

OR

3.13.3 we will give you notice of the change. If you do not accept the change, we will refund the money you have paid for the Service since the date of the change.

3.13.4 if you make any payment for Services or goods in the future, you will do so under the terms posted on Our Website at that time.

3.13.5 to this agreement when you access Our Website or use the Services after any such modification is posted.

OR

3.14. Our contract terminates on the earliest of:

3.14.1 our completion of any Work or Service for which you have paid us. If there is any doubt as to when this is, or was, then our decision is final;

3.14.2 our having worked for the amount of time for which you have paid us, even if the Work is unfinished.

3.15. You do not become a client for the time when after completion of one piece of work we start another. Each piece of Work is a new retainer which terminates when that Work is done. If we should give advice on the same subject at a later time, that advice constitutes a separate contract and does not retrospectively extend the first contract for our Services.

3.16. There is no contract between us for any free Service, so you do not become a client by using any free Service and we are not liable to you in any way resulting from your use of any free Service.

3.17. Prices for business Services are exclusive of any applicable value added tax or other sales tax. Prices for Services which you may buy as a UK consumer are inclusive of VAT.

3.18. The Price of any Service may be changed by us at any time. But we will never change a Price so as to affect the Price charged to you at the time when you buy a Service.

3.19. Services will be delivered by your free download, by e-mail or by both of these, at our choice.

3.20. You agree that you are bound by these terms (or the latest version of them) for all future contracts with us, whether ordered through Our Web Site or in some other way.

4. Price and payment

4.1. Prices for business Services are exclusive of any applicable value added tax or other sales tax. Prices for Services which you may buy as a UK consumer are inclusive of VAT.

4.2. The Price of any Service may be changed by us at any time. But we will never change a Price so as to affect the Price charged to you at the time when you buy a Service.

4.3. Charges for Services are fixed whenever it is reasonably possible for us to ascertain the price.

4.4. When we do not provide fixed charges for the Service, we will charge by the hour. In that case all Work done, including all Documentation, letters, e-mails, faxes and telephone calls made and received will be charged on a time basis in minimum units of [one tenth of an hour].

4.5. Estimates of charges will be provided to you wherever possible.

4.6. Payment will be due to us within [seven days] of your receipt of our monthly invoice.

4.7. Payment may be made by credit card to Our Website, by cheque, or by transfer to our bank account.

4.8. If we do not receive payment within the period required, we shall stop Work until you have brought your payment up to date.

4.9. It is possible that the Price may have increased from that posted on Our Website. If that happens, we will not provide the Services until you have confirmed that you wish to order at the new price.

4.10. Bank charges by the receiving bank on payments to us will be borne by us. All other charges relating to payment in a currency other than Pounds Sterling will be borne by you.

4.11. Any details given by us in relation to exchange rates are approximate only and may vary from time to time.

5. If you buy as a consumer

This paragraph applies if you buy as a consumer as defined in the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. Provided the Regulations apply to the transaction concerned, then the following terms apply to the contract.

5.1. We now inform you that information relating to all aspects of our Services is not in this document but in our marketing material, whether that is in the medium of Our Website or in hard copy.

5.2. The following rules apply to cancellation of your order:

5.2.1 If you have ordered our Service but we have not yet started to work for you, you may cancel your order without giving a reason, at any time within 14 days of your order. You will have no obligation and we will return any money due to you.

5.2.2 If you want us to start work before 14 days has passed, you can opt out of your cancellation right. To do that you have to instruct us to start your work as soon as we can. We have provided a form and a full explanation of the procedure at the end of this document.

5.2.3 If you have ordered our Service and we have started to work for you, you may cancel your order without giving a reason, at any time within 14 days of your order. You must tell us that you wish to cancel.

5.2.4 If you do so, you will owe us for work done to the date of cancellation and any money spent on your behalf.

5.2.5 If you give up your right to cancel, that will apply to all work we do for you at any time from now.

5.3. In any of the above circumstances, we will return any money due to you within 14 days.

5.4. Free Services (if any) are not covered by the Regulations.

6. Security of your credit card

We take care to make Our Website safe for you to use.

6.1. Card payments are not processed through pages controlled by us. We use one or more online payment service providers who will encrypt your card or bank account details in a secure environment.

6.2. If you have asked us to remember your credit card details in readiness for your next purchase or subscription, we will securely store your payment details on our systems. These details will be fully encrypted and only used to process your automatic monthly payments or other transactions which you have initiated.

7. Service provision

7.1. The Services are listed and described on Our Website. Once you have paid we will contact you to tell you what help we need from you and when we shall start, and complete our Work for you.

7.2. In order to provide the Services we need specific help from you, as follows:

7.2.1 access to the code of the [xxx] pages of your website;

7.2.2 access to the sales data on which your payment to us depends;

7.2.3 information and confirmation from you on any aspect of your business which is of a technical or specialist nature outside of our expertise.

7.2.4 [more].

 

7.3. The provision of our Service relies on a schedule of Work. If you are unable to provide us with acceptance or information we require for a period which extends the agreed timescale then we are entitled to payment in accordance with the schedule in any event.

7.4. Our Services will be delivered by [edit to the code or content of your website / your free download / e-mail]or by both/all of these, at our choice / in the way we have explained in Our Website.

7.5. If we are not able to provide you Services within [10] days of the date of your order, we shall notify you by e-mail to tell you the likely provision date.

7.6. [Subject to the provisions set out in paragraph 5; once Service provision has started, you may cancel the outstanding Services at any time on giving us [21] clear days notice. Payment will be due until the expiry of the notice period].

OR

7.7. If we have started to Work for you and you cancel this contract, you accept that you will be obliged to pay us for Work done, whether or not this Work is sufficiently advanced for you to be able to use it.

OR

7.8. All monies paid by you to us are non-refundable and cancellation and/or termination of this agreement by you or us at any time for any reason will not entitle you to a refund of monies paid.

7.9. You may not share or allow others to use the Services in your name.

8. Foreign taxes, duties and import restrictions

8.1. If you are not in the UK, we have no knowledge of, and no responsibility for, the laws in your country.

8.2. You are responsible for purchasing Services which you are lawfully able to import or use and for the payment of import duties and taxes of any kind levied in your country.

9. Representative liaison

9.1. With effect from entering into this agreement [or your acceptance of these terms and conditions] we and you will each nominate a representative who will be authorised to make decisions relating to the Services you have ordered and who will be responsible for:

9.1.1 organising monthly meetings at which they will review the progress of the Work;

9.1.2 providing all information and Documentation reasonably required by either of them to enable completion of the Work.

9.2. Each month our representative will prepare a progress report on the progress of the Work and will deliver a copy to your representative at least [three]days before each meeting.

10. Work management procedure

10.1. We shall prepare a Detailed Specification for your approval.

10.2. You will within [seven days] of receipt of the Detailed Specification either approve or give us your further instructions for edit of it. If you fail to respond within that time period you will be deemed to have approved the Detailed Specification.

10.3. We shall take account of all reasonable comments and/or requests for amendment received from you and shall incorporate them in a revised version of the Detailed Specification to be prepared and delivered to you as soon as reasonably possible.

10.4. The process described above will be repeated until you have approved (or are deemed to have approved) the Detailed Specification.

11. Content of Detailed Specification

The Detailed Specification will include (among other things):

11.1. [List any specific matters which you will include].

11.2. details of each commonly accepted standard which will be attained in respect of the Work, including those of the International Organization for Standardization.

12. Dissatisfaction with the Services

12.1. If for any reason you are not completely happy with your purchase, just contact us within 30 days, and we will refund full purchase price.

OR

12.2. Our most important task is to ensure your absolute satisfaction. We will always strive to reach that target. However, we acknowledge that mistakes are made occasionally. This paragraph covers that possibility. If you are not wholly satisfied with the Service, please tell us at the earliest opportunity:

12.2.1 exactly why you think we have failed;

12.2.2 the date, if relevant, of the failure;

12.2.3 when and how you discovered the failure;

12.2.4 the result of the failure;

12.2.5 your suggestion as to action we should take to resolve the situation and restore your faith in us.

12.3. To do this, it is essential that you contact us by email at the contact point on Our Website.

OR

12.4. The procedure for complaints about our Services is set out on Our Website. If you do not follow this procedure, we may be unable to identify you and the Services you have received.

AND

12.5. You now agree that you commit a breach of this contract if you seek repayment of money paid to us by asking your credit card provider to credit back a payment made to us, without attempting to seek repayment from us first. In that event, you agree that you will owe us first the sum charged to us by our payment service provider (£50 at 1st January 2016) and secondly a sum based on time spent at £ [100] per hour in dealing with your breach. You also agree that this provision is reasonable.

13. Warranty as to compliance with standards / ISO, etc

[Here enter the text applicable to the subject matter of this contract or delete the paragraph].

14. Confidentiality

14.1. Both parties are aware that in the course of our Work for you either of us will have access to and be entrusted with information in respect of the business and operation of the other and their dealings, transactions and affairs, all of which information is or may be confidential.

14.2. We both now undertake for ourselves and every employee, or sub-contractor whose services we may use both during and after completion of the Work, that we will not divulge to any person whatever or otherwise make use of (and will use their best endeavours to prevent the publication or disclosure of) any trade secret or confidential information.

14.3. For the purposes of your above undertaking, the information will be deemed to include all information (written or oral) concerning the Detailed Specification.

14.4. Each of us now undertakes to the other to make all relevant employees, agents and sub-contractors aware of the confidentiality of information and the provisions of this paragraph and to take all such steps as will from time to time be necessary to ensure compliance by its employees, agents and sub-contractors with these provisions.

14.5. Each of us now undertakes to the other that for the period of 12 months following completion of the Work they will not directly or by an agent or otherwise and whether for themselves or for the benefit of any other person induce or endeavour to induce any officer or employee of the other to leave his employment.

14.6. The provisions of the last previous sub paragraph will not apply to either of us if the other becomes subject to bankruptcy, receivership or liquidation proceedings.

15. Intellectual Property

You agree that at all times you will:

15.1. not cause or permit anything which may damage or endanger our title to the Intellectual Property;

15.2. notify us of any suspected infringement of the Intellectual Property;

15.3. indemnify us for any loss or expense arising from your misuse of the Intellectual Property;

15.4. on the expiry or termination of this agreement immediately stop using the Intellectual Property except as expressly authorised by us in writing;

15.5. not use any name or mark similar to or capable of being confused with any name or mark of ours;

15.6. so far as concerns software provided or made accessible by us to you, you will not:

15.6.1 copy, or make any change to any part of its code;

15.6.2 use it in any way not anticipated by this agreement;

15.6.3 give access to it to any other person than you, the licensee in this agreement;

15.6.4 in any way provide any information about it to any other person or generally.

15.7. not use the Intellectual Property except directly in our interest.

16. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

(This is the first of two options, depending on your customer base. Option one: use this option for sales to consumers anywhere in the UK and EU. You are free to use it for all other customers if you so decide.)

16.1. The law differs from one country to another. This paragraph applies so far as the applicable law allows.

16.2. All implied conditions, warranties and terms are excluded from this agreement. If in any jurisdiction an implied condition, warrant or term cannot be excluded, then this sub paragraph shall be deemed to be reduced in effect, only to the extent necessary to release that specific condition, warranty or term.

16.3. We make no representation or warranty that the Services will be:

16.3.1 useful to you;

16.3.2 of satisfactory quality;

16.3.3 fit for a particular purpose;

16.3.4 available or accessible, without interruption, or without error;

16.4. We claim no expert knowledge in any subject. We disclaim any obligation or liability to you arising directly or indirectly from information you take from Our Website.

16.5. You agree that in any circumstances when we may become liable to you, the limit of our liability is the amount you have paid us in the immediately preceding 12 month period for the Services concerned.

16.6. We shall not be liable to you for any loss or expense which is:

16.6.1 indirect or consequential loss; or

16.6.2 economic loss or other loss of turnover, profits, business or goodwill, even if such loss was reasonably foreseeable or we knew you might incur it.

16.7. This paragraph (and any other paragraph which excludes or restricts our liability) applies to our directors, officers, employees, subcontractors, agents and affiliated companies (who may enforce this provision under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 / Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) (Scotland) Act 2017, as well as to us.

16.8. If you become aware of any breach of any term of this agreement by any person, please tell us by [state action required]. We welcome your input [but do not guarantee to agree with your judgement.]
(Option two: use this option (to the end of this paragraph) to sell to anyone except EU consumers. It is more favourable to you.)

16.9. The law differs from one country to another. This paragraph applies so far as the applicable law allows.
16.10. All implied conditions, warranties and terms are excluded from this agreement. If in any jurisdiction an implied condition, warrant or term cannot be excluded, then this sub paragraph shall be deemed to be reduced in effect, only to the extent necessary to release that specific condition, warranty or term.

16.11. The [Our Name] Website and [Our Name] Services are provided “as is”. We make no representation or warranty that the Service will be:

16.11.1 useful to you;

16.11.2 of satisfactory quality;

16.11.3 fit for a particular purpose;

16.11.4 available or accessible, without interruption, or without error;

16.12. We claim no expert knowledge in any subject. We disclaim any obligation or liability to you arising directly or indirectly from information you take from Our Website.

16.13. We shall not be liable to you for any loss or expense arising out of or in connection with your use of Our Website, which is indirect or consequential loss, or economic loss or other loss of turnover, profits, business or goodwill. This applies whether in an action of contract, negligence or otherwise, even if such loss was reasonably foreseeable or we knew you might incur it.

16.14. We make no representation or warranty and accept no responsibility in law for:

16.14.1 accuracy of any Content or the impression or effect it gives;

16.14.2 delivery of Content, material or any message;

16.14.3 privacy of any transmission;

16.14.4 any act or omission of any person or the identity of any person who introduces himself to you through Our Website;

16.14.5 any aspect or characteristic of any goods or services advertised on Our Website;

16.15. Our Website includes Content Posted by third parties. We are not responsible for any such Content. If you come across any Content which offends you, please contact us via the “Contact us” page on Our Website.

16.16. We will do all we can to maintain access to Our Website, but it may be necessary for us to suspend all or part of our service for repairs, maintenance or other good reasons. We may do so without telling you first.

16.17. You agree that in any circumstances when we may become liable to you, the limit of our liability is the amount you have paid us in the immediately preceding 12 month period for the Services concerned.

OR

16.18. Our total liability under this agreement, however it arises, shall not exceed the sum of £ [10,000]. This applies whether your case is based on contract, tort or any other basis in law.

16.19. This paragraph (and any other paragraph which excludes or restricts our liability or provides an indemnity to us) applies to our directors, officers, employees, subcontractors, agents and affiliated companies, as well as to us. Any of them may enforce this provision under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 / Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) (Scotland) Act 2017.

16.20. If you become aware of any breach of any term of this agreement by any person, please tell us by [state action required]. We welcome your input [but do not guarantee to agree with your judgement.]

16.21. Nothing in this agreement excludes liability for a party’s fraud.

17. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify us against all costs, claims and expense arising directly or indirectly from:

17.1. your failure to comply with the law of any country;

17.2. your breach of this agreement;

17.3. any act, neglect or default by any agent, employee, you or your customer.

18. Termination

This agreement may be terminated:

18.1. when the Work has been delivered to you.

18.2. immediately by us if you fail to pay any additional sum due within [35 days] of the date of submission of an invoice;

18.3. immediately by either party if the other commits any material breach of any term of this agreement and which in the case of a breach capable of being remedied is not remedied within [30 days] of a written request to remedy it;

18.4. immediately by either party if a trustee receiver, administrative receiver or similar officer is appointed in respect of all or any part of the business or assets of the other party or if a petition is presented or a meeting is convened for the purpose of considering a resolution or other steps are taken for the winding up of the other party or for the making of an administration or bankruptcy order (otherwise than for the purpose of an amalgamation or reconstruction).

18.5. Termination of this agreement by this paragraph will be without prejudice to any other rights or remedies to which a party may be entitled.

19. Dispute resolution

The following terms apply in the event of a dispute between the parties:

19.1. If you are not happy with our services or have any complaint then you must tell us by email message to [email address or an updated address which you will find on Our Website].

19.2. Detailed information about our complaint handling procedure is at [enter link (if any)]

19.3. If a dispute is not settled as set out above, we hope you will agree to attempt to resolve it by engaging in good faith with us in a process of mediation or arbitration.

20. Miscellaneous matters

20.1. Our privacy policy is strong and precise. It complies fully with the Data Protection Act 2018 which is at Privacy Policy.

20.2. You undertake to provide to us your current land address, e-mail address and telephone number as often as they are changed together with all information that we may require to enable us to fulfil our obligations under this contract.

20.3. If any term or provision of this agreement is at any time held by any jurisdiction to be void, invalid or unenforceable, then it will be treated as changed or reduced, only to the extent minimally necessary to bring it within the laws of that jurisdiction and to prevent it from being void and it will be binding in that changed or reduced form. Subject to that, each provision will be interpreted as severable and will not in any way affect any other of these terms.

20.4. The rights and obligations of the parties set out in this agreement will pass to any permitted successor in title.

20.5. If you are in breach of any term of this agreement, we may:

20.5.1 terminate your account and refuse access to Our Website;

20.5.2 remove or edit content, or cancel any order at our discretion;

20.5.3 issue a claim in any court.

20.6. Any obligation in this agreement intended to continue to have effect after termination or completion will so continue.

20.7. No failure or delay by any party to exercise any right, power or remedy will operate as a waiver of it nor indicate any intention to reduce that or any other right in the future.

20.8. When you visit Our Website or send messages to us by email, you are communicating with us electronically. We communicate with you by e-mail or by posting notices on Our Website. You agree that all our electronic communications satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.

20.9. Any communication to be served on either part by the other will be delivered by hand or sent by first class post or recorded delivery or by e-mail.

It shall be deemed to have been delivered:

if delivered by hand: on the day of delivery;
if sent by post to the correct address: within 72 hours of posting;
If sent by e-mail to the address from which the receiving party has last sent e-mail: within 24 hours if no notice of non-receipt has been received by the sender. [Take care before agreeing to accept service by e-mail. It may be convenient, but the parties could miss or accidentally delete the message].

20.10. This agreement does not give any right to any third party under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 / Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) (Scotland) Act 2017 or otherwise, except that any provision in this agreement which excludes or restricts the liability of our directors, officers, employees, subcontractors, agents and affiliated companies, may be enforced under that Act.

20.11. Neither party will be liable for any failure or delay in performance of this agreement which is caused by circumstances beyond its reasonable control, [including any labour dispute between a party and its employees].

20.12. In the event of any conflict between any term of this agreement and the provisions of the articles of a limited company or any comparable document intended to regulate any other corporate or collective body, then the terms of this agreement will prevail.

20.13. The validity, construction and performance of this agreement shall be governed by the laws of [England and Wales / Scotland / Northern Ireland] and you agree that any dispute arising from it shall be litigated only in that country.

Notice of right of cancellation: Right to Cancel and Model Cancellation Form
Information about your statutory right to cancel
Your right to cancel

Under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, you have the right to cancel this contract within 14 days without giving any reason.

The cancellation period will expire 14 days after the contract was made. That means you can cancel before you have downloaded the product or we have delivered it to you.

Exception when you opt out

Before we agree to provide our service, we therefore ask that you give up your right to cancel, as the law allows. If you do not agree, we shall not work for you.

[Here we provide two options. Either use option 1 – by inserting the text in your T&Cs so that your customer has to accept it first before he confirms the order to download or option 2 – by sending you the request by email]

Option 1

If you tick the box on our website to confirm acceptance of [this agreement / our contractual terms and conditions], you:

  • confirm that you want us to [start work / supply service] before the expiry of 14 days.
    AND
  • confirm that you want us to start work for you in any service provision, whether this is incidental to [a product] or sold separately.
    AND
  • accept that you will lose your right to cancel the contract.
    AND
  • understand that your agreement is a term of the contract between us.

Option 2

Request to start work

I/We hereby give notice that we would like you to supply the service shortly to send for the supply of the following service [enter detail of service].

I/We confirm that you have explained that by signing this form we will lose our right to cancel the order within14 days.

I/We have read this agreement carefully. I/We understand and acknowledge that by signing it we are committed to all its terms.

We instruct you to supply service to us as soon as you can.

Instructed on [date]

Name: [enter name or names in which the order was made]

Address: [enter your address]

Signature: (only if this form is notified on paper)

Date: [date]

Please note that following cancellation form will be used only if your business model as such to allow the customers to cancel a service you provide.

To meet the cancellation deadline, it is enough for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right to cancel before the cancellation period has expired.

To exercise the right to cancel, you must inform us of your decision to cancel this contract by a clear statement, sent to us by post or e-mail.

You may use the attached model cancellation form, but you can use your own words as long as your intention is clear.

[You can also make this form available electronically on your website. If you use this option, you should acknowledge cancellation by email without delay.]

Model cancellation form

[Attach this form to your contract or show it as a web form. Complete it as far as possible. Edit the last line as to whether it is to be completed as a web form or on paper.]

To [here enter the trader’s name, geographical address and, where available, fax number and e-mail address are to be inserted by the trader]:

I/We hereby give notice that I/we cancel my/our contract of sale of the following products [enter details of goods and any reference].

Ordered on [date]/received on [date],

Name: [enter name or names in which the order was made],

Address: [enter your address],

Signature: (only if this form is notified on paper)

Date: [date]

Explanatory notes:

Terms and conditions template: professional consultancy business

General notes

1. About the Consumer Contracts (ICAC) Regulations 2013

For a service provider, the Regulations are quite complicated. We have written a number of articles explaining each point.

To keep it simple, if you take order of a service through your website, despite the fact that you work for the client online or offline you are treated as a service provider and you must comply with the Regulations in respect of the services.

The main provisions which affect your business are first, provision of information relating to service and your identity; and second, the cancellation provisions.

The required information is explained fully in our article “Information requirements for Distance Contract”. Here is a short version:
a. description of the main characteristics of the services;
b. the total price of the goods inclusive of VAT;
c. Your identity, land address and full contact details;
d. the arrangements for payment;
e. the telephone cost of communicating with you when it is not calculated at the basic rate;
f. the existence of your customer’s right to cancel the contract; and the conditions, time limit and procedure for exercising that right;
g. whether, if the customer exercises the right to cancel, he must pay money to you for part done work;
h. the circumstances under which the customer loses the right to cancel.

Next, we will tell you about the cancellation provisions.

If the client at any time chooses to order a service from your website, he may cancel his order within 14 days without giving any reason. When he cancels the order, you must give him his money back within 14 days after receiving the cancellation order.

But there is a way out. If the customer instructs you to supply service before the 14 day period expires, and provided you have warned the customer that he will lose his right to cancel, then the customer has opted out and lost his right to cancel. The opt-out is valid only if you follow the full requirements of the Regulations to the letter.

Please note: Because you take service orders from your website, we have assumed you will not want to set up a system which allows for the 14 day cooling-off period for the supply of services. That means your customer must instruct you to send earlier and acknowledge that he will lose his right to cancel. This document is drawn around that assumption.

2. What you need to do to comply with the Data Protection Act 2018

The Act applies to all personal data you collect, use or store. The scope includes data about any INDIVIDUAL.

We have drawn a comprehensive privacy notice. It reassures your website visitors that you take their privacy seriously. More importantly, your adopting it will prompt you to make whatever changes are necessary in your day to day business. You can download it at https://www.netlawman.co.uk/d/website-privacy-policy

For this terms and conditions document, you do not have to explain to customers that you comply with law – any more than you would tell them you comply with any other law. This document is your legal contract with your customer or client.
As a vastly reduced summary, the important areas of the Act to consider are:

  • you do not have a provision where you are assuming implied consent of customer to use his information in the way you think fit;
  • if you allow a user to post information to your website, you may not process, edit or change that information without express consent, if such information include his name, address, image etc.
  • Until now, you could simply ask for a tick to a box indicating that your customer or client has read your T&C. That is no longer good enough. You need to say exactly what you might do with your user’s data.
  • The most important elements of data to consider are personal data and any data which you want to use – for example as a testimonial.

You may find full list at:

https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/

We have drawn this terms and conditions document on the assumption that you would make practical changes on your website and use an updated privacy notice. So as to allow you to run your business seamlessly while complying with Act.

3. Recognition of our copyright in this document

We assert our copyright in this document. When you downloaded it, you agreed to our terms and conditions, which set out in full how it may and may not be used. Without amending those terms, we remind you that you may not distribute it further or republish it in any way without permission from Net Lawman. Solicitors, accountants and other professional advisers may re-use the document as for any legal precedent.

Once you have edited the document for final use, you may remove the copyright notice in the footer.

4. Document review service

If you would like our legal team to check your edited version, we offer a document review service.

Please contact our support team at support@netlawman.co.uk for further information.

Paragraph specific notes:

Notes numbering refers to paragraph numbers.

1. Definitions

We know nothing about your business, so we cannot provide you with defined terms which precisely describe what you sell. Most people do not read your terms (even if they have to “tick the box”). The people who do take the trouble to read them are likely to be the sort of people who expect the same attention to detail from you as they themselves give to their purchase of your goods or services. It therefore helps you to obtain their business if your terms are accurate and friendly. By all means use the search/replace function in your word processor to change them. Here are examples of changes to defined terms:

We use

You might decide to change to

“Services”

“SuperHosting” / “Pro Accounting” / “Our Advisory Service”

“Our Website”

“The Jones Site” / “The Site”

But if you do change the defined word, make sure it applies to every use of it in the document.

Remember too, that when a word or phrase is defined, the defined meaning, capitalised, takes precedence over the common meaning of that word or phrase.

You should first decide on the contents of the document, then return to check what definitions are needed and whether they really fit the text you have left in place.

2. Interpretation

Leave these items in place unless there is a good reason to edit or remove. These items are not “lawyer’s blurb”. Every item has been carefully considered in the context of this agreement and has been included for a purpose. Many of them strengthen the framework within which the agreement operates. Leave these items in place unless there is a good reason to edit or remove.

3. Basis of contract

It is rarely as easy to define the limits of a service compared with selling goods. You can give a precise specification for a tonne of 10 cm brass screws to a specified design. You cannot do that when you sell services. So you need to set out your contract in this paragraph very carefully.

Is your buyer using your IP? When do you want to be bound to the deal? Do you want to know more about him first? Will you do business with him in Kiev? What is he allowed to take from your website? We have given you a menu of such points. It is up to you to decide how to run your business.

4. Price and payment

You should consider carefully the provisions relating to completion and payment. It is important that the agreement identifies a precise procedure and point in time when a final invoice may be sent. It may be necessary for the client’s last minute modifications to be treated as post-completion modifications, so as to enable the main contract to be complete and payment made.

We have provided for payment for work done to date of cancellation, if cancelled.

 

4. Price and payment

You should consider carefully the provisions relating to completion and payment. It is important that the agreement identifies a precise procedure and point in time when a final invoice may be sent. It may be necessary for the client’s last minute modifications to be treated as post-completion modifications, so as to enable the main contract to be complete and payment made.

We have provided for payment for work done to date of cancellation, if cancelled.

 

5. If you buy as a consumer

If you sell only to businesses and organisations, delete this paragraph.

This paragraph sets out your customer’s rights as a “gold standard”. In the past, the law has not compelled a seller to disclose his legal obligations. So sellers have not done so. These regulations change that. Because many organisations continue to keep customers in the dark, we believe it is to your advantage to be utterly transparent. Not only will that present you as a high prestige brand, but it will also make clear that you are being unusually helpful and not unnecessarily bureaucratic. There are three pillars of consumer protection:

  • Provision of information
  • the 14 day cancellation period
  • “Opt out” of cancellation right so that you can start work within the 14 days cancellation period, without risk of cancellation.

6. Security of your credit card

This paragraph is more for information than contractual commitment. We have included it here because many users are reluctant to make payment, so this assurance given at the point of sale will allay their fears.

For payment you may have various alternatives like the PayPal, Bacs and cheque. Edit this paragraph accordingly.

7. Service provision

Edit to comply with exactly what information or other involvement you require from your client; how you will “deliver” your service; and what happens if you need to cancel, or your client cancels.

8. Foreign taxes, duties and import restrictions

We suggest you leave this paragraph as it is. It will help to protect you from being accused of committing an offence as well as reminding your client to investigate fully.

9. Representative liaison

Whether or not you need this paragraph depends entirely on your business. Some service provision requires contact and other does not. Edit to suit your business.

10. Work management procedure

This is an example procedure. It is a mistake to tie yourself down too precisely in this doc because you may wish to change the detail from time to time, but it is definitely a good idea to set out the framework within which you will provide your services.

11. Content of Detailed Specification

This is no more than a space for you to enter what you want in the specification. Do not commit to more than is required.

12. Dissatisfaction with the Services

Service provision is unlikely to be perfect 100% of the time. A complaints procedure shows that you care and that you are efficient. It provides a route for assessment of problems and thereby avoids a stream of email messages. Edit to suit your business requirement.

13. Warranty as to compliance with standards / ISO, etc

Enter if relevant. Otherwise delete.

14. Confidentiality

We have included this paragraph because a business has so many secrets which could easily be stolen that some safeguard is sensible. You should consider not only what you expect to disclose but what the other side could discover by “digging and fishing” in ways you did not expect.

15. Intellectual property

Few business managers appreciate just how much IP is owned by the business. There is an enormous variety of IP rights, from domain names to trade marks. It is sensible to leave this provision in place, edited as appropriate.

The question of who owns what intellectual property rights is one for detailed discussion and decision before the contract is signed.

16. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

We do not have sufficient information about your business to determine how far you can use this paragraph and how binding it will be. We therefore provide an explanation, some parts of which will not apply to you.

Our aim in drawing this paragraph is to limit your liability as far as possible, particularly against events you may not anticipate. We are also aware that you might sell to business, not consumers, and to consumers outside the UK and EU. Note however, that most advanced economies protect their consumers in much the same way as the UK and EU consumers are protected.

However, a foreign government would have great difficulty in enforcing its rules against you!

There is a substantial set of law which regulates what you can sell to anyone, so no matter what you put in this paragraph, it will not protect you in contract if you sell something different from what an intelligent customer or client would expect.

Comparable law covers every part of the sale and return process.

On top of that solid legal structure is an even larger structure relating to protection of consumer rights. That is because consumer protection is extreme in the UK and EU. If you sell to consumers, even occasionally, you must learn what are your legal obligations. The depth of law is huge – far more than we could ever advise here.

We have therefore provided not merely alternative provisions within this paragraph, but two alternative paragraphs. One version is what you can reasonably say if you deal with consumers; the other is the “hard” version which covers everyone else. Select the version according to whether or not you sell to European consumers.

If you sell Worldwide, you could of course arrange for only users outside the EU to receive the hard version – whoever they are.

It is possible that neither of these alternatives will be entirely enforceable.

However we have also specified that any provision which offends should be reduced, as opposed to be deleted. In these paragraphs we have provided a terrific contractual shield – but somewhere there may be someone whose arrows will pierce it.

Our best advice to you is to include these disclaimers so far as they apply to your business, but do not expect that you can conduct your business with disregard to the law. The Supply of Goods and Services Act and Misrepresentation Act and a raft of consumer protection law still apply.

You will see that we have also included in the provision for directors and others to have the same protection. One way to get around disclaimer provisions in the past was to claim not against the company with whom the claimant has a contract but against the directors or others in negligence.

17. Indemnity

We suggest no edits.

18. Termination

It is after termination that conflicts tend to arise. In this agreement however, there are unlikely to be residual obligations. Edit as you think best.

19. Dispute resolution

This paragraph sets out standard terms as required under the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015. Our opinions are as follows:

UK courts have more or less insisted on litigants going to mediation in cases where the judge concerned is of the opinion that “heads should be knocked together”. (Net Lawman documents have included a mediation paragraph for 15 years!)

The purpose of mediation (the most common form of ADR) is to settle a dispute. In practice it should not matter who is the mediator. Of course you should try to find someone with the appropriate experience of business and commercial life, but the requirement for a “qualified” person is meaningless. Mediation is not a subject you can learn from a book. So, if you need to find a mediator, you will have no trouble in finding someone acceptable to both sides.

Mediation costs money. £1000 to £3000 would be the approximate rate outside London, for reading the papers and giving a full day. So if the sum in dispute is less than £10,000, even mediation may be unacceptable.

In many countries, arbitration is either unregulated or confined to international issues like shipping and insurance. Here in the UK, it is regulated very precisely by the Arbitration Act 1996.

As a result of that act, arbitration entails very similar procedures to those in formal litigation. Most arbitration is as expensive and time consuming as litigation. It is certainly not “alternative” dispute resolution in a way that saves time or money. That is why the courts do not promote it.

We advise that you avoid it!
The Regulations require that if you know of a mediator, you should provide details.

However, it seems to us that the last person your opponent would agree to use is someone with whom you already have a relationship.

Indeed, it would be immoral if that person even agreed to accept repeated instructions.
The law requires that when your internal complaint handling procedure is exhausted then you must tell your customers about using a mediation or arbitration platform. Your obligation is not to force the customer to use these means of dispute resolution but just to provide information. This is to encourage the customer to use ADR rather than litigating.

You may find more details at:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/542/contents/made
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/1392/pdfs/uksi_20151392_en.pdf

Do not delete this paragraph. This is the requirement of law.

20. Miscellaneous matters

A number of special points. We have identified each of these as important to protect you. Some are relevant to particular paragraphs in the document, some apply more generally. Some are included to strengthen your position generally. Do not delete unless you are quite positive of the legal effect of doing so.

Rights of Third Parties Act – We have provided reference of two Acts. By all means select the one according to your jurisdiction clause.

Notice of right of cancellation

At the end of the terms document, we have provided the information you must provide to a customer in order to comply with the Regulations. This is not optional. Do not delete or edit.

The first part is your notice to your customers. The second part asks your customer to exercise the opt out, so that cancellation does not apply.

Your customer opts out by ticking the box to accept all the terms.

We have also provided the required information about the cancellation notice followed by the model form.

Use a page break before showing these, so that they can be printed easily. If you will not supply a service unless your customer opts out, you can delete the cancellation form and the notice above it.