Website Terms and Conditions
Most businesses these days have an online presence, even if this just serves as a web “brochure”. But having a company website comes with certain obligations, whether or not you’re selling anything online. Not least, this includes compliance with the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002. It should be noted that website terms and conditions deal with the use of the website itself and are distinct from e-commerce terms and conditions which are concerned with online sales made via the website.
Website terms and conditions essentially govern the use of your company website by visitors. They should include contact details of your business and cover permitted uses of the website, together with any registration requirements and associated fees which need to be paid as a subscription to access the site. If your site provides links to other websites, you should have a disclaimer of liability for content on these third party sites. Furthermore, if you allow your own visitors to post comments or generate any form of contact, you should request that nothing illegal, defamatory or abusive is posted.
Your website Ts and Cs can include a section on privacy, data protection and cookies. Or you can refer to separate policies, depending on your requirements. You should also include a section dealing with the availability of your website, which becomes even more important if users store any of their own data on your site. Finally, if you’re VAT registered you should also provide these details online.
You should have a link on every page of your website which refers to the full terms and conditions. The more prominent and visible these are, the more likely a court will accept that they have been effectively implemented. Providing a registration process for users who wish to post anything on your site can serve as a method for ensuring your Ts and Cs are explicitly accepted. Furthermore, if there are certain features of your website which may open you up to more liability, you can ask users to accept your terms before giving them access to this particular functionality.
We have a range of up-to-date website use terms and conditions which can be used by your business and adapted to your needs. These can be downloaded from our Business Documents Folder. Click on the link below for further information.