Website Terms and Conditions

Website terms and conditions explain to visitors how they may use your website, and aim to limit your liability arising from the material you publish. These are not to be confused with ecommerce terms, which govern the terms of contracts you make with customers in respect of goods or services sold online.

• Website terms give you the opportunity to insert disclaimers in respect of content you publish on your site
• They can also limit your liability in respect of content published on your site by users.
• Terms give you the opportunity to ensure that your website users are bound by the terms on which you allow use of your site
• Unless you put in place terms to govern the use of your website, you may find it difficult to challenge complaints or legal action taken by visitors.
• There are reputational benefits to having clear and reasonable terms and conditions. Consumers will find your organization easier to trust. Visitors will be able to understand how they can use your site, who you are, and how you will deal with their information.
• Your website terms and conditions of use will also generally refer to other important documentation, including your privacy policy and your terms of business.

• The law requires you to make it clear who is behind your website. If you are selling online as a limited company, you must provide full company name and registration details, along with your registered office address (a PO box is not sufficient).
• The Equality Act requires you to take steps to ensure that your site does not discriminate against those who may be less able to use it, and this might include adding more information such as a verbal description of the contents of images, or a transcript of audio content.
• If you are selling goods or services online, your terms and conditions must also provide certain information such as an explanation that consumers have a right to cancel within a specific ‘cooling off’ period and an explanation of how to submit or amend an order.