A Quick Guide to Your...
Quick Introduction
One of the simplest, and most effective, things to put together on your website are your Terms & Conditions. It fathoms me how many websites I stumble across without a set of terms, and that includes e-commerce sites!
Now as I mentioned in my “How Compliant Really Are You?” article, it’s not compulsory for your website to have a set of terms and conditions available.
If you collect any data, however, you must have a GDPR compliant Privacy Policy visible on every page…
So why should I bother creating Terms and Conditions if they’re not compulsory?
Here are just a few reasons…
Limit Liability
Protect yourself from errors in your content! There is generally a standard clause which states this.
Prevent Abuse
Without terms in place, users could be spamming other users, uploading abusive content and so on. If you don’t state your rules, you will be held liable.
Protect your own property
Prevent other users from using your content without consent. Include a copyright, state that the content belongs to you and no one else! (Well, the standard clause mentions affiliates and 3rd parties too, but you get the gist!).
Terminate Accounts
This one is for websites with log in areas, but without a clause in here allowing you to ban users at your own discretion, you could find yourself in a difficult position if the circumstances ever arose.
How to set it out
The document is best placed in your footer so that it’s available on every page, and should include the following (not necessarily in this order):
- Links to your Privacy Policy and Cookies Policy – GDPR Compliancy
- Your name, the company name and registered address
- A clear definition of what products or services will be provided
- If applicable, payment terms – when is payment due etc
- Any guarantees or warranties offered
- Timelines for delivery and any queries
- Specifying what happens if either party doesn’t deliver or pay or wants to end the relationship
- The term of the agreement and what notice is required to get out of it
- Which law shall govern the contract
Don’t fancy creating your own?
I found this nifty little legal document creation tool which simply guides you through the process and creates the document for you.
You will need to sign up to a week free trial, and they will then allow you to download in both Word and PDF formats. They also have a number of other useful tools too!
A few things to keep in mind
DO NOT COPY Terms from another website. Not only is this illegal, but all companies are different, operate differently and will require different clauses.
Also, did you know that Google picks up on these things? Not worth the risk.
If you are unsure in any way please consult a lawyer!
Summary
I hope this helped, but please feel free to get in touch with any questions or if you would like assistance in creating your own documents or managing your website!
Disclaimer: This blog does not provide legal advice and does not create a lawyer-client relationship. If you need legal advice, please contact a lawyer directly.
