Choksy
30th November 2005, 13:17
A friend of mine has asked me whether it is necessary to include terms and conditions in a website? Is it legally binding if you are offering a service?
Richard Conyard
30th November 2005, 13:46
I believe UK e-commerce sites are covered by distance selling rules.
lawspeed
30th November 2005, 15:03
Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002 (SI 2002 No. 2013) (http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2002/20022013.htm) transposed into UK law the majority of the provisions of the Electronic European Directive on legal aspects of electronic commerce.
These Regulations (alongside recently updated Distance Selling Regulations) contain a number of requirements, amongst them is the requirement to provide certain details to the customer regarding the trader and how to complete a transaction.
Irrespective of these statutory requirements, under standard contract law, to actually conclude a contract the terms must be agreed. In practice for an e-commerce site this needs the terms to be displayed and accepted.
Needless to say we can help to put together appropriate terms. Depending on the nature of your customers (consumers or businesses) there are aspects of the Regulations that can be excluded.
Website Terms and Conditions - Sale of Goods (http://www.lawspeed.com/others/contracts_for_it_ecommerce/website_terms_and_conditions_sale_of_goods.aspx)