Website Information

[Silverbird]

I am a sole trader.Could anyone tell me what contact information I have to put on my website?

Do I have to put my name, my address and my telephone number?

As I run a small business from home, these are my home address and my personal telephone number and as I increase my web presence, through Facebook/Qondio etc, I am increasingly aware of web security.

 

[FreelanceSoftwareDeveloper]

Name T/A Business Name (if using one) and address. No requirement for a phone number but it is highly recommended as it gives your customers the peace of mind that they can contact you immediately if required

 

[AndyP]

Regardless of what is legally required, put yourself into your customers shoes and decide what level of information would make you happy to make a purchase and give over card details.

For me it would at the very least be an address, a telephone number and an email address.

You could go down the route of using an accomodation address for the address aspect (for serving documents etc) and ensure that you make it clear that this address is NOT for returning goods.... email for a returns auth. etc and then put your physical address details into the email to the customer.

You could obtain a non geo telephone number as this can be linked to your home number but for display purposes the customer will see another number. This will also give you a number of call handling facilities as well....including going to v/m at some stage so that you don't get calls at 10pm etc. There are a number of companies out there that offer this service... try these guys: www.switchboardfree.co.uk

I hope that helps a little.

 

[REBOOTTHAT]

Hi Silverbird,

The best way to protect you home address and personal contact information would be to use a P.O Box, or you could have a street address with Mailboxes etc which looks better and is more professional.

For your telephone, you can buy a cheap 0845 number and point it to your home number to "shield" it. I use just0845numbers who are very good and easy to set-up.

 

[gemd89]

PO box numbers etc i got told didnt look very professional.

I display my home address and contact number as a legal requirement and for customers to be able to contact as i want them to feel safe when shopping on my site.

Gemma

 

[REBOOTTHAT]

PO Boxes true, but a Mailboxes etc address gives you a real street address.

Such as (example):

Suite 10,
66 Posh Avenue,
PoshVille PO12

 

[Dawg]

Article by Pinsent Mason, big International law firm, about requirements.
A PO Box number will almost certainly not meet requirements. But, who is going to check? And if the last person employed by Trading Standards does check, change it when they whinge....

 

[REBOOTTHAT]

Also, I for one don't want me personal home address posted all over the Internet.

Thanks

 

[REBOOTTHAT]

Hi,

Sorry to be anal on this.

As per Dawg's link:

"The geographic address of the service provider must be given. A PO Box is unlikely to suffice as a geographic address; but a registered office address would. If the business is a company, the registered office address must be included in any event."

So a mailboxes etc address would suffice, I think!

 

[Dawg]

My reading of it is:

"The geographic address of the service provider must be given."

A service provider must give a geographic address. This is irrespective of commercial status, whether sole trader, partnership or limited liability company.

A PO Box is unlikely to suffice as a geographic address;
but a registered office address would.

If the service provider is a limited company, and has a registered office, the address would suffice if it was also the geographic address. If the service provider is not a limited company it will not have a registered address and so will have to provide a geographic address.

If the business is a company, the registered office address must be included in any event."

This is a separate and additional requirement for limited companies, not an alternative to providing the geographic address.

 

[mcol]

Instead of a PO box number you could use a "virtual office", who'll do mail forwarding and the like for 10 or 20 quid a month.

Very prestigious addresses too

 

[bdw]

.
IANAL
.

It is worthwhile noting that Pinsent Masons say...

This is believed to cover more than just e-commerce businesses.

The reason they say "believed" is that no one really knows how this legislation is applied and it has probably never been tested. I have never heard of anyone getting into any sort of bother for not displaying their address on a website. The authorities probably have more important things to keep them occupied and if you were pulled up it would almost certainly be with a notification of what you are missing on your website.

There are probably as many websites that do not provide addresses as those who do. If you give me ten minutes I will find you 20 "offenders".

Like you, I work from home and I displayed my full address until a crank on a forum started posting personal things about me and my family. With regard to providing reassurance to prospective customers, I make it obvious where I am based and that I work from home. I also put lots of other personal information on my website to make it obvious that I have nothing to hide and I put my full address on emails and all other communications. Most people are happy to accept this from me (as a home based web designer) since their is no suggestion that the address is being hidden with bad intent.

If the nature of your business will allow you to do this then this may be the way to go. Otherwise a PO box may be the answer.

 

[Dawg]

^^
Sensible and pragmatic.
This came up on another, older thread and mention was made of Trading Standards in North Wales being arsey, but no examples were ever forthcoming.
A couple I know in Kent actually asked Trading Standards as they do market stalls, and don't want people to know where they live and when they are out at a market. Kent TS said they turn a blind eye to it, as bdw says, they have more important things to do.

It's another example of laws being made to fit SMEs and larger, with no consideration of the hundreds of thousands of sole traders.