There are all sorts of consequences if your commercial website does not feature your own internet terms and conditions.
You could be held liable to sell goods or services at unintentionally low prices.
Customers may have the right to cancel their order, seek a court order against you or sue you for breach of statutory duty if they can show that they have suffered financial loss as a result of your failure to provide required information.
Directors and officers may be liable to a fine and the company open to unlimited liability if you have not included limited status disclosure details required by company law.
So you decide to save a few pounds on your new website development by omitting a terms and conditions page. After all you would have to pay the designer for another page and a lawyer to draft them for you and goodness knows how much that would cost.
But did you know that the repercussions could be very serious if you do not have your own terms and conditions on your website
You could be held liable to sell goods or services at unintentionally low prices.
- In 2006 Opodo, the on-line holiday booking agent, had to honour bookings for hotel rooms advertised on-line at the rate of £1.50 per night due to a pricing error.
- In 2005 Argos mistakenly advertised televisions for sale at 49p. As consumers spread the word and homed in to snap up bargains at the retailer’s expense, Argos relied on its terms and conditions to decline to contract at the misstated price.
- Amazon has had several close shaves involving pricing errors for electrical goods. Its terms and conditions allow it to contact customers who have placed an order based on inaccurate pricing information and decline to meet the order at the price specified.
A commercial website needs terms and conditions to ensure that browsers, prospective clients and customers deal on your terms. Without terms and conditions you may:
- Be liable for contracts you did not intend to enter into
- Be liable for damages you have failed to limit
- Be liable for inaccuracies on your website that cause loss or damage to third parties who can show that they relied on them
You could be missing important legal information from your website
If you advertise or sell goods on-line there is specific information to be included on your website to meet the requirements of the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002. Failure to include required information may result in your customers having the right to:
- Cancel their order
- Seek a court order against you
- Sue you for breach of statutory duty if they can show that they have suffered financial loss as a result of your failure to provide the required information
Your trading style may also affect the information you are required to provide on your website. If you business is a limited company or limited liability partnership, the company status disclosure rules apply and if you don’t include the required information:
- Directors and officers a liable to a fine
- The company or partnership may be exposed to unlimited liability
A simple solution to the tangle of legal requirements for your commercial website is our Web-Smart package of terms and conditions, privacy policy and compliance checklist.
Mandy Webster
Webster One Legal
Copyright 2007
Webster One Legal is a trading name of DPC Services Limited, a company registered in England and Wales, registration number 4454767. Registered office address: 40a Chaldon Common Road, Caterham, Surrey, CR3 5DB.
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