Essential Components Of An Excellent Terms and Conditions Policy

There are certain legal requirements that you must put into place when you have your own website.

Devising an impeccable terms and conditions statement is one of these requirements.

This statement essentially displays the terms of service and use, and it is in place to protect you as a business as well as any customers that get involved with you.

The terms and conditions can be seen as a contract between you and your customers and protect your liability and intellectual property. These are rules that you and individuals using your website and/or business must abide by, and each customer should consent and sign these where applicable. It is important that you develop good terms and conditions policy that includes everything that is required.

In this article, we will advise you of the essential components of excellent terms and conditions policy so that you can effectively develop one for your website.

Introduction

The very first thing you must include on our terms and conditions policy is an introduction section. This essentially provides potential customers and visitors with the knowledge of what they are reading and what this entails. This section is vital, as it emphasizes the importance to abide by the rules set in this policy in order to use our website or platform. Make sure that when you develop your own policy, that some attention is drawn to this, so that the likelihood of them ignoring this or simply signing it without reading is reduced.

Effective Date

This date should be clearly displayed on your terms and conditions policy as it will allow customers to know when it came into effect. There may be times where you will need to review and amend this policy, and when you do so, make sure that the date on the policy is changed to reflect these new amendments.

Jurisdiction/Governing Law

Your policy of terms and conditions should clearly state which country or state laws your website will abide by, which is usually the country or state where your business is registered. This is crucial when doing business internationally as it acts as an agreement between you and your customers. If you are not sure of how to put this together, you can use a TOC generator in order to obtain a professionally drafted policy. This is a smart move so that you have perfect terms and conditions policy in place for your business.

A Link to Your Privacy Policy

On your website, you may collect customer’s personal data, such as name, email addresses, or even bank account details at the time of transaction. If this is the case, you need to ensure that there is a website privacy policy in place so that you can legally use this and also inform customers of how you intend on using this data. It is important that you include this privacy policy as part of your terms and conditions so that people can consent to all of it in one single document.

Contact Details

As a business, it is imperative that you provide ways for customers and visitors to contact you when required. You should include this in your terms and conditions, and provide a minimum of two different ways of communication. These can range from email address, telephone number, online chat service as well as postal address and fax number. Having a communication method that is free of charge is a good idea, so that more people have the means to get in contact with you. This information is often placed near the end of the terms and conditions policy, in order to reinforce the need for individuals to scroll through till the end of the policy.

Limitation of Liability and Warranty Disclaimers

It is important that you take responsibility for what you are liable for, but also that you inform customers of what aspects are not your responsibility. You should inform people that you will have restricted liability for some inaccuracies and errors, damage caused by third parties, viruses and device damage.

Additionally, you should not aim to make promises you may not be able to keep, which means that you require a disclaimer warranting that you will not be not liable for things such as user enjoyment, ensuring that goods or services selected by the customer are fit for a particular purpose and product or website downtime. You should also include how much an individual can sue you for, for something that you are indeed responsible for.

Rules of Conduct

Your terms and conditions policy will need to advise customers of any rules of conduct set in place. You need to make it known to them that consumers can use your website and products for the intended purpose only and who is allowed to have accessibility to your services. It is important that you outline any consequences to those who breach these terms.

User Restrictions

As discussed previously, consumers need to be aware of what they are allowed and not allowed to do on your website. Ensure this clause remains as vague as possible so that you can encompass different aspects and also take action against anyone who remotely fails to behave as per the terms and conditions they have agreed to. This section must be user-friendly, clear, and free of jargon so that everyone can easily understand it.

Terms and conditions are essential to protect you and your business legally, as well as to inform potential customers of what to expect from you. When devising this, make sure that you add the essential components discussed above in your policy.