Business Terms & Conditions - vs - Website Terms & Conditions? What’s the Difference, and Do I Need Them?
“There are so many things to think about when you’re running a business. From finances, to long term vision, quality control, customers/clients, employees. The days and weeks are hectic and busy. It’s understandable to put the things that you don’t know or are unsure of in the ‘too hard’ basket, or file it ‘to do later’.
Making time to get across your Business Ts & Cs, and understanding the difference between these and your Website Ts & Cs is not something that should be filed away ‘to do later’. If you don’t get this right, you may not be protected and could find yourself with all sorts of problems (for example, if a customer doesn’t pay; if there is confusion around expectations; if a dispute arises in relation to what you are delivering).
What are Business Terms & Conditions?
Business terms & conditions set out the terms that you will be trading by. They cover things like the obligations of the parties (managing expectations is key!); your fees; how & when you will be paid; delivery dates for services or products; copyright, and much more. They are designed to form an agreement (or contract) between you and your clients/customers, so that if anything goes wrong, you can rely on the terms & conditions to protect your business, and to hopefully avoid a long and protracted (and expensive) dispute.
Once you have your terms and conditions, what do you do with them? How do you be sure you are complying with the Australian Consumer Law?
If you are a service provider you need to provide these to your customers/clients up-front, and with plenty of time for them to be reviewed and accepted. If there are any issues or queries, the client/customer has time to liaise with you and negotiate if necessary. It is good practice to provide these via email in a pdf (or similar) when you issue your quote or proposal, for example.
If you operate an e-commerce business, or you offer goods/products for sale online, you need to be sure that you have incorporated into your website terms & conditions, appropriate details which relate to this sale component of your business.
What are Website Terms & Conditions?
If your business has a website, you will need to be sure that terms & conditions of usage of your website are provided for users. This will outline the ‘rules’ and permissions for use of your website, and will set out for users what is prohibited, and a disclaimer to limit your liability for your website is important.
Think about things like the sort of information you provide on your website (you ought to be protected from liability for keeping this accurate and up-to-date); if you provide general advice on your website then this should be clarified as general advice only; if you provide links to third party sites or if you make assertions or statements on your website – these are all things that need to be covered in your website terms & conditions.
Don’t forget – if you collect personal data on your website, such as names and email addresses for an email list or newsletter (or a ‘contact us’ page), of if you obtain payment details from people who make a purchase, then you need to have a Privacy Policy on your website which clearly sets out what you do with this information and how you retain it.
Can I incorporate my Business Terms & Conditions into my Website Terms & Conditions?
Yes, you can.
If you’re looking to rely on your website terms & conditions within your business as a contract or agreement, you need to give customers reasonable notice of the terms, so they know about them and can agree to them. The legal waters are a little muddy in terms of what ‘reasonable notice’ looks like for online agreements/contracts, so it is important that you be very clear about the existence of terms & conditions and their legal nature.
You ought to know the difference between browse wrap (displayed on a web page) or click wrap (customers click “I agree”) agreements. Best practice is a click wrap, if you can. If you can’t, setting out the terms & conditions, providing a clear link to them and explaining the practical implications of the customer proceeding after reading the terms & conditions (browse wrap) will be critical.“
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You might like to read more of our tips in our Legal Advice for Small Business: The Ultimate Guide.