Terms and Conditions Lawyers

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If your business is not paid for the goods and services it provides to customers and clients, this will impact the financial health of your company. But the good news is that our terms and conditions solicitors can draft essential commercial contract clauses, explain your legal obligations, and recommend the best strategies to protect your company’s interests.

What are Terms and Conditions?

Everybody has signed terms and conditions at some point, but many people do not know how important they actually are. Your business, no matter the size or industry, should have a set of terms and conditions that apply to every deal between you and your clients. These terms outline every aspect of the deal to limit liabilities and protect your rights should anything go wrong. 

If you are writing standard terms and conditions of trade, they should clearly define:

• The price of the trade
• Terms of payment – when and how it must be made
• Credit periods and terms
• When a product must be delivered or a service must be performed
• The business’s powers if they do not receive payment 
• How the business can limit its liability in a contract
• Confidentiality clauses (if applicable)
• Data Protection clauses
• Cancellation, refunds and returns policies
• Agreement variation and termination clauses

It is not uncommon for businesses to have terms and conditions that have not been properly incorporated into their contracts with customers yet. But if these terms and conditions are not added, they may not have any legal effect. To save your business considerable expenses in the long run, it makes sense to incorporate your terms and conditions into documents at the outset.

Why a Solicitor Should Draft Your Terms and Conditions

Many businesses either draft their terms and conditions themselves or repurpose terms and conditions from other companies as their own, risking oversights and mistakes from inadequate contracts.

Without clear terms and conditions in your contract, you have a broad scope for misunderstanding and disputes. You may see your agreement one way, and the other party may see it another.

Failing to properly integrate your terms and conditions leaves your business vulnerable to liability and damages. You must carefully choose phrases and words within your terms and conditions for clarity and compliance with The Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Our Approach

To ensure that your terms and conditions accurately reflect your business practices and goals, our solicitors will arrange a consultation with you to discuss the contents in detail. Plus, you will be able to get in touch with our terms and conditions solicitors directly and provide them with further details or ask any questions during the drafting process. Once you are happy with the contents of your terms and conditions, we will make sure that your document is drafted in line with your in-house style guide.

How We Can Help Your Business

When it comes to your contracts, expertise is vital. Since 1986, our terms and conditions lawyers have protected businesses of all sizes, from SMEs and national enterprises, with carefully designed contracts. After all, it is always best to prevent problems rather than respond to them.

Recommendation

When you approach us and explain your needs, we clearly define the situation and necessary protections. With our diverse skillset and knowledge, we find the pivotal clauses you need and can even update your existing terms and conditions if required. 

Drafting

Our team uses all their experience to draft comprehensive terms and conditions, covering all your obligations to protect your business should the worst occur. 

Implementing

Finally, we can incorporate these new terms and conditions into all your contracts. We can revise current agreements wherever possible to update your existing terms and conditions and will include our revisions in any future contract.

Common Terms and Conditions

You may not know what terms and conditions you need in your contracts. Don’t worry. We have seen almost every possible situation and always recommend the best options. Our team regularly works with both IT and Commercial Agreements, including:

• Agency and distribution agreements
• Manufacture agreements
• International supply agreements
• Sponsorship agreements
• Equipment hire agreements
• Framework agreements
• Advertising Regulatory compliance
• Online protection and consumer protection policies
• Competition Law compliance
• Software development agreements
• SaaS agreements
• Software licences
• Hosting agreements

All these contracts explain the parties’ responsibilities to remove ambiguity and prevent disputes from arising. 

Are Your Terms and Conditions Legally Binding?

Your terms and conditions must be transparent; you cannot draft them to mislead. Use simple English and avoid unclear jargon. Failing to do so means a client may be able to argue that they did not understand the contract when they signed. 

Then, the terms and conditions should also be in plain sight to avoid confusion, not in fine print at the bottom of the page.

When you instruct our team, we remove all the pressure of ensuring that your terms and conditions are legally binding. With our wealth of experience, commercial specialisms and litigation expertise, we can identify and clarify the pain points to prevent future disputes and then clearly present them. 

Should You Write Your Own Terms and Conditions?

It is not advisable to write your own terms and conditions. After all, without a proper understanding of the legal landscape, you may create a document that is unenforceable. Not to mention, laws and regulations can change over time. This means that your terms and conditions will need to be updated with the relevant language. 

Making these changes can be time-consuming. That is why it is a good idea to instruct a trained legal expert when drafting and reviewing terms and conditions. We will ensure that your documents are valid and enforceable.

Why Choose Witan?

Unlike other law firms, we maintain contact with our clients throughout the drafting stage. That way, we can ensure that you are not disappointed and that the terms and conditions meet your organisation’s requirements. From your initial consultation, we will establish your company’s practices, needs and goals. This will help us to ensure that every angle and eventuality is covered in the resulting document.

With a strong track record of exceeding client expectations since 2014, Witan has been recognised by the Legal 500 as one of the top law firms in the UK. We offer our clients the following benefits.

• 100+ years of combined legal expertise
• Straightforward legal advice
• Commercially-minded solicitors
• Extensive experience working with high-profile commercial clients 
• Terms and conditions solicitors in Birmingham, London and Northampton

FAQ

Why are terms and conditions important?

Without terms and conditions, it is difficult for business owners to set rules about how their products and services may be used and hold other parties liable for not meeting their obligations.

Does a contract have to be in writing?

While it is possible for contract terms to be agreed verbally, it is difficult to pursue legal action if other parties breach the terms. Usually, a witness will be required to validate the contract terms and ensure that both sides uphold their obligations.

What are the risks of not using terms and conditions?

Common risks include:

• Parties misunderstanding their obligations
• Late payments
• Parties misinterpreting oral agreements
• Exploitation of loopholes

Do terms and conditions need to be transparent?

Yes. To avoid disputes, you need to make sure that your terms and conditions are detailed and cover every possible risk.

Should I review my existing terms and conditions?

As laws and regulations constantly change, it is important to regularly review and update your terms and conditions. This ensures that they are legally enforceable.