Guides to Company, Corporate & Commercial Law, Business Law

Jane Sachedina

Testimonial

“Jane Sachedina and I met some years ago through an association set up to help local businesses. Finding her straightforward approach refreshing, I have referred many of my clients to Jane, all with varying needs from two directors in dispute, to the buying and selling of companies at local and national level. Jane’s undoubted value for me and my clients is her unwavering integrity, keen eye for detail and professional approach, plus her ease of manner and approachability - both completely invaluable in tricky or highly sensitive negotiations. On more than one occasion, after concluding negotiations for my client on a deal, the other party contacted her to act on their behalf next time!”

Kevin Gamble, TMC Accountancy Ltd.

Setting up a website for your business

Today websites are powerful marketing and online business tools and wide ranging accessibility and information disclosure regulations are now in place. Is your website up to scratch?

If you are also selling through your website then you must specifically comply with the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 (‘Distance Selling Regulations’) and the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002 (‘E-Commerce Regulations’).

The Office of Fair Trading and some other consumer protection bodies are responsible for enforcing the requirements of distance selling and e-commerce regulations. They have the right to apply to the courts for ‘enforcement orders’ (also known as ‘Stop Now Orders’) to prevent suppliers from breaching the above regulations and other European consumer protection laws. The courts can also order your business to provide corrective statements in order to eliminate any continuing effect of past infringements by your business.

As a website operator you must provide the following information on your website if you provide online services:

your business name
details about your business and your business email address
if your business is a company then you must provide the company registration number or LLP registration number
if you business provides services which are subject to an authorisation scheme then details of such supervisory authority
if your business charges VAT then its VAT registration number
a method by which customers can contact you that is not an electronic contact address, i.e. an address or telephone number

If you trade as a company under the Companies (Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2008 you must now include the following information on your website (including on any website pages that the company has “caused or authorised to appear”).

the company’s registered name
the part of the UK in which the company is registered
its registered number
if your company is one which is exempt from using the word ‘limited’ as part of its company name, the fact that it is a limited company
if you trade as an investment company then you have to state this fact
if your company is being wound up you must include a statement on your website that this is the case

If you are a service provider which is a member of a regulated profession (e.g. a solicitor, accountant, doctor, dentist or a surveyor) then you must also provide on the website:

details of the professional body of institution
your professional title and the member state where the title was awarded
a reference (through a hyperlink, if at all possible) to the professional rules applicable to your profession. If a hyperlink cannot be provided then you must explain how someone could access such rules

If your website is to be used to create on-line contracts then you must provide the following additional information on your website:

a step by step guide to the technical steps the customer has to follow to conclude the purchase
confirmation as to whether or not the contract (where it is between a service provider and a customer) will be filed by the service provider and if so whether the customer can get access to it
a description of how the customer can technically identify and correct input errors before the order is placed
the languages offered when concluding the contract
if you subscribe to a code of conduct you must state this and tell the customer how they can see a copy of the code

If you are supplying goods and services on-line through a “distant contract” you must provide the following information on your website:

your identity, and where the contract requires payment in advance, your address
a description of the main characteristics of the goods or services being sold on the website
the price of the goods and services including all taxes
the cost of delivery
any arrangements applying to payment and delivering or performance of the goods or services
a notice that the consumer has the right to cancel the contract without penalty or reason during a seven day ‘cooling off’ period
if customers have to use a premium rate telephone number to contact you then the cost of the call must be stated
the period for which a special offer is valid
the minimum period of any permanent or recurrent contract
if any goods or services are unavailable at any time whether you intend to substitute alternative goods or services of equal quality and price

There are specific rules about how the above information is provided and these must be followed otherwise you will be in breach of the Distance Selling Regulations.

Finally, whether your website is for purely information purposes, an online ‘brochure’ type or e-commerce tool, your site must be accessible as outlined in the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. These regulations are there to ensure that your website is accessible by as many visitors as possible regardless of disability. A good web development team will be able to talk you through how they achieve this important element of website construction. If they cannot it’s wise to be wary of their services.

If you already have a website it is worthwhile checking that it is fully compliant, plus. You might also consider reviewing your Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy and Use of Website Policy.