Terms and conditions

1. Interpretation

The following words shall have the following meaning in these Conditions:

a) ‘Buyer’ shall mean you as the purchaser of the Goods or Service.
b) ‘Seller’ shall mean the Financial Ombudsman Service Limited (registered in England under number 03725015).
c) ‘Conditions’ shall mean the terms and conditions set out in this document.
d) ‘Contract’ shall mean this agreement you enter into by placing an order for the purchase of Goods or Services as the case may be.
e) ‘Specification’ shall mean the specification pertaining to the Goods or Service as published on the Website and amended from time to time by the Seller.
f) ‘Goods’ shall mean the Goods in whole or in part, available from the Seller from time to time and as published at the time of order.
g) ‘Service’ shall mean the service to be provided by the Seller, if required, for the performance of the Contract and as published at the time of order.
h) ‘Information’ shall mean any data, script, communication, details written or verbal that enables the Seller or the Buyer to perform the Contract.
i) ‘Price’ shall mean the total cost for the Goods or Services payable to the Seller.
j) ‘Writing’ includes facsimile transmission, e-mail and comparable methods of communication in written form.
k) ‘Ecommerce Web Platform, Website or Site’ shall mean the order system provided by the Seller for the Goods or Service, generally found at the address: http://payments.financial-ombudsman.org.uk (as updated from time to time by the Seller).

1.1 Any reference in these Conditions in any provision of a statute shall be construed as a reference to that provision as amended, re-enacted or extended at the relevant time.

1.2 The headings in these Conditions are for convenience only and shall not affect their interpretation.

2. Basis of the Sale

2.1 When purchasing any Goods or Services at the Price, the Buyer agrees to be legally bound by these Conditions, to the exclusion of any other terms and conditions.

2.2 No variation to these Conditions shall be binding unless agreed in Writing between the Buyer and the Seller.

2.3 In entering into the Contract, the Buyer acknowledges that it does not rely on any such representations which are not otherwise confirmed in Writing, by a duly authorised employee or agent of the Seller.

2.4 The Seller may at any time and without notifying the Buyer make any changes to the Goods or Service which are necessary to comply with any applicable law or statutory requirements, or which do not materially affect the nature or quality of the Goods or Service.

3. Orders and Specifications

3.1 No order submitted by the Buyer shall be deemed to be accepted by the Seller until confirmed in Writing by the Seller. At this point, a legally binding contract will be in place between the Buyer and Seller.

3.2 The Buyer shall be responsible to the Seller for ensuring the accuracy of any information submitted (such as the address for delivery). The Buyer shall provide such information within a reasonable time to enable the Seller to dispatch the Goods or provide the Services in accordance with these Conditions.

3.3 The Seller shall be responsible to the Buyer for ensuring the accuracy of any information, pricing and specifications published by the Seller, notwithstanding the right of the Seller to amend any such information from time to time, without prior notice.

3.4 All copyright and other intellectual property rights in respect to Goods or Services supplied by the Seller shall belong to the Seller. Any other rights shall remain the property of the respective owner.

4. Price of the Goods and any Service

4.1 The Price of the Goods or Service shall be at the Seller’s published price for the Goods or Services at the time of placing an order.

4.2 The Price shall include Value Added Tax (VAT) unless the Buyer provides relevant information on its exemption from VAT, or the Goods or Services are itself exempt from VAT.

4.3 The Price expressly excludes any applicable taxes other than VAT, any customs and import fees, and any other additional charges outside of the control of the Seller.

4.4 The Seller reserves the right, by giving notice in Writing to the Buyer, to change, vary or amend the price of the Goods or Service due to reasons beyond the Seller’s control. Reasons may include, but shall not be limited to, any foreign exchange fluctuation, currency regulation, alteration of duties and tax rates, significant increase in the costs of labour, materials or other costs of manufacture.

4.5 The Seller shall be entitled to reasonably increase the price of the Goods or Service provided to the Buyer in the event that the Buyer provides incorrect information or request any change in information already provided by the Buyer, or if there delay caused by the incorrect information given by the Buyer.

5. Terms of Payment

5.1 The Buyer shall pay the Price to the Seller in cleared funds at the time of order, unless otherwise agreed in Writing by the Seller.

5.2 The time of payment of the Price shall be of the essence of the Contract.

5.3 In the event that a Price, pursuant to clause 4.5, has been increased after payment of the original price has been made, the payment of this increased price shall be the essence of the contract.

6. Privacy and Personal Information

6.1 This Website is hosted and maintained by No Dark Arts Limited (trading as Studio NoDA), who process the Buyer’s personal information on the Seller’s behalf. Studio NoDA use Magento E-Commerce to process payments made through the Website. The Seller has a contract in place with Studio NoDA and they are required to comply with the law, only act on the Seller’s instructions, to not share any personal information with others unless the Seller give permission, and to keep the Buyer’s personal information secure.

6.2 The Seller will process your personal information where it’s necessary for the Seller to perform a task in the public interest and where it is necessary to deliver a contractual service (such as the Goods) to you.

6.3 The Buyer agrees that the Seller may make the Buyer’s personal details available to regulatory authorities and governmental organisations as required by law. The Seller hereby agrees that the Buyer’s data will not be made available to any third party or for any other reasons than the performance of the Contract.

6.4 Our Privacy Policy is available at https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/privacy-policy.

7. Delivery and Performance

7.1 Delivery of the Goods or Service shall be made by the Seller in accordance with these Conditions and the information provided by the Buyer.

7.2 The Delivery will take place at the address specified by the Buyer.

7.3 In the event that the information provided by the Buyer conflicts with these Conditions, the Conditions shall prevail.

7.4 The Seller shall endeavour to make Delivery of the Goods within a reasonable timeframe from the order being confirmed in Writing by the Seller. If something affects the estimated date of Delivery which is outside the Seller’s control, the Seller will endeavour to provide the Buyer with a revised estimated date for delivery.

7.5 Time for delivery shall not be of the essence of the Contract.

8. Risk and Property

8.1 The Buyer is responsible for any damage to or loss of the Goods once the Goods have been delivered. If the Buyer fails to take possession of the Goods at the time of delivery, the Seller shall not be responsible for any damage or loss of the Goods.

9. Cookies Policy

9.1 The cookies used on the Seller’s ecommerce web platform are within the parameters delineated by the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.

9.2 The Seller’s cookies policy follows the guidance within the regulation, protecting users’ online privacy by making users aware of how information about them is collected by cookies when they visit the Seller’s site.

9.3 The regulation requires that websites inform users about any use of cookies including but not limited to the following:

a) informing the user that cookies exist on their site, and;
b) informing the user what the role of the cookies on the site is, and;
c) providing the user with specific measures to obtain consent in order to store cookies on their computer or similar device
d) block use of cookies until users have given their positive agreement for cookies to be used.

10. Warranties and Liability

10.1 Subject to the conditions set out below, the Seller warrants that the Goods will be as described, fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality. The Seller also warrants to the Buyer that the Service will be provided using reasonable care and skill in accordance with any Specification.

10.2 The above warranty is given by the Seller subject to the following conditions:

a) The Seller shall be under no liability in respect of any defect arising from fair wear and tear, wilful damage, negligence, misuse, and alteration of the Goods.
b) The Seller shall be under no liability for any losses that were not foreseeable to the Buyer and the Seller when the Contract was formed, losses that were not caused by any breach on the Seller’s part, or any business losses;
c) The above warranty does not extend to parts, materials or equipment not manufactured by the Seller, in respect of which the Buyer shall only be entitled to the benefit of any such warranty or guarantee as is given by the manufacturer to the Seller.

10.3 All warranties, conditions or other terms implied by statute or common law are excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.

10.4 Any claim by the Buyer which is based on any defect in the quality or condition of the Goods or the quality of the Service or their failure to correspond with Specification shall be notified and returned to the Seller within 30 calendar days from the date of delivery of the Goods or completion of the Service or (where the defect or failure was not apparent on reasonable inspection) within 30 calendar days after discovery of the defect or failure...

10.6 Where any valid claim in respect of any of the Goods or Service which is based on any defect... the Seller shall be entitled to replace the Goods (or the part in question) or re-perform the Service free of charge or, at the Seller’s sole discretion, refund to the Buyer the Price of the Goods or Service (or a proportionate part of the price), but the Seller shall have no further liability to the Buyer.

10.7 Except in respect of death or personal injury caused by the Seller’s negligence, the Seller shall not be liable to the Buyer... (entire clause preserved from original)

10.8 The Seller shall not be liable to the Buyer or be deemed to be in breach... due to any cause beyond the Seller’s reasonable control. Including but not limited to:

a) Force majeure, explosion, flood, tempest, fire or accident;
b) war or threat of war, sabotage, insurrection, civil disturbance or requisition;
c) acts, restrictions, regulations, by-laws, prohibitions or measures of any kind on the part of any governmental, parliamentary or local authority;
d) import or export regulations or embargoes;
e) strikes, lock-outs or other industrial actions or trade disputes (whether involving employees of the Seller or of a third party);
f) difficulties in obtaining raw materials, labour, fuel, parts or machinery;
g) power failure or breakdown in machinery.

10.9 The Seller shall have no liability to the Buyer for any loss, damage... arising from any information supplied by the Buyer...

11. General - Site Usage and Accuracy of Content

11.1 The Seller endeavours to ensure that its Ecommerce Web Platform is available 24 hours a day, but accepts no liability if for any reason the Website is unavailable for any period of time...

11.2 Access to the Website may be suspended temporarily or permanently and any without notice in Writing.

11.3 The Seller endeavours to make sure that the information on Website is accurate... However, the Seller does not give any express or implied warranty as to its accuracy...

a) use of this Website (or from the inability to use the site); or
b) any material contained in it; or
c) any action or decision taken as a result of using this Website (or any material contained in it).

12. General – Notice and Applicable Laws

12.1 Any notice required or permitted to be given by either party to the other under these Conditions shall be in Writing and addressed to the other party at its registered office or principal place of business...

12.2 No waiver by the Seller of any breach of the Contract by the Buyer shall be considered as a waiver of any subsequent breach...

12.3 If any provision of these Conditions is held by any competent authority to be invalid... the remainder of the provision in question shall not be affected.

12.4 The Contract shall be governed by the laws of England, and the Buyer agrees to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.