MAKE YOUR FREE Terms and conditions for supply of services to consumers

Protect your business with clear and fair terms and conditions for the supply of services (or goods and services) to consumers. Use these business-to-consumer (B2C) terms and conditions for any business in England, Wales or Scotland that supplies services (or goods and services) to consumers.

This document is GDPR compliant.

Use these T&Cs when:

• you are supplying services, with or without goods, to customers not acting in the course of a business (ie consumers)

• selling from your business premises only (if you sell services online create Terms and conditions for supply of services to consumers via a website)

• you are supplying services to specification and/or standard services

You do not need to use these terms and conditions if you offer services on a daily basis that are performed immediately (eg hairdressing), or if the services are supplied under an employment or apprentice contract.

If you require tailored terms and conditions, consider using our Bespoke legal drafting service. If you are unsure if these standard T&Cs meet your business needs, read How to choose the right terms and conditions.

These terms and conditions cover:

• supply and contract formation
• price and specification
• delivery
• warranties
• information which must by law be included in consumer contracts

Terms and conditions for the supply of services to consumers should be used if you want to supply services to consumers on standard terms. Consumers are ​​private individuals who are paying for your services as private individuals (as opposed to businesses). For more information, read Supply of services B2C.

Terms and conditions for the supply of services to consumers protect your business interests, ensure that customers know where they stand and help avoid disputes.

T&Cs should appear on the back of all contractual documents, including quotations, order forms, acknowledgements of orders, delivery notes or in a brochure or catalogue. They should be available to a customer before or at the time a contract is made. This helps to ensure they are binding.

You should consider whether the services involve the provision of any ancillary goods (ie related goods or materials, like fitted kitchens and bathrooms). Whilst many service agreements involve pure services, many involve the provision of ancillary goods. If ancillary goods are being provided, you will need to include a provision for this in the terms and conditions.

Consumers benefit from considerable legal protection and have certain legal rights. These include:

• services being provided with reasonable care and skill

• the ability for consumers to rely on the information (spoken or written) provided about the provision of services pre-contract

• paying a reasonable price for the service provided where it was not agreed beforehand

• having the service provided within a reasonable time where it was not agreed beforehand

Read Doing business with consumers, Supply of services B2C and Consumer rights for more information.

If the service being provided doesn't satisfy the above rights, you may have to repeat the entire service at no extra cost to the consumer. 

Where repeat performance of the service is impracticable, the consumer may be entitled to: 

• a (full or partial) refund

• price reduction (up to 100% of the cost)

You should refund the consumer within 14 days of agreeing to a refund. Read Doing business with consumers for more information.

There is no legal requirement to provide a guarantee for the services, however, you may wish to offer one as part of your customer service. You may wish to provide a guarantee for the ancillary goods if you are in a position to replace or repair them.

Your T&Cs can state the time period for when payment is required. However, the time period between payment and performance of the service can't be too far apart (eg 1 year in advance of the service).

Your T&Cs should set out whether you will charge interest on overdue payments. It will be up to the parties to agree on the amount of interest payable. However, the interest rate should not be unfair or unreasonable to the consumer.

Consumers have a legal right to cancel a contract within 14 days of entering into it. If the provision of services includes ancillary goods, the 14 day termination period starts from when the last batch of goods has been received by the consumer.

Ask a lawyer:

• if you are unsure whether you need to use these terms and conditions
• for unusual goods (such as perishable goods) or regulated goods or services
• for services that focus on intellectual property
• if you are selling digital content

These terms and conditions are governed by the law of England, Wales or  Scotland.