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

This document is GDPR compliant.

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. They are designed to be straightforward and comprehensive so that customers know where they stand and needless disputes can be avoided. They cover key issues such as orders, supply, customer responsibilities, pricing, payment, guarantees, liability, cancellation and termination and data protection.

Use these terms and conditions for supply of services to consumers:

• when you are supplying services, with or without goods, to customers not acting in the course of a business (ie consumers)
• when selling from your business premises only
• when 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 which are performed immediately (eg hairdressing), or if the services are supplied under an employment or apprentice contract.

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 (also known as T&Cs) should be used if you want to supply services to consumers on standard terms. They should cover key issues such as orders, supply, customer responsibilities, pricing, payment, guarantees, liability, cancellation and termination.

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 related goods or materials (eg 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.

When a business deals with a consumer, the consumer benefits from considerable legal protection or statutory rights. Some rights include:

• providing the service with reasonable care and skill
• the ability for consumers to rely on 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 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 refund or price reduction which could be up to 100% of the cost. The trader should refund the consumer within 14 days of agreeing to a refund.

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.

You can state in the T&Cs the time period for which payment is required for the service. 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).

You should agree beforehand in the T&Cs 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 statutory right of 14 days from entering into a service contract to cancel it. If the provision of services include ancillary goods then 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 which focus on intellectual property
• if you are selling digital content

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