The importance of small print
It may be time to check your website terms and conditions
A recent English case has re-opened the debate on law of negligent misstatement on a website. The Court decided that the owners of a website were not liable for damages, even where a consumer took information from their website and acted on it to his detriment. The case highlights the importance of having usage terms and conditions on a website, and more particularly, the importance of having a disclaimer.
Mr Patchett (the Plaintiff) had sought the name of a reliable contractor for the installation of a new swimming pool in his garden. He selected Crown Pools Limited (Crown) from the website of the Swimming Pool and Allied Trade Association (SPATA), relying on a statement made on the website that “pool installer members [of SPATA] are fully vetted before being admitted to membership with checks on their financial record, their experience in the trade and inspections of their work”. Unfortunately for Mr Patchett, Crown was only an affiliate of SPATA, rather than a full member. To have learned this, Mr Patchett would have had to have made further independent investigation and obtained the information pack advertised on the website, a step which he did not take. Crown subsequently ceased trading during the course of the build and Mr Patchett lost the staged payments he had made and had to engage another contractor to finish the job.
The majority of the Court decided that Mr Patchett had not taken all the steps required of him to satisfy himself of the soundness of the contractor. SPATA were not held liable for the loss incurred by the Patchetts.
In light of this case you might consider looking again at your website terms and conditions.
The prudent website proprietor should include carefully drafted terms and conditions of use on their website. A link to these terms and conditions should be easily identifiable to the user when accessing the home page. The link should not be buried in a dark corner of the website which is difficult to access.
All terms and conditions of use should include a privacy policy, which outlines how any personal information provided by the user will be processed by the website.
The law requires that certain information is provided on your website. For instance, all limited liability companies must provide the name of the company, the address of the registered office, the company number and its place of registration on the website.
A comprehensive set of terms and conditions of use will address more than the basic elements discussed here. It is important that your website is adequately protected by appropriate terms and conditions of use.
Matthew Austin
maustin@hayes-solicitors.ie