Help with T&C's etc

bobbie78

HI,

I'm in the process of setting up my own LTD and I need a bit of advice. My plan is to be mainly doing IT contracting but I also want to do some hosting/webdesign on the side to help keep outside IR35. Now I need some help drawing up some T&C's etc for the webdesign/hosting side as well as another other things I should have on top of a contract when contracting.

I have seen this lawspeed site but can anyone else recommend anyone that does similar services. I guess I need someone who understands the IT world rather than just a general solicitor but any advice is welcome.

Thanks

Bobbie

joggyb

Hi bobbie78

Have sent you an email.

richt71

bobbie78 wrote:

HI,

I'm in the process of setting up my own LTD and I need a bit of advice. My plan is to be mainly doing IT contracting but I also want to do some hosting/webdesign on the side to help keep outside IR35. Now I need some help drawing up some T&C's etc for the webdesign/hosting side as well as another other things I should have on top of a contract when contracting.

I have seen this lawspeed site but can anyone else recommend anyone that does similar services. I guess I need someone who understands the IT world rather than just a general solicitor but any advice is welcome.

Thanks

Bobbie

Hi Bobbie,
I used to do exactly what you do..it support via my own company. I had a long conversation with my dad (a lawyer for many years) about the t&c. Basically I was advised I could make a long winded t&c covering everything but companies could still get out of it so on my dad's advice kept it simple -
all hours and compensation in writing..any changes to be in writing. Payment to be recieved within 7 days after submittance of invoice by me. Payment by cheque or bank transfer.

Hope that helps?

Astaroth

Depending on the size of a company you are going to be dealing with 7 days may be unrealistic.

The "problem" with strong terms and conditions is that companies may well want them varied as they are not happy with certain elements and you then either have to go in "blind", say these are your T&Cs which they accept or you dont trade or you have to pay for legal advice each time someone wants to vary them.

With ourselves we will almost never accept decent T&Cs as they stand as they will be heavily weighted in the favour of the vendor. Likewise when we come back with out challenges we will weight them in our favour and ultimately we meet in the middle somewhere.

The one exception I have known to this is with a small webhosting account we needed and our legal team jumped at one of the hosts as they said their T&Cs were so poorly written you could drive a bus through the loopholes side ways. Obviously if everything goes as planned then the company has done well as they secured our business over their competitors. Of cause if things dont go well then in the worst case scenarios we will be able to get out of it very easily.

saraharrow

Hi,

Are you a member of any networking organisations such as the FSB or Business Link? They have legal advice lines that are free of charge and can provide a wealth of information that you may need.

As Couriers, we got our T&Cs from the Road Haulage Association, maybe your industry has a similar organisation that can supply you there terms, if you agree to abide by them of course! Belonging to an association can be beneficial to your business as potential customers can see your commitment to it and know that you are not planning to 'be here today, gone tommorrow'.

https://www.businesslink.co.uk and https://www.bl4e.co.uk are good sites

Good Luck

S

PS Ex Hubbie worked for an Umbrella company that helped him with this, it was called Contracting Made Easy, and the contact was called Victor, unfortunately he took my filofax in his divorce settlement so I have no further details, it may be worth googling it.