How to review website terms under UK law

Website terms come in two kinds: terms of use, which govern access to the site, and terms of sale, which govern what customers buy through it. Both have to be properly brought to the user's attention, and terms aimed at consumers face strict statutory controls. This checklist covers what to check and how to review website terms in Word with LexDraft.

Last checked: 18 October 2026. The law changes; check the current position before relying on this page.

This guide covers the law of England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules on several of the points below.

Clause checklist

• Incorporation. Terms bind users only if they were reasonably brought to their attention before the contract was made. Click-to-accept is stronger than a link in the footer. Particularly onerous or unusual terms need to be fairly drawn to the other party's attention (Interfoto Picture Library Ltd v Stiletto Visual Programmes Ltd [1989] QB 433).
• Who you are. Websites must give the provider's name, geographic address, email address and registration details under the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002, and companies must show their registered name, number and office under the trading disclosures regulations.
• Ordering process. For online contracts, the technical steps to conclude the contract, how to correct input errors and an acknowledgement of the order without undue delay (regulations 9 and 11 of the 2002 Regulations).
• Consumer fairness. Under Part 2 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, unfair terms do not bind consumers (section 62), written terms must be transparent (section 68), and liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence cannot be excluded (section 65). Check Schedule 2 for terms that may be regarded as unfair.
• Cancellation rights. Most distance contracts with consumers carry a 14-day cancellation period and pre-contract information duties under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.
• Pricing and practices. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 has applied its unfair commercial practices rules since 6 April 2025, including bans on fake reviews and rules against drip pricing. Its new subscription contract rules are expected to start in 2027, so check the current timetable if you sell subscriptions.
• Business customers. Exclusions in standard terms with business customers must meet the reasonableness test in the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, and liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence cannot be excluded (section 2(1)).
• User content. If users can post content, check licences to that content, takedown processes and whether the Online Safety Act 2023 applies. Regulated services have duties about what their terms of service say and how they apply them.
• Privacy and cookies. The privacy notice should be a separate document. Cookie consent is governed by the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003, and the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 has changed parts of the UK data protection rules, so check the current position.
• Changes to terms. A right to change terms unilaterally needs care with consumers. Give notice and, for ongoing contracts, a right to cancel.
• Governing law and courts. Consumers usually keep the protection of the law where they live, whatever the terms say.

Review the website terms in Word with LexDraft

1. Open the website terms in Word, open LexDraft from the Home tab and set the jurisdiction chip to UK: England & Wales (or UK: Scotland or UK: Northern Ireland if that is the governing law).
2. Run the quick checks. They are rule-based and run without AI, catching undefined or unused defined terms, broken cross-references, numbering gaps and inconsistent capitalisation.
3. LexDraft has four built-in playbooks (NDA, SaaS MSA, DPA and services agreement) and no dedicated website terms playbook, so run a general review against English law and use the checklist on this page to direct your own read. Findings are graded Critical, High, Medium or Low, and LexDraft flags standard terms that are missing.
4. Accept or reject each proposed redline. Accepted edits land as native Word tracked changes, ready for the other side.
5. Ask the Assistant to explain a clause in plain English or suggest wording for your side. Answers use UK spelling.
6. Look up any case you want to rely on in the Case law tab, then open the judgment on Find Case Law and read it yourself. UK judgments in LexDraft come from The National Archives' Find Case Law service, which only partially represents the activities of the courts and tribunals. Not every judgment or decision is included. Find Case Law does not include judgments from Scottish or Northern Irish courts or tribunals.

LexDraft does not give legal advice and does not summarise judgments. AI output can be wrong, so qualified counsel must check every redline before it goes out.

Common mistakes

• Using one set of terms for consumers and businesses without saying which clauses apply to whom.
• A limitation of liability that does not carve out the liabilities the law says cannot be limited.
• Terms that refer to a "Privacy Policy" or "Returns Policy" with no link or a broken one. The cross-reference check catches clause references inside the document; check links yourself.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. LexDraft does not give legal advice; qualified counsel must review every draft. LexDraft is not affiliated with or endorsed by The National Archives or any court. Spotted something out of date? Email support@lexdraft.ai and we will fix it.