Service Terms / Client Agreement
Last Updated: 18 September 2026
These Service Terms explain the general terms that apply when a client engages the operator of webdesigninwigan.co.uk for WordPress web design, website development, website redesign, maintenance, hosting or related website services.
Throughout these terms, “I”, “me” and “my” refer to the operator of webdesigninwigan.co.uk. “Client”, “you” and “your” refer to the person, business or organisation purchasing the services.
A project quotation, proposal, invoice, email agreement or other written project specification may contain additional terms specific to a particular project.
Where project-specific terms have been expressly agreed, they form part of the agreement between us.
Nothing within these terms is intended to exclude or restrict statutory rights that cannot legally be excluded.
- Scope of Services
Services may include:
- WordPress website design
- Business website development
- Website redesigns
- WooCommerce websites
- Booking and appointment websites
- Website migrations
- Landing page development
- Responsive website design
- Website content implementation
- Website speed and performance work
- Basic technical and on-page SEO setup
- Analytics and tracking configuration
- Website maintenance
- Managed website hosting
- Website support and content updates
The exact scope, number of pages, functionality, content requirements, integrations and deliverables will be agreed before or during the project.
Work outside the agreed scope may be charged separately.
- Quotations and Proposals
Quotations and proposals are based on the information available when they are prepared.
A quotation may specify:
- The website or service being supplied
- Approximate page numbers
- Included functionality
- Design requirements
- Content responsibilities
- Project price
- Payment stages
- Third-party costs
- Ongoing support or hosting
If the project changes substantially after the quotation has been accepted, the price or expected delivery schedule may also need to change.
Any significant additional charges should be communicated before the extra work is undertaken.
- Project Commencement
Work will normally begin once:
- The project scope has been agreed
- Any required deposit or initial payment has been received
- Required content, information or access has been supplied where necessary
Starting dates may depend on current workload and the availability of the information required to begin the project.
- Client Responsibilities
The client agrees to provide information and cooperation reasonably required to complete the project.
This may include:
- Accurate business information
- Logos and branding
- Website content
- Images
- Product information
- Existing website access
- Domain access
- Hosting access
- Third-party account access
- Feedback and approvals
The client is responsible for ensuring that information supplied is accurate and that they have permission to use any text, photography, logos, trademarks, video, data or other material supplied for inclusion on the website.
- Client Delays
Project timescales depend on the client providing required information, access, content and feedback within a reasonable period.
If these items are delayed, the project completion date may also be delayed.
Projects that remain inactive for an extended period because client information or approval has not been provided may need to be rescheduled around other work.
Work already completed remains chargeable.
- Project Timescales
Any expected completion date is based on the scope and information available at the time.
Timelines can be affected by:
- Changes to the project scope
- Additional functionality
- Delayed client feedback
- Missing content
- Third-party service issues
- Hosting or domain problems
- Technical issues discovered during migration
Where a fixed deadline is commercially important, it should be agreed expressly before work begins.
- Website Design and Revisions
The project may include reasonable revisions to layouts or content as specified in the quotation or project agreement.
Revisions should relate to the agreed project scope.
Requests that substantially change the original brief may be treated as additional work.
Examples include:
- Changing the overall design direction after approval
- Adding significant new functionality
- Adding substantially more pages
- Replacing large amounts of approved content
- Rebuilding completed sections following a change of preference
Where additional charges are required, these should be discussed before the extra work proceeds.
- Website Content
Content responsibilities will depend on the project agreement.
A project may involve:
- Using existing client content
- Editing existing material
- Creating new core-page content
- Full website copywriting
Where the client supplies content, they remain responsible for its factual accuracy, legality and suitability.
I may correct obvious formatting, spelling or presentation issues where appropriate, but this does not constitute independent verification of every statement supplied by the client.
- Images and Media
The client must have appropriate rights to images and media supplied for the website.
Where stock photography, premium graphics or other licensed assets are required, additional licence costs may apply.
Third-party licence terms continue to apply to those assets.
- WordPress, Themes and Plugins
WordPress websites can rely on third-party themes, plugins and other software.
Where appropriate, established software may be used to provide required functionality.
Third-party software can be updated, discontinued, changed or become incompatible over time.
I cannot guarantee that every third-party plugin, theme or service will remain available or compatible indefinitely.
Ongoing maintenance may therefore be required after launch.
- Premium Software and Licences
Some website functionality may require premium themes, plugins, extensions or other licences.
The project agreement should identify whether these costs are:
- Included within the project fee
- Purchased directly by the client
- Renewed annually by the client
- Covered as part of an ongoing maintenance arrangement
A licence supplied through my own developer or agency account does not necessarily transfer ownership of that licence to the client.
If ongoing access to premium updates is required after our working relationship ends, the client may need to purchase their own licence.
- Third-Party Services
Website projects may use services provided by independent third parties, including:
- Hosting providers
- Domain registrars
- Payment gateways
- Email providers
- Booking systems
- CRM platforms
- Analytics platforms
- Security services
- Backup providers
These services operate under their own terms, privacy policies, pricing and service levels.
I am not responsible for outages, pricing changes, discontinued features or other issues caused solely by an independent third-party provider.
- Domains and Hosting
Where domain or hosting services are purchased or managed as part of the project, the applicable arrangements will be confirmed separately.
Where practical, important business assets such as domains should remain registered in the client’s name or under accounts that the client controls.
Hosting services may be provided directly by a third-party provider or managed as part of an ongoing website service.
Failure to pay hosting or renewal fees may result in service suspension or website unavailability.
- Website Migration
Migration work may involve transferring website files, databases, emails, DNS records or other data between systems.
Reasonable care will be taken during migration, but technical differences between platforms can sometimes require additional work.
The client should ensure that important business data is appropriately backed up before major migrations or infrastructure changes.
Where backups form part of my work, this does not remove the client’s responsibility for maintaining appropriate records of business-critical information.
- Search Engine Optimisation
Websites may be built using search-friendly structures and appropriate technical foundations.
However, search-engine rankings cannot be guaranteed.
Search performance can be influenced by:
- Competition
- Website authority
- Content quality
- Search-engine changes
- Technical performance
- External links
- Market conditions
Website design and basic SEO setup do not constitute a guarantee of a particular ranking, traffic level or number of enquiries.
Ongoing SEO work may be available as a separate service.
- Website Performance
Reasonable efforts may be made to produce an efficient and usable website.
Actual performance can depend on factors outside my control, including:
- Hosting infrastructure
- Third-party scripts
- Plugins
- External services
- Image and video content
- Visitor devices and connections
No particular PageSpeed, Core Web Vitals or other performance score is guaranteed unless expressly stated in the project agreement.
- Browser and Device Compatibility
Websites will normally be developed for reasonable compatibility with current mainstream browsers and commonly used screen sizes.
It is not practical to guarantee identical presentation across every browser version, device or operating system.
Older or unsupported browsers may display some features differently.
- Website Testing and Approval
Before launch, the website may be made available for client review.
The client should check important information including:
- Business details
- Telephone numbers
- Email addresses
- Prices
- Services
- Product information
- Forms
- Legal content
Client approval confirms that the website is accepted for launch, subject to any outstanding items expressly agreed between us.
- Website Launch
The website will normally be launched once agreed work has been substantially completed, required approvals have been received and any payment due before launch has been made.
Launch may involve:
- DNS changes
- Website migration
- SSL configuration
- Search-engine indexing settings
- Form testing
- Analytics setup
Some DNS and third-party changes can take time to propagate and may be outside my direct control.
- Payment Terms
Payment arrangements will be specified within the quotation, proposal or invoice.
Depending on the project, payment may involve:
- An initial deposit
- Milestone payments
- A final payment before launch
- Monthly recurring payments
Invoices should be paid within the stated payment period.
Work may be paused where an invoice becomes overdue.
Unless expressly stated otherwise, quoted prices do not include third-party costs that were not identified when the quotation was prepared.
- Late or Non-Payment
Where payment remains outstanding after the due date, I may suspend further project work or ongoing services after reasonable notice.
For ongoing hosting or maintenance services, continued non-payment may eventually result in suspension or termination in accordance with the relevant service terms.
This does not remove the client’s responsibility to pay for work already completed or services already supplied.
- Project Cancellation
Either party may end a project in accordance with the applicable project agreement and law.
Where the client cancels after work has started, payment may remain due for work reasonably completed and costs already incurred.
Any amount refundable will be considered in accordance with the website’s Refund & Cancellation Policy and any applicable statutory rights.
If I cancel a project for reasons not caused by the client, payments for work that has not been supplied will be dealt with fairly according to the circumstances.
- Right to Terminate Services
I may suspend or terminate services where there are serious grounds, including:
- Persistent non-payment
- Serious breach of these terms
- Fraudulent activity
- Abusive or threatening conduct
- A request to carry out unlawful work
- Use of the service for illegal purposes
- Serious security risks caused by the client’s actions
Where appropriate, reasonable notice will be given and the client will have an opportunity to resolve the issue before termination.
Immediate suspension may be necessary where security, fraud or unlawful activity creates an urgent risk.
- Intellectual Property and Website Ownership
Unless otherwise agreed, ownership of bespoke website work created specifically for the client will normally transfer once all relevant project invoices have been paid in full.
This does not include ownership of:
- WordPress itself
- Third-party themes
- Third-party plugins
- Stock images
- Licensed fonts
- Third-party software
- My pre-existing tools, processes or reusable code
These remain subject to their respective ownership and licence arrangements.
Until payment has been made in full, rights to unpaid bespoke work remain with me to the extent permitted by law and the project agreement.
- Reusable Components and Development Methods
I may use general development techniques, reusable code, templates, processes and know-how across multiple projects.
A client does not acquire exclusive ownership of general techniques, knowledge, development methods or components that were not created exclusively for that client’s project.
Client-specific branding, content and bespoke deliverables remain subject to the ownership terms stated above.
- Portfolio and Case Study Use
Unless otherwise agreed, I may reference publicly launched work within my portfolio, website or promotional materials.
This may include:
- The client’s business name
- A link to the completed website
- Public screenshots
- A general description of the work completed
Confidential business information will not be intentionally published as part of a portfolio example.
Clients who require a project to remain confidential should request this before publication.
- Confidentiality
Both parties should treat genuinely confidential information appropriately.
This may include:
- Login credentials
- Commercial information
- Unpublished project details
- Customer information
- Internal business documents
Confidential information will not be intentionally disclosed to unrelated third parties except where necessary to deliver the agreed services or where disclosure is legally required.
- Personal Data
Personal information will be handled in accordance with applicable data protection requirements.
Where I process personal data solely on behalf of a client, additional obligations may apply under the Data Processing Agreement.
Clients remain responsible for the legality of data they collect through their websites and for providing suitable privacy information to their own users.
- Website Security
Reasonable security practices will be used while carrying out website work.
However, no website or online system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
Security can be affected by:
- Hosting
- Plugins
- Passwords
- Third-party integrations
- Software vulnerabilities
- User behaviour
Ongoing security monitoring and maintenance are separate from the initial website build unless expressly included.
- Backups
Where backups are included as part of hosting or maintenance, the relevant service will determine their frequency and retention.
Clients should retain their own copies of important business data where appropriate.
No backup system should be treated as incapable of failure.
- Website Maintenance After Launch
Unless ongoing maintenance has been purchased, the completion of a website project does not include indefinite:
- WordPress updates
- Plugin updates
- Security monitoring
- Content changes
- Technical support
- Backups
After handover, responsibility for ongoing maintenance passes to the client unless a separate support arrangement is in place.
- Ongoing and Monthly Services
Services such as hosting, maintenance, website care, content updates or SEO may be provided on a recurring basis.
The applicable price, billing frequency and any minimum term or notice period should be confirmed before the service begins.
Recurring services may be altered or discontinued with appropriate notice, subject to any agreed contractual terms and applicable law.
- Pay Monthly Website Arrangements
Where a website is supplied through a pay-monthly plan, additional terms may apply covering:
- Minimum contract periods
- Monthly charges
- Website hosting
- Maintenance
- Ownership
- Cancellation
- Early termination
- Transfer of website files
These terms should be made clear before the client enters the agreement.
- Consumer Clients
Where a client is acting as a consumer rather than purchasing services wholly or mainly for business purposes, additional statutory rights may apply.
These may include rights relating to:
- Reasonable care and skill
- Reasonable time for performance where no time has been agreed
- Reasonable charges where no price has been agreed
- Cancellation of certain distance or off-premises service contracts
Nothing within these terms is intended to exclude rights that apply under consumer protection law.
Where a consumer asks for work to begin during an applicable statutory cancellation period, additional requirements may apply.
- Business Clients
Where services are purchased wholly or mainly for business purposes, the client confirms that they are acting as a business customer.
The project quotation, these Service Terms and any other agreed written terms together form the basis of the commercial relationship.
- Limitation of Liability
Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability where it would be unlawful to do so.
Subject to applicable law and any project-specific agreement, I will not normally be responsible for indirect or consequential losses arising from circumstances outside my reasonable control.
These can include losses resulting solely from:
- Third-party hosting failures
- Payment-provider outages
- External software failures
- Search-engine changes
- Client-supplied errors
- Unauthorised client changes
- Third-party account suspension
Nothing in this section removes any responsibility that cannot legally be excluded.
- No Guarantee of Commercial Results
A website is one part of a wider business and marketing process.
No guarantee is made that a website will achieve a particular:
- Number of enquiries
- Number of sales
- Search-engine ranking
- Traffic level
- Conversion rate
- Revenue figure
unless a specific performance commitment has been expressly agreed in writing.
- Events Outside Reasonable Control
Neither party will normally be treated as being in breach where performance is prevented or materially delayed by circumstances genuinely outside reasonable control.
These may include:
- Major hosting outages
- Internet infrastructure failures
- Third-party platform outages
- Natural disasters
- Government restrictions
- Serious illness or emergency
Reasonable efforts should be made to communicate significant delays and resume performance when possible.
- Changes to These Terms
These general Service Terms may be updated from time to time to reflect changes in:
- Services offered
- Technology
- Payment arrangements
- Business practices
- Legal requirements
The latest version will be published on this website with a revised update date.
Changes to the general website terms will not automatically alter a separately agreed fixed project contract retrospectively.
- Severability
If any provision of these terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue to apply to the extent permitted by law.
- Governing Law
These Service Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales.
Subject to any mandatory rights available to consumers or other applicable legal requirements, disputes relating to these terms will be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.
- Contact
If you have any questions regarding these Service Terms or a WordPress website project, please contact me through: