Do I need written terms and conditions for my business?

Corven guide, 6 October 2026

The answer turns on who the business sells to. A business selling to consumers online or at a distance has information it must give and a cancellation right it must explain, and written terms are the usual place to do both. A business selling to other businesses needs written terms for a different reason: if it trades on its own standard terms, the law limits what those terms can exclude.

Selling to consumers at a distance

Under regulation 29(1) of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, a consumer may cancel a distance or off premises contract at any time in the cancellation period without giving any reason. For a service contract, regulation 30(2) ends that period at the end of 14 days after the day on which the contract is entered into.

The consequence of leaving that information out is set out in regulation 31. If the trader does not give the consumer the required information on the right to cancel, the period runs on. Where the information is given within 12 months, the period ends 14 days after the consumer receives it. Where it is never given, the period ends 12 months after the day on which it would otherwise have ended.

Selling to other businesses

Where one business deals on the other's written standard terms of business, section 3 of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 applies. Under section 3(2), the business whose terms they are cannot rely on a term to exclude or restrict its liability for its own breach, or to claim the right to perform substantially differently from what was reasonably expected or not at all, except in so far as the term satisfies the requirement of reasonableness. Section 3(3) disapplies the section for consumer contracts. For those, section 62(1) of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 provides that an unfair term of a consumer contract is not binding on the consumer.

It follows that a limitation of liability clause in business terms is not automatically effective. It has to be reasonable, and it has to be drafted with that test in mind.

This guide is general information about the law of England and Wales. It is not advice on your situation.