Website terms of business
009 Compliance Ltd | Version 009/13 | Effective 1 November 2026
One set of terms for all business clients. These are the standard terms for one ongoing Compliance Assistance Subscription. The monthly price is displayed when you join, and customers do not need to complete an individual specification of services.
1. Who we are and how you accept
1.1 These terms are between 009 Compliance Ltd (company number 16910484), C/O Hilton Jones, Hollinwood Business Centre, Albert Street, Oldham, OL8 3QL ("009", "we", "us") and the business buying our services ("you" or "Client"). Our contact and contractual-notice email is info@009compliance.com. These terms are for business use, including limited companies, partnerships and sole traders acting for business purposes.
1.2 For a new customer, the agreement begins when a person authorised to act for your business expressly accepts these terms on our website, we successfully receive the first subscription payment and activate the paid subscription. The date of activation is your subscription start date. We record the business identity, accepted version of these terms, price displayed, acceptance date and payment details electronically. If we do not accept or activate a new subscription, we will return any payment collected.
1.3 Creating an account, browsing our website or logging in does not by itself create a paid subscription or replace previously agreed terms. You confirm that you have authority to commit the business. If you already have a paid agreement with 009, these replacement terms apply only when we offer them to you and you affirmatively accept them; your paid service continues on your existing agreed fee unless you expressly accept a change.
1.4 Your subscription is for general FCA compliance administration assistance as described in section 2, not an individually specified package of tasks. You may request help by email, telephone or our client portal. We decide whether we can accept a particular request and will tell you where separate pricing or specialist work is needed. Any task we expressly agree to undertake is an accepted task under these terms; discussions alone do not mean we have accepted a filing or a deadline.
2. What we do
2.1 We provide an ongoing Compliance Assistance Subscription for business clients. This gives you access to our general administrative help with FCA authorisation applications, FCA case-officer correspondence, routine regulatory reporting and associated compliance administration. No separate list of purchased services is issued. We will consider reasonable requests within this ordinary scope and perform tasks we accept with reasonable care and skill. The subscription is not an undertaking to carry out every regulatory task, monitor all your obligations or provide unlimited bespoke work.
2.2 We can prepare application forms, business plans, supporting policies, explanations, draft responses to FCA case officers, reporting returns and related correspondence using the information you provide or confirm. We can organise documents, liaise with the FCA when permitted, and submit material you have expressly approved through lawful authorised access. Where required or preferred, we provide drafts for you to submit yourself.
2.3 We are not your appointed compliance officer, legal representative, senior manager, auditor, accountant or tax adviser. We do not give a legal opinion, independently certify compliance, decide your business model or permission requirements for you, or guarantee the suitability of a regulatory arrangement. Drafting and suggesting an FCA response is part of our agreed assistance; it does not transfer your regulatory decisions or responsibilities to 009. Our services are administrative and clerical in nature. We do not provide legal, regulatory, financial, tax or accounting advice, or independent assurance of regulatory compliance. Any documents, explanations or suggested responses we prepare are provided for the Client's review and approval and do not transfer regulatory decision-making or responsibility to 009 Compliance Ltd.
2.4 We may decline requests outside ordinary compliance administration or which we cannot reasonably or lawfully undertake, including work for a separate business, a wholly new application following refusal or withdrawal, unrelated regulated activities, appeals, enforcement defence, litigation, specialist advice or unrelated projects. We will identify separate charges and obtain your agreement before carrying out chargeable extra work. If we cannot provide material assistance under your paid subscription, your rights under section 10.4 apply.
3. FCA application assistance
3.1 If you ask us to assist with an FCA authorisation application for your subscribing business and we agree to undertake it, we will help prepare and progress that original application. This includes drafting and revising its forms, business plan, supporting policies, evidence and replies to FCA case officers as reasonably needed while the application remains live and your subscription is active. The application and requested permissions are identified by the FCA application and our communications about the work.
3.2 There is no fixed limit on the number of FCA questions, draft answers or normal revision rounds relating to that original application. We will make reasonable efforts to help you obtain a decision, but the work remains dependent on the FCA, the facts of your application, your cooperation and our ongoing engagement. It is not a promise to obtain authorisation or spend unlimited time on unrelated or fundamentally new work.
3.3 We may prepare or suggest the wording of answers to the FCA. You must check that every answer, declaration and supporting document accurately reflects your real circumstances and expressly approve it before submission. You may submit the approved answer directly, or we may submit it where access and authority permit. We will not impersonate you or make declarations that the FCA requires you to make personally.
3.4 You must attend FCA interviews and speak for your own business whenever required. If your application changes into a substantially different undertaking, a new application, a different legal entity or an unrelated permission request, we can quote separately for that new scope.
3.5 The FCA alone determines the outcome, conditions and timing. Authorisation may take longer than six months, and refusal does not mean 009 failed to provide its service. Application support continues on the terms above while you remain subscribed; it is not a one-off fee contingent on approval.
4. Ongoing reporting and other assistance
4.1 As part of general compliance administration assistance, we can help prepare and arrange submission of routine FCA returns where relevant, commonly CCR007, CCR009 and annual firm- details confirmation. We will handle a particular return or deadline only when we have agreed to undertake that task and have the necessary information and authorised access. Your subscription does not automatically make us responsible for identifying, monitoring or filing every FCA return. Other forms, changes in control, permission variations, trading-name changes, complaints reviews, website reviews and policy maintenance may require separate agreement and charges.
4.2 If we have assisted with your FCA application, you may continue using the same subscription for ongoing regulatory reporting administration after authorisation. There is no new minimum term or automatic change to the underlying monthly fee. We will agree the individual reporting tasks that we can undertake as they arise, using the FCA reporting schedule and information you provide. You remain responsible for your reporting obligations whether or not you ask us to help.
4.3 For reporting work we have accepted, you must provide your FCA reporting schedule, relevant messages and complete source data. Unless we agree a different deadline in writing, we need all source information at least ten business days before the FCA submission deadline and your final express approval at least three business days before it. We will give you a draft with reasonable time to review where you have met those cut-offs.
4.4 We are not hired to audit or reconcile your source information or independently decide whether you are required to file every possible return. We will not knowingly submit false or misleading information. We will notify you if missing information, late approval or an FCA-system problem creates a deadline risk. We will correct our own administrative mistakes without an additional charge.
4.5 FCA Accounts, Access and Regulatory Responsibility. The Client retains ultimate responsibility for the management, security and use of its FCA Connect, RegData and other regulatory accounts, including login credentials, user permissions, account access and the accuracy of information held within those accounts. The Client is solely responsible to the FCA for monitoring regulatory correspondence, identifying and meeting reporting deadlines, maintaining accurate regulatory records and ensuring that all required returns, notifications and submissions are completed within the applicable timescales. The appointment of 009 Compliance Ltd does not transfer these responsibilities to us. Any administrative assistance provided by 009 Compliance Ltd does not relieve the Client of its regulatory obligations. 009 Compliance Ltd is not responsible for monitoring the Client's accounts, identifying outstanding returns or meeting regulatory deadlines unless it has expressly agreed to undertake a specific task. Where such a task is agreed, the Client retains ultimate regulatory accountability, and 009 Compliance Ltd remains responsible for exercising reasonable care and skill in carrying out its agreed work, subject to the limitations of liability contained in these Terms.
4.6 Acceptance of Individual Tasks and Regulatory Deadlines. The Client acknowledges that its Compliance Assistance Subscription does not automatically place 009 Compliance Ltd under an obligation to monitor, prepare or submit every regulatory return, notification or other filing required by the FCA. Responsibility for completing a particular regulatory task or submission shall only be accepted by 009 Compliance Ltd where we expressly confirm our agreement to undertake that task, including by email or through our client portal. The Client's request for assistance, our receipt of FCA correspondence, access to regulatory information, previous assistance with similar tasks or preparation of a draft shall not, by itself, constitute acceptance of responsibility for completing or submitting a separate regulatory return. Where we agree to prepare a document or return, this does not automatically mean that we have agreed to submit it or assume responsibility for monitoring the associated deadline. The Client remains responsible for satisfying itself that all required regulatory submissions have been completed and accepted by the FCA. Nothing in this clause excludes our responsibility to exercise reasonable care and skill in carrying out work we have actually agreed to undertake or performed, subject to the limitations of liability contained in section 12.
5. Your responsibilities
5.1 You remain ultimately responsible for complying with FCA requirements and for the accuracy, completeness and truthfulness of everything said or submitted to the FCA, whether you or 009 prepared it. You decide which permissions your business needs, what information is correct, and whether a document accurately describes your business. Using 009 does not transfer those responsibilities to us.
5.2 You must give us truthful, complete and timely information, including relevant ownership, directorships, employment, finances and regulatory or criminal history where required; tell us promptly when anything changes; maintain your own regulatory records; and forward FCA communications and deadlines without delay.
5.3 You must actively cooperate. This includes responding to requests, explaining your real business arrangements, checking drafts, giving express written approval, paying required FCA or third- party charges, and attending calls or interviews when necessary. Silence is not approval. You must not ask us to submit something inaccurate or misleading.
5.4 If you fail to provide information, payment, access or approval, we may pause the affected work immediately and may terminate in accordance with section 10. You remain responsible for arranging alternative help and meeting your own regulatory deadlines. We are responsible for mistakes we ourselves make when processing correct instructions, subject to section 12.
6. Subscription term and cancellation
6.1 For a new client starting its first paid 009 subscription on or after 1 November 2026, the minimum period is six calendar months from the date its paid subscription is activated under clause 1.2. It then continues monthly until ended under these terms. FCA authorisation, completion of an application or a month with no return due does not automatically end the subscription.
6.2 Existing Client exemption: if the same legal business had a paid service agreement with 009 before 1 November 2026 and that agreement remained continuously active until it expressly accepted these terms, no new six-month minimum applies. Its agreed monthly fee continues unless it expressly accepts a different price. A former client returning after cancellation, or a newly contracted legal business entity, is a new client.
6.3 You may cancel by giving 30 calendar days’ notice to info@009compliance.com at any time. For new clients, cancellation takes effect no earlier than the end of the six-month minimum period. For qualifying existing clients, cancellation takes effect when the 30-day notice period expires. You do not need to wait until the final month to send notice.
6.4 Minimum-Term Payment Commitment and Default. The initial six-month subscription constitutes a binding minimum payment commitment. Failure to make payment, cancellation of a Direct Debit, non-use of the Services or failure to cooperate does not, of itself, terminate the agreement or release the Client from payment obligations properly arising under it. 009 Compliance Ltd may suspend Services for non-payment or other Client breach in accordance with section 10 and may recover unpaid subscription fees that have properly accrued. Where the Client's material breach results in early termination during the minimum period, 009 Compliance Ltd may also recover its reasonable loss arising from that termination, up to the subscription fees that would otherwise have become payable during the remaining minimum period, after accounting for costs saved and reasonable mitigation. The remaining balance does not automatically become an immediate debt merely because the agreement is terminated. This provision does not apply where 009 Compliance Ltd terminates without Client fault under clause 10.1 or the Client lawfully terminates under clause 10.4.
7. Fees, VAT and payment
7.1 Your standard monthly subscription price is the price displayed and accepted when you join our paid website subscription or, for an existing client, the rate previously agreed and retained in our billing records. We charge monthly in advance by Direct Debit or another payment method we accept. There is only one standard Compliance Assistance Subscription. Your payment covers continuing access to general compliance administration assistance and accepted work within its ordinary scope, not a guaranteed FCA outcome or a guaranteed number of filings in any month.
7.2 All subscription prices are exclusive of VAT. If we become VAT registered, or if the VAT rate or treatment changes, VAT will be added to payments for supplies on which VAT is legally due, at the rate applicable to the relevant supply. This is a tax adjustment, not a change to the underlying subscription price, and does not require a new agreement. We will inform you before collecting any changed VAT-inclusive amount and issue legally required VAT invoices.
7.3 Application fees, FCA levies, DBS charges and other third-party costs are yours and are not included in our subscription unless we have clearly confirmed otherwise. We will not incur an additional third-party cost in your name without your authority.
7.4 Changes to Subscription Fees. 009 Compliance Ltd may change the underlying monthly subscription price after the expiry of any applicable minimum contractual period by giving at least 30 calendar days' written notice. If the Client does not accept the increase, it may terminate the subscription by giving written notice before the increase takes effect. In those circumstances, termination will take effect immediately before the increase, without payment of the increased subscription fee. The underlying subscription price will not increase during an applicable initial six-month minimum period unless expressly agreed. Adjustments for legally applicable VAT under clause 7.2 are separate.
7.5 You must pay undisputed sums on time even if you have cancelled a Direct Debit mandate. We may suspend services for overdue undisputed payment, subject to section 10. Statutory late-payment interest and permitted recovery costs may be charged where applicable. Genuine billing disputes will be considered promptly; a reasonably substantiated active dispute alone is not grounds to suspend unrelated paid services.
7.6 Fees for completed subscription periods, work already properly performed and services made available are not refundable merely because you did not use them or the FCA refused authorisation. Where you are entitled to terminate for our material breach or we end the engagement immediately without client fault, unearned prepaid charges for periods after the termination date will be credited or returned. This does not waive any non-excludable remedy.
7.7 Payment Administration. The Client is responsible for maintaining a valid payment arrangement and ensuring that all subscription fees and other agreed charges are paid when due. Where payment is made by Direct Debit, 009 Compliance Ltd may retry failed collections in accordance with applicable Direct Debit scheme rules. Where payment is made by Standing Order, the Client is responsible for establishing, maintaining and amending the payment instructions as necessary. Cancelling a payment instruction, reversing a payment or obtaining a refund under the Direct Debit Guarantee does not extinguish any amount genuinely due under this Agreement. We may recover outstanding sums and reasonable recovery costs where permitted by law. The Client's rights under the Direct Debit Guarantee remain unaffected. We are not required to issue repeated payment reminders before exercising our suspension or termination rights under section 10.
7.8 Additional Services and Advance Payment. 009 Compliance Ltd may offer additional administrative services, one-off projects, urgent assistance, historic reporting, record reconstruction or other work outside the normal scope of the Compliance Assistance Subscription. We may charge separately for such work. Any additional fee will be agreed with the Client before the work begins and, unless otherwise agreed, must be paid in full in advance. 009 Compliance Ltd is not obliged to commence additional work until payment has been received in cleared funds. We may decline additional work at our discretion. Fees relating to work properly completed or costs reasonably incurred are not refundable merely because the Client is dissatisfied with a regulatory outcome. Any payment received for work not undertaken will be dealt with in accordance with the Client's applicable contractual and legal rights.
7.9 FCA Fees, Invoices and Payment Deadlines. The Client is solely responsible for monitoring, receiving and paying all fees, invoices, levies and other charges issued by the FCA, including ensuring that payments are made by the applicable deadlines. 009 Compliance Ltd is under no obligation to monitor FCA invoices, issue payment reminders, notify the Client of approaching payment deadlines or arrange payment on the Client's behalf unless we have expressly agreed to undertake that specific task. The Client retains responsibility for any consequences arising from late payment or non-payment of FCA charges, including additional charges, regulatory action or restrictions, except to the extent caused by a breach of a specific obligation expressly accepted by 009 Compliance Ltd.
8. Referral discounts
8.1 We may offer a referral reward when a current client introduces a business that becomes a new paying 009 customer. The current percentage, eligibility conditions and qualifying process are set out in our Referral Rewards Scheme information communicated through our website or directly to participating clients. These terms do not fix a permanent percentage.
8.2 A referral is credited only when we identify the introducer, accept the referred business as a new customer and receive its first subscription payment. Duplicate referrals, referrals of yourself or a business you control, disputed introductions and misleading or unlawful referrals may be rejected. You must not send unsolicited marketing in our name or share another person’s personal data with us without a lawful basis.
8.3 Eligible discounts accumulate for each qualifying referred customer while that customer remains subscribed and up to date with payments. They reduce your own core monthly subscription fee only. The combined reduction cannot exceed 100% of that fee: your subscription cannot fall below £0, and unused discount is not paid out, carried forward, refunded or transferred. It does not reduce third-party charges or additional-service fees. Any VAT arising on subscription charges, discounts or referral arrangements will be calculated and invoiced as required by law.
8.4 Referral discounts are promotional and conditional, not a permanent reduction of your underlying subscription price. We may change the percentage, conditions or availability of the scheme, including discounts on existing active referrals, on at least 30 days’ written notice. The change applies prospectively and does not require these terms to be re-signed. If a referred customer stops qualifying, its discount ends from the next invoice. The ordinary cancellation rules continue to apply.
9. Protecting 009 from misuse and competitors
9.1 We own our pre-existing and independently developed templates, document structures, methods, training materials, software, portal designs and other original content. You own your own information. Once you have paid for completed documents, you may use and adapt them for your own business and share them with the FCA, your advisers and any replacement compliance provider acting for your business.
9.2 You must not resell, publish, distribute as a template pack or provide our reusable materials, methods, internal documentation or portal content for a competitor to copy or exploit for other businesses. You must not permit a competitor to access your account to inspect or harvest our internal materials, pricing, customer lists, referral details or systems for competitive purposes. This does not prevent you from appointing another adviser or using your own completed, paid-for documents.
9.3 Both sides must keep the other’s non-public business information confidential and use it only for performing or receiving the services, unless disclosure is authorised, required by law or needed for lawful professional or regulatory purposes. No term prevents lawful competition based on independently developed knowledge or publicly available information.
9.4 You must protect your account credentials, use permitted individual access and tell us promptly about unauthorised access. We may immediately suspend access where we reasonably suspect misuse, a security threat or a material breach of this section, and may terminate under section 10. We may seek appropriate legal relief for actual misuse of confidential information or intellectual property.
10. Our right to pause or end services
10.1 009 may end your subscription at any time, including within the initial six months, with immediate effect by written notice and without needing to give a reason. If we do so without relying on your breach, we will not charge for periods after termination, will return any unearned prepaid subscription charges for those periods and will not demand the balance of the minimum term.
10.2 We may suspend affected work immediately where you miss an undisputed payment, fail to cooperate or give approval, lose authorised access, provide apparently false information, give unlawful instructions, threaten or abuse our staff, or create a serious confidentiality, security or regulatory risk. We will notify you of the reason and known deadlines at risk as soon as reasonably possible. We are not required to make three chasers or submit unapproved information.
10.3 For a breach that can be remedied, we may end the subscription if you do not remedy it within seven calendar days after written notice stating what must be fixed. We may end immediately for fraud, deliberate serious deception, irremediable material breach, persistent threatening behaviour or where continued work would be unlawful. We can also use our immediate no-fault right under 10.1 instead.
10.4 You may end immediately if we commit a serious breach that cannot be remedied or do not fix a remediable serious breach within 14 calendar days after your written notice. If we permanently cannot provide a material part of the paid-for service and cannot agree an alternative, you may also end immediately. No minimum-term exit payment applies where you lawfully terminate for our material breach.
10.5 We will tell you the status of outstanding accepted tasks and any imminent FCA deadlines known to us. We will provide existing approved documents, available submission receipts and client-owned records electronically within five business days, or sooner where reasonably necessary to prevent avoidable regulatory harm. You must arrange alternative support. Termination does not withdraw your FCA application, cancel your authorisation or end your regulatory obligations.
10.6 Reinstatement Following Suspension. Where Services have been suspended because of non- payment, failure to cooperate, missing information or another Client breach, reinstatement is not automatic. 009 Compliance Ltd may require all outstanding sums to be paid, the cause of suspension to be remedied and any necessary information, documents or approvals to be supplied before Services resume. Any reinstatement, additional administrative work, reconstruction of records or catch-up reporting may be subject to additional charges agreed with the Client in advance. 009 Compliance Ltd is not obliged to prioritise delayed work, provide emergency assistance or guarantee that regulatory deadlines affected by the suspension can still be met. Where we decide not to resume Services after the cause of suspension has been fully remedied, we may exercise our termination rights under section 10. We will not continue charging indefinitely for Services we have decided not to provide.
10.7 Subscription Fees During Suspension. Where Services are lawfully suspended because of the Client's non-payment, failure to cooperate, failure to provide required information or another breach of this Agreement, the suspension shall not automatically terminate the subscription or release the Client from its contractual payment obligations. Monthly subscription fees shall continue to fall due during a reasonable period of temporary suspension where 009 Compliance Ltd remains ready and able to resume the agreed Services once the Client remedies the breach. The Client shall not be entitled to a refund or reduction in properly accrued subscription fees merely because Services were unavailable as a result of its own breach. 009 Compliance Ltd may terminate the Agreement in accordance with section 10. Following termination, accrued fees and any recoverable loss relating to the unexpired minimum term shall be dealt with under clause 6.4. No amount shall be recovered twice, and 009 Compliance Ltd shall not continue charging indefinitely for Services which it has permanently ceased to make available.
11. No guaranteed outcome or continuous availability
11.1 We will perform our agreed administrative services with reasonable care and skill. 009 Compliance Ltd does not guarantee FCA authorisation, the FCA's timing or decisions, successful complaint outcomes or that a policy or template alone will make a business compliant. You remain responsible for implementing your own policies and decisions. We do not independently audit every item you provide.
11.2 Services may be affected by FCA outages, platform problems or events beyond reasonable control. We will tell you about material disruptions and take reasonable steps to limit their effect. Regulatory deadlines do not automatically move because a system is unavailable. We do not provide an emergency or out-of-hours service unless separately agreed.
12. Responsibility, claims and liability limit
12.1 Neither party limits liability for fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation, death or personal injury caused by negligence, or any other liability that the law does not permit to be limited. Nothing in these terms limits a regulator’s powers or an individual’s statutory data-protection rights.
12.2 You are responsible for loss caused by inaccurate or incomplete information you give us, late approvals, failure to follow FCA requirements or unlawful business conduct. We are responsible for our own failure to use reasonable care and skill to the extent that failure causes legally recoverable loss. Your approval does not excuse a transcription or processing error caused by us.
12.3 Subject to 12.1, we will not be liable for lost profits, lost revenue, lost business opportunities, loss of goodwill or reputation, or indirect or consequential losses. We are not responsible for an independent FCA decision or third-party failure beyond our reasonable control, except to the extent our own breach caused or contributed to the loss. These limits do not remove the express obligation to refund unearned prepaid fees where due.
12.4 Subject to 12.1 and any applicable legal test of reasonableness, our total liability for all claims arising from acts or omissions in any Contract Year is limited to 12 times your standard monthly subscription fee, excluding VAT, referral discounts and separately charged work, in force at the beginning of that Contract Year. The first Contract Year begins when these terms first apply to your paid subscription; each later Contract Year starts on its anniversary. This is one total cap for the year, not a separate cap for each incident or claim. Related claims from the same originating cause count against the cap for the year of the first act or omission.
12.5 For example, a £100 standard monthly subscription gives a £1,200 annual cap even if referral discounts reduce the amount you actually pay. Repayment of money taken in error and refunds expressly due under this agreement sit outside that cap. You may ask us to consider an expressly agreed higher cap and corresponding price before you subscribe. The cap is subject to applicable law and is not guaranteed to apply in every case.
12.6 You must tell us reasonably promptly of a suspected error or claim, give enough detail for us to investigate and take reasonable steps to limit loss. Where practical and without missing a legal deadline, give us a reasonable chance to correct administrative mistakes. Claims remain subject to applicable legal time limits.
12.7 You will reimburse us for reasonable, evidenced third-party claims and defence costs to the extent caused by materially inaccurate, incomplete or misleading information supplied by you, unlawful instructions, infringement of our intellectual property or serious breach of confidentiality, except to the extent caused by our negligence or breach. We must give you prompt notice, act reasonably to mitigate loss and not settle on your behalf without appropriate consent.
12.8 Subject to clause 12.1 and applicable law, the exclusions and limitations in this section apply to liability arising out of or in connection with this agreement, its formation and the services, whether arising in contract, tort (including negligence), misrepresentation, breach of statutory duty or otherwise. For the purposes of clause 12.4, a claim arising from a statement, act or omission before formation of this agreement is allocated to the first Contract Year. This clause does not retrospectively limit liability already accrued under a previous agreement, or affect the repayments and refunds preserved by clause 12.5.
13. Personal information and data protection
13.1 We each comply with applicable UK data-protection law. We are an independent controller for our own accounts, billing, business contacts and legal records. You are responsible as controller for personal data about your directors, staff, customers and others that you supply for compliance administration, applications, reporting or related tasks. When we handle that data solely on your documented instructions to provide the subscription assistance, the remaining paragraphs of this section form the data-processing agreement between us.
13.2 Processing covers collecting, organising, storing, formatting, transmitting, correcting and returning or deleting information necessary for the compliance administration assistance in section 2 and tasks you instruct us to undertake. It lasts for the subscription and lawful close-down period. The information may include names, contact details, positions, ownership and employment histories, evidence of business arrangements and limited customer or transaction information for agreed reporting. Individuals concerned may be directors, controllers, staff, business contacts and, where necessary, customers. You decide which lawful information is supplied, its purposes and the instructions we follow.
13.3 We will use this information only on documented lawful instructions, including relevant FCA submissions, unless UK law requires otherwise. Where law requires processing outside your instructions, we will tell you before processing unless legally prohibited from doing so. We will keep the information confidential, restrict staff access and use proportionate technical and organisational security measures, including appropriate access controls and secure transmission. We will inform you immediately if, in our opinion, an instruction infringes applicable data-protection law. We will notify you without undue delay after becoming aware of a personal-data breach affecting data processed on your behalf, providing the information reasonably available and further relevant information as it becomes available. 009 Compliance Ltd shall ensure that personnel authorised to process personal data on behalf of the Client are subject to appropriate contractual or statutory confidentiality obligations. Where subcontractors process such information, 009 Compliance Ltd shall require equivalent confidentiality and data-protection obligations in accordance with clause 13.4.
13.4 You authorise us generally to use appropriate hosting, storage, IT support and service providers as subprocessors where necessary for the contracted work. We will impose equivalent data-protection duties on them and remain responsible for their performance as required by law. We will make the current subprocessor list available on request and notify you in advance of any intended addition or replacement of a subprocessor, allowing a reasonable opportunity to object on data-protection grounds before the change takes effect. If an objection cannot reasonably be resolved, either party may terminate the affected service without an early-exit charge.
13.5 Taking account of the nature of the processing, we will provide appropriate technical and organisational assistance, so far as possible, to enable you to respond to individuals exercising their rights under Chapter III of the UK GDPR. Taking account of the nature of the processing and the information available to us, we will also assist you with your obligations under Articles 32 to 36, including security, breach notifications, data protection impact assessments and any required prior consultation with the supervisory authority. We will make available information reasonably required to demonstrate compliance with processor obligations and permit an appropriately scoped audit on reasonable notice, subject to confidentiality, security and cost arrangements that do not undermine legal rights.
13.6 When the relevant processing services end, we will, at your choice, return or securely delete the personal data processed on your behalf. We will also delete remaining processor copies, including after returning the data, unless UK law requires their retention. If you do not communicate a choice after we give you a reasonable opportunity to do so, you instruct us to securely delete the data. Backup copies awaiting deletion will be placed beyond ordinary use, protected against further processing other than necessary recovery, and deleted through an appropriate secure rotation. We may retain limited records as an independent controller only where we have a lawful basis and a justified retention period for accounting, security or establishing, exercising or defending legal claims. International transfers will only occur using a valid lawful transfer mechanism.
13.7 Do not send us unnecessary sensitive material. Criminal-offence information, DBS information or special-category personal data may be supplied only where genuinely needed, you have an appropriate lawful basis and safeguards, and we have agreed a secure way to handle it. We do not require routine retention of DBS certificates.
13.8 Finance Partners, Introducers and Business Information Sharing. The Client acknowledges that 009 Compliance Ltd may receive business introductions from finance providers, lenders, brokers, accountants, professional advisers and other commercial partners. Where the Client has been introduced to us by such a partner, the Client authorises 009 Compliance Ltd to communicate with that introducing partner and provide reasonable business-level updates concerning the services being provided and the progress of the Client's FCA application or regulatory administration. Such updates may include confirmation that the Client has engaged our services, whether an FCA application has been prepared or submitted, its current stage, whether further information or action is outstanding, and whether authorisation has been granted, refused or withdrawn. We may also provide relevant company details, FCA reference numbers and information already available on the public FCA Register. Where relevant to administering a disclosed commercial, referral, funding or subscription-subsidy arrangement, 009 Compliance Ltd may also share necessary business-level information concerning sales volumes, finance volumes, lender usage, commission totals and related trading activity with the relevant participating partner. Information will be limited to what is reasonably necessary for the relevant purpose and shared subject to applicable confidentiality and data-protection requirements. The Client authorises these disclosures for the purposes of its contractual confidentiality obligations. This clause does not authorise unrestricted disclosure of personal data or override any applicable legal requirement for a lawful basis, transparency or additional safeguards. We will not disclose DBS certificates, criminal history, sensitive personal information or confidential FCA correspondence containing such information to an introducing partner merely because that partner referred the Client. Information shared under this clause must not be used by the receiving partner for an unrelated purpose without appropriate authority or another lawful basis.
13.9 Information Provided to Finance Partners and Third Parties. Any application-progress update, regulatory information, business data or other communication provided by 009 Compliance Ltd to an introducing finance partner, lender, broker or other third party is provided for general information, referral administration and legitimate commercial purposes only. Such information shall not constitute independent verification, certification, regulatory assurance, professional advice or confirmation that the Client satisfies any particular FCA requirement. 009 Compliance Ltd does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of information originally supplied by the Client or the timing or outcome of any FCA application. No communication with a third party shall, solely by reason of that communication, create an advisory relationship, contractual undertaking or assumption of professional responsibility by 009 Compliance Ltd towards that third party. This clause does not exclude any liability which cannot lawfully be excluded.
13.10 Confidentiality of Information Shared with Finance Partners. The Client expressly authorises 009 Compliance Ltd to provide introducing finance partners and other relevant commercial partners with reasonable updates and business-level information for the purposes described in clause 13.8, without requiring separate approval for each individual communication. Such disclosures may include application progress, outstanding requirements, authorisation status and relevant business information necessary to administer an agreed referral, funding or commercial arrangement. 009 Compliance Ltd may rely on information provided or confirmed by the Client when communicating with these parties and is not required to independently audit or verify that information. Where commercially confidential information is shared, appropriate confidentiality and permitted-use restrictions shall be applied to the receiving party, having regard to the nature of the information and the purpose of disclosure. 009 Compliance Ltd shall not be responsible for an independent act, omission or unauthorised subsequent disclosure by a receiving third party except to the extent that the loss results from 009 Compliance Ltd's own breach or failure to exercise reasonable care. All disclosures remain subject to applicable confidentiality and data-protection law.
14. Notices, revisions and legal terms
14.1 Send cancellation, complaints or formal notices to info@009compliance.com. We may send contractual notices to the business email used for your account or later notified to us. An email notice is treated as received on delivery between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm UK time on a Monday to Friday excluding public holidays in England, or at 9.00 am on the next such business day if delivered outside those hours, unless a failure notice or credible evidence shows otherwise.
14.2 If you complain, we will acknowledge the complaint within five business days and aim to respond substantively within 20 business days. We will explain any material delay. This is a commercial service agreement; we do not claim that the Financial Ombudsman Service has jurisdiction over 009.
14.3 We may update the website version of these terms for future customers. Existing customers are not automatically moved onto revised main terms merely because we publish them or because they continue logging in. An agreed change to your existing contract requires your affirmative acceptance, except for changes expressly allowed here, including VAT adjustments, post-minimum fee changes and referral-scheme changes on their stated notice periods.
14.4 These terms, the applicable standard subscription price accepted on our website or continued from your existing paid arrangement, and any separately agreed written quotation for extra work form the entire agreement. Your subscription covers the general assistance described in these terms, rather than a pre-selected list of tasks. Routine requests and acceptance of individual tasks do not vary these terms or remove the liability protections in section 12. We may use suitably competent subcontractors and remain responsible for their work within applicable legal limits. You consent to our transferring or novating this agreement to a purchaser of all or substantially all of our business or to a successor undertaking, provided that the new provider agrees to perform our contractual obligations, your contractual rights and data-protection safeguards are not materially reduced, and we give you written notice. You may transfer this agreement only with our prior written consent, not to be unreasonably withheld.
14.5 If a provision cannot lawfully be enforced, the rest continues so far as it can operate independently. Not enforcing a right once does not waive it in future. Only the contracting parties may enforce these terms under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999, without affecting any independent legal rights. The law and courts of England and Wales govern this agreement.
14.6 Continuing Protection Following Termination. Termination or expiry of this Agreement shall not affect any rights, obligations, claims or liabilities accrued before termination. All provisions which by their nature are intended to continue after termination shall remain effective, including provisions relating to: Outstanding subscription fees, unpaid invoices and lawful debt recovery; recoverable losses arising from Client breach; confidentiality and protection of commercially sensitive information; intellectual property, permitted document use and protection against misuse by competitors; limitations and exclusions of liability; Client indemnities and qualifying third-party claims; data protection, lawful retention and deletion of records; and disputes, applicable law and enforcement of contractual rights. These provisions shall continue for as long as necessary to give effect to their intended purpose, subject to applicable law and statutory limitation periods. Termination shall not release the Client from liability for breaches or payment obligations arising before termination.
009 Compliance Ltd • www.009compliance.com • info@009compliance.com • 0330 043 2377