1. Our services
2. Accounts and orders
3. Payments and PCI-DSS
4. Continuous payment authority
5. Late payment and suspension
6. Term, cancellation and refunds
7. Acceptable use
8. Backups and your data
9. Availability and support
10. Data protection
11. GDPR and your rights
12. Liability
13. Changes to these terms
14. Governing law
15. Contact

1. Our services

We provide Linux web hosting, virtual and dedicated servers, managed server administration, domain-related services, email and associated support (“the Services”). The exact specification, price and any bespoke arrangements for your Services are confirmed with you by phone, email or on your order before anything is provisioned. Prices shown on our website are “from” prices and are a starting point only.

We will provide the Services with reasonable skill and care. Services are provided for business use unless we agree otherwise in writing.

2. Accounts and orders

• You must be 18 or over and provide accurate, current contact and billing details, and keep them up to date.
• You are responsible for keeping your login details, server credentials and API tokens secure, and for all activity under your account.
• A contract is formed when we confirm your order and begin provisioning the Services.
• We may decline or cancel an order where we reasonably suspect fraud, abuse or inaccurate information.

3. Payments and PCI-DSS compliance

All prices are in pounds sterling (GBP). Unless stated, prices exclude VAT, which is added where applicable. Invoices are payable by the due date shown on the invoice.

Payment processor. All card payments are processed by Stripe (Stripe Payments UK Ltd and its group companies). When you pay, your card details are entered directly into Stripe’s secure systems. Stripe is subject to its own terms and privacy policy, available at stripe.com/gb/legal.

PCI-DSS. Stripe is certified to PCI Service Provider Level 1, the highest level of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS). We do not receive, store or process your full card number, expiry date or security code (CVC) on our own servers or systems. We retain only non-sensitive references provided by Stripe (such as a customer ID, payment method ID, the card brand and the last four digits) so that we can identify your payment method and manage your billing. This keeps our own PCI-DSS scope to the minimum (card data never touches our infrastructure).

If you believe your payment details have been compromised, contact us immediately and also notify your card issuer.

4. Continuous payment authority (subscriptions)

Servers, hosting plans and other recurring Services are subscription-based. By ordering a subscription product and providing a payment card you give us a continuous payment authority (CPA), held via Stripe, to collect payment from that card for:

• the recurring charge for each billing period (monthly, annual or as agreed) as it falls due;
• renewals, and any agreed changes to your plan, resources, add-ons or domains;
• usage or one-off charges you have agreed to; and
• any overdue sums for the Services.

The authority continues until you cancel it or the Services end. You can cancel it at any time by contacting us, or by asking your card issuer to withdraw it (in which case you must still pay any amounts due and should tell us so we can arrange another payment method). We will give you reasonable notice of any change to the amount or date of recurring payments, and in any event before the next payment is taken. Under card scheme rules and the Payment Services Regulations you may also be entitled to dispute payments with your card issuer.

You are responsible for making sure the card on file is valid and has sufficient funds. If a card expires or is replaced, we may use updated card details supplied automatically via Stripe and your card issuer so that your Services are not interrupted.

5. Late payment and suspension

If a payment fails or an invoice is not paid by its due date, we will send reminders and may retry the payment. If the invoice remains unpaid we will give you at least 24 hours’ written notice, after which we may suspend the Services (including websites and servers) until the balance is paid. Suspension does not cancel your contract or stop charges accruing. We may charge reasonable costs of recovering overdue sums and interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 where the Customer is a business. Services unpaid for an extended period may be terminated and the data deleted.

6. Term, cancellation and refunds

• Unless agreed otherwise, subscriptions run month-to-month (or for the period you chose) and renew automatically until cancelled.
• You can cancel by giving us notice (by email, ticket or phone). Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period; we do not normally refund part-periods.
• Where you are a consumer (an individual acting outside a trade or business) you have the right to cancel within 14 days of ordering under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013. If you ask us to start the Services within that period, you will pay for the Services supplied up to the point you cancel.
• Domain registrations, third-party licences and bespoke set-up work are non-refundable once supplied.
• We may terminate the Services on 30 days’ notice, or immediately if you materially breach these terms.
• On termination we will make your data available for a reasonable period on request, after which it may be permanently deleted.

7. Acceptable use

You must not use the Services to:

• break the law or host unlawful, defamatory, infringing or abusive content, or content that exploits children;
• send unsolicited bulk email (spam) or operate open relays or open proxies;
• host or distribute malware, phishing sites or run port scans, denial-of-service or other attacks;
• use resources in a way that harms the performance or security of our network or other customers; or
• resell the Services without our written agreement.

We may remove content or suspend the Services without notice where necessary to deal with a breach, an attack or a legal request, and will tell you as soon as is reasonably possible.

8. Backups and your data

You own your content and data. We take backups as described for your plan, but backups are a recovery aid, not an archive, and you remain responsible for keeping your own copies of important data and for the security and updating of software you install (for example CMS plug-ins) on your hosting or server unless we have agreed to manage it for you.

9. Availability and support

We aim for high availability but do not guarantee uninterrupted Services. Planned maintenance will be notified in advance where practicable. We are not responsible for downtime caused by events outside our reasonable control, such as power or network failures upstream, third-party providers, attacks, or faults in your own software. Support is available through our Contact Support page and by ticket or email at support@iohost.co.uk.

10. Data protection

We comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and, where relevant, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations.

Our role as controller. For the personal data of our own customers (names, contact details, billing information, support history and account activity) we are the data controller. We use it to provide and bill for the Services, provide support, keep our systems secure, meet legal obligations (such as tax records) and to contact you about your account. Our lawful bases are performance of the contract, legal obligation and our legitimate interests in running a secure business. We do not sell personal data.

Our role as processor. Where you host personal data on the Services (for example your own customers’ data on a website or server), you are the controller and we act as your processor. We will process that data only on your documented instructions to provide the Services, keep it confidential, apply appropriate technical and organisational security measures, assist you with data subject requests and breach notification, delete or return it on termination, and allow reasonable audits. These terms form the data processing agreement between us; please contact us if you need a separate signed copy.

Sub-processors and sharing. We share data only with providers needed to deliver the Services, including Stripe (payments), email and support tooling and infrastructure providers, under appropriate contracts. Where data is transferred outside the UK we ensure a lawful transfer mechanism is in place (for example an adequacy decision or standard contractual clauses).

Security and breaches. We use access controls, encryption in transit, hashed passwords and regular updates. If we become aware of a personal data breach affecting you we will notify you without undue delay so that you can meet your own obligations.

Retention. We keep customer account data for as long as you are a customer and then for the periods required for tax, accounting and legal claims (generally up to six years), after which it is deleted.

11. GDPR and your rights

Under data protection law you have the right to be informed, to access your personal data, to have inaccurate data corrected, to have data erased, to restrict or object to processing, to data portability, and to object to direct marketing. You also have rights relating to automated decision making, although we do not make decisions about you solely by automated means. To exercise any right, email support@iohost.co.uk; we will respond within one month.

If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, please tell us first so we can put it right. You may also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.

We use only essential cookies needed to run the site and your login session. We do not use advertising cookies.

12. Liability

Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or anything else that cannot be limited by law, or your statutory rights as a consumer. Subject to that:

• we are not liable for loss of profit, revenue, business, goodwill or anticipated savings, or for indirect or consequential loss;
• we are not liable for data loss that you could have avoided by keeping your own backups; and
• our total liability arising from the Services in any 12-month period is limited to the charges you paid us for the Services in that period.

13. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time, for example to reflect changes in law or our services. We will give existing customers at least 30 days’ notice of material changes by email. Continuing to use the Services after that date means you accept the updated terms; if you do not, you may cancel before they take effect.

14. Governing law

These terms and any dispute arising from them are governed by the laws of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction, except that if you are a consumer living in Scotland or Northern Ireland you may bring proceedings in your local courts.

15. Contact

ioHost, Cornwall, United Kingdom
Support: Contact Support
Email: support@iohost.co.uk