Fees, Billing, Cancellation & Refunds Policy

1. Plans and prices

Our current plans and prices are shown at https://www.effectiveclerking.co.uk/#pricing.

We are not currently VAT registered, so no VAT is added and the price shown on the pricing page is the total price you pay. There are no set-up fees, no hidden charges, and no additional charges that are not shown before you pay. If we register for VAT in future, we will show VAT-inclusive totals on the pricing page itself, not only at checkout. We do not offer a free trial.

2. How payment works

2.1 Payment is taken by Stripe. We do not see or store your full card number. Stripe stores your payment method securely and we hold only the card type, last four digits and expiry date, so you can identify it.

2.2 Subscriptions are paid in advance for the billing period you select.

2.3 By subscribing you authorise recurring charges for your plan on your chosen billing cycle, until you cancel.

2.4 An invoice or receipt is issued for every payment and is available in your account.

3. Renewal and price changes

3.1 Subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each billing period, at the then-current price for your plan, unless cancelled before renewal.

3.2 We will give you at least 30 days’ notice by email of any price increase affecting your renewal. If you do not accept it, cancel before the renewal date and the increase will not apply to you.

3.3 We do not increase prices mid-term.

5. Cancelling

5.1 You can cancel at any time, from your account settings or by emailing support@effectiveclerking.co.uk. It takes a few clicks; we do not require a phone call, a retention conversation, or notice in a particular form.

5.2 Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current billing period. You keep full access until then.

5.3 Export anything you need before your access ends, using the export features in the Service — see section 9. Section 8 explains what happens if you do not.

5.4 We do not charge a cancellation fee.

6. If you are a consumer — your 14-day cancellation right

6.1 You have the right to cancel within 14 days of entering into the contract, without giving any reason.

6.2 How to cancel. Tell us clearly — an email to support@effectiveclerking.co.uk saying you want to cancel is enough. You may use the model cancellation form we send with your order confirmation, but you do not have to. The deadline is met if you send your message before the 14 days expire.

6.3 Starting straight away. Because you will almost certainly want to use the Service immediately, we ask you at checkout to confirm two things:

that you request we begin providing the Service straight away; and

that you acknowledge you will lose your right to cancel once the Service has been fully provided, and that if you cancel during the 14-day period you will pay a proportionate amount for what has been supplied up to the point you told us.

We capture this with a checkbox that is not pre-ticked, and confirm it in the order confirmation email.

6.4 Refunds. If you cancel under this section, we refund what you paid, less any proportionate amount under 6.3, within 14 days of being told, using the same payment method.

6.5 This right is in addition to your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 if something is wrong with the Service.

7. Refunds generally

7.1 Outside section 6, fees are non-refundable and we do not refund unused parts of a billing period. This is standard for subscription software and is reflected in clause 4.8 of the Terms of Service.

7.2 We will refund, pro rata, where:

we terminate for convenience under clause 14.3 of the Terms of Service;

we make a change that materially reduces functionality and you terminate under clause 2.5;

we change the Terms materially and you terminate under clause 15.2;

we materially breach the Terms and do not fix it after notice.

7.3 If you think you have been charged in error, tell us at support@effectiveclerking.co.uk. We will investigate and, if we agree, refund promptly. Please contact us before raising a chargeback — it is faster, and a chargeback may suspend your account automatically.

7.4 We may, at our discretion, refund in circumstances not listed here. Doing so once does not set a precedent.

8. Failed payments and suspension

8.1 If a payment fails we will retry it and email you.

8.2 If it remains unpaid after 14 days, we may suspend access. We will give written notice first, warning you that continued non-payment can lead to your account being closed and your data deleted under section 9.

8.3 Suspension does not cancel your subscription or clear what you owe. Paying the outstanding amount restores access.

8.4 If an account stays suspended for a further 60 days without payment, we may terminate it under clause 14.4 of the Terms of Service and close it in the same way as a voluntary closure. Your data is then handled under section 9.

9. What happens to your data

9.1 Export everything you need before you cancel or your account is terminated, using the export features in the Service — access ends immediately once that happens, so there is no export window afterwards.

9.2 After cancellation or termination you have 30 days to ask us to reopen the account, which restores full access including export. If you do not, we permanently delete your content from live systems at the end of that period, and any remaining copies are overwritten as our database backups cycle out — currently within 7 days.

9.3 We keep billing records for 6 years to meet UK company and tax record requirements. That is a legal obligation and applies even after deletion of everything else.

9.4 Full detail is in our Privacy Policy and our Data Processing Agreement.

10. Taxes

10.1 We are not currently VAT registered and no VAT is charged.

10.2 The Service is offered only to customers established in the United Kingdom, so no cross-border VAT arrangements apply.

10.3 You are responsible for any other taxes or duties applicable to you.

11. Complaints about billing

Tell us at support@effectiveclerking.co.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response, our Complaints Procedure sets out how to escalate. We are not a member of any alternative dispute resolution scheme.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy. Material changes affecting existing subscriptions will be notified at least 30 days in advance by email.