Terms and conditions of business

Applicable to contracts prior to 9 November 2012

Legal entity: "Degree Days Direct", the "Energy Management Register" and "Vesma.com" are services and trading styles of Degree Days Direct Limited, Pound House, Market Square, Newent, Glos GL18 1PS UK ("the Company").

Privacy policy: the Company is committed to protecting the privacy of its customers, paying subscribers and users of its free services. Sensitive information such as credit-card and banking data is only handled on-line through secure channels and is not stored for longer than is necessary. No personal information is stored other than that necessary for communication in the course of the Company's business. Personal data are never passed to third parties.

Cancellation policy (subscriptions to data services): the Company strives to accommodate, in a fair manner, requests for premature termination of subscriptions, and will judge each application on its merits. Subscribers must however be aware of certain limitations: (a) in the first year of a subscription the subscriber will have enjoyed access to historical data which is deemed to constitute the major part of the value of the subscription; (b) in the second and subsequent years refunds will only be made on the 'per station' components of the annual charge. The fixed charge element (£50 at the time of writing) covers administration costs and is not refundable. Notwithstanding the above, the Company will honour without charge a request to cancel an order where the service ordered has not yet been activated.

Cancellation policy (places on advertised training courses): the Company strives to accommodate, in a fair manner, requests for cancellation of booked training places, and will judge each application on its merits. Late cancellation causes the Company loss through: (a) non-refundable per-capita venue charges; (b) income foregone when the course is full and applicants have been turned away; and (c) abortive administration work. The Company therefore reserves the right to charge a cancellation fee of £50 plus VAT for cancellations received less than ten working days before the event. This fee will be waived in the case of prepaid places where the customer can be offered, and accepts, a place on a subsequent course.

The full cost of the training place will however remain due where a cancellation is received with less than two clear working days' notice, and likewise should the customer fail to attend without giving notice.

Complaints procedure: complaints may be made in writing to the Company's registered address, or by telephone.

The Company's telephone number, email and postal addresses are on our contact page.

Intellectual property rights: unless stated otherwise, all rights in material published by the Company are reserved. Information transmitted to you by the Company is for your use in connection with your or your employer's business and may not be transmitted (for payment or otherwise) to any third party without the Company's express consent.

As a specific example, a subscriber to the Company's degree-day reports who provides advice and information to his clients may include an extract of the data in a singular report or occasional reports but may not, whether for payment or otherwise, send his client subsequent updates.

Where the Company provides a password for access to information, that password must not be disclosed to any third party, since such disclosure would enable infringment of the Company's intellectual property rights. The Company must be informed of any such disclosure (deliberate or otherwise) that comes to light.

11 April 2008; amended 26 April 2010 (Revert to current version)