Terms of Service
Houseflow allows you to pay your utility bills in one go.
You agree to the terms and conditions of this agreement in order to use the Houseflow service.
The terms of this Agreement form a legal agreement between you and Houseflow Billing Limited, a company registered in England and Wales with company number 11979814 and registered office at 105 Grove Lane, Hale, Altrincham, Greater Manchester, WA15 8JQ (we or us) for your use of the Services.
As part of the Houseflow Service, you are required to send us information from time to time. You should send such information to info@houseflow.co.uk.
1 Definitions
1.1 In this Agreement, the following words have the following meanings:
Address: the address that you have provided to us for the purposes of the Houseflow Service;
Effective Date: the date on which you register an account and agree to the terms of this Agreement by clicking the “Agree” button or signing a contract;
IP Rights: any patent, trade mark, registered design or any application for registration of the same, or the right to apply for registration of the same, any copyright or related rights, database right, design rights, rights in trade, business or domain names, rights in trade dress, rights in inventions, rights in confidential information or know-how or any similar of equivalent rights in any part of the world;
Houseflow Plan: the monthly bill that we send to you under the One Bill Service;
Houseflow Service: the service that we provide to you under the terms and conditions of this Agreement;
Platform: the Houseflow platform operated by us including all updates and upgrades;
Users, You: all and any of the individuals or company who are responsible for paying a Utility Bill;
Utility Bill: any sums due from a Utility Company for the Address; and
Utility Companies: the companies providing utility services to you from time to time that are part of the Houseflow Service that we select from time to time.
1.2
Any references to clauses are to other clauses of this Agreement. Words in the singular include the plural. The clause headings are for reference only. General words shall not be given a narrow interpretation because they are preceded or followed by words suggesting a particular type of matters or things.
1.3 All obligations in this agreement on‘a user’ or ‘any user’ are obligations that we can enforce against all users or any individual user at our sole discretion.
2. Sign up
2.1 When signing up to the Houseflow Service, you do so on the basis that the quote you have received is based on an estimate and is subject to change in line with actual usage. Any change in price will be communicated to you before you are charged.
2.2 To receive the Houseflow Service for Utility Companies at an Address (a) all Users must sign up for the Houseflow Service and set up your payments with our payment provider, MangoPay; (b) at least 2 (two) utility service providers for the Address must be a Utility Company for the purposes of the Houseflow Service; (c) no User is the subject of a bankruptcy order; and (d) no sums can be outstanding in respect of a Utility Bill or otherwise in relation to the occupation of the Address;
2.3 The first User to sign up must provide the name, email address and telephone number for all Users. The first User shall ensure that they have the permission of all Users to provide such data to us. Once the final User signs up for the Houseflow Service and MangoPay account, one of the Users shall send to us a photograph of the then current meter readings to Houseflow from the meter supplied by the Utility Companies confirming the date of the reading. If you fail to provide a current meter reading, we shall have no obligation to provide the Houseflow Service.
2.4 You agree that some Utility Companies will require the Utility Bill to include our name. Accordingly, you shall provide such assistance and documentation as is required by any such Utility Company to add our name to the account. Although the Utility Bill may therefore reference our name, you agree that you remain ultimately liable for the payment of the Utility Bill.
2.5 You agree you must pay any set up costs due to the Utility Company, including installation of a telephone line or other internet connection and the costs of providing, installing and delivering an Internet router. These set up costs will be included in the first Houseflow Plan you receive.
2.6 You agree that upon submission of an order for the Houseflow Service, you will be granting Houseflow full authority to contact Utility Companies, share your details and sign new supplier agreements on your behalf to enable Houseflow to transfer and/or commence the Utilities with effect from the Effective Date. You also agree and confirm that by entering into the Houseflow Service, you give us full authority to act on your behalf from the date of the order for the purposes of providing the Houseflow Service.
3. Houseflow Services
3.1
In consideration of you agreeing to be bound by the terms of this Agreement, we shall provide the Houseflow Service with reasonable skill and care and in a timely manner.
3.2
In order to enable us to provide the Houseflow Service (a) we shall contact Users via email, and accordingly you agree to read and where necessary respond to the email message that we send from time to time; and (b) on or around the 15th day of each month, you shall, or shall procure that a User shall, send to us a photograph of the then current meter readings for any meter supplied by the Utility Companies confirming the date of the reading. If you fail to provide a current meter reading we may telephone you or any of your Users to remind you to do so, or we may estimate your meter reading.
3.3
We shall supply the meter readings to the relevant Utility Company, and following receipt of all Utility Bills for your Address we shall submit to you and your Users the Houseflow Plan via email.
3.4
Houseflow shall be paid by you and/or your Users by the 1st of the month or as stated on your invoice(s) via our payment provider, GoCardless. Accordingly, you agree to comply with the terms and conditions of GoCardless in force from time to time. If you do not have sufficient funds in your GoCardless account, or any other account linked to your GoCardLess account and as a result payment of all or part of a Houseflow Plan is not received, we reserve the right to add to the sums due to us an additional £10.00 per property for each payment not received in respect of our administration costs and managing the payment of the sums due to the Utility Companies. The same fee applies when a user cancels their direct debit without prompt.
3.5
You agree that you are jointly and severally liable with your Users to pay the Houseflow Plan. This means that if one User fails to pay their share, the other Users must pay that share. In practice, if any User fails to pay their share of the Houseflow by the due date, we shall telephone the User who has failed to pay and ask them to do so. If that User fails to respond, or in any event fails to pay their share of the Houseflow Service by the time the next Houseflow Service is due to be sent, then the outstanding sum shall be payable by the other Users as part of the next Houseflow Service.
3.6
If you wish to obtain a copy of a Utility Bill, please contact us. Please note that it is not always possible to provide copies of the original bills, because the bills may go into our company name and are often bulk bills with multiple property details which we cannot share, for data protection reasons. If you reasonably believe that all or part of a Utility Bill is incorrect, please provide to us written evidence to dispute the bill and we shall use our reasonable endeavours to resolve the dispute with the Utility Company in question. However, you agree that until such dispute is resolved, you and your Users shall pay the Houseflow Plan in accordance with the terms of this Agreement. Any refund from a Utility Company following such a dispute shall be shared equally between the Users in the next Houseflow Plan.
3.7
Initial Monthly Quote - Houseflow quote you a price that is an estimate for your energy and water bills.
3.8
Increase of monthly payments - During your tenancy, Houseflow will monitor your energy and water usages by asking for photos of your gas, electricity and water meters. If your home's usage is higher than the price you are paying for energy and water, your bill will increase to cover the cost of the bill.
4. Changes to the Houseflow Service
4.1
You agree that you cannot change Utility Company at any time during the term of your Houseflow services.
4.2
If you intend to change Address at any time, you shall give to us at least 30 days’ notice us with details of the new Address, together with a meter reading at the date of change for all Utility Companies at the old Address and for any Utility Company at the new Address. You agree that we shall be entitled to prepare a Houseflow Plan solely for fees due to the Utility Companies at the old Address.
4.3
Notwithstanding the provisions of this Clause 4, if you change Address, you shall comply with all requirements of any affected Utility Company.
4.4
If any User leaves the Address, you shall immediately notify us with details of the new User, if any. You agree that we shall continue to provide the Houseflow Service to all the remaining Users, and the Single Bill will be divided to reflect any change in the number of Users.
5. Our Fee
5.1
You agree that in consideration of the provision of the Houseflow Services, we shall add to each Houseflow Plan our fee for the Houseflow Service, and/or take in full any commission received from suppliers for the procurement of their services.
5.2
Unless agreed otherwise, we build a percentage fee of 15% into our price rates for the Houseflow Service. The net rate at which you pay Houseflow (termed ‘effective rate’) may still be lower than what you would pay if dealing with individual suppliers directly.
6. Termination
6.1
Each User has 14 days from the Effective Date to cancel their Houseflow Plan without the payment of any fee for the Houseflow Service. If you wish to exercise this right, you should contact us in writing. You agree that you will remain liable for all costs of the Utility Company notwithstanding cancellation of the Houseflow account.
6.2
You can terminate your Houseflow Services on 30 days’ notice at any time, provided that if you do so all Users shall be deemed to have terminated their Houseflow Plan.
6.3
We may terminate all Users’ right to use the Houseflow Services if (a) any User fails to pay their share of a Houseflow Plan for 2 (two) consecutive months; (b) we do not receive a meter reading for 2 (two) consecutive months; (c) any User is the subject of a bankruptcy order; (d) any User breaches the terms of supply of any Utility Company; and/or (e) any Utility Company deems usage to be unreasonably high with respect to size of the property size and/or the Houseflow Plan.
6.4
You agree that we do not warrant that a Utility Company will remain part of the Houseflow Service, and accordingly, if any Utility Company ceases to operate within the Houseflow Service, we shall select another Utility Company for the Address.
6.5
If your Houseflow Service is terminated, then (a) for all Utility Company accounts that are in our name, you shall provide such assistance and documentation, including all meter readings, as required to terminate the account or transfer the account into the name of a User; (b) all sums due to Utility Companies shall immediately become due and payable and you agree that this means that the fees for any unused term of a fixed term service agreement provided by a Utility Company shall immediately become due and payable; and (c) you are liable for all Utility Bills for the Address, including those that we receive notwithstanding cancellation or termination of the Houseflow Service.
6.6
Where unpaid debits remain following termination and a resolution is not achieved, Houseflow will instruct the default supplier to collect payment directly from the tenants named on the tenancy agreement. These tenants remain ultimately liable for unpaid usage.
6.7
Termination of this Agreement by either party and for any reason will not affect any rights that may have arisen as at the date of termination or which arise following the termination of this Agreement.
6.8
Upon termination of your Houseflow Plan you are liable to pay the following; (a) the outstanding gas/electricity/water balance up to the effective date of cancellation, (b) the payment amount in full for your internet and/or TV subscription included within your Houseflow Plan up to a period of 12 months.
6.9 The remaining amount due for internet and/or TV may be wiped by transferring the account to new bill-payers, setting up a new contract, or transferring the service to a different property.
7 Use of the Platform
7.1
We grant to you a non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to use the Platform on the terms of this Agreement from the Effective Date until it is terminated. You must not use the Platform for commercial purposes without obtaining our written permission to do so.
7.2
You acknowledge that the rights granted in Clause 7.1 do not give you any rights to sub-license the Platform to any other person, and we retain all IP Rights in the Platform.
7.3
You agree that your use of the Platform is and will at all times be in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.
7.4
There may be occasions when access to the Platform may be interrupted, including for scheduled maintenance or upgrades, for emergency repairs, or due to failure of telecommunications links and/or equipment.
8. Restrictions
You acknowledge that all IP Rights in the Platform belong to us or are licensed to us, that the IP Rights in the Platform are licensed (not sold) to you, and that you have no rights in, or to, the Platform other than the right to use it in accordance with this Agreement. Therefore, you shall not, and shall not permit or assist any third party to:
8.1
modify, translate, adapt or copy the whole or any part of the Platform, nor arrange or create derivative works based on the Platform;
8.2
reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble or otherwise attempt to derive or determine the source code for the Platform (except to the extent applicable laws specifically prohibit such restriction);
8.3
make for any purpose including error correction, any modifications, adaptions, additions or enhancements to the Platform;
8.4
combine, match or merge the whole or any part of the Platform with or incorporate the Platform into any third party code;
8.5
sell, purport to assign or license access to the Platform;
8.6
access and use the Platform in order to develop a competitive platform;
8.7
remove or alter any copyright trademark, logo, copyright or other proprietary notices, legends, symbols or labels or other proprietary notice on any of the Platform.
9. Limitation of Liability
9.1 You agree that we have no liability for any (a) error in a Houseflow Plan as a result of an act or omission of a User, a Utility Company or other third party; and (b) failure by a Utility Company properly to supply services to the Address or any other act or omission of a Utility Company; and/or (c) any act or omission of any other User.
9.2
Subject to Clause 9.3 and 9.4, our maximum aggregate liability under or in connection with this Agreement whether in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise, shall in all circumstances be limited to the Fee paid by you for the Houseflow Service in the 6 months before the date the claim arose.
9.3
Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed as excluding or limiting our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation or for any other liability that cannot be excluded by English law.
9.4
The foregoing provisions shall be enforceable to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law but do not affect your consumer statutory rights. For further information about your legal rights in the UK, contact your local authority Trading Standards Department or Citizen’s Advice Bureau.
10. General
10.1
If any provision of this Agreement is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unenforceable, then such provision shall be construed, as nearly as possible, to reflect the intentions of the parties and all other provisions shall remain in full force and effect.
10.2
Our failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of this Agreement shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.
10.3
We may assign or otherwise transfer our rights and obligations under this Agreement to any third parties.
11. Disputes
11.1
If you have any complaint or wish to raise a dispute under this Agreement or otherwise in relation to the Houseflow Services please contact complaints@houseflow.co.uk.
11.2
This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law and you agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.
12.0 Missed Payments
12.1
If you miss a payment with Houseflow and do not notify Houseflow before the payment has been missed you are liable to a £10.00 late payment fee per property. If your payment is missed for a second time, you may be charged an additional £20.00 late payment fee. If your payment is missed for a third time, then you may be charged an additional £30.00 late payment fee.
12.2
Individual suppliers may have their own policies and late payment fees in place. If triggered by fault of the User, these fees will be passed on at cost to the User.
12.3
If a User does not pay for the Houseflow service, Houseflow can do the following, in no particular order:
i - Charge a late payment fee as stated in 12.1 to the non-payer.
ii - Turn off the internet at the property.
iii - Retrieve the funds from the remaining Users.
iv - Retrieve the funds from the holding deposit working in accordance with the landlord or letting agent.
v - Proceed with debt collection measures with the User who has not paid.
13 Updating Terms of Use
Houseflow Billing Ltd reserves the right to update the terms of use at any time. Any User signing up to a Houseflow Plan agrees to this.
You may contact Citizens Advice if you need help with an energy problem that we cannot solve – for example with your bills or meters, or if you’re struggling to pay for the energy you use. They’re the official source of free and independent energy advice and support.
Go to: citizensadvice.org.uk/energy or call their consumer service on 0808 223 1133. Calls are free.
15 As well as agreeing to the Houseflow terms of use, you also agree to the MangoPay terms of use, as seen by clicking here.