Terms of service

DRAFT for Tristan to review. Not legal advice. Fill in the parts in [square brackets]. The "Cancelling" section reflects UK consumer law (the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013). Keep it, even though HouseOnTheHunt has no refund promise. New subscription rules under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 are expected to start in 2027, so check them before then.

Last updated: [date]

These terms are between you (the "lead", who signs up for your group) and [Your name], trading as HouseOnTheHunt, [your contact address or email].

What HouseOnTheHunt does

We watch Exeter letting agents' websites and email you when a student house that fits your group's search goes live. We link to the agent's own advert and name the agent.

We work for students only. We never take money from landlords or agents.

We are not a letting agent. We don't arrange viewings, negotiate, or act for you or a landlord. A Premium viewing request is your own message: we send it only when you confirm it, it's signed by you, and replies go straight to you.

Listings are the agents' information. We check them carefully, but we can't promise every detail is right, or that a house is still available when you contact the agent. Always check with the agent before you pay anything or sign.

HouseOnTheHunt isn't affiliated with the University of Exeter or the Students' Guild.

Plans and payment

• Paid plans renew every month until you cancel. We email you 3 days before each renewal.
• Payments are taken by Stripe. Prices include any VAT that applies.
• If we change a price, we'll tell you at least 30 days before it applies, and you can cancel first.

Free trial

Hunter and Premium start with 2 days free.

• You add a card when you start, but nothing is taken that day.
• When the 2 days end, your first monthly payment is taken, unless you've cancelled.
• We email you the day before the trial ends.
• Cancel any time during the trial from your account page, and you pay nothing.
• One free trial per group. It doesn't apply again to the same email address or the same card. If your card has already had a free trial, your plan starts and is paid for straight away.

Cancelling

• Any time: cancel from "Manage billing" on your account page. Your plan runs until the end of the month you've paid for, and you won't be charged again.
• "We signed!" stops all alerts and cancels your plan straight away.
• Your 14-day right to cancel: you can cancel a new paid plan within 14 days of your first payment. Days in a free trial are never charged.
  • When you sign up you ask us to start your alerts straight away. If you then cancel within the 14 days, you get a refund minus a fair amount for the days you've already had alerts.
  • To use this right, cancel from your account page and email [your email] within the 14 days, or use the "Problem with your plan?" form.
• Other refunds: we don't offer refunds outside the 14 days, but if something has gone wrong, use the "Problem with your plan?" form on the help page and a person will look at it.

Referrals

Share your referral link. When a group that joins through it makes their first payment, your next payment moves back 5 days. A free trial isn't a payment: the reward comes when their first payment is taken.

• One reward per group, ever.
• It can't be combined with other offers.
• Referring yourself doesn't count. That includes using another email address or the same card.

Your part

• Give accurate details about your group, and keep your login to yourself.
• Use viewing requests only for houses you're really interested in, and be polite to agents.
• Don't copy, resell or scrape our alerts.

We can suspend an account that breaks these terms. If we do, we'll refund any unused part of the month.

Our responsibility to you

We'll provide the service with reasonable care and skill. Nothing in these terms limits your legal rights as a consumer, or our responsibility for death or injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.

We're not responsible for agents' adverts, for a house going to someone else, or for any agreement you make with a landlord or agent. If we're responsible for a loss, our total responsibility is limited to what you paid us in the 3 months before it happened.

Changes and contact

We may update these terms. We'll email you about any important change before it applies.

Questions or complaints: [your email]. These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales.