Welcome to our Website
By continuing to browse and use this website, www.thevds.co.uk (our website), you are agreeing to comply with and be bound by the following terms and conditions of use, which, together with our privacy policy, govern the Veterinary Defence Society's relationship with you in relation to our website, whether as a guest or as a registered user. If you do not agree to these terms of use, you must not use our website. Please read these terms of use carefully before you start to use our website, as these will apply to your use of our website. We recommend that you print a copy of these terms for future reference. The term "Veterinary Defence Society" or "VDS" or "us" or "we" refers to the owner of the website, being The Veterinary Defence Society Limited. The Veterinary Defence Society Limited is a company limited by guarantee, incorporated in England and Wales under Company No 2159441. Registered Office: 4 Haig Court, Parkgate Industrial Estate, Knutsford, Cheshire, WA16 8XZ. Registered in England and Wales no. 2159441. Registered Office: 8th Floor, Block E, Iveagh Court, Harcourt Road, Dublin 2. Registered in Ireland no. 909190. The term "you" refers to the user or viewer of our website. The Veterinary Defence Society Limited (trading as VDS Insurance) is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. The Veterinary Defence Society Limited (trading as VDS Insurance) is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland as a branch in Ireland. Should you wish to contact us in relation to these terms of use, or our website generally, please feel free to write to us at the address above, at admin@thevds.co.uk or using the contact form on our website.
Site Content
The content of the pages of this website is for your general information and use only. It is subject to change without notice and although we will endeavour to update our website regularly, content may be out of date at any given time.
Neither we nor any third parties provide any warranty or guarantee as to the accuracy, timeliness, performance, completeness or suitability of the information and materials found or offered on our website for any particular purpose. You acknowledge that such information and materials may contain inaccuracies or errors and we expressly exclude liability for any such inaccuracies or errors to the fullest extent permitted by law. Any reliance you place on such information or materials is therefore strictly at your own risk.
Your use of any information or materials on our website is entirely at your own risk, for which we shall not be liable. It shall be your own responsibility to ensure that any products, services or information available through our website meet your specific requirements.
Accessing our Website
Our website is made available free of charge.
We do not guarantee that our website, or any content on it, will always be available or that access will be uninterrupted. Access to our website is permitted on a temporary basis. We may suspend, withdraw, discontinue or change all or any part of our website without notice. We will not be liable to you if for any reason our website is unavailable at any time or for any period.
You are responsible for making all arrangements necessary for you to have access to our website. You are also responsible for ensuring that all persons who access our website through your internet connection are aware of these terms of use and other applicable terms and conditions, and that they comply with them.
Unauthorised use of this website may give rise to a claim for damages and/or be a criminal offence.
Your Account and Password
If you choose, or you are provided with, a user identification code, password or any other piece of information as part of our security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential. You must not disclose it to any third party.
We have the right to disable any user identification code or password, whether chosen by you or allocated by us, at any time, if in our reasonable opinion you have failed to comply with any of the provisions of these terms of use.
If you know or suspect that anyone other than you knows your user identification code or password, you must promptly notify us at admin@thevds.co.uk.
Viruses
We do not guarantee that our website will be secure or free from bugs or viruses. You are responsible for configuring your information technology, computer programmes and platform in order to access our website. You should use your own virus protection software. You must not misuse our website by knowingly introducing viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material which is malicious or technologically harmful. You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to our website, any server on which our website is stored or any server, computer or database connected to our website. You must not attack our website via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of-service attack. By breaching this provision, you would commit a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. We will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities and we will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them. In the event of such a breach, your right to use our website will cease immediately.
Disclaimer
Nothing in these terms of use excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury arising from our negligence, or our fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited by English law.
To the extent permitted by law, we shall not be liable for any loss or damage including, without limitation, loss of data, damage to goodwill, loss of business interruption or loss of profits, arising out of or in connection with the use of or inability to use our website or reliance on any information or material displayed on our website.
If you are a consumer user, please note that we only provide our site for private use. You agree not to use our site for any commercial or business purposes, and we have no liability to you for any loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption or loss of business opportunity.
We will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a virus, distributed denial-of-service attack, or other technologically harmful material that may infect your computer equipment, computer programs, data or other proprietary material due to your use of our website or to your downloading of any content on it or on any website linked to it.
We assume no responsibility for the content of sites linked on our website. Such links should not be interpreted as endorsement by us of those linked sites. VDS will not be liable for any loss or damage that may arise in relation to your use or attempted use of such sites.
Different limitations and exclusions of liability will apply to liability arising as a result of the contract between us should you purchase any of our products or services. Please see your contract for details (or contact us with any query).
UK and ROI Only
The pages on our website are intended for access and use by people residing in the United Kingdom. We do not represent that content available on or through our website is appropriate or available in other locations. We may limit the availability of our website or any service or product described on our website to any person or geographic area at any time. If you choose to access our website from outside the United Kingdom you do so at your own risk.
International Enquiries
If you are accessing this website from outside the UK, local legislation may not permit us to provide products for you in your own country. We accept no liability to you for any losses or liability you may incur as a result of your accessing this website from outside the UK.
Intellectual Property
The Veterinary Defence Society Limited logo is a registered trademark. The Veterinary Defence Society Limited or third parties may also claim rights in other trade marks, service marks, logos and icons contained on this site. All rights in all trade marks appearing on the website are expressly reserved.
Our website contains material which is owned by or licensed to us. This material includes, but is not limited to, the design, layout, look, appearance and graphics of the website. Copyright in the whole and every part of this website belongs to the Veterinary Defence Society Limited, unless otherwise indicated. All such rights are reserved. Reproduction is prohibited other than as set out in this section or with our prior written consent.
You may print off one copy, and may download extracts, of any page(s) from our website for your personal use and you may draw the attention of others within your organisation to content posted on our website. Our status (and that of any identified contributors) as the authors of content on our website must always be acknowledged in any such copies.
You must not modify the paper or digital copies of any materials you have printed off or downloaded in any way, and you must not use any illustrations, photographs, video or audio sequences or any graphics separately from any accompanying text. You must not use any part of the content on our website for commercial purposes without obtaining a licence to do so from us or our licensors.
If you print off, copy or download any part of our website in breach of these terms of use, your right to use our website will cease immediately and you must, at our option, return or destroy any copies of the materials you have made.
All trademarks reproduced in this website that are not the property of, or licensed to, VDS, are acknowledged on the website.
Our logos are registered UK trade marks of The Veterinary Defence Society Ltd.
Availability
Whilst we take all reasonable steps to ensure this website is always accessible we will not be held liable if, for any reason, the website is unavailable for any period. We may also have to suspend access to the website for routine or emergency updates and maintenance but we will endeavour to keep any disruption to a minimum.
In addition we cannot warrant that this website will be free of viruses or defects of any description and we will not be held responsible for any technical problems you may suffer as a result of your use of this website.
Third Party Websites
This website may also contain hypertext links to websites operated by third parties. The responsibility for the operation and content of those websites shall rest solely with the organisation identified as controlling the third party website and will be governed by separate terms and conditions. Links are provided for convenience and inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement in any way of the site to which it links. We accept no responsibility or liability for the contents of any linked website. You acknowledge that, unlike us, the operators of such sites may not be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority or the Prudential Regulation Authority.
You may link to our home page, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it.
You must not establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on our part where none exists. You must not establish a link to our website in any website that is not owned by you.
Our website must not be framed on any other site, nor may you create a link to any part of our website other than the home page.
We reserve the right to withdraw linking permission without notice.
If you wish to make any use of content on our website other than that set out above, please contact us at admin@thevds.co.uk.
Personal Information
Our usage of your personal information is governed by our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these terms. Please read the Privacy Policy carefully - it deals with your rights and our obligations in relation to your personal data, including what we can do with it and to whom we may disclose it, together with your rights of access.
Variations
We reserve the right to update these terms from time to time. Please check these terms regularly as your continued use of our website constitutes your acceptance of the terms. In the event of any significant update we will notify you by way of notice when accessing our website. We recommend you regularly revisit this page to ensure you have seen and are aware of our latest terms.
Choice of Law
English law shall govern these terms of use and in the event of a dispute you irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts (save that if you are using our website as a private individual and not in a business context, you may also bring a claim in Wales if you live in Wales, in Scotland if you live in Scotland and in Northern Ireland if you live in Northern Ireland).