UK Finance Limited a company incorporated in England and Wales with company number 10250295 and with its registered office at 1 Angel Court, London, England, EC2R 7HJ ("UK Finance", "we", "us", “our”) provides access to the Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook (“Handbook”) in digital form (the “Service”).

The following Terms and Conditions ("Terms") set out the terms upon which UK Finance has agreed to grant access to the Service for non-commercial purposes.

Please read these Terms carefully before you start to use the Service. By using the Service at any time, you confirm that you agree (and you will be treated as though you have agreed) to these Terms (as they are in force at that time).

The Disclaimers at Clause 10 apply to you. By accessing the Service, you confirm that you have read and understand these Disclaimers. 

If you would like to learn more about how we address and reduce the risk of illegal content on the Service, please see Clause 5.

1. Contacting us

1.1 You can contact us via email at: [email protected]

2. These Terms

2.1 These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy https://beta-lendershandbook.ukfinance.org.uk/privacy-notice and Cookies Policy https://beta-lendershandbook.ukfinance.org.uk/cookie-policy, constitute the agreement between you and us for the use of the Service.

2.2 We may change these Terms from time to time. Any changes we may make to these Terms in the future will be posted on the Service. By continuing to use and access the Service following such changes, you agree to be bound by them. 

2.3 If you commit a breach of these Terms we reserve the right at our sole discretion immediately and without notice to suspend or permanently deny your access to all or part of the Service.

3. Use of the service and the handbook

3.1 We cannot guarantee that the Service will be fit or suitable for any purpose, and we provide the Service on an "as is" and "as available" basis. We do not guarantee that the Service will always be available or be uninterrupted. We may suspend, withdraw, discontinue or change all or any part of the Service without notice. We will not be liable to you if, for any reason, any of the Service is unavailable at any time or for any period.

3.2 Unless specifically stated otherwise, any new content, features, materials, services or software applications introduced to the Service shall be subject to these Terms.

3.3 The Service is directed to people residing in the United Kingdom. We do not represent that it is appropriate for use or available in other locations. 

4. Your account and password 

4.1 You must be 18 years or older to be eligible to register with us, and to use the Service. By using the Service, you represent and warrant that you are 18 years or older.  You may only register and use one user account.

4.2 If you register with us, you must provide true and accurate information about yourself. Should the registration information provided prove false or misleading, we may suspend or terminate your account in accordance with these Terms. 

4.3 You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account details, including any user identification codes, passwords or any other piece of information that forms part of our security procedures, and you must not disclose these to any third party. 

4.4 You are responsible for all activity under your account even if someone else uses your account. You authorise us to act on instructions received under your account and we will not be liable for any loss that you might suffer through following such instructions whether by you or another person.

4.5 We have the right to disable any user ID 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.

5. Illegal Content

5.1 Illegal content includes:

5.1.1 Terrorism content (including content that constitutes an offence under terrorism legislation);

5.1.2 Child sexual exploitation and abuse content (“CSEA content”); and

5.1.3 Content relating to assisting suicide, threats to kill, public order offences, harassment, stalking and fear or provocation of violence, drugs and psychoactive substances, firearms and other weapons, assisting illegal immigration, human trafficking, sexual exploitation, sexual images, proceeds of crime, fraud, financial services, foreign interference, animal welfare and offences relating to being involved in committing any of these offences (known as inchoate offences).

5.2 This provision sets out what we do to protect you from illegal content as described above. 

5.3 We operate proportionate systems and processes designed to:

5.3.1 prevent users from encountering illegal content on the Service; 

5.3.2 minimise the length of time for which any such content is present on the Service; and

5.3.3 where UK Finance is alerted by a person to the presence of any illegal content, or becomes aware of it in any other way, promptly take down such content.

5.4 Such systems and processes include:

5.4.1 restricting content posting rights to a defined list of mortgage lenders;

5.4.2 having in place contracts with those mortgage lenders requiring them not to post, upload or otherwise make available any illegal content through the Service;

5.4.3 content moderation and review processes (including automated and/or manual review);

5.4.4 mechanisms enabling users to report suspected illegal or non-compliant content;

5.4.5 risk assessment and mitigation measures in respect of user-uploaded content; and

5.4.6 promptly suspending, restricting or removing content and/or user accounts, as appropriate in the context; and 

5.4.7 training of personnel and staff policies regarding the above processes.

5.5 You can report or complain about the following content and behaviours by emailing us at [email protected] :

5.5.1 content you consider to be illegal;

5.5.2 when you think we are not dealing with illegal content or activity as we should;

5.5.3 where you think our content reporting systems and processes do not easily let users report content they believe to be illegal;

5.5.4 when you think we have insufficiently considered the importance of protecting users' rights to freedom of expression or privacy;

5.5.5 where your content has been taken down on the basis that it is illegal (this is only relevant if the Service allows you to generate, share or upload content);

5.5.6 where we have given you a warning, suspended, banned or restricted you in any way as a result of your content which we consider to be illegal content (this is only relevant if the Service allows you to generate, share or upload content) or

5.5.7 technology we use results in your content being taken down, access-restricted or deprioritised and you think the technology has been used in a way not set out in our Terms (this is only relevant if the Service allows you to generate, share or upload content).

5.6 We will handle your report or complaint in accordance with our Complaints Handling Policy.

5.7 If the Service allows you to generate, share or upload content and we restrict access to any content you generate or upload to or share on our Service in a way that breaches these Terms, you have a right to bring a claim against us for breach of contract.

5.8 If we suspend or ban you from using our Service in a way that breaches these Terms, you have a right to bring a claim against us for breach of contract.

6. Access to the handbook

6.1 You may access the Service for your own personal use only, and not for any business, professional, commercial or other non-personal use.  If you wish to use the Service for non-personal reasons then please contact us to discuss licensing options which will be provided under separate terms and conditions.

6.2 Access to the Service is limited to three (3) separate browser sessions over a six-month period.  Your access entitlement will renew every six (6) months.

7. Restrictions on your use of the service

7.1 You shall:

7.1.1 only make copies of the Service and the Handbook as expressly permitted in these Terms and to the extent reasonably necessary for the following purposes: back-up, mirroring (and similar availability enhancement techniques), security, disaster recovery testing and evidencing compliance with the requirements of mortgage lenders and any relevant regulation;

7.1.2 not use the Service or Handbook for any purpose contrary to any law or regulation or any regulatory code, guidance or request;

7.1.3 not extract, reutilise, use, exploit, redistribute, re-disseminate, re-sell, sub-license, transfer, disclose, copy or store the Service or Handbook except as expressly permitted in these Terms;

7.1.4 except to the extent permitted by any applicable law, not copy, modify, decompile, reverse engineer or create derivative works from any software forming part of the Service; 

7.1.5 not do anything which may damage the reputation of UK Finance, the Handbook or the Service, including by way of using the Service (wholly or in part) in any manner which is pornographic, racist or that incites religious hatred or violence;

7.1.6 not use the Service to knowingly access, store, distribute or transmit or prepare for distribution or transmission any virus or malware; 

7.1.7 not use the Service in a manner that is illegal or causes damage or injury to any person or property (including dealing in, accessing, storing, distributing, transmitting or preparing for distribution or transmission any illegal content (as described in Clause 5), or to infringe any intellectual property rights of any person; 

7.1.8 not interfere with or attempt to interfere with or compromise the Service’s integrity or security; 

7.1.9 not use the Service for any business, professional, commercial or other non-personal use without the express prior permission of UK Finance; and

7.1.10 not use the Service to build a product or service which competes with the Service or the Handbook or use or attempt to use the Service to directly compete with UK Finance. 

7.2 Unless you have our prior written consent, you are expressly prohibited from:

7.2.1 using any automated process, software, or script to extract, scrape, crawl or collect data or content from the Service or Handbook in any manner, including but not limited to the use of web crawlers, bots, or spiders; and

7.2.2 aggregating, collecting, or compiling data or content from the Service or Handbook for commercial or non-commercial purposes. This includes, but is not limited to, the use of website content to create databases, directories, or other aggregated content.

7.3 You may download and use the Handbook for your own personal use provided you do not alter or remove any copyright, trade mark or other proprietary notices.

7.4 To the extent you import or download content to your own personal devices or email address, you are not allowed to use the Service:

7.4.1 to access or send any material that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, defamatory, obscene, infringing, harassing or racially or ethnically offensive or that comprises illegal content as described in Clause 5 above; 

7.4.2 in a manner that is illegal or causes damage or injury to any person or property; 

7.4.3 to infringe any intellectual property of any person; or

7.4.4 to access or send transmit, any unsolicited or unauthorised advertising or promotional material or any other form of similar solicitation (‘spam’).

7.5 To the extent that you elect to incorporate, use or enable the use of any artificial intelligence (“AI”) technology in connection with your use of the Service or Handbook pursuant to Clause 6, you shall do so in compliance with all applicable law and regulation and with all relevant industry standard policies and procedures for the ethical and responsible use of AI technology.

8. Your privacy

8.1 Our Privacy Policy will apply to your use of the Service. The Privacy Policy sets out the terms on which we process any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us. By using the Service, you acknowledge the contents of the Privacy Policy and assure us that all data provided by you is accurate. 

8.2 We use cookies for the Service. Our Privacy Policy should be read alongside our Cookies Policy.

8.3 To ensure quality, and in order for us to improve the Service and monitor compliance with the Terms (the “Permitted Purpose”) we collect data arising from your use of the Service including, without limitation, activity logs, internet protocol (IP) address, login data, browser type, time zone, and operating system (“User Data”). User Data may be generated or derived automatically by the Service, or manually.

8.4 For the avoidance of doubt, we will use User Data for the Permitted Purpose only and will only share the User Data with our employees, officers and third parties such as our contractors, subcontractors (including, without limitation, our website hosting provider), representatives and advisers only to the extent required for the Permitted Purpose. For the avoidance of doubt, and without prejudice to the generality, UK Finance must not share any User Data with any mortgage lenders.

9. Intellectual Property Rights 

9.1 All intellectual property rights in the Service and the Handbook belong to us or our licensors.

9.2 The trade marks “UK Finance”, “The Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook” and related marks, names or logos belong to UK Finance. They must not be used without the express permission of both UK Finance and the trade mark owner.

9.3 All other trade marks, company names or logos on the Service are the property of their respective owners. Any use by you of these marks, names or logos may constitute an infringement of the owners' rights.

10. Disclaimer

10.1 The information provided by the Service including the Handbook is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, lending or other professional advice. UK Finance makes no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability of the information contained on the Service for any purpose, not least as the Service is reliant on content provided by third party mortgage lenders.

10.2 The Service is provided by us for informational purposes only and is subject to change without notice. We are not giving you any advice (investment, legal, financial or otherwise) in respect of any of the information in the Handbook. You should obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from taking, any action based on any information in the Handbook. 

10.3 Use of the Service does not create a solicitor-client relationship or any professional advisory relationship between UK Finance and you.

10.4 You should not act or refrain from acting on the basis of any information on this Service without first confirming a mortgage lender’s requirements with that mortgage lender. 

10.5 We are not responsible for any loss or damage arising from any reliance that you may place on the information on the Service.

10.6 You assume sole responsibility for any decisions or actions taken by you in reliance on the Service or Handbook, or their respective contents. 

10.7 UK Finance will not be responsible for any interruptions, delays, failures or non-availability affecting the Service which are caused by third party, or errors or bugs in software, hardware or the internet on which UK Finance relies to provide the Service and you acknowledge that UK Finance does not control such third party services and that such errors and bugs are inherent in the use of such software, hardware and the internet.

10.8 In addition, you are solely responsible for procuring, maintaining and securing all network connections and telecommunications links necessary for you to access the Service.

10.9 If your access to the Service is suspended or terminated for any reason, UK Finance shall not be required to provide you with the Service or Handbook or any product, service or solution relating to the Handbook.

10.10 To the maximum extent permitted by law, UK Finance shall have no liability to you for loss or damage arising from:

10.10.1 incorrect or unauthorised operation or use of the Service or the Handbook by you;

10.10.2 any modification of the Service or Handbook (other than that undertaken by UK Finance or at its direction); or

10.10.3 any breach of the Terms by you.

10.11 UK Finance is not responsible or liable for any use by you of the Service or Handbook in conjunction with any AI technologies.

10.12 All representations, warranties, conditions, and all other terms of any kind whatsoever implied by statute or common law are, to the fullest extent permitted by law, excluded from these Terms.

11. Limitation of our liability

11.1 Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so under applicable law. This includes death, personal injury, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors.

11.2 Subject to Clause 11.1, we shall not be liable for any direct, indirect or consequential loss or damage (including, without limitation, damages for loss of business or loss of profits, income or revenue), costs or expenses of any kind arising out of, or in connection with your use or inability to use the Service, or in connection with any error, omission, defect, computer virus or system failure, and regardless of whether we were made aware or ought to have been aware of the possibility of such losses.

11.3 Part 2 of the Handbook contains material uploaded by third party mortgage lenders. These third party mortgage lenders are responsible for ensuring that the material they upload complies with applicable law. We are not responsible for any error, omission or inaccuracy in the material.

12. Viruses

12.1 We do not guarantee that the Handbook will be secure or free from bugs or viruses.

12.2 You are responsible for configuring your information technology, computer programs and platform in order to access the Handbook. You should use your own virus protection software.

12.3 You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Handbook, the server on which the Handbook is stored or any server, computer or database connected to the Handbook. 

13. Termination and suspension

13.1 You may discontinue use of the Service at any time. These Terms will continue to apply to any past use by you of the Handbook.

13.2 Without affecting any other right or remedy available to us, we may suspend or end your use of and access to the Service (or any part) by notice with immediate effect, or such notice as we may elect to give, if: 

13.2.1 we suspect that there has been any misuse of the Service or breach of these Terms by you;

13.2.2 we cease to provide, or intend to cease to provide, the Service or the Handbook;

13.2.3 we are required by law, by court or governmental or regulatory order; or

13.2.4 you are in breach of applicable law, Clause 7, or infringe our intellectual property rights in the Service or the Handbook.

13.3 Without prejudice to its rights under this Clause 13, UK Finance may take steps to investigate any issue arising in connection with Clause 13.2 and may restore or continue to suspend access at UK Finance’s sole discretion.

14. Miscellaneous

14.1 If we do not exercise or enforce any legal right or remedy which may be available to us, this will not be taken to be a formal waiver of our rights.

14.2 If any part of these Terms shall be unlawful or unenforceable for any reason, this shall not affect the remainder of these Terms and that part shall be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary so that these Terms shall otherwise remain in full force and effect.

14.3 All legal notices in relation to the Handbook or these Terms should be given in writing and addressed to [email protected] 

15 Applicable Law

15.1 These Terms are governed by English law and you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the Handbook in the English courts. You and we irrevocably agree that the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim that arises out of or in connection with these Terms or their subject matter or formation.