In short: these terms apply when you use this website, ask for a free external audit, or buy an audit or ongoing assurance from us. Your written quote or engagement letter sets out the detail of each piece of work, and where it differs from these terms, the quote or engagement letter applies.
1. About us
Unavoidably Secure is a trading name of Unavoidable Studio Ltd, a private limited company registered in England and Wales (company number 17367981), with its registered office at 152 Osmondthorpe Lane, Leeds, LS9 9EG. In these terms, "we", "us" and "our" mean Unavoidable Studio Ltd. "You" means the organisation using our services and the person acting for it.
2. What these terms cover
These terms apply to your use of this website, to the free external audit, and to our paid services: the full audit, standards readiness, ongoing assurance, and any related work we agree in writing. The scope, timing and fee for each paid engagement are set out in the quote or engagement letter we send you before work starts.
3. The free external audit
The free external audit has no charge and no obligation. It looks only at information anyone on the internet can see about your website and email set-up. We do not log in to your systems or actively test them. It is a snapshot on the day we run it, not a full audit and not a certificate of compliance. Please only request it for domains your organisation owns or is authorised to act for. We may decline a request.
4. Written authorisation before any testing
Before any testing that goes beyond publicly available information, we agree with you in writing exactly what will be tested, when, and how to stop it. Nothing proceeds until you have signed. By signing, you confirm that you have authority over every system and domain in scope and that you have any permission needed from third parties, such as your IT provider or hosting company.
5. Fees and payment
We charge fixed fees, not hourly rates. The prices on our website are starting prices, and we confirm the exact fee in your quote once we know the size of your organisation and which standards apply to you. Your quote will show whether VAT applies. Unless your quote says otherwise:
- audit and standards readiness fees are payable in advance;
- ongoing assurance is payable monthly in advance;
- invoices are payable within 14 days of issue;
- we may pause work if an invoice remains unpaid 30 days after it was due.
Where you move from an audit onto ongoing assurance, the first months of the retainer are discounted against the audit fee, as set out in your quote.
6. Your responsibilities
An accurate audit depends on honest, timely input. You agree to:
- give us complete and truthful information about your systems, staff and processes;
- give us access to the people, documents and evidence the engagement needs, including evidence from your IT provider;
- only give us access you have the authority to give;
- keep our reports, and any credentials we issue, confidential and stored securely;
- not use our services to test or attack any system you do not own or control.
7. What our work is, and what it is not
Our audits are professional opinions based on the information available at the time. They are not a certificate of compliance with the DSPT, Cyber Essentials, UK GDPR or any other standard, and decisions about what you submit or declare remain yours. Nothing we provide is legal advice, and we do not act as your data protection officer.
We assess and evidence. Your IT provider carries out the technical fixes. We do not assess physical security or carry out in-depth manual penetration testing. If you need penetration testing, we can introduce you to a CREST-registered partner, who will contract with you directly.
8. Reports and other deliverables
Reports and other deliverables are prepared for your use, relying on the information you give us. You may share them with your insurers, auditors, regulators, commissioners, IT provider and prospective clients, and copy them internally. You may not change them, remove our name from them, resell them or publish them without our written agreement.
9. Our commitment
We will carry out our services with reasonable care and skill, using suitably qualified people. We cannot promise that an audit will find every weakness, or that following our recommendations will prevent every incident. No organisation can reduce cyber risk to zero.
10. Limitation of liability
Nothing in these terms limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot be limited by law.
Subject to the paragraph above, our total liability to you under or in connection with an engagement is limited to the greater of £5,000 or the fees paid to us under that engagement in the twelve months before the event giving rise to the claim.
We are not liable for any indirect or consequential loss, loss of profit, loss of business, loss of anticipated savings, loss of data (except where we fail to look after your data as described in our privacy notice), or loss of goodwill.
11. Confidentiality
Each of us will keep the other's confidential information secret and use it only for the engagement. This continues after the engagement ends.
12. Intellectual property
The templates, methods, tools and software we use to deliver our services remain ours. Once you have paid in full for a deliverable, you have a permanent, non-exclusive licence to use it for the purposes described in section 8.
13. Cancellations and refunds
Before work begins. If you have paid and work has not begun, you can cancel within 7 days of paying by emailing support@unavoidablysecure.com. We will refund you in full, to the original payment method, within 14 days.
What "work has begun" means. Work begins at the earliest of: when we start the full audit, evidence review or any testing; when we set up any account, credential or tool specifically for you; or when you receive any part of a deliverable, including a draft. The free scoping call and the free external audit do not count.
Once work has begun. Fees are not refundable, because the work is prepared specifically for your organisation.
Ongoing assurance. You can cancel at any time by email. Cancelling stops the next monthly payment. We do not refund part of a period that has already been paid for.
Mistakes. If you are charged in error or charged twice, tell us within 30 days and we will refund the incorrect amount.
Your statutory rights. Nothing in these terms affects rights that cannot be excluded by law. If you are buying as a consumer, you may have a 14-day right to cancel under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, which ends once you have asked us to start work within that period and we have done so. If we fail to use reasonable care and skill, you may be entitled to remedies under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, such as having the work done again or a price reduction.
14. Data protection
Where we process personal data on your behalf during an engagement, for example personal data in documents or evidence you give us, we do so under our data processing addendum. Personal data we hold about you as a customer or enquirer is covered by our privacy notice.
15. Ending an engagement
Either of us may end an engagement on 30 days' written notice, unless your engagement letter says otherwise. Either of us may end it straight away if the other seriously breaks these terms and, where the breach can be put right, does not put it right within 14 days of being told. Ending an engagement does not entitle you to a refund of fees already paid, except as set out in section 13.
16. Using this website
The information on this website, including our guides and blog, is general information and not legal advice. We work to keep it accurate, but standards and guidance change, so always check the current requirements that apply to your organisation. We are not responsible for the content of other websites we link to.
17. Law and courts
These terms, and any dispute arising from them, are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction, except that we may bring a claim for unpaid fees in any country where you have assets.
18. Changes to these terms
We may update these terms from time to time. The version in force when you place an order applies to that order. We publish changes on this page, and if a change materially affects your ongoing assurance, we will tell you by email.
19. Contact
Email support@unavoidablysecure.com, call 07749 941111, or write to Unavoidable Studio Ltd, 152 Osmondthorpe Lane, Leeds, LS9 9EG.