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Hosting & Website Care terms

How Managed Hosting, Website Care and Care & Grow work once your website is live.

Last updated: 1 October 2026. These terms add to my general Terms of Business. If your project agreement (your quote, proposal or other written agreement with me) clearly says something different, the project agreement wins.

Managed Hosting

Managed Hosting is currently £150 per year, normally paid a year in advance. It includes:

It doesn't include unlimited content changes, new pages, redesigns, new features, large online shop updates or substantial work on third-party accounts. If you want work outside the plan, I will agree a price with you before I start.

Website Care

Website Care is currently £35 per month, normally paid monthly in advance. It includes everything in Managed Hosting, plus:

Care & Grow

Care & Grow is currently £75 per month. It includes everything in Website Care, plus the extras listed on the current Website Care page or in your project agreement. Where the plan includes one new page or small feature each plan year, it needs to be a reasonably self-contained addition. If you don't use it within the year, it doesn't carry over, and it can't be swapped for money or other work.

What counts as a small update?

A small update is a straightforward change to your existing website, such as new wording, a price, opening hours, contact details or swapping a few images. It also covers housekeeping changes of a similar size that don't noticeably change the design or how the site works.

New pages, big layout changes, new integrations, custom features, large product or catalogue changes, major writing work, rebrands and rebuilds are separate projects, priced on their own.

What "within reason" means

Website Care is there to take everyday website edits off your hands. It isn't a way to get larger development projects done without a separate quote. There is no monthly limit on the number of updates, but each request needs to be small, and the overall amount should be typical of looking after a small-business website.

If requests go well beyond that, I will talk to you before doing any chargeable work. I won't send you a bill for extra work you didn't agree to.

How quickly I respond

I handle small requests as soon as I reasonably can around scheduled project work. Unless your project agreement sets a specific response time, these plans don't come with a guaranteed response time (a "service-level agreement"). With Care & Grow, your requests normally go ahead of standard Website Care requests, but it is not an emergency or 24/7 service.

Backups, monitoring and uptime

I take reasonable steps to keep hosted websites online, secure and recoverable, including SSL, monitoring and backups suited to the site. No host can promise a website will never go down, or that everything can always be recovered after a problem.

Website backups don't necessarily include information held in separate services, such as Shopify, booking systems, email providers, payment providers or other third-party platforms. Those services have their own backup and recovery arrangements.

Domains, email and third-party services

Domain registration and renewal, business email, Shopify, payment processing, booking systems, paid apps and other third-party services are not included unless your project agreement clearly says they are.

Where possible, third-party accounts stay in your name and under your control. You are responsible for their subscriptions, transaction fees, renewal charges, identity or account checks, and for following each provider's terms.

Online shops and Shopify

If your website connects to Shopify or another online shop platform, I can look after the connection between the two. Unless we agree otherwise, you remain responsible for the shop itself: your products, prices, stock, orders, delivery, returns, customer service, taxes, shipping rules, payment provider requirements and the shop account.

Security and account access

I take reasonable technical steps to protect the websites I manage. You need to protect access to your own domain, email, shop and other accounts too: use two-step login where it is offered, and tell me straight away if you think someone else has got into one of them.

Billing and renewals

Managed Hosting normally renews each year. Website Care and Care & Grow continue month to month until you cancel. You can pay by invoice, bank transfer or an agreed payment method such as Direct Debit.

Cancelling a Direct Debit or other automatic payment stops the payments, but it doesn't cancel the service. To end a service, please tell me in writing (email is fine).

Price changes

I may change the price of an ongoing service in future, and I will give you reasonable notice first. For yearly hosting you have already paid for, a new price applies from your next renewal at the earliest. For monthly plans, I will normally give you at least 30 days' notice of a significant price change.

Failed or overdue payments

If a payment fails or is overdue, I will normally get in touch and give you a fair chance to sort it out. While the account is overdue, I may pause support or updates that aren't essential. If a significant amount stays unpaid, I may eventually suspend the hosting. I will warn you first wherever it is practical and lawful to do so.

Cancelling Managed Hosting

Standard yearly Managed Hosting has no long-term contract. You can choose not to renew at the end of the year you have paid for. If you want to leave before then, your hosting will normally carry on until the paid year ends, unless we agree something different.

Once a paid year has started, the hosting fee is normally non-refundable. The exceptions are where the law requires a refund, or where I agree to one because I can't provide the service.

Cancelling Website Care or Care & Grow

You can cancel a monthly care plan by giving 30 days' notice in writing, unless your project agreement says otherwise. The service, and any payments due, carry on as normal during those 30 days.

Moving to another provider

You are free to move a finished website away from me once any outstanding invoices are paid and any minimum term on a managed monthly website has ended or been settled. There is no exit fee simply for choosing another host.

A standard handover can include the current production website files, the client-specific project or source files reasonably needed to continue the website, your supplied content and assets, relevant SEO titles, descriptions and redirects, and reasonable notes about forms or other integrations. If I manage your domain, I will also help you transfer it.

If the new provider can host the existing website, the move can normally be treated as a hosting migration. Choosing a different website platform or content management system such as Wix, WordPress or GoDaddy Website Builder is different: the website may need to be adapted or rebuilt inside that system. A platform conversion or rebuild is not included in the standard handover.

If you want me to carry out extra migration work, rebuild the site for another platform, configure a new server or provide ongoing support after handover, I will agree and quote for that work before it starts. You are equally free to ask your new provider to do it.

When I may end a service

I may end, or decline to renew, a hosting or care service if continuing would create a security, legal or technical risk, if the service is being misused, or if our working relationship has seriously broken down. Where reasonable, I will give you notice and time to move the site, rather than suddenly taking a genuine business website offline.

Changes to these terms

I may update these terms. Updates can apply from your next renewal. Changes won't cut short a period you have already paid for, and if a change significantly affects a service you are paying for, I will give you reasonable notice.

Questions

If you're not sure whether something is included, ask me before you send the request. I would rather answer the question than surprise you with a bill.

Email: jason@southwestwebsites.co.uk.