Terms of use

Contents

1. Use of the website
2. NB: limitations of our services
3. Accounts
4. Conditions of use
5. Users
6. Membership
7. Employee subscriptions
8. Our managed service
9. Payments and prices
10. Commission
11. Savings
12. Social tariffs campaign
13. Termination
14. Miscellaneous
15. About us

1. Use of the website

1. All visitors. You have our permission to engage with our content on the internet, for example by browsing our website or using our app or widgets on third party sites without charge. Unless we explicitly say otherwise, you may not use the website or app for any other purpose. For example, you may not download the website or any part of it for your own use.
2. Except where any of our content is associated with a more specific intellectual property licence – whether it is more or less restrictive than this one – and to the extent that you need our permission to do so, we give you a licence to use all intellectual property rights in the content, but only for the purpose of browsing the website using conventional web browsing tools of using the app in the usual way.
3. Non-members. Unless you are also a member, we owe no obligation to you. These terms tell you the rules you must obey when using our website at nous.co (“the website”) and any free account you may set up, but they do not form a contract between us. We may withdraw our free services at any time and for any reason. The website is intended only to give you information about us, our products and services; to allow you to explore the savings you could make by using our service and to permit you to sign up to the Nous managed service. Except for any legal responsibility that we cannot exclude in law (such as for death or personal injury caused by our negligence and our statutory duties under data protection law), we have no liability to you connected with your use of our website.
4. Members. If you sign up for the Nous managed service, these are the terms on which we will make it available. By signing up, you agree to be bound by a contract in the terms set out on this page.

2. NB: Limitations of our services

1. Our cost-of-living forecast, personalised savings estimate, or any other estimate of the savings to be made on using Nous, is offered on an “as is” basis. We are able only to estimate the amounts you may have paid in the past and we do not know what your future usage might be or how the market will behave in the future and so we are unable to offer anything other than a good faith estimate. Production of a personalised forecast at your request is entirely our choice. We are under no obligation to produce a forecast or to explain to you why no forecast was produced.
2. Our social tariff campaign for broadband aims to secure cheaper broadband tariffs for eligible households from their current broadband provider. We are only able to give your provider evidence of your household’s eligibility once we have determined that a member of your household receives Universal Credit or other relevant payments from the Government and once you have authorised us to ask them to move your household to the social tariff. We do not guarantee that your provider will honour the social tariff even if you are eligible, nor do we guarantee that you will save any particular amount of money or achieve any benefit. (Please see the social tariffs campaign section below for more detail.)
3. In supplying the Nous managed service, we do our best to give you useful information and make the right choices on your behalf, but we can do no more than that. We do not guarantee that our choice of service provider is the best possible, or that you will encounter no difficulties with the service provider; nor do we guarantee that you will save any particular sum of money or achieve any benefit. If you do not find the Nous service satisfactory, you are welcome to end this agreement, but for the reasons we have explained in this paragraph, we exclude liability for failure to achieve any particular saving or benefit for you.
4. AI assistant. Although we believe our AI assistant is good at accurately identifying and reading documents, summarising bills, and alerting us to potential savings opportunities you can make, it may sometimes make mistakes. You should take any of its advice as a starting point only, and not rely on information received from AI without a human's verification. If you want to pursue a savings opportunities suggested by AI, we can take it further as part of our managed service.
5. Energy management. Nous regularly monitors the energy market so that we can recommend the best option to you. We compare tariffs from our panel of specially selected suppliers to find something most suited to your household. We do not compare every supplier in the energy market. Prices can change quickly so we cannot promise that the chosen tariff will be the cheapest available.

3. Accounts

1. In order to use the Nous managed service, you must have an account with us which must be the administrator of at least one household. An account is created when you complete the sign-up process on our app or website, at which point you may create a new household or become the administrator of an existing household.
2. Households are controlled by one or more administrators. If you create a household, you will automatically be an administrator of it. Additional users may become administrators or cease to be administrators, provided that there is at least one administrator for each household.
3. Each household is governed by a separate contract – referred to as “this agreement” in these terms – between all the current administrators of the household. Anyone who becomes an administrator of an existing household, will also become a party to this agreement, and the word “you” on this page will apply to any and all users who are administrators of the household.
4. All administrators of a household are jointly and severally liable for any debt or other liability arising under this agreement at the time they were an administrator, including arising out of the breach by another user of the agreement. Each user authorises us to accept the instructions of any other user under this agreement, for example an instruction to close the account; exercise our authority to access bank accounts; or to modify, cancel or enter into contracts in the name of any administrator.

4. Conditions of use

1. For the purposes of the managed service, you authorise us to act as your agent in negotiating, forming, modifying and cancelling contracts between you and service providers (in accordance with the other terms set out in this agreement). At the same time you give us authority to other things set out below.
2. If you authorise us to access your bank account we do so in order to:
   i. Set up a direct debit or similar payment relationship with third party service providers for users of the managed service.
   ii. Monitor payments taken by or made to service providers.
3. In some cases, we may need you to take action; give us additional information; or give further authorisation to enable us to manage your relationship with service providers. If you do not promptly respond to any such request from us, it might seriously impair our ability to manage your account. This could have serious consequences, including the loss of insurance cover; or a utility supply. A failure to engage will also create difficulties for us in administering the household which may result in our exercising our right to terminate your account.
4. If you authorise us to (and provide us with the means to) access your email account, we will do so in order to identify your existing providers and monitor any communications with providers that relate to our duties under this agreement. We will not send any email on your behalf or amend or delete any emails you have received and we will not interfere with your privacy or the integrity of your email in any other way. Our access will be “read only”.
5. You authorise us to use a proxy email address with providers to allow us to access emails they send and communicate with them on your behalf. If we do this, we will either automatically forward emails we receive to your email address or store them in your account so you can access them on demand.
6. You must answer any relevant questions we ask you in a timely fashion. If you fail to do so we may not be able to renew some services (such as insurance cover) or assess whether an alternative service provider is appropriate.
7. You must ensure that all information you supply to us is accurate and complete.
8. You must ensure that the electronic mail address or addresses that you have registered to your account are valid. If we are in any way obliged to communicate with you under this agreement – for example to inform you of a change in terms, or give you notice – we may do so by emailing an email address registered to your account, regardless of whether it is valid.

5. Users

1. Access to your account will be by use of a password, an individual magic link email or by means of a third party authorisation service you nominate such as Google or Microsoft. You may not share the magic link with anyone else (even other administrators of the same household) nor permit any other person to login using your login details. If you choose to use a third party authorisation service, you must ensure that no-one else is able to use that service to access your account. We offer third party authorisation services for your convenience but we cannot take responsibility for their operation.

6. Membership

1. Members have a subscription to our managed service.
2. If you become a member, you must pay the advertised fees (unless you are covered by an employee subscription (see “Employee subscriptions” below) in which case some or all of the fees may be paid by someone else). Fees may depend on the tier of membership selected by you, or any particular special offer you may have responded to.
3. Membership continues until terminated (see “Termination” below).

7. Employee subscriptions

1. If your employer is providing your membership as an employee benefit (an “employee subscription”), they will either be contributing to your membership or covering all of it – in the latter case there will be no charge to you for the managed service.
2. If you leave your employer, you will have the option to continue your membership for the managed service directly with Nous, without your employer contributing to, or covering, your membership fees. Please email support@nous.co for information.
3. Having an employee subscription does not prevent membership being terminated as usual (see “Termination” below), but if you have an employee subscription this agreement may also be terminated if your employer asks us to terminate it, in which case, we will continue to manage your service for a short period – typically 30 days – to give you an opportunity to continue your relationship with us as a paid member. If your employer asks us to terminate this agreement, we will inform you promptly of the termination and how we intend to deal with it.
4. An employee subscription may only be used by someone who has a household to manage, otherwise there is nothing we are able to do for them. If this applies to you, we will not be able to offer the service to you even if your employer has nominated you to receive it as an employee benefit.

8. Our managed service

1. In respect of our managed service, on your behalf we manage your relationship with service providers, which includes monitoring the prices they charge. If we believe that switching to a new provider may be of benefit to you, we will seek out service providers – such as utilities or home or vehicle insurance providers – that we believe will provide you a better value service than what you would receive if you were to stay with your existing provider without intervention (or if you do not already have such a service provider, the best value service for you). We prefer to recommend new suppliers to you who we believe meet the standards for good service that we detail on our website.
2. The total number and kinds of service providers covered by our service will depend on the tier to which you have signed up.
3. In managing your relationship we may do a number of things, including:
   i. When you’ve consented either at sign up or on a case by case basis,  switching you to new provider.
   ii. Switching to new providers.
   iii. Calling providers to challenge price rises.
   iv. Updating your personal details; and
   v. Consolidating accounts.
4. In some cases, we may not be able to carry out one of these tasks without you taking some additional action, for example by giving us explicit permission or interacting with a provider’s website yourself. If this is the case, we will suggest the new provider to you and then explain to you what needs to be done.
5. If we do not need you to take action, we will tell you what we are about to do and give you an opportunity to opt-out if you wish. We will go ahead unless we hear from you that you do not want us to do so and then inform you of what we have done.
6. While we understand that there will be times when our customers have good reasons for not wanting to use a particular provider and will turn down our suggestions, we ask that you only do so where there is a good reason. Where we believe a customer is unreasonably and repeatedly refusing our suggestions, we reserve the right to close the account and terminate this agreement.
7. We do not handle any other part of your relationship with service providers. For example, if a utility such as electricity is unexpectedly unavailable or if there are any other difficulties with the delivery of the service or you need to make a claim on an insurance policy, it will be your responsibility to contact the service provider directly. This applies also to any complaints you may have about the service, though if you are having difficulties with a service provider, please let us know. If we find a service provider is consistently providing bad service to customers, we are less likely to recommend them in the future.
8. If we switch your provider, there is a 14-day cool-off period from the day Nous completes the switch. Please contact support@nous if you wish to cancel a switch.

9. Payment and prices

1. Unless otherwise specified all payment of our service fees is monthly at the rate currently advertised. All prices are inclusive of VAT.
2. We may change our prices, by giving you at least 30 days’ advance notice of the change. If your membership is monthly, the new price will take effect on the date your next payment is due. If your membership has longer periods, for example if it is annual, then the new price will not take effect until the start of your next period.
3. We may offer you the ability to pay by one or more of the following methods: credit/debit card, direct debit or via a third party payment provider.
4. If you pay using a payment provider, you may be required to agree to that provider’s own terms. We will usually treat the payment as having been made when we receive confirmation from the payment provider, but we do so on an interim basis only. Your obligation to make the payment will not end until we have received funds from the payment provider.

10. Commission

1. Some service providers may pay us a commission for transferring your household to them. We will keep track of all commissions we receive relating to your household.
2. If you are in debt to us for any reason, for example because you have not paid a membership fee, we reserve the right to deduct that from any commission that has been paid to us.
3. We may choose to pay you a share of those commissions to you over time or allow you to use them to pay your membership fees; buy other services from us or a partner or give money to charity subject to any deductions we may make. Where commission repayment is a possibility, we will supply you with full details at the appropriate time.

11. Savings

1. In this agreement “savings” represents an estimate for the amount of money we have saved your household versus what would have been expected had provision from the previous providers carried on without intervention. Because service provider charges may depend on information we do not know – for example your usage of energy in the future – and may change in complicated ways, it is not practical for us to try to produce an exact amount for savings.
2. What we promise to do is to perform our estimation diligently based on a combination of historic actual usage and our best understanding of what their current providers are likely to do based on what they have done in the past (for example their typical observed policy upon expiry of a current fixed rate contract). You may inspect the current level of savings and the reasoning behind our estimate at any time, along with any commissions earned in respect of your household, from the dashboard.
3. For energy savings: Your energy savings may come from a cheaper tariff, and from rewards for switching. We may recommend a tariff where the savings come from rewards only if it has greater benefit to you. We will make this clear to you at the time.
4. If you have any questions concerning savings, please contact us at support@nous.co

12. Social tariffs campaign

1. If you are a user of our free service and opt-in to our social tariff campaign, we will give you the opportunity to instruct us to act on your household's behalf to secure a social tariff or a discount from your current broadband provider. If you do decide to instruct us, we will ask you to confirm that someone in your household receives qualifying government benefits and provide their National Insurance number. We will then share this information with your broadband provider according to our privacy statement on data protection.
2. The opportunity for you to opt into the social tariff campaign will be subject to availability. 
3. We do not guarantee that your provider will honour the social tariff even if you are eligible, nor do we guarantee that you will save any particular amount of money or achieve any benefit (please see 2.2 NB: limitations of our services).
   
4. You can ask us to stop seeking a social tariff for your household at any time by emailing support@nous.co

13. Termination

1. You may stop using Nous for your household at any time by emailing accounts@nous.co at any time, unless you have an annual or other contract with periods longer than one month, in which case you must give us at least 30 days’ notice in advance and you may only close the account at the end of a period. Once a household has been closed, this agreement will come to an end.
2. If you are not the only administrator for a household, you may withdraw from the household at any time by emailing accounts@nous.co
3. We may end this agreement by giving you 30 days’ notice in advance. If you have an annual or other contract for which you have made advance payment, we will refund you for the remainder of the contract which has been unused, together with any commission that would have accrued to you in that time.
4. We may end a free trial at any time.
5. We may also end this agreement without notice if: (a) we are unable to obtain payment by whatever method you have designated for payments to be made or for some other reason you do not pay money you owe to us; (b) you are in breach of any of the terms of this agreement. In order to cancel your account, we may do so by sending you an email informing you that your account has been closed and the date on which that closure takes effect.
6. If this agreement is terminated:
   i. The household covered by this agreement will be closed.
   ii. Any remaining accounts which are no longer administrators of a household will be closed.
   iii. Any unpaid commission will be lost, but any debt owed by either party to the other will survive termination.
   iv. We will cease to be involved with any service provider, but we will not terminate any existing relationship you have with service providers, accordingly you will continue to be liable to any contracts with providers entered into or modified on your behalf during the period you were a member.

14. Miscellaneous

1. These terms are to be interpreted in accordance with English law and the courts of England shall have jurisdiction to settle any disputes arising from your use of the website or this agreement.
2. Nothing in this agreement is intended to create any third party rights.

15. About us

1. We are a company limited by shares registered in England (company number 13236360). Our registered address is Finsbury Bank For Savings 18 And A Half, Sekforde Street, London, England, EC1R 0HL. Our VAT number is 374 9867 30.
2. We may be contacted by email at hello@nous.co