Terms and Conditions of Membership and Service

PART A: ABOUT THESE TERMS

1. Who we are

1.1These terms are between you and the business described below, trading as The Tenant Arrears Collection Office ("TACO", "we", "us", "our").

Legal name

TACO’s company is being registered at Companies House. Its registered name and company number will be added here once registration is confirmed.

Trading name

The Tenant Arrears Collection Office

Website

thetaco.co.uk

Email

[email protected]

Telephone

07852 555451

2. What makes up our agreement

2.1Our agreement with you is made up of these terms, together with:

(a)the Service Schedule at Schedule 1, which sets out exactly what is included;

(b)our published fee list in force on the day you join or instruct us;

(c)our Privacy Notice at thetaco.co.uk/privacy;

(d)Schedule 2, which applies only if you are an individual landlord and not a business; and

(e)the Case Acceptance Confirmation we send you for each case we take on.

2.2If there is any conflict between these documents, they apply in the order listed above, except that Schedule 2 always overrides anything that conflicts with it.

2.3Nothing said in a webinar, an email, a social media post, our website or any other promotional material forms part of this agreement. Only the documents listed in clause 2.1 do. If something matters to you and it is not in those documents, ask us to put it in writing before you join.

3. Some words we use

Case

One tenant or guarantor debt, arising from one tenancy, which we have accepted in writing.

Client, you

The person or company we contract with.

Debtor

A tenant, former tenant, guarantor or other person liable for the sums claimed.

Letter Before Action, LBA

The formal written notice we send a Debtor under the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims.

Membership

The annual service described in clause 8.

Membership Year

Twelve months from the day your Membership starts or renews.

Services

What is set out in Schedule 1, and nothing else.

Third Party Costs

Court fees, tracing fees, process server fees, enforcement fees, solicitors' and barristers' fees, and any other sum payable to someone other than us.

PART B: WHAT WE DO, AND WHAT WE DO NOT DO

4. What TACO is

4.1We are a private business providing administrative and drafting support to landlords who are owed rent. We prepare documents, we correspond with Debtors before court proceedings begin, we keep your case organised, and we tell you what your options are.

4.2We are not, and we do not hold ourselves out as, any of the following:

(a)a firm of solicitors, a law firm, or a person authorised under the Legal Services Act 2007;

(b)a court, a government department, a local authority, or any body with official or statutory standing;

(c)a bailiff, a High Court Enforcement Officer, or a certificated enforcement agent;

(d)a debt collection business authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority;

(e)an insurer, an insurance intermediary, or a provider of any kind of insurance, cover or protection.

4.3We do not buy debts and we do not take assignment of debts. The debt remains yours throughout. We never become the creditor.

5. The court stage: you are the person bringing the claim

This is the most important clause in this document. Please read it properly.

5.1We do not conduct litigation. Conducting litigation is a reserved legal activity under section 12 and Schedule 2 of the Legal Services Act 2007. We are not authorised to do it, and it is a criminal offence for an unauthorised person to do it.

5.2If your case goes to court, you are the claimant and you bring the claim yourself, as a litigant in person. That means you, and only you, must:

(a)open and hold the online money claim account, in your own name and your own email address;

(b)pay the court fee;

(c)give your own home or business address as the address for service on the claim form;

(d)read, check and personally sign every statement of truth;

(e)file every document with the court yourself;

(f)arrange service of the claim;

(g)deal with all correspondence from the court; and

(h)attend any hearing, or arrange your own representation at it.

5.3We have no authority to do any of those things, and you do not give us any. In particular we will not, and you must not ask us to:

(a)sign anything on your behalf, including any statement of truth or certificate of service;

(b)instruct a barrister, advocate or process server for you;

(c)give our address as your address for service;

(d)accept service of anything for you.

5.4What we can do at the court stage is prepare and give you draft documents, explain what each form does, and tell you what your options are. You check everything, you sign everything, and you file everything.

5.5If your case needs someone to conduct the litigation or to speak for you in court, we will tell you, and you instruct a solicitor or a Public Access barrister yourself, directly, under your own agreement with them. We take no referral fee or commission from that instruction unless we tell you in writing that we do, and what it is.

6. What is included, and what is not

6.1What we do is set out in Schedule 1. Nothing else is included.

6.2For the avoidance of doubt, the Services do not include:

(a)conducting litigation, or any step in court proceedings (clause 5);

(b)representing you or speaking for you at any hearing;

(c)possession or eviction proceedings;

(d)enforcement after judgment, including warrants of control, attachment of earnings or charging orders;

(e)any guarantee that any sum will be recovered;

(f)any payment of money by us to you, in any circumstances (clause 12); or

(g)paying, advancing or funding any Third Party Cost on your behalf (clause 11).

6.3We work on residential and commercial rent arrears in England and Wales only. The law in Wales differs from the law in England in important ways. If your property is in Wales, tell us before you submit a case.

7. How we accept a case

7.1No case is live until we confirm in writing that we have accepted it. Submitting a case does not oblige us to take it.

7.2We may accept or decline any case at our discretion. In deciding, we look at things including: whether the tenancy documentation is sufficient, whether the arrears are evidenced by a rent statement, whether the correct legal party has been identified, whether a Letter Before Action is realistically likely to produce payment, the size of the debt, and whether you have complied with these terms.

7.3Our capacity is finite and is allocated in the order cases are received. Where our capacity is fully committed, our obligation is limited to placing your case in the queue and telling you where it sits. We are not obliged to find, instruct or pay for anyone else to handle it.

7.4If we decline a case, or are unable to act on one we have accepted, we will tell you and refund any case-specific fee you paid for that case. We have no obligation to instruct, arrange or pay for a solicitor, agent or any other provider in our place.

PART C: MEMBERSHIP, FEES AND MONEY

8. Membership

8.1Membership runs for a Membership Year and entitles you to the Services in Schedule 1.

8.2Membership includes the handling of up to 15 Cases in each Membership Year. Cases beyond that number are charged at our published Single Case Fee, unless we say that we can do more.

8.3Membership buys you access to a service, and the work we actually do on your cases. It is not cover, it is not protection, and it is not insurance:

(a)it does not indemnify you against any loss;

(b)it does not guarantee that any sum will be recovered;

(c)it gives you no right to receive any payment of money from us in any circumstances; and

(d)it does not meet, and will never meet, any Third Party Cost.

8.4The Membership fee is worked out from what it costs us to provide the Services and the volume of work we expect. It is not worked out from how likely your tenants are to fall into arrears, or from how much they might owe.

8.5We may suspend handling further cases for you in a Membership Year where you have submitted more than 15 Cases, or where the size of your portfolio at renewal is materially larger than the portfolio you declared when you joined.

8.6Arrears that started before you joined. Membership covers rent arrears that first fall due on or after the day your Membership starts. If any of the arrears in a case first fell due before that day, that case is not included in your Membership, even if more arrears build up after you join. If your Membership has run without a break, "the day your Membership starts" means the day it first started, not the day it last renewed.

8.7Why this matters. Our service works by contacting the Debtor as soon as they fall behind, before the position hardens. Where arrears began before you joined, or where you have already been chasing the Debtor yourself, recovery is much harder and the case needs considerably more work. That is why these cases sit outside Membership, and it is part of what keeps the Membership fee where it is.

8.8Taking on an older case. We may still agree to take on a case that falls under clause 8.6 as a one-off, at the fee for pre-membership cases in our published fee list. Whether we accept it is our decision, made under clause 7. As with every case, we cannot promise that any money will be recovered, and the chances are lower the longer the arrears have been running before we are involved.

8.9Telling us the dates. When you submit a case, you must tell us the date the arrears first fell due. We check it against the day your Membership started before we accept the case. If a case turns out to fall under clause 8.6 after we have started work, we will tell you, and we will agree with you in writing whether we carry on under clause 8.8 or stop.

9. Fees

9.1Our fees are set out in the published fee list in force on the day you join or instruct us.

9.2All fees are stated inclusive of VAT, where VAT is chargeable.

9.3Where you have been given a promotional, founder or other non-standard rate, that rate applies for the period stated when it was offered, and it is personal to you.

10. Single cases

10.1If you are not a Member you may submit a single case on payment of the Single Case Fee then published. Clauses 5, 7, 11, 12, 13 and Part D to Part G apply to you in the same way.

11. Third Party Costs

11.1All Third Party Costs are yours, and we never pay them. This includes court issue fees, hearing fees, application fees, tracing fees, process server fees, enforcement fees, and the fees of any solicitor or barrister.

11.2We will not advance, front or fund any Third Party Cost and then recover it from you. You pay it directly to whoever is owed it, from your own account.

11.3We will tell you about any Third Party Cost before it needs to be incurred, so you can decide whether to proceed.

11.4You will probably not be able to recover our fees from the tenant. In a small claim the court's power to order costs is very limited, and whether a tenant can be made liable for debt recovery costs depends on what the tenancy agreement actually says. Please do not assume our fee comes back to you.

11.5Separately, the Tenant Fees Act 2019 restricts what a landlord may lawfully charge a tenant in connection with an assured shorthold tenancy. Charging a tenant our fees may be a prohibited payment, with consequences for you. Take advice before adding our fee to anything you claim from a tenant.

12. Money recovered from a Debtor

12.1You choose how Debtors pay. When we accept a case you tell us which of these applies, and we tell the Debtor accordingly:

(a)Direct to you. The Debtor pays into the account you nominate. We never handle the money.

(b)Through us. The Debtor pays through a secure payment link we provide.

12.2If you choose option (b), then:

(a)any money we receive belongs to you from the moment it reaches us, and we hold it for you and not for ourselves;

(b)we will endeavour to pay it on to the account you have nominated within 5 working days of it clearing into our account;

(c)we will not deduct anything from it, including any fee you owe us. Our fees are invoiced to you separately;

(d)we will tell you the amount, the date and which case it relates to; and

(e)if a payment arrives that we cannot match to a case, or that you and the Debtor disagree about, we will hold it and tell you both until the position is clear.

12.3We are not responsible for delays caused by a bank or a payment provider, and the 5 working day period in 12.2(b) runs from the moment cleared funds reach us.

12.4We never pay, reimburse, indemnify or contribute to you in respect of unpaid rent, arrears, damage, void periods, legal costs or any other loss. If a Debtor does not pay, you do not get paid.

12.5You must tell us within 3 working days of receiving any payment or part payment from a Debtor, or learning of any change in the amount owed, so that we do not send a letter claiming the wrong sum.

12.6If a payment we have passed on to you is later refunded, reversed or charged back to us by the Debtor, their bank or our payment provider, you must repay that amount to us within 14 days of our request, together with any fee charged to us by the payment provider.

13. Court Stage Fee

13.1If your Case moves to the court stage, we charge a fixed Court Stage Fee for preparing your draft court documents and supporting you through that stage, as set out in Schedule 1. The fee is £500, £1,000 or £2,500, depending on the size and complexity of your Case, as set out in our published fee list.

13.2Before we start court stage work, we will tell you in writing which fee applies and why. We will not start until you have confirmed in writing that you accept it. We may agree a different amount with you, but only in writing and before we start that work.

13.3If your Case becomes more complex after we start, for example because the Debtor files a defence or a counterclaim, and a higher fee applies, we will tell you in writing and you decide whether we continue at the higher fee.

13.4The Court Stage Fee is payable for the work we do, whatever the outcome of your claim. It does not depend on whether, or how much, money is recovered, and it is never worked out as a share of the debt.

13.5The Court Stage Fee is invoiced when you ask us to start court stage work, and is payable within 14 days of the invoice.

13.6The Court Stage Fee is in addition to your Membership or Single Case Fee, and in addition to Third Party Costs.

14. Renewal and cancellation

14.1Membership renews automatically at the end of each Membership Year at the rate then published, unless you cancel.

14.2You may cancel at any time by emailing [email protected]. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current Membership Year. We will not charge you a fee for cancelling.

14.3Any case we have already accepted continues to completion or formal withdrawal, and you remain liable for fees and Third Party Costs properly incurred up to that point.

14.4You may withdraw a case at any time in writing. You remain liable for fees and Third Party Costs properly incurred up to the point of withdrawal.

PART D: WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU

15. Your warranties

15.1You confirm, each time you submit a case, that:

(a)you are the correct legal party entitled to recover the arrears, and you have given us your exact legal name and, if a company or LLP, its registered number;

(b)the arrears figure you have given us is accurate as at the date you state, and is supported by a rent statement or managing agent's schedule which you will provide on request;

(c)you have told us about every payment and part payment the Debtor has made;

(d)the tenancy deposit was protected in an authorised scheme and the prescribed information was served in time, or you have told us in writing that it was not;

(e)the compliance documents required at the start of the tenancy were served;

(f)where a guarantor is being pursued, there is a signed guarantee and you have given us a copy;

(g)you are entitled to disclose the Debtor's personal information to us; and

(h)the sum claimed is genuinely due and is not exaggerated.

15.2We do not independently check any of this. We do not carry out Land Registry title checks, we do not audit your rent account, and we do not verify deposit protection unless you ask us to and pay the fee for it.

15.3We will not send a Letter Before Action until you have confirmed the arrears figure in writing against a rent statement, and confirmed the correct legal party. This is a condition of us acting.

15.4If information you give us turns out to be wrong or incomplete, we are not liable for any loss that results, we may suspend or withdraw the case, and you remain liable for fees and Third Party Costs already incurred.

15.5If we have to withdraw and reissue a Letter Before Action because your information was wrong, we will do it without charging you again, but we are not responsible for the delay. If the error was ours, we will reissue at our cost and meet any court fee wasted as a result, subject to clause 18.

16. Deposits and compliance

16.1If a deposit was taken and not protected, or the prescribed information was not served, the tenant may have a counterclaim worth up to three times the deposit. That can wipe out an arrears claim or exceed it.

16.2If it comes to our attention that a deposit may not have been protected, we may pause the case until the position is clear. We will tell you why.

16.3Statutory compliance documents matter most in possession proceedings. Their effect on a money claim for arrears is different and more limited. We will tell you what we can see, but this is a point to take legal advice on, not to rely on us for.

PART E: PERSONAL INFORMATION

17. Data protection

17.1Who controls what. Once we accept a case, we decide how the recovery is run. That makes us a controller of the Debtor's personal information in our own right, not your processor. You remain a controller of the same information for your own purposes as landlord. For the intake stage we act as joint controllers with you, and the split of responsibilities is published at thetaco.co.uk/privacy.

17.2Our lawful basis. We process Debtor information on the basis of legitimate interests, namely the recovery of sums lawfully due. We have carried out and keep a written assessment of that. We do not rely on tenant consent, and no tenant consent is needed.

17.3Telling the Debtor. We send the Debtor, and any guarantor, our own privacy notice with or before the first letter we send them. It goes out with every Letter Before Action.

17.4What you must not send us. Send us what the case needs and nothing more. Do not send us identity documents, right to rent evidence, immigration status, medical records, benefits letters or CCTV footage unless we have asked for a specific item and recorded why.

17.5Your warranty. You confirm that you hold the Debtor's personal information lawfully, that you have given the tenant a privacy notice which covers arrears recovery by a third party, and that you may lawfully pass that information to us.

17.6Health information. Debtors sometimes volunteer health or financial hardship information in a Reply Form or a Financial Statement. We use it only to establish, exercise or defend legal claims. We never use it for marketing, case studies or scoring.

17.7Who else sees it. Depending on the case: tracing agents, the County Court, enforcement agents, our professional advisers and insurers. We put a written agreement in place with any tracing agent before we send them anything.

17.8Keeping and deleting. We keep a recovery file for as long as the debt could be pursued or a claim could be made about our work, then delete it securely. Because we are a controller and not your processor, we keep the file under our own schedule. We cannot hand it back or delete it on request, and we would need it to answer a complaint.

17.9If a Debtor contacts you about their information, forward it to us within 5 working days.

17.10Objections. A Debtor may object to our processing. If one does, we pause active recovery steps while we assess whether we have compelling grounds to continue, and we record that assessment.

17.11Complaints about information handling are acknowledged within 30 days.

PART F: LIABILITY, ENDING, COMPLAINTS

18. Our liability

Each clause below stands on its own. If a court decides one of them does not apply, the others still do.

18.1We will carry out the Services with reasonable care and skill.

18.2Overall limit. Our total liability to you, for everything arising out of or in connection with these terms, is limited to the total fees you have paid us in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim.

18.3Why this figure. The limit is set by reference to what you pay us for the Services, and it is reflected in our prices. If you want a higher limit, ask us before we accept a case and we will tell you whether we can offer one and what it would cost.

18.4What we are not liable for, whether or not it was foreseeable: loss of profit; loss of rent beyond the arrears actually claimed in the Case; loss of opportunity; loss of reputation; and wasted management time.

18.5What stays inside the limit, and is recoverable up to it: court issue fees, hearing fees and application fees wasted because of our error; any costs order made against you because of our error; and arrears which became irrecoverable because of our error.

18.6We are not liable for: anything caused by information you gave us that was wrong or incomplete; what a Debtor does or does not do; what a court does, or how long it takes; or the outcome of any proceedings you bring.

18.7Time limits. You must tell us about a claim within 12 months of the date you knew, or ought reasonably to have known, about the circumstances giving rise to it, and bring any proceedings within 24 months.

18.8What we never limit. Nothing in these terms limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be limited.

18.9You bring the claim, you carry the costs. Because we do not conduct litigation (clause 5), you are the party to any proceedings and any costs order the court makes is made against you.

18.10Insure. You should consider rent guarantee, legal expenses or landlord litigation insurance for losses above this limit. We do not provide that cover.

19. When we can stop

19.1We may suspend or withdraw from a case where: it falls outside what we do; the information you gave us was materially wrong or incomplete; continuing would expose us to legal or reputational risk; you have not given us what we asked for within a reasonable time; or the case is no longer viable given the sums involved.

19.2We will give you reasonable written notice and a summary of what has been done so far. Where we withdraw for a reason that is not your fault, we refund the part of any case fee that relates to work not yet done.

20. Complaints

20.1Please email [email protected]. We acknowledge complaints within 5 working days and aim to respond fully within 20 working days.

20.2We are not a regulated firm, so the Legal Ombudsman and the Financial Ombudsman Service cannot consider a complaint about us.

PART G: GENERAL

21. Changes to these terms

21.1We may change these terms. Except as set out in clause 21.2, we will give you at least 30 days’ written notice of any change that affects you, before it takes effect. If that change is to your material disadvantage, you may cancel within those 30 days and we will refund the unused part of your Membership fee, worked out by reference to the remaining days in the Membership Year.

21.2Changes we have to make. We may change these terms with immediate effect where the change is needed because of: (a) a change in the law; (b) a decision of a court or tribunal; or (c) guidance from a regulator or other public body, or written advice from a qualified solicitor or barrister that the change is needed for these terms to comply with the law. We will change only what is needed for that reason. We will publish the updated terms on our website at thetaco.co.uk, and email you at the address you last gave us as soon as reasonably possible, saying what has changed and why.

21.3Your choice after a change under clause 21.2. You have 14 days from the date of our email to tell us whether you accept the change or want a refund. If you ask for a refund, your Membership ends and we will refund the unused part of your Membership fee, worked out by reference to the remaining days in the Membership Year. If we do not hear from you within the 14 days, you will be treated as having accepted the change.

21.4Subject to clause 21.2, the version in force when you join or renew governs that Membership Year.

22. Transferring this agreement

22.1You may not transfer your Membership or any case to anyone else without our written agreement.

22.2We may transfer our rights and obligations under these terms to anyone who acquires our business, provided your rights are not reduced. We will tell you if we do.

23. Everything else

23.1These terms, with the documents in clause 2.1, are the whole agreement between us.

23.2If any part of these terms is found to be unenforceable, the rest continues to apply.

23.3No one other than you and us may enforce these terms.

23.4These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction.

SCHEDULE 1: WHAT IS INCLUDED

For each Case we accept, Membership includes:

1. Reviewing the tenancy documents and arrears information you supply.

2. Telling you what we think your realistic options are.

3. Preparing and sending a Letter Before Action to the Debtor, in our name on your behalf, with the Pre-Action Protocol enclosures pack and our privacy notice.

4. Receiving and assessing the Debtor's reply, and telling you what it means.

5. Corresponding with the Debtor before any claim is issued, including negotiating a repayment arrangement where you authorise one.

6. Preparing draft court documents for you to check, sign and file yourself (clause 5).

7. Keeping a case file and giving you progress updates.

8. Access to our document templates.

9. Where you choose it, collection of Debtor payments through a secure payment link and onward payment to you (clause 12).

Membership does not include anything listed in clause 6.2, and does not include:

• any step in court proceedings;
• attending or speaking at any hearing;
• possession or eviction work;
• enforcement after judgment;
• tracing a Debtor, which is charged separately;
• any Third Party Cost.

SCHEDULE 2: IF YOU ARE AN INDIVIDUAL AND NOT A BUSINESS

This Schedule applies if you are an individual letting property, and not acting for the purposes of a business. If it applies, it overrides anything in the main terms that conflicts with it.

S2.1 Your statutory rights. Nothing in these terms affects your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

S2.2 Cancelling after you join. You have 14 days from the day you join to change your mind and cancel, without giving a reason. Email [email protected].

S2.3 If you want us to start straight away. We will not start work during those 14 days unless you ask us to. If you ask us to start and then cancel inside the 14 days, you pay a fair amount for the work done up to that point, and nothing more.

S2.4 The DIY Letter Pack. This is a download. Once you have downloaded it you lose the right to cancel, but only if you agreed to that before downloading and we confirmed it to you.

S2.5 Liability. The limit in clause 18 applies, but never so as to leave you with less than your statutory rights, and never so as to limit our liability for failing to carry out the Services with reasonable care and skill below what the law allows.