Website terms and conditions

We will do our utmost to ensure that availability of the site will be uninterrupted, and transmissions will be error free. However, due to the nature of the Internet, this cannot be guaranteed. Also, your access to the site may also be occasionally suspended or restricted to allow for repairs and maintenance, or the introduction of new facilities and services. We will attempt to limit the frequency and duration of any such suspension or restriction. CIH will not be liable for any loss or damage (whether direct, indirect or consequential) incurred by you resulting from any such interruption or lack of access to the site.

You are acknowledging and agreeing to these terms and conditions by using this site. If you disagree with any part of these terms and conditions, you may not access or use the site in any way. We will not accept any amendment to these terms and conditions. By entering this site you agree to use and continue to use the site and all services provided through it in a manner consistent with all applicable laws and regulations and in accordance with these terms and conditions.

Specific event bookings and certain items available for order through the site may be subject to additional terms and conditions. Those specific terms will be drawn to your attention at the time you are placing the relevant booking or order. Where you are advised that additional terms apply, you will be deemed to have accepted them in full if you continue with your booking or order thereafter. If you have any queries regarding the applicable terms, please contact us at membership.services@cih.org before you book a place on any such event or order any product or service.

CIH reserves the right to change or update these terms and conditions from time to time without prior notice to users. Any changes will take effect from the day they are first posted on the site or the changes are notified to you, whichever is the sooner. The terms and conditions in force at the time of your access the site will apply to you each time you access it.

We have in place a level of security appropriate to the nature of the data received and the harm that might result from a breach of security. Data relating to you and your use of the site is held in our corporate databases. We will:

• Not hold information about you which is excessive in relation to the purpose(s) for which it was collected.
• Use only the very latest data provided by you. To help us do this, please keep us updated with any changes to your details. You can do this by updating your profile in the My CIH area or by emailing membership.services@cih.org.
• Not keep information for longer than is necessary to enable us to resolve any subsequent queries and to comply with any legislative or regulatory requirements and for audit purposes.
• Only use your details for marketing purposes when consent has been received.
• Only use your data for the purpose stated when the data is collected.
• Process your data in accordance with your rights under the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulations 2016.

These terms and conditions are governed by and construed in accordance with English law and the English courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any matter or dispute arising out of or in connection with them (including any dispute as to interpretation).

• We work to protect the security of your information during transmission by using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) software, which encrypts information you input.
• We reveal only the last (five) digits of your credit card numbers when confirming an order. Of course, we transmit the entire credit card number to the appropriate credit card company during order processing.
• We maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards in connection with the collection, storage and disclosure of personally identifiable customer information. Our security procedures mean that we will request proof of identity before we disclose personal information to you.
• It is important for you to protect against unauthorised access to your password and to your computer. Be sure to log out when you finish using a shared computer.

The site and its contents are provided on an "as is" basis and CIH does not make any representations or warranties (and expressly disclaim the same to the fullest extent permitted by law) with respect to the site, its contents and the services available on and/or through it. In particular, CIH does not represent or warrant that the material comprised on this site is completely accurate or up-to-date and CIH shall have no liability in respect of such material or for any use of or reliance upon any such material by any person.

Users should take legal, financial or other appropriate advice before taking any action arising out of use of material from the site. The documents and related graphics on the site could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. CIH cannot assume responsibility for any errors or omissions on the site.

All content on the site, including all intellectual property rights and including (but not limited to) text, graphics, logos, and images is the property of CIH, its affiliates or content suppliers. You may not copy, retransmit or deal in any manner with any content of this site without the express written consent of CIH, say that you are hereby granted permission to use documents such as (but not limited to) press releases, consultation papers and briefings from the site, provided that (1) the CIH copyright notice appears in all copies, (2) such permission is only for your personal, non-commercial use, and (3) you do not copy or upload the information to any network computer or broadcast it on any medium whatsoever.

You may not create and/or publish your own database which utilises sections of the site and/or any database on the site or accessible through it without CIH’s express written consent.

No logo, graphic or image from the site may be copied or retransmitted unless expressly permitted in writing by CIH.

The links provided on the site may direct you an external site. These linked sites are not under the control of CIH and CIH is not responsible for their contents, any link contained on a linked site, or any changes and updates to these sites. CIH has included these links for your convenience and the inclusion of a link does not imply or constitute any CIH endorsement of the site or any products or services advertised on or provided through it. CIH accepts no responsibility for any loss or damage you sustain by visiting these websites.

CIH will be responsible for any losses you suffer as a result of us breaching these conditions if the losses were reasonably foreseeable to both you and us when you commenced using the site. We will not in any event and to the maximum extent permitted by law be responsible for any business loss (including loss of profits, revenue, contracts, anticipated savings, data, goodwill or wasted expenditure) or any other indirect or consequential loss, whether or not reasonably foreseeable to both you and us when you commenced using the site. CIH does not limit in any way its liability by law for death or personal injury caused from our negligence or breach of duty or caused by our gross negligence or wilful misconduct.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, you consent to receive communications from us electronically and you agree that all notices and other communications sent to you electronically satisfy all legal requirements that such communication be in writing. Information provided by us through the site, including by email, cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free. It may also be subject to loss, interception or alteration.

We will not be liable for any loss or damage, howsoever arising, occurring as a result of such electronic communication being lost, intercepted or altered or affected in any way.

Comments are open to all users registered on this site. Users who post and use the comments facility are agreeing to the following terms of use:

• Do not to use inappropriate, threatening, obscene, offensive or abusive language
• Do not to discriminate, abuse or incite hatred based on gender, sexuality, race, religion, nationality or any other personal characteristic
• Do not to advertise goods/services which are for sale
• Do not to post private details such as postal or email addresses
• Do not to impersonate another person or falsely claim to represent an organisation or another individual

CIH reserves the right to edit/delete any postings and comments and/or block or delete users accounts.

Member data may also be used to provide mailing lists to third party suppliers for the purpose of mailing items to you. These lists include names, job titles and addresses. Member data is used to provide mailing lists to regional boards for the purpose of contacting you about events and services that they can offer to you.

We do not provide mailing lists or contact details to third parties for the purposes of marketing, but we may pass your details to members of our group of companies for purposes which relate to your membership and provide you with information about products or events which may be of interest to you. You can opt-out of receiving such correspondence, at any time, free of charge, by contacting us.

CIH has strict agreements with each third-party supplier for the management of your data. These agreements are in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and PECR regulations.

No waiver by us of any breach of these terms and conditions shall be a waiver of any subsequent breach of the same or any other provision of them.

Certain details are protected and can only be viewed or amended by trained CIH staff e.g. the payment of subscriptions and changes to our corporate databases. In addition, staff some external suppliers will have access to your data and as stated above they are under strict data sharing agreements.

If you use the site, you are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account and password and restricting access to your computer to prevent unauthorised access to your account. You agree to accept responsibility for all activities that occur under or using your account or password. You should take all necessary steps to ensure that you password is kept confidential and secure and you should inform us immediately if you have any reason to believe that your password has become known to, or used by anyone else, or if your password is being, or is likely to be, used in an unauthorised manner.

Please ensure that the details you provide to us are up to date and complete and should your details change, you inform us immediately. You can access and update much of the information you have provided to us within the My CIH area of the site or by contacting membership.services@cih.org. To the maximum extent permitted by law, CIH shall bear no responsibility or liability for any failure of transmission, misdirection of correspondence, or loss or damage contributed to or caused by your failure to update your details from time to time.

CIH reserves the right to refuse access to the site, terminate accounts, remove or edit content, or cancel orders at our discretion.

You have certain rights under the Data Protection Act 2018 in relation to the information that we hold about you. These rights include:

• The right to be informed about how your data is being used
• Access your personal data
• The right to have incorrect data updated
• The right to have your data erased
• The right to stop or restrict the processing of your data
• Data portability (allowing you to get and reuse your data for different services)
• The right to object to how your data is processed in certain circumstances

Please also see our Privacy Policy here 

Where products supplied are subject to third party intellectual property or licensing arrangements, they are supplied by us to you subject to the terms and conditions of the respective service. You are required to accept such terms and conditions before first using the relevant service. Use of the relevant product or service is deemed to be acceptance of the terms and conditions of such service.

CIH does not bear any responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or currency of any information provided on the site including in relation to prices, availability and delivery times (as is covered in more detail elsewhere in these terms and conditions). As such, your placing an order on the site shall be deemed to be an offer to purchase the items in that order for the price shown on the site. After you have successfully completed the order process on the site, we will send you a confirmation email setting out your order reference.

If the items you have ordered are in stock and available for postage to you, that confirmation email shall constitute acceptance of your offer (subject always to these terms and conditions).

If some or all of the items you have ordered are not in stock and/or unavailable for postage to you, that confirmation email shall constitute acceptance of your offer in respect of those items that are in stock and available for postage, but the remainder of the order shall not be accepted by us.

Please see section 3 ("Pricing") and 5 ("Availability") which set out how we deal with the unusual situations where an item you have ordered is wrongly-priced on the site or temporarily unavailable. In such circumstances, we will only accept the relevant offer by you to purchase any item(s) once we have confirmed that you wish to purchase such item(s) and we have processed payment for, and despatched, the same.

For the avoidance of doubt, us processing payment for any order shall not be deemed to be acceptance of that or any other order, as all or part of such payment may be refunded to you in accordance with these terms and conditions without giving rise to any contract for the sale of the items in that order.

CIH always aims to provide the most accurate information on prices. We supply items at published prices except where a specific discount is offered. In the event of a pricing error such that the applicable price is lower than the advertised one, we will charge you the lower price and refund any excess amount already paid. In the event of a pricing error such that the applicable price is higher than the advertised one, howsoever caused, we will check with you to see if you still wish to receive the relevant product or service at the new price and, if you do not, will refund your payment for it. The only currency accepted by the site is UK Pounds Sterling (£) and all prices are displayed in that currency.

Unless we agree to invoice you separately, full payment for all orders is required at the time of ordering. It will be made clear during the order process whether payment in cleared funds is required or whether we will raise an invoice. Goods remain the property of CIH until payment is received. Payment can be made by MasterCard, Visa, Maestro, BACS or personal cheque. We reserve the right to amend the payment methods we accept from time to time.

Books are currently zero-rated for VAT. If there is any change in legislation, VAT will become applicable at the standard rate in accordance with such changes and from the date required by the legislation.

CIH’s VAT registration number is 233 8459 50.

• For UK orders: £4.80 per item for smaller items and £7.50 for UK Housing Review.
• For European and Rest of World orders: Postage will be based on weight and charged at cost. We will contact you prior to despatch to confirm the final price and agree delivery. You have the right to cancel your order at this stage.

Although we do try to ensure that the site displays the most up-to-date availability information, availability displayed for each product or service advertised is subject to change. Any information regarding availability is subject to the stock level information which we are provided with.

If you order a product or service which is out of stock, you will be informed of this within five days of the date you place the order. Orders for these items will be recorded and supplied when available unless you have cancelled your order prior to such despatch, which you can do by contacting our customer service department at customer@cih.org or on +44 [0] 2476 851700.

Orders placed online and paid for by MasterCard, Visa or Maestro will be posted within five working days, provided goods are in stock at the time of processing the order. Please allow up to 14 days for delivery. We will not be held responsible for any delay or failure to comply with our obligations under these terms and conditions if the delay or failure is as a result of any cause which is beyond our reasonable control.

• UK mainland - orders will be despatched to UK mainland addresses by either Royal Mail first class post or carrier.
• UK Off-Shore Islands, Northern Ireland - orders will be despatched by Royal Mail first class post or carrier.
• Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, Europe and International orders - orders will be despatched by using the method which, in CIH's opinion, is most suitable for the relevant goods ordered.

When ordering goods from the site for delivery overseas, the overseas recipient may be subject to import duties and taxes. Any additional charges for customs clearance shall not be borne by CIH and it is your responsibility to establish whether these may or will be applicable and to make provision for their payment.

Refunds to credit cards will be processed immediately if goods that were shown as being in stock when ordered by you are subsequently unavailable when the relevant order is processed.

We are happy for you to return items which are in their original condition. Such requests must be made within 30 days from date of delivery to you provided prior authorisation has been given by CIH. If you would like to return items to CIH then please contact our customer service department at customer@cih.org or alternatively call them on +44 [0] 2476 851700 who will provide you with instructions for returning items. Please note that any refund will be processed as soon as reasonably possible once the goods have been returned to us in a good and saleable condition.

Please also contact our customer service department if you would like to return an item because of an error on our part (for example, if we delivered the wrong item to you not in accordance with your order – in which case we will refund the related delivery charges) or because an item is defective.

Claims for non-delivery must be made within 30 days from the date of notification of postage for UK orders, 40 days for overseas orders. Claims for shortages and damages must be made within 10 working days from date of receipt. All packaging must be retained for inspection. Claims not received within these periods may not be met. If you would like to make a claim then please contact our customer service department at customer@cih.org or alternatively call us on +44 [0] 2476 851700.

CIH's liability to you for negligence, breach of contract and statutory duty in relation to any contract for the sale of goods by us to you shall be limited to the cost of replacing any goods and/or services ordered by you. It is not intended that any contract between CIH and you for the supply of goods and/or services should be enforceable by any third party.