Terms and Conditions

TERMS AND CONDITIONS Please read these Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) carefully before joining or using the Home Staging Association website, membership area and community (together, the “Platform”). The Platform is operated by Home Staging Association Ltd, a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales under company number 11572029 (“HSA”, “the Association”, “we”, “us” or “our”). 1. DEFINITIONS 1.1 “Subscribing Member” (or “Member”) means a business or individual that has joined the Association’s subscription membership and holds a Member or Professional membership, as described on the Platform. 1.2 “Board” means the board of directors of the Association. 1.3 “Code of Conduct” means the Association’s Code of Conduct, as updated from time to time. 1.4 “Content” means everything made available on or through the Platform and the membership, including courses, lessons, videos, recordings, PDFs, templates, guides, directory information, forum and community discussions, text, images, logos and branding. 2. ACCEPTANCE OF THESE TERMS 2.1 By joining the Association, whether by completing the sign-up process, ticking the acceptance box, paying a membership fee, or accessing the Platform as a Member, you accept and agree to be bound by these Terms. No signature is required. The act of joining is your acceptance. 2.2 By joining you also confirm that you have read, are aware of, and agree to comply with the Code of Conduct, which forms part of these Terms. 2.3 If you join on behalf of a business, you confirm that you have the authority to bind that business, and that the business and you are both bound by these Terms. 2.4 If you disagree with any part of these Terms or the Code of Conduct, you may not join or use the Platform. 2.5 These Terms apply to all visitors, users, Subscribing Members and others who access or use the Platform. 3. SUBSCRIBING MEMBERSHIP 3.1 The Association is a company limited by guarantee. Subscribing Members are customers of the Association who receive membership benefits under these Terms. A Subscribing Member is not a member of the company for the purposes of company law, and does not have the right to vote at general meetings, to appoint or remove directors, or to any share in the Association’s assets or profits. 3.2 Two paid membership levels are offered: Member and Professional. There is no free membership level. The benefits of each level are as described on the Platform and may be updated from time to time. 3.3 Subscribing membership is restricted to businesses. Individuals in the process of setting up a business may also join, provided that proof of company establishment is submitted within thirty (30) days of sign-up. Failure to provide such proof will result in suspension of the membership until the required documentation is submitted. 3.4 Membership is personal to the business that joins. It cannot be transferred, shared, sold or assigned. 3.5 Membership of the Association is not a qualification, licence or accreditation, and does not mean the Association endorses or guarantees the work of any Member. 4. ADMISSION, BOARD DECISIONS AND DISCRETION 4.1 All decisions about membership are made by the Board at its sole and absolute discretion. This includes decisions to accept or decline an application, to suspend or end a membership, to decide not to renew a membership, and to refuse a business or person who has left, been removed or let their membership lapse the opportunity to rejoin. 4.2 The Board may make such a decision at any time, with or without giving a reason. The Board is not required to prove any breach or allegation, to hold a hearing, or to disclose its evidence, sources or deliberations. The Board will act in good faith and in the interests of the Association and its Members, and its decision is final. 4.3 In reaching a decision the Board may take into account any information it considers relevant and reliable. This includes a Member’s conduct towards the Association, its directors and officers, other Members, suppliers and clients; sums owed and not paid; honesty and integrity in business; the way the Member’s business is governed and run; and any conduct that may damage the reputation of the Association, its Members or the profession. 4.4 No Member has any right or expectation to be accepted, to remain a Member, or to renew. A decision not to renew is not a termination for breach and does not need a reason. 4.5 Where a membership ends, is not renewed, or is refused, the Member’s access to the Platform, the member directory and all member benefits ends. Fees already paid are not refundable. 4.6 A business, individual, or any director, owner, partner or associated company of a business, that has been removed, declined, or refused renewal may not rejoin or apply to rejoin, directly or through another company, person or account, unless the Board expressly agrees in writing. The Association may cancel any membership obtained in breach of this clause without refund. 4.7 The Association will not be liable for any loss, damage or expense that results from a decision made under this section. 4.8 The Association may also pause (suspend) a membership while legal proceedings against the Member are unresolved, as set out in the Code of Conduct. 5. ACCOUNTS 5.1 When you create an account you must provide information that is accurate, complete and current at all times. Failure to do so is a breach of these Terms and may result in immediate suspension or termination of your account. 5.2 Your account is yours only and is non-transferable. Your account must represent your business only. 5.3 Subscribing Members must not act as agents or facilitators of services. Your account must not be used to represent the services of others, but for the provision of the service by you directly (that is, home staging services), when listed on the HSA member directory. 5.4 You are responsible for safeguarding the password that you use to access the Platform and for all activity under it. You must not disclose your password or share your login with any third party, and you must tell us immediately if you become aware of any breach of security or unauthorised use of your account. 5.5 Your business page and directory listing will go live automatically once payment is received and the required information is completed. You are responsible for its accuracy. We may edit, hide or remove any listing or content that is inaccurate, misleading, inappropriate or in breach of these Terms or the Code of Conduct. 6. FEES, PLANS AND PAYMENT 6.1 Monthly membership. Monthly membership is paid monthly and renews automatically each month until cancelled. New course content opens up regularly throughout your membership, so content is released progressively over time rather than all at once. 6.2 Annual membership. Annual membership is paid in advance for twelve (12) months, renews automatically each year unless cancelled or not renewed, and gives access to all available content from the start of the membership. 6.3 Founding rate. Any “founding rate” offered by the Association applies only to the Members and the number of new Members stated at the time of the offer, and may be withdrawn if a membership lapses or ends. 6.4 Fees may change. The Association reserves the right to change membership fees, prices and the content and benefits of each plan if it considers this necessary. A change to fees will apply from your next billing period, and we will give you at least seven (7) days’ notice before it applies to your existing membership. 6.5 The Association may charge the displayed fees for membership, training, courses, materials, referrals, business listings and any other product or service offered on the Platform. All fees are stated and payable in the currency shown at checkout, and are exclusive of any applicable taxes unless stated otherwise. 6.6 Payment processing. Membership fees and other payments for products and services offered by or branded as the Association may be received and processed by a company, platform or payment provider authorised by the Association, on its behalf. By joining, or by buying any product or service branded by or from the Association, you consent to make payments to that company or provider and acknowledge that such payments relate to the Association. 6.6A Payments. The Association works with education partners, including Paloma Harrington Limited and the Home Staging Education Centre, and may work with other providers from time to time. Memberships are paid to Home Staging Association Ltd. Payments for courses and other educational products and materials may be taken by one of these partners and may appear on your bank or card statement in the partner’s name. Your receipt or invoice will show the company you paid. 6.7 You authorise the Association and its payment provider to charge your chosen payment method for each fee as it falls due. If a payment fails or is reversed, the Association may suspend your access until the amount is paid in full. 6.8 Cancellation. You may cancel at any time from your account. Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current paid period, and you keep access until then. Your membership will not renew after that. 6.9 Memberships are non-refundable. Once you have access to the Platform you can view courses, materials and other Content that have real commercial value. For that reason all membership fees and other payments are non-refundable, including for unused time, for Content not yet released, and for cancellation, removal or non-renewal, except where the law requires otherwise. 7. CONTENT AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 7.1 All Content is the exclusive property of the Association or its licensors and is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights. Membership gives you a limited, personal, non- exclusive, non-transferable right to view and use the Content for your own business while your membership is active. 7.2 Content must not be reproduced. Without the Association’s prior written permission you must not, in whole or in part, in any format: copy, reproduce, download for sharing, screenshot, record, photograph, transcribe, distribute, publish, post, resell, license, translate or adapt any Content that you see on the Platform or inside the membership, including courses, videos, PDFs, templates, community and forum discussions, and directory information. 7.3 You must not share your login or give any person access to member-only Content. You must not use Content, or any automated tool, scraper or artificial intelligence system, to extract, copy or train on Content, or to create, train or promote any competing course, membership, directory or community. 7.4 You may apply what you learn in your own business. You may not pass the Content itself on to others. 7.5 Any breach of this section may lead to immediate termination of your membership without refund, and the Association may take legal action to protect its rights and recover its losses. 8. YOUR CONTENT AND PORTFOLIO IMAGES 8.1 You keep ownership of the images, text and other material that you upload or provide to the Association (“Member Content”), including your portfolio pictures. 8.2 By joining, you grant the Association a free, non-exclusive, worldwide licence to use, reproduce, adapt for formatting, display and share your Member Content, including your portfolio pictures, your business name and your logo, on its website, member directory, social media channels, newsletters, emails, presentations and other promotional or educational material, in each case to promote the Association and its Members. The Association will give credit to the Member where reasonably practicable. 8.3 You confirm that you own, or have all necessary permissions (including from homeowners, photographers and copyright holders) for, all Member Content, and that its use as described will not infringe anyone’s rights. You are responsible for any claim that arises from your Member Content. 8.4 This licence continues while you are a Member. If your membership ends, the Association will stop using your Member Content in new material within a reasonable time, but is not required to remove content already published or archived. 9. USE OF THE HSA NAME AND LOGO 9.1 You may only use the Association’s name, logo or any membership badge in the way the Association approves, and only while your membership is active. You must stop using them immediately when you cancel your membership or leave the Association, or when your membership otherwise ends, for whatever reason. This includes removing them from your website, social media, marketing materials, signage and email signatures. 9.3 If you continue to use the Association’s name, logo or any membership badge after your membership has ended, you agree to pay the Association a fine of £500 for each breach. You agree that this sum is a reasonable pre-estimate of the Association’s loss and is not a penalty. Payment of the fine does not give you the right to carry on using them, and the Association may also seek an order stopping the use and recover any further loss. 9.2 You must not state or suggest that the Association has accredited, certified, endorsed or guaranteed your business, qualifications or work, or that you speak or act for the Association, unless the Association has agreed this in writing. 10. CODE OF CONDUCT AND COMMUNITY RULES 10.1 You must comply with the Code of Conduct at all times. A breach may lead to the action described in the Code of Conduct and in section 4. 10.2 In the Association’s community spaces, you must be respectful and professional, and must not post material that is unlawful, defamatory, discriminatory, abusive or misleading, or send spam or unsolicited promotion. You must keep what other Members share in confidence and not use Members’ details for any purpose except as the Platform allows. 10.3 The Association may moderate, edit or remove any post or comment, and may suspend any person’s access to community spaces, at its discretion. 11. PERSONAL DATA 11.1 The Association handles personal data in line with its Privacy Policy and applicable data protection law. By joining, you agree that the information in your business page and directory listing will be made public on the Platform as part of your membership. 11.2 If you receive personal data about other Members, clients or suppliers through the Platform, you must handle it lawfully and use it only for the purpose for which it was shared. 12. LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES 12.1 The Platform may contain links to third-party websites or services that are not owned or controlled by the Association. The Association has no control over, and assumes no responsibility for, the content, privacy policies or practices of any third-party websites or services. 12.2 You acknowledge and agree that the Association shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of, or reliance on, any such content, goods or services. We strongly advise you to read the terms and conditions and privacy policies of any third-party websites or services that you visit. 13. DISCLAIMERS AND LIABILITY 13.1 The Platform and the Content are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. The Association gives no promise or guarantee that membership will result in clients, leads, income or business growth, or that the Platform will be uninterrupted or error-free. 13.2 The Association is not a party to any contract between a Member and a client, supplier or another Member, and is not responsible for any Member’s work, services, advice or conduct. 13.3 To the fullest extent the law allows, the Association’s total liability to you in connection with your membership will not exceed the membership fees you paid in the twelve (12) months before the claim arose, and the Association is not liable for any indirect or consequential loss or loss of profit. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot lawfully be limited. 13.4 You agree to indemnify the Association, its directors and its officers against any claim, loss or cost arising from your breach of these Terms or the Code of Conduct, your Member Content, or your business activities. 14. TERMINATION 14.1 We may suspend or terminate your membership and your access to the Platform immediately, without prior notice or liability, for any reason, including if you breach these Terms or the Code of Conduct. This is in addition to our rights under section 4. 14.2 Upon termination, your right to use the Platform and the Content ceases immediately, and your directory listing and business page will be removed. If you wish to end your membership yourself, you may cancel as described in section 6.8. 14.3 All provisions of these Terms which by their nature should survive termination will survive it, including (without limitation) the provisions on Board discretion, re-admission, Content and intellectual property, Member Content, the Code of Conduct non-compete, ownership, disclaimers, indemnity and limitation of liability. 15. CHANGES 15.1 We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to modify or replace these Terms and the Code of Conduct at any time. If a revision is material we will try to give at least thirty (30) days’ notice before the new terms take effect. What constitutes a material change will be decided at our sole discretion. 15.2 By continuing to use the Platform or maintaining your membership after revisions become effective, you agree to be bound by the revised terms. If you do not agree to the new terms, please stop using the Platform and cancel your membership. 16. GENERAL 16.1 Governing law. These Terms are governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the jurisdiction in which the Association is incorporated, without regard to its conflict of law provisions, and the courts of that jurisdiction have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute. 16.2 Waiver and severability. Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms is not a waiver of that right. If any provision is held invalid or unenforceable by a court, the remaining provisions remain in effect. 16.3 Entire agreement. These Terms, the Code of Conduct and the Privacy Policy are the entire agreement between us regarding the Platform and your membership, and replace any previous agreement between us on those subjects. 16.4 Notices. We may give you notice by email to the address on your account or by posting on the Platform. Notices to the Association must be sent to the contact address below. 16.5 Assignment. The Association may transfer its rights and duties under these Terms to another company or organisation. You may not transfer yours. 17. CONTACT US If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us at info@homestaging.org.uk. Last updated: November 2026