The present Website Terms of Use govern the usage of this website, www.checkyourtraders.com (hereinafter referred to as the “Website”). It is imperative that you thoroughly review and comprehend the terms and conditions outlined in this document prior to utilising the Website. By accessing and utilising the Website, you hereby acknowledge and agree to abide by the terms and conditions set forth in these Website Terms of Use.  In the event that you do not concur with any of the terms and conditions outlined in this document, it is your responsibility to immediately discontinue any further use of the Website.

1. Acceptance of Terms
   1. Access and utilisation of the Website is contingent upon acceptance and adherence to the present Terms of Use.
   2. By utilising the Website, you agree to refrain from any actions that are deemed illegal or prohibited by these Terms of Use.
   3. Your use of the Website constitutes acceptance of these Terms of Use. In the event that you do not accept these Terms of Use, you are obligated to immediately discontinue any further use of the Website.
   4. The Company reserves the right to make revisions or amendments to these Terms of Use at any time, and your continued use of the Website following any such changes shall be deemed to be your acceptance of such modifications. It is incumbent upon you to regularly review these Terms of Use for any such changes.
   5. The Company may make updates to the Website at its discretion, and may alter the content at any time.
   6. These Terms of Use were last revised on January 27, 2023.
2. Definitions and Interpretation
   
   1. In these Website Terms of Use, the following terms shall have the meaning ascribed to them as follows, unless the context otherwise requires.
      “Content” refers to any and all forms of information, including but not limited to text, images, audio, video, scripts, code, software, databases, which may be stored on a computer that appears on, or forms part of, our Website; and“We/Us/Our/the Company/CYT” refers to Check Your Traders. “Check Your Traders” is the trading name of Check Your Traders Limited, a Malta registered company with company registration number C-96484, whose principal place of business is located at Flat 1, Glenville Apartments, Sammy Bartolo Street, Mellieha, MLH1022.
3. Access to Our Website
   1. It is your responsibility to take any and all necessary actions to gain  access to our Website.
   2. Access to our Website is free of charge, “as is” and on an “as available” basis.  We reserve the right to modify, suspend or terminate our Website (or any part thereof) at any time and without prior notice.  We shall not be held liable for any damages arising from the unavailability of our Website (or any part thereof) at any time or for any duration.
4. Intellectual Property Rights
   1. All Content included on our Website and the copyright and other intellectual property rights subsisting in that Content, unless specifically labelled otherwise, belongs to or has been licensed by us. All Content is protected by applicable intellectual property laws.
   2. Subject to clause 4.3, you may not reproduce, copy, distribute, sell, rent, sub-licence, store, or in any other manner re-use Content from our Website unless we give you express written permission to do so.
   3. You may:
      1. Access, view and use our Website in a web browser (including any web browsing capability built into other types of software or app);
      2. Download our Website (or any part of it) for caching;
      3. Print pages from our Website;
      4. Download extracts from pages on our Website; and
      5. Save pages from our Website for later and/or offline viewing.
   4. You must always acknowledge our status as the owner and author of the Content on our Website (or that of identified licensors, as appropriate).
   5. You must always acknowledge our status as the owner and author of the Content on our Website (or that of identified licensors, as appropriate).
   6. You may not use any Content saved or downloaded from our Website for commercial purposes without first obtaining a licence from us (or our licensors, as appropriate) to do so. This does not prohibit the normal access, viewing and use of our Website for general information purposes, whether by business users or consumers.
5. Links to Our Website
   1. You may link to our Website provided that:
      1. You do so in a fair and legal manner;
      2. You do not do so in a manner that suggests any form of association, endorsement or approval on our part where none exists;
      3. You do not use any logos or trademarks displayed on our Website without our express written permission; and
      4. You do not do so in a way that is intended to damage our reputation or to take unfair advantage of it.
   2. Framing or embedding of our Website on other websites is not permitted without our express written permission.
   3. You may not link to our Website from any other site, the main content of which contains material that:
      1. is obscene, deliberately offensive, hateful or otherwise inflammatory;
      2. promotes violence or hatred;
      3. promotes or assists in any form of unlawful activity;
      4. discriminates against, or is in any way defamatory towards, any person or group of people;
      5. is intended or is otherwise likely to threaten, harass, annoy, inconvenience, upset or embarrass another person;
      6. is intended or is otherwise likely to infringe (or to threaten to infringe) another person’s privacy;
      7. misleadingly impersonates any person or otherwise misrepresents the identity or affiliation of a particular person in a way that is calculated to deceive;
      8. infringes, or assists in the infringement of, the intellectual property rights (including, but not limited to, copyright, trademarks and database rights) of any other party; or
      9. is made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party including, but not limited to, contractual duties and duties of confidence.
   4. The restrictions in clause 4.3 do not apply to content submitted to sites by other users, provided that the primary purpose of the site meets with the provisions of clause 4.3. You are not, for example, prohibited from posting links on general-purpose social networking sites merely because another user may post such content.  You are, however, prohibited from posting links on websites which focus on or encourage the submission of such content from users.
6. Links to Other websites
   Links to other websites may be included on our Website. Unless expressly stated, these sites are not under our control.  We neither assume nor accept responsibility or liability for the content of third-party sites. The inclusion of a link to another site on our Website is for information only and does not imply any endorsement of the sites themselves or of those in control of them.
7. Disclaimers
   1. Nothing on our Website constitutes advice on which you should rely. It is provided for general information purposes only.
      1. Insofar as is permitted by law, we make no representation, warranty or guarantee that our Website will meet your requirements, that it will not infringe the rights of third parties, that it will be compatible with all software and hardware, or that it will be secure.
      2. We make reasonable efforts to ensure that the Content on our Website is complete, accurate and up to date. We do not, however, make any representations, warranties or guarantees (whether express or implied) that this will be the case.
8. Viruses, Malware and Security
   1. We exercise all reasonable skill and care to ensure that our Website is secure and free from viruses and other malware.
   2. You are responsible for protecting your hardware, software, data and other material from viruses, malware and other internet security risks.
   3. You must not deliberately introduce viruses, malware or any other material which is malicious or technologically harmful either to or via our Website.
   4. You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to any part of our Website, the server on which our Website is stored, or any other server, computer or database connected to our Website.
   5. You must not attack our Website by means of a denial of service attack, a distributed denial of service attack or by any other means.
   6. By breaching the provisions of clauses 7.3 to 7.5, you may be committing a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. Any and all such breaches will be reported to the relevant law enforcement authorities and we will cooperate fully with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them.  Your right to use our Website will cease immediately in the event of such a breach.
9. Acceptable Usage Policy
   1. You may only use our Website in a manner that is lawful. Specifically:
      1. you must ensure that you comply fully with any and all local, national or international laws and/or regulations;
      2. you must not use our Website in any way, or for any purpose, that is unlawful or fraudulent;
      3. you must not use our Website to knowingly send, upload, or in any other way transmit data that contains any form of virus or other malware, or any other code designed to adversely affect computer hardware, software or data of any kind;
      4. you must not use our Website in any way, or for any purpose, that is intended to harm any person or persons in any way; and
      5. you must comply with the Content Standards set out in Clause 10.
   2. We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your access to our Website if you materially breach the provisions of this clause 8 or any of the other provisions of these Website Terms of Use. Specifically, we may take one or more of the following actions:
      1. suspend, whether temporarily or permanently, your right to access our Website;
      2. issue you with a written warning;
      3. take legal proceedings against you for reimbursement of any and all relevant costs incurred as a result of your breach;
      4. take further legal action against you as appropriate;
      5. disclose such information to law enforcement authorities as required or as we deem reasonably necessary; and/or
      6. any other actions which we deem reasonably appropriate (and lawful).
10. Content Standards
    1. Where the content that you upload does not comply with the Content Standards (as set out within this Clause 10) or requires clarification, CYT may contact you for further information, before publishing such content.
    2. You warrant that all content you upload shall comply with the Content Standards, and you agree to indemnify CYT for any loss CYT suffers as a result of your failure to comply with the Content Standards.
    3. CYT will not be responsible, or liable to any third party, for the content or accuracy of any content uploaded by you to the Website.
    4. CYT reserves the right to remove or withhold any content at any time which it considers fails to adhere with the Content Standards set out in clause 13.1.
    5. CYT reserves the right to edit content you upload to amend spelling, grammar, punctuation, length, for the purposes of clarity and to ensure that the content can comply with the Content Standards.
11. Verification
    1. Verification is made at the discretion of CYT.
    2. The different tiers for verification are as follows:
       1. One tick on the Website is verified which means that the Trader has been identified and has provided proof of identification and proof of VAT Registration;
       2. Two ticks on the Website means that a qualification in the field of the trader’s work has been provided by the trader; and
       3. .Three ticks on the Website means that the trader or their company is insured.
       4. No Ticks, on the website is “Unchecked” which means that the Trader and or Company has either never been a members of CYT and as such has not been verified by the Company or that the trader has in the past been a member of CYT and since terminated their membership with the Company. In the latter case, any references to identification, insurance or qualifications shall be removed.
    3. The verification system is handled by CYTs and relies upon information provided by the traders as well as independent checks to the best of their ability, and as per Clause 12, neither the Website or CYT shall be held liable for any result of any misleading or false information.
    4. In a situation where all documentation has been provided to CYT, the profile will be uploaded and visible on the Website within ten working days with the documentation provided. If the documentation has not been provided to the satisfaction of the verification tiers set out in Clause 11.2 above, then the Website will only show the corresponding verification tick, and not necessarily the tick which was paid for by the Trader or the Company.
    5. Should a trader for any reason stop paying for the service provided by the Website, the reviews that were made before such termination of the working relationship will remain publicly visible. Such a profile would show up as “unchecked” and the references to any identification insurance or qualifications will be removed.
12. Reviews
    1. Because CYT relies on the input of users of the Website, and allows them to post reviews of their experiences with the relevant traders, CYT has set out the below policy for handling reviews.
    2. For the avoidance of doubt, a positive review is one that is rated 6 or above – including 6 – out of 10.
       1. For every ten positive reviews received, the Website checks one positive review and requests feedback from the reviewer.
       2. When a negative review is received, it is not published immediately. Before publication, the Website contacts both the reviewer and the trader to understand the issues. CYT will not advise on how to proceed, nor will they in any way mediate or assist the progression of the trader/customer relationship. Once an understanding of the issue from the side of the reviewer has been received, CYT then contacts the Trader of the issue. The Trader then has a ten working day period in which to resolve the issue or contact the customer. After such a period has lapsed, CYT contacts both parties again in order to determine whether there has been a resolution. If there has been a resolution, CYT asks the customer whether they would like to amend their review.CYT may also publicly reply to any reviews on the Website.
13. Our Liability
    1. To the fullest extent permissible by law, we accept no liability to any user for any loss or damage, whether foreseeable or otherwise, in contract, tort (including negligence), for breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, arising out of or in connection with the use of (or inability to use) our Website or the use of or reliance upon any Content included on our Website.
    2. To the fullest extent permissible by law, we exclude all representations, warranties and guarantees (whether express or implied) that may apply to our Website or any Content included on our Website.
    3. If you are a business user, we accept no liability for loss of profits, sales, business or revenue; loss of business opportunity, goodwill or reputation; loss of anticipated savings; business interruption; or for any indirect or consequential loss or damage.
    4. We exercise all reasonable skill and care to ensure that our Website is free from viruses and other malware. We accept no liability for any loss or damage resulting from a virus or other malware, a distributed denial of service attack, or other harmful material or event that may adversely affect your hardware, software, data or other material that occurs as a result of your use of our Website (including the downloading of any Content from it) or any other site referred to on our Website.
    5. We neither assume nor accept responsibility or liability arising out of any disruption or non-availability of our Website resulting from external causes including, but not limited to, internet service provider equipment failure, host equipment failure, communications network failure, natural events, acts of war, legal restrictions or censorship.
    6. Nothing in these Website Terms of Use excludes or restricts our liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, for death or personal injury resulting from negligence, or for any other forms of liability which cannot be excluded or restricted by law.
    7. If you are a consumer visiting our Website, please contact the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority for full details of your legal rights.
14. Privacy and CookiesUse of our Website is also governed by our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Website Terms of Use by this reference.
15. Changes to these Website Terms of UseWe may alter these Website Terms of Use at any time.  Any such changes will become binding on you upon your first use of our Website after the changes have been implemented.  You are therefore advised to check this page from time to time.
16. Communicating with Us
    Should you have any queries or concerns regarding these Website Terms of Use, or if you wish to report a violation of these terms, kindly direct your correspondence to us by electronic mail at info@checkyourtraders.com or by postal mail at our registered address at Flat 1, Glenville Apartments, Sammy Bartolo Street, Mellieha, MLH1022.We are committed to providing prompt and efficient responses to all inquiries and will make every effort to address your concerns in a satisfactory manner. Furthermore, if you believe that any Content on our Website is in violation of these Terms of Use, we urge you to notify us immediately so that appropriate measures can be taken.
17. Law and Jurisdiction
    1. These Website Terms of Use, and the relationship between you and us (whether contractual or otherwise) will be governed by, and construed in accordance with the laws of Malta.
    2. If you are a consumer, any dispute, controversy, proceedings or claim between you and us relating to these Website Terms of Use, or the relationship between you and us (whether contractual or otherwise) will be subject to the jurisdiction of the Courts of Malta.
    3. If you are a business, any disputes concerning these Website Terms of Use, the relationship between you and us, or any matters arising from them or associated with them (whether contractual or otherwise) will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of Malta.