Terms of Service
Passref LTD — Terms of Service for Landlords and Letting Agents
Last updated: 15 June 2026 · Version: 0.1
Drafting note (delete before publishing): Working draft. Fill in every
[BRACKETED]item, resolve the drafting notes, and have it reviewed by a commercial/data protection specialist before use. These terms are written for business customers (landlords and letting agents), with you acting as an independent controller for the referencing you carry out. They are designed to sit alongside your tenant Privacy Notice and your Controller-to-Controller Data Sharing Terms.
1. These terms
1.1 These terms govern your use of the referencing services provided by Passref LTD ("we", "us", "our"). By registering for an account or using the Services, you ("you", the "Customer") agree to these terms.
1.2 The Services are provided for business use only, to landlords and letting agents acting in the course of a business. They are not offered to consumers.
1.3 If you enter into these terms on behalf of an organisation, you confirm you have authority to bind that organisation.
2. Definitions
- Applicant — a prospective tenant, guarantor, or other individual you ask us to reference.
- Reference — the output we produce about an Applicant based on the checks performed.
- Recommendation — any indicative outcome, score, or suggested result we provide alongside a Reference.
- Right to Rent Check — a check we carry out to help confirm an Applicant's right to rent in England, as described in clause 6.
- Services — the referencing, identity verification, Right to Rent, and related services we make available to you.
- Privacy Notice — our then-current privacy notice for Applicants.
- Data Sharing Terms — our Controller-to-Controller Data Sharing Terms, which form part of these terms.
3. The Services
3.1 We provide tenant referencing services, which may include identity verification, income and affordability checks, Right to Rent Checks, and the production of a Reference and Recommendation.
3.2 The specific checks performed depend on what you request and the information available. We may add to, change, or improve the checks we carry out from time to time.
3.3 We provide the Services with reasonable care and skill. We do not guarantee any particular outcome.
4. Your account
4.1 You must provide accurate registration information and keep it up to date.
4.2 You are responsible for the security of your account and for all activity carried out under it.
4.3 You must only use the Services for genuine tenant-referencing purposes connected with an actual or prospective letting.
5. References and Recommendations — your decision
5.1 Based on the checks we carry out, we produce a Reference and may provide a Recommendation.
5.2 A Recommendation is advisory only. It is not a direction, instruction, or requirement to accept or reject any Applicant.
5.3 You are solely responsible for the decision whether to let to any Applicant. That decision is yours and yours alone. You must exercise your own independent judgement, taking into account all relevant information, and must not rely solely on a Recommendation.
5.4 We do not decide, and are not responsible for deciding, whether any tenancy is offered, granted, or refused.
Drafting note: clauses 5.2–5.4 do double duty — they protect you commercially and support the position that automated processing in the Reference is not a "solely automated decision" under Article 22. For that position to hold in practice, your customers need to genuinely consider the Recommendation rather than auto-apply it; the warranty in 7.6 reinforces this.
6. Right to Rent
6.1 The Right to Rent scheme under the Immigration Act 2014 applies to residential lettings in England only. Right to Rent Checks are relevant only to such lettings.
6.2 Where you request a Right to Rent Check, we will:
(a) for Applicants holding a British or Irish passport, verify identity and confirm right to rent using that passport, checked through a certified Identity Document Validation Technology (IDVT) service; and
(b) for other Applicants, ask the Applicant to provide a Home Office share code and use it, with the Home Office online checking service, to confirm right to rent.
6.3 We do not carry out in-person right to rent checks. Where a check must be conducted in person, that check is your responsibility and we are not able to perform it.
6.4 You remain responsible for your own statutory Right to Rent obligations under the Immigration Act 2014, including determining what checks are required, completing any checks we do not perform, and retaining records. The Services assist with, but do not discharge, those obligations.
6.5 We do not provide immigration advice or legal advice.
Drafting note: if you later cover other parts of the UK or additional document routes, update this clause.
7. Your obligations and warranties
You agree and confirm that:
7.1 you will use the Services lawfully and in accordance with these terms;
7.2 you have a lawful basis to share the Applicant's contact details with us and to refer the Applicant to us for referencing;
7.3 you have made the Applicant aware — including through your own privacy information — that you use a referencing provider and will pass their contact details to us, and you are entitled to provide any contact details (including for a guarantor) that you submit;
7.4 the information you provide to us is accurate and not misleading;
7.5 you will not use the Services, or any Reference or Recommendation, to discriminate against any person unlawfully, including contrary to the Equality Act 2010;
7.6 you will make your own letting decisions and will genuinely consider, rather than automatically apply, any Recommendation; and
7.7 you will comply with the Data Sharing Terms and with data protection law in your handling of Applicant data.
8. Acceptable use
You must not:
8.1 resell, sublicense, or make the Services available to third parties except as permitted;
8.2 use a Reference or Recommendation for any purpose other than assessing the relevant letting;
8.3 copy, reverse-engineer, or attempt to derive our methodology or scoring; or
8.4 use the Services in any unlawful, fraudulent, or harmful way.
9. Fees and payment
9.1 You will pay the fees for the Services as set out in your account or order. We charge per reference.
9.2 You can pay either by pre-paying for credits, which are drawn down as you use the Services, or — where pay-as-you-go is available — by payment taken from your registered payment card at the time a reference is carried out.
9.3 Fees are exclusive of VAT, which you will pay in addition where applicable.
9.4 Credits are payable in advance and are non-refundable, except where the law requires otherwise. Credits may have an expiry date, after which any unused credits lapse; where credits expire, this is shown when you obtain them.
9.5 You must keep a valid payment card on file. If a payment fails or any amount remains unpaid, we may suspend your access to the Services until it is paid, and we may charge interest on overdue amounts under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.
9.6 We may change our fees on 30 days' notice.
10. Accuracy and reliance
10.1 References and Recommendations are based on information provided by the Applicant, by you, and by third parties (including, where applicable, the Home Office online checking service). We do not control and do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of information from third parties or Applicants.
10.2 The Services are decision-support tools. They are not a guarantee of an Applicant's identity, solvency, honesty, suitability, or future conduct, and do not guarantee that any Applicant will pay rent or comply with a tenancy.
10.3 You rely on the Services at your own risk and remain responsible for your own letting decisions and obligations.
11. Intellectual property
11.1 We (and our licensors) own all intellectual property rights in the Services, our platform, our report formats, and our scoring and Recommendation methodology.
11.2 We grant you a non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to use the References and Recommendations we provide solely for your own letting purposes for the relevant Applicant.
12. Data protection
12.1 In respect of Applicant personal data, you and we each act as independent controllers. Neither party is the other's processor.
12.2 Each party will comply with applicable data protection law. The Data Sharing Terms set out our respective responsibilities and form part of these terms.
12.3 You will comply with your obligations in clause 7 regarding the Privacy Notice and lawful basis.
Drafting note: keep this section short and let the Data Sharing Terms (Document C) carry the detail, so the two documents don't conflict.
13. Confidentiality
Each party will keep the other's confidential information confidential and use it only as needed to perform or use the Services, except where disclosure is required by law.
14. Availability
14.1 We aim to make the Services available but do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free access. The Services are provided on an "as available" basis, with no uptime guarantee.
14.2 We may carry out maintenance and may modify or discontinue features.
15. Warranties and disclaimers
15.1 We warrant that we will provide the Services with reasonable care and skill.
15.2 Except as expressly stated, the Services are provided without further warranties, and we exclude all implied terms to the fullest extent permitted by law.
16. Limitation of liability
16.1 Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law, including for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.
16.2 Subject to 16.1, we are not liable for:
(a) any letting decision you make, or any consequence of letting or refusing to let to any Applicant;
(b) any loss arising from inaccurate or incomplete information provided by Applicants or third parties;
(c) loss of profit, revenue, goodwill, or anticipated savings; or
(d) any indirect or consequential loss.
16.3 Subject to 16.1, our total liability arising out of or in connection with these terms is limited to the greater of (a) the total fees you paid to us in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) £1,000.
Drafting note: set the cap deliberately — it's one of your most important protections. Take advice on the figure/formula and make sure it's proportionate to your pricing.
17. Indemnity
You will indemnify us against losses, claims, and costs arising from: your breach of these terms; your unlawful or unauthorised instructions; your failure to provide the Privacy Notice or to have a lawful basis under clause 7; your letting decisions; or your breach of data protection law or the Equality Act 2010.
18. Term, suspension and termination
18.1 These terms apply from registration until terminated.
18.2 Either party may terminate on 30 days' written notice.
18.3 We may suspend or terminate immediately if you breach these terms, fail to pay, misuse the Services, or where we reasonably believe continued provision creates a legal or compliance risk.
18.4 Either party may terminate immediately for material unremedied breach or insolvency.
19. Consequences of termination
19.1 Accrued fees remain payable, and your right to use the Services ends.
19.2 Each party will handle Applicant data in accordance with the Data Sharing Terms.
19.3 Clauses intended to survive (including 5, 7, 10, 11, 12, 16, and 17) continue after termination.
20. Changes to these terms
We may update these terms or the Services. We will give at least 30 days' notice of material changes by email or through your account, and your continued use after they take effect constitutes acceptance.
21. General
21.1 These terms (with the Data Sharing Terms and any order/pricing schedule) are the entire agreement between us.
21.2 Nothing creates a partnership, agency, or joint venture.
21.3 You may not assign these terms without our consent; we may assign or subcontract on reasonable terms.
21.4 Neither party is liable for events beyond its reasonable control (force majeure).
21.5 No third party may enforce these terms under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.
21.6 If any provision is unenforceable, the rest continues in effect. A failure to enforce a term is not a waiver.
21.7 Notices will be given by email to the address on your account, or through the Services.
22. Governing law and jurisdiction
These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction.
Drafting note: if you contract with customers letting in Scotland or Northern Ireland, take advice on governing law and on any consequences for jurisdiction — Scotland in particular is a separate legal system.
23. Contact and complaints
If you have a question or complaint about the Services, please contact us at support@passref.com. We will acknowledge your complaint and aim to resolve it within a reasonable time.