What to include on your email template

This is a guide on what to include with your business emails

What do you legally have to include?

If your company is a limited company or a limited liability partnership (LLP), legally you are required to put the following in your business emails:

  • Company name (as it appears on the company’s certificate of incorporation, so beware of any symbols and/or punctuation);
  • Company registration number;
  • Your place of registration (England & Wales or Scotland);
  • Your registered office address.
  • There is also an obligation to ensure the characters used can be read with the naked eye and therefore links to website with the information or small print will not comply.
  • The information must also be included in the legally required information in any email auto-responders.

What about sole traders and partnerships?

The above details are not required of sole traders or standard partnerships but it is good practice to provide the corresponding information.

Monitoring traffic data

If your organisation monitors email traffic data and/or the content of an email this should be stated clearly.

These may contain information such as:

  • This message contains confidential information and is intended for the recipient only;
  • Reference to not passing on information;
  • Reference to accidental receipt.

Inserting a confidentiality notice to the footer of an email is too late: the recipient will have read the contents of the email.  But the notice could assist, if the contents of a confidential email are disclosed by a third party recipient.

Is there merit in including references to the relevant Data Protection Act?

There is no “extra” merit in including data protection information, but providing a link to where the company’s policy on data protection can be found will be helpful.

Different types of disclaimer

Reliance on the contents of the email

Some email disclaimers may include information warning a recipient not to rely on the content of the email. This is ineffective and brings into question the very purpose for sending the email in the first place.

Limitation of liability of the sender

Many disclaimers are used to, in effect, restrict liability of the sender. This is their general purpose. Widely constructed disclaimers seeking to limit liability on everything will provide little protection in Court. The more customised the disclaimer the more likely it is to be enforceable.

Instead of a disclaimer you can provide a link to the company’s privacy policy and/or terms and conditions. This may be more appropriate than trying to draft a disclaimer suitable for all circumstances.

Transmission of viruses

If an employee sends or forwards an email containing a virus, your company may become liable for this.  Aside from having a good virus checker, you can also attempt to limit your own liability for any loss or damages resulting from the virus by a disclaimer stating that your company accepts no liability for any loss or damage which may be caused by software viruses.

Unreasonable disclaimers

If the disclaimer tries to restrict contractual liability, then there may be a limit as to what liability can be excluded under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977.  All disclaimers in general are subject to the test of reasonableness.  A disclaimer may be overridden by the actual behaviour of the person seeking to deny liability.

If you are a member of a professional or trade body

If you are a member of a professional or trade body you should check their requirements, you may need to include specific information to meet their requirements.

Terms and conditions

HSA & Co cannot accept responsibility for any person acting or refraining to act as a result of any material contained in this article. This article is designed to be of general help and cannot replace getting your own advice on a matter. It is not intended to be a definitive statement covering all aspects but is a brief comment on a specific point.