Claims Hound
Terms and Conditions
1.
Acceptance of these Terms and Conditions
a.
This website (“Website”) is owned and made available by Empresa Holdings Pty Ltd registration number 2014/009656/07 trading as Claims Hound with physical address at 25A Block B, M5 Park, Eastman Road, Maitland, Cape Town (“Claims Hound”).
b.
These terms and conditions including all other material referred to (“Terms and Conditions”), apply to every person (“the User”) accessing this Website. No variations, changes or amendments of the Terms and Conditions is applicable unless in writing and signed by Claims Hound or captured by Claims Hound on the Website.
c.
The Terms and Conditions control how this Website and all the material and services contained or referred to (“the Content”) may be used. The Content includes everything that is governed by intellectual property law including but not limited to copyright law.
d.
By making use of this Website the User agrees to the Terms and Conditions, regardless of who owns the Content. Claims Hound may in its sole discretion change the Terms and Conditions. The continued use of the Website indicates full agreement by the User to any new Terms and Conditions loaded on the Website.
2.
Indemnity and limitation of liability
a.
The User makes use of the Website and Content at the User’s sole risk and responsibility.
b.
Claims Hound has no liability towards the User or any third party for any loss or damage of any nature whatsoever flowing from the use of the Website, Content, or websites of external parties, and only subject to applicable law such as the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 and the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002.
c.
The User hereby indemnifies Claims Hound against any direct, indirect, or consequential loss, damage, liability, penalty, expense, claim, etc. arising out of, or resulting from, for any reason whatsoever:
- the use of the Website or Content or any transactions, actions, omissions, etc. and/or
- the malfunction, downtime, failure, unavailability, interruption etc. of the Website or the Content.
d.
The word “Claims Hound”, with respect to any indemnity and/or liability, shall be considered to also include the shareholders, directors, officers, employees, agents, representatives, holding companies, affiliates, subsidiaries, advisers, suppliers and service and content providers of Claims Hound.
e.
In terms of these Terms and Conditions, should the User or any third party who is not a party to this agreement, suffer any loss or damage, whether as a direct or indirect result of the application or utilisation of and/or reliance upon the Website, the Content or any transactions resulting therefrom, then the User has no right to claim more the reimbursement of the cost of purchase from Claims Hound.
f.
If an arbitrator, competent court, or any person having the authority so to determine, holds that the exclusions or limitations of Claims Hound’s liability is unenforceable, not applicable, or invalid, then the User agrees that the maximum cumulative liability of Claims Hound shall not exceed the total cost of the purchases made by the User from Claims Hound.
3.
Intellectual Property
a.
The Website and all Content (without limit) are fully protected by law, including copyright, patent, and trademark law. They are the property of Claims Hound and/or licensors. No unauthorised use of the Website and content is permitted.
b.
The User will not acquire any right, title or interest in the Website or Content other than those expressly granted in these Terms and Conditions.
c.
The User is also subject to any terms and conditions which the licensor or third party may impose regarding their material on the Website and/or Content, in addition to these Terms and Conditions.
4.
Representations and warranties
a.
Assertions, declarations, statements, etc. made and views held which appear on the Website or Content are not necessarily those of the shareholders, directors, officers, employees, agents, representatives, holding companies, affiliates, subsidiaries, advisers, suppliers and service and content providers of Claims Hound.
b.
The Website and Content is provided “voetstoots” or “as is” with no representations made as to the correctness, viability etc. of it and Claims Hound does not accept any responsibility for any omissions or errors on the Website or Content.
c.
The User uses the Website free of charge and without any payment to Claims Hound. There is no implied warranty that the Website complies with section 56, “Consumer’s rights to safe, good quality goods” of the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008.
d.
The User accepts all risk associated with the existence of the following and understands that the Website and Content is provided without any express, implied, or statutory representation or warranty whatsoever which includes but is not limited to:
- The accessibility, availability, operation, accuracy, completeness, compatibility, functionality, reliability, integrity, etc. of the Website or the Content.
- The safety and security of the Website and Content, including but not limited to the absence of worms, viruses, damaging materials, data or code which can harm, damage, or impede the use or operation of any equipment, software, or hardware, in its widest sense.
e.
The User warrants that:
- They did not rely on any representation, warranty, or promise other than those contained in these Terms and Conditions.
- They understand that the Website and Content are merely opinions and do not constitute a recommendation or advice and is not meant to be used as advice of any kind and must be vetted for correctness and applicability.
- They recognise that they should not make any transactions, investments, decisions, purchases, etc, based on any part of the Content, unless they want to do so, and are advised to get professional advice prior to doing so.
- They understand that any communication may be intercepted by Claims Hound, or any other competent authority, in terms of applicable legislation.
5.
Claims Hound made no representations or warranties except as contained in these Terms and Conditions. Should the User allegedly suffer any loss or damage because of any purported representation or warranty made, Claims Hound shall not be liable for same.
6.
Permitted use of the Website and Contents
a.
The User has no rights whatsoever regarding the Website or Content and is permitted to visit the Website at Claims Hound’s sole discretion. The User may use this Website to browse and print the Content, contact Claims Hound, or make purchases, but may not use it in violation of the Terms and Conditions, nor for any unlawful act, and not for any copyright and/or other intellectual rights infringement.
b.
This Website and Content may only be used for lawful personal and non-commercial purposes (“Allowable Use”). The Allowable Use excludes the source code of this Website, or of any software or computer program that forms part of the Content.
c.
Claims Hound’s prior written consent, which may be withheld without giving reasons, or which may be subjected to conditions, must be obtained from the Website Manager at websitemanager@claimshound.co.za prior to anything being done with the Website or Content, including but not limited to incorporating any part of the Website or Content in another work or publication, or do anything that may be considered the unfair use of the Website or Content.
d.
The User must obtain and maintain the equipment, facilities, software, product, services, etc. needed to use the Website and Content.
e.
Claims Hound reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to suspend, discontinue, change, remove, etc. the Website and/or any of the Content.
7.
Links, suggestions, and references to and from external websites, services, and products
a.
The Website contains links, suggestions, and references to external websites (“External Websites”), services, products, and opinions or content of third parties. These are not meant to be affiliations, endorsements, suggestions, recommendations of External Websites or the services, products, and opinions or content of third parties and Claims Hound takes no responsibility for the User’s utilization of these which is solely at the User’s risk.
b.
The User personally, or via a third party shall not refer via a link or in any other fashion, to the Website, Content, and Claims Hound that could in any way be understood as a recommendation, endorsement, support, or affiliation by Claims Hound of the User, a third party or any products, services, views, conduct etc. of the User or a third party.
8.
User behaviour when Using this Website
a.
The User may not:
- Collect, harvest, or obtain personal or private information about other users of the Website.
- Insert material onto the Website or any other links containing viruses, worms, bots or any other damaging materials, data, code, etc. which can impact, harm, interfere with, corrupt, jeopardise, disrupt, disable, or otherwise hamper in any manner the operation of computer systems, software, or hardware.
- Deface or add, delete, alter etc. any portion of the Website or Content.
- Impact or attempt to impact in any way on the operation, efficiency, effectiveness, or any other functionality of this Website and/or Content.
- Use this Website to obtain or distribute any material protected by the law relating to intellectual property rights without the prior written permission of Claims Hound.
- Insert material which may be defamatory, unlawful, hate speech, bulk e-mail, etc. whether solicited or unsolicited into the Website, Content or any links.
- Use the Website for any unlawful or unacceptable action such as, but not limited to “spoofing” or parodying, “phishing”, “spamming”, “hacking”, “cracking”, etc. or any other action or activity designed to negatively impact on the Website or content. The User agrees that Claims Hound will suffer a loss quantified at a minimum of one million Rand, or proven higher damages, for transgressions hereof.
- Intercept or accept any communication or other information sent, communicated, or transmitted from, or to Claims Hound or the Website unless the User is the intended recipient.
- Make available in its widest sense, including but not limited to posting, transmitting, or communicating through or in connection with the Website any material that may be regarded as objectionable in any way such as, but not limited to degrading, discriminatory, fraudulent, harassing, hateful, indecent, obscene, racist, threatening, or wrongful material.
- Attempt to restrict, prohibit, or inhibit other persons from using the Website.
- Use the Website or Content for the User’s or third parties’ gain or for any other commercial purposes whatsoever, including but not limited to advertising, offering to buy, sell, resell, or exchange any goods or services, etc. without Claims Hound’s prior written consent.
- Create a database of any of the Website or Content material, whether by downloading and storing any Website or Content material.
b.
The User must always respect other users of this Website.
9.
Registration
a.
Claims Hound may require that users register with Claims Hound, to grant access to services offered by Claims Hound or specific areas of the Website.
b.
Regarding usernames or email addresses the User may not use usernames or email addresses and Claims Hound may reject those:
- Already used by another person or may appear to impersonate another person.
- That may belong to another person.
- That is offensive.
- That violates the rights or intellectual property of another person.
- That Claims Hound does not wish to allow in Claims Hound’s sole discretion.
c.
Usernames and passwords:
- The usernames and passwords are for the use of the User only and may not be transferred, lent, or otherwise made available to any third party.
- The User must maintain the confidentiality of their username and/or any password to access the Website and Content and is responsible for all interactions with the Website and Content where the User’s username and/or password is used.
- To prevent security issues from arising, the User will log off or exit from their account at the end of a session and ensure that the User “logs off” from their account or exit from the Website (if applicable) at the end of each session. Claims Hound shall not be liable for any loss or damage arising from the User’s failure to comply with any of the foregoing obligations.
- The User will notify Claims Hound when their username and/or password is used by others and where there is a breach, request Claims Hound in writing to cancel the User’s access with the compromised username and/or password when there was a breach of security or control regarding same.
10.
Replacement of specific deeming provisions in the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 Act (ECT Act)
a.
The User agrees that:
- All agreements concluded between the User and Claims Hound are deemed, for all purposes including, but not limited to, the founding of jurisdiction and application of South African law, to have been concluded at Claims Hound’s physical address as stated in these Terms and Conditions.
- All agreements are deemed to have been concluded upon the use of the Website by the User. The User is aware of Sec 20 (c) of the ECT Act.
- Where the User does not indicate a physical address in South Africa, all data messages will be deemed to have been sent and received between the parties from Claims Hound’s physical address.
11.
Miscellaneous matters
a.
Disputes, claims and legal proceedings: The parties agree in perpetuity to have all disputes resolved in the Magistrate’s Court and agree to its jurisdiction regardless of the amount in dispute.
b.
Assignment:
The User may not cede, assign, or transfer any of the rights and obligations contained or referred to herein without the prior written consent of Claims Hound, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld.
Claims Hound may, in its sole discretion, cede, assign or transfer any of Claims Hound’s rights and obligations in these Terms and Conditions without any prior written consent.
c.
Interpretation: If any term hereof is found to be unenforceable, unlawful, or invalid, such term will be severable, and the remainder of the terms will continue to be valid and enforceable.
d.
Relaxation or indulgence: No relaxation or indulgence granted will be deemed to be a waiver of granter’s rights.
Effective date: 2022.09.22