Terms of use

1. About these terms

1.1 These terms of use (the "Terms") govern your use of the MetaAshes website and service (the "Service"). MetaAshes is operated by MetaFenix Management Ltd, a private limited company registered in England and Wales under company number 16921717, whose registered office is at 3 Allens Mead, Gravesend, Kent DA12 2JA ("we", "us" or "our").

1.2 By creating an account, purchasing checks or running an assessment, you agree to these Terms, our Payment and Refund Policy and our Privacy Notice. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.

1.3 You can contact us using our contact form.

2. What MetaAshes provides

2.1 MetaAshes is an independent information service. Using details you provide about a firm that has approached you, the Service queries official and public data sources, applies a defined set of scoring rules and produces an automated assessment consisting of a risk score from 0 to 100, a verdict of RISEN or BURNED, a set of written findings and suggested next steps (an "Assessment").

2.2 Each Assessment reflects the information you provided and the information available from the sources consulted at the time it was run. It is not updated afterwards.

3. What MetaAshes does not provide

3.1 An Assessment is an automated indicator. In particular:

• a RISEN verdict means only that no critical concerns were identified in the sources examined. It is not a recommendation, an endorsement or a guarantee that a firm is legitimate or that an investment is suitable or safe;
• a BURNED verdict means that the information examined contains significant indicators associated with fraud. It is not a determination that any firm or individual has acted unlawfully.

3.2 You remain solely responsible for your investment and payment decisions. Before sending money, you should carry out your own checks, including confirming a firm directly on the Financial Conduct Authority's register, and seek independent regulated advice where appropriate.

3.3 We cannot investigate individual cases, contact firms on your behalf or recover money you have lost.

4. Who may use the service

4.1 You must be at least 18 years old to create an account or purchase checks.

4.2 The Service is designed for individuals in the United Kingdom assessing firms for their own personal purposes. Commercial use, including use on behalf of clients, requires our prior written agreement.

5. Your account

5.1 You must provide a valid email address that belongs to you and keep your password confidential. You are responsible for activity carried out through your account.

5.2 Please tell us promptly through our contact form if you believe your account has been accessed without your permission.

5.3 You may change your email address or password, or permanently delete your account, at any time from your account settings. Deleting your account permanently removes any unused checks, as explained in our Payment and Refund Policy.

6. Using assessments responsibly

6.1 The accuracy of an Assessment depends on the accuracy of the information you provide. You agree to provide information that is true and complete to the best of your knowledge.

6.2 You may share your own Assessment report with your bank, the police, Action Fraud, a regulator or your legal or financial adviser.

6.3 You must not publish, or otherwise present, an Assessment as a statement of fact that a firm or individual has committed fraud or any other wrongdoing.

6.4 Only provide personal information about other people where it is necessary to assess the firm, for example the name of a person who contacted you.

7. Prohibited use

7.1 You must not:

• use the Service for any unlawful purpose, or to harass, intimidate or damage the reputation of any firm or individual;
• access the Service by automated means, including bots, scrapers or scripts, or attempt to bypass any usage limit, access control or payment requirement;
• attempt to reverse engineer, copy or reproduce our scoring rules, methodology or software;
• share your account, or resell or transfer checks, Assessments or access to the Service;
• upload material that is unlawful, malicious or that you have no right to share, or interfere with the security or operation of the Service.

8. Third-party sources and availability

8.1 Assessments rely on data published by third parties, including the Financial Conduct Authority, Companies House, HMRC, the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK Sanctions List and domain registries. We do not control these sources and cannot guarantee that they are complete, accurate or up to date, or that they will be available when you run an Assessment.

8.2 We aim to keep the Service available but do not guarantee uninterrupted access. We may suspend the Service for maintenance, security or reasons outside our control.

8.3 If an Assessment fails to complete because of a fault on our side, please contact us and we will restore the check to your account.

9. Purchases and refunds

9.1 Checks are sold in one-off packs. Prices, payment, your right to cancel and refunds are governed by our Payment and Refund Policy, which forms part of these Terms.

10. Intellectual property

10.1 The Service, including its software, scoring rules, methodology, design, text and branding, belongs to us or our licensors and is protected by intellectual property laws.

10.2 We grant you a personal, non-transferable licence to use the Service and your Assessment reports in accordance with these Terms. No other rights are granted.

11. Our liability to you

11.1 Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any other liability that cannot be limited or excluded by law. Nothing in these Terms affects your statutory rights as a consumer, including your right under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 to have services provided with reasonable care and skill.

11.2 Because the Service provides information and not advice, we are not responsible for any decision you make to invest, to pay or not to pay any firm, or for any loss arising from such a decision, including where a firm assessed as RISEN later proves to be fraudulent or a firm assessed as BURNED proves to be legitimate.

11.3 We are not responsible for loss or damage that was not reasonably foreseeable, or for business losses. The Service is provided for personal use only.

11.4 Subject to clause 11.1, our total liability to you in connection with the Service is limited to the total amount you have paid us in the twelve months before the event giving rise to the claim.

12. Suspension and closure

12.1 We may suspend or close your account if you seriously or repeatedly breach these Terms, or if we reasonably suspect fraudulent, abusive or unlawful use. Where appropriate, we will tell you why.

12.2 If we close your account for reasons other than your breach of these Terms, we will refund any unused checks.

13. Changes to these terms

13.1 We may update these Terms, for example to reflect changes to the Service or to the law. The date at the top of this page shows when they were last updated. Where a change materially affects you, we will take reasonable steps to notify you before it takes effect. Changes do not affect checks you have already purchased.

14. Complaints

14.1 If you are unhappy with the Service, please contact us through our contact form and we will do our best to resolve the matter.

15. Governing law

15.1 These Terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. If you are a consumer, you may bring proceedings in the courts of England and Wales, or, if you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, in the courts of the part of the United Kingdom in which you live.

15.2 If any part of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the remainder will continue to apply.