Bertrand AI — Terms of Service

Version 1.1 — revised 3 August 2026. The version a Client accepts during onboarding is logged against their submission.

1. Parties

This Agreement is between:

[Your full legal name], trading as Bertrand AI ("Bertrand AI", "we", "us"), of [your registered/business address]

and

the Client — the business named on the applicable Order Form / onboarding submission ("Client", "you").

Together, the "Parties".

2. Definitions

"Service" — the AI voice receptionist product supplied by Bertrand AI, comprising a configured AI voice assistant ("Assistant") answering telephone calls on the Client's behalf, together with associated call-routing, transcription, and notification functionality.
"Caller" — any person who calls a phone number connected to the Service.
"Client Content" — all information the Client supplies for configuring the Assistant, including business name, hours, services, pricing, FAQs, and tone/role instructions submitted via the onboarding form.
"Third-Party Providers" — the categories of sub-processors and infrastructure vendors the Service is built on: a voice AI orchestration platform, a telephony provider, a voice synthesis provider, an AI language-processing provider (call-configuration logic), a workflow automation platform, cloud record-keeping/email services, and a regulated UK payment processor (Direct Debit collection) — collectively, together with any provider added or substituted from time to time. A list of the specific named providers currently in use is available to the Client on request to [email protected].

3. The Service

3.1 Bertrand AI will configure and operate an Assistant for the Client based on the Client Content, deployed via the tier selected on the Order Form (Off-Hours Cover / Full-Time Agent / High Volume).

3.2 The Service depends entirely on Third-Party Providers continuing to operate. Bertrand AI does not own or control the underlying voice, telephony, or AI infrastructure and cannot guarantee uptime beyond what those providers themselves guarantee.

3.3 Bertrand AI will use reasonable efforts to notify the Client of any known Third-Party Provider outage materially affecting the Service, and to restore service as soon as reasonably practicable.

4. Client Content and responsibilities

4.1 The Client is solely responsible for the accuracy of all Client Content — pricing, opening hours, service descriptions, and FAQs — supplied for the Assistant. The Assistant answers based on what it is told; Bertrand AI does not independently verify Client Content against reality.

4.2 The Client must review the generated Assistant configuration (system prompt and opening line) before the Assistant goes live, and promptly notify Bertrand AI of any required correction.

4.3 The Client must keep Client Content up to date (e.g. price changes, holiday closures) and understands that a failure to do so may result in the Assistant giving outdated information to Callers.

5. Mandatory disclosure and emergency escalation

5.1 Every Assistant's opening line must, at all times, clearly and audibly identify the Assistant as an AI receptionist acting on the Client's behalf (Bertrand AI's standard default: "Hi, this is [assistant name], [company]'s AI receptionist."). This is a regulatory requirement (Ofcom guidance on automated/AI calls identifying themselves), not a stylistic choice, and the Client may not instruct Bertrand AI to remove, obscure, or bury this disclosure.

5.2 Every Assistant is configured with a standing instruction to escalate immediately to a human contact (as nominated by the Client) or, where the Client has not nominated one, to instruct the Caller to contact emergency services directly, whenever a call reasonably appears to involve an emergency, health and safety risk, or urgent risk of harm or serious loss. The Client must nominate a working emergency/escalation contact as part of onboarding and keep it current.

5.3 The Assistant is not, and must not be represented as, a substitute for emergency services.

6. Fees and payment

6.1 A one-off setup fee of £250 is payable on Order Form acceptance, collected together with the Client's first month's fee at the point the Client authorises a Direct Debit mandate under Section 6.4. The setup fee is non-refundable once Bertrand AI has begun the Assistant configuration work described in Section 3.1.

6.2 Recurring fees are as set out in the Order Form, per the tier selected (Off-Hours Cover / Full-Time Agent / High Volume), and are billed monthly in advance — the Client is charged for each coming month before that month's Service is provided, not afterwards. Recurring fees fall due on the monthly anniversary of the date the Client's Direct Debit mandate was authorised (the "Billing Date").

6.3 Each tier includes a monthly allowance of Assistant call minutes: Off-Hours Cover — 200 minutes; Full-Time Agent — 500 minutes; High Volume — 1,000 minutes. Usage beyond the included allowance is billed at £0.35/minute (Off-Hours Cover and Full-Time Agent) or £0.30/minute (High Volume). Because usage can only be measured after the fact, overage is necessarily calculated and collected in arrears — shortly after each calendar month ends — separately from the in-advance recurring fee in Section 6.2.

6.4 All fees under this Section (the recurring monthly fee and any overage) are collected automatically by Direct Debit through Bertrand AI's payment processor, GoCardless, under the Direct Debit Guarantee. The Client authorises this mandate during onboarding and must keep valid, funded bank account details on file for the mandate to remain active.

6.5 Fees are non-refundable except where required by law. In particular: because the recurring fee is billed in advance under Section 6.2, if the Client cancels or the Service otherwise ends partway through an already-paid month, no refund or credit is given for the unused remainder of that month — the Service continues to be available until the end of the period already paid for, and the Agreement then ends. This applies equally to cancellation by the Client and to suspension or termination by Bertrand AI under Section 13.

6.6 If a Direct Debit collection fails, or the Client's mandate becomes invalid, cancelled, or expired, Bertrand AI will notify the Client and attempt to re-collect. Bertrand AI may suspend the Service under Section 13.3 if the amount owed remains unresolved.

7. Third-party providers and data processing

7.1 In providing the Service, Bertrand AI acts as a data processor in respect of any personal data of Callers (including call audio, transcripts, and any personal data disclosed during calls). The Client is the data controller of that Caller personal data — the Client has the direct relationship with its Callers and is responsible for having a lawful basis for processing and for providing Callers with a privacy notice (Bertrand AI provides a template for this at onboarding).

7.2 Bertrand AI will only process Caller personal data to provide the Service, in accordance with the Client's instructions as reflected in the Client Content and Order Form.

7.3 The Client consents to Bertrand AI's use of the Third-Party Providers listed in Section 2 as sub-processors. Bertrand AI will notify the Client of any change of sub-processor that materially affects the processing of Caller personal data.

7.4 Both Parties will comply with their respective obligations under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

7.5 On termination, Bertrand AI will delete or return Caller personal data held on the Client's behalf within [30] days, except where retention is required by law. This 30-day period applies specifically to Caller data processed under Section 7.1 during an active Client relationship — it is separate from Section 7.6.

7.6 Separately from Caller data above, Bertrand AI acts as the data controller (not processor) for the Client's own contact details supplied at onboarding (e.g. the named business contact's name, role, phone, and email) and for any prospective client's personal data collected before a Client relationship exists — including onboarding submissions that are never approved or are rejected, and leads captured through Bertrand AI's own website demo assistant. This data is processed on the lawful basis of Bertrand AI's legitimate interest in operating and following up on sales enquiries. Where such personal data does not result in an active Client relationship, Bertrand AI retains it for no longer than 12 months from the last contact with that prospect, after which it is deleted. This retention period and its rationale are set out in full in Bertrand AI's public Privacy Policy.

8. Intellectual property

8.1 The Client retains all rights in Client Content.

8.2 Bertrand AI retains all rights in the underlying Service, including the automation workflows, call-routing logic, prompt templates, and any Bertrand AI IP incorporated into the Assistant configuration.

9. Case studies and references

9.1 Where the Client has been offered discounted pilot pricing in exchange for a case study (as described on Bertrand AI's website at the time the Client signed up), the Client agrees to reasonably cooperate with Bertrand AI in producing one, including permitting Bertrand AI to use the Client's business name, logo, and a short description or quote about the Client's experience of the Service in Bertrand AI's marketing materials, website, and sales conversations.

9.2 Outside of Section 9.1, Bertrand AI will not publicly name the Client as a user of the Service, or use the Client's name, logo, or any Caller data, in marketing materials without the Client's prior written consent.

9.3 The Client may withdraw consent given under this Section at any time by written notice to Bertrand AI (see Section 16), and Bertrand AI will stop using the Client's name/logo/quote in any materials first published after that notice, though this does not require retraction of materials already distributed before the notice was received.

10. Warranties and disclaimers

10.1 The Service is provided "as is". Bertrand AI does not warrant that the Assistant will be error-free, uninterrupted, or that its responses will always be accurate — the Client acknowledges that the Assistant is an AI system and may occasionally misunderstand a Caller, mishear an accent, or generate an incorrect response despite the guardrails in Section 5.

10.2 Except as expressly stated in this Agreement, all warranties, conditions, and terms implied by statute or common law are excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.

11. Limitation of liability

11.1 Nothing in this Agreement excludes or limits liability for: (a) death or personal injury caused by negligence; (b) fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or (c) any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited (including under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977). This carve-out cannot be removed or narrowed by either Party.

11.2 Subject to Section 11.1, Bertrand AI's total aggregate liability to the Client arising out of or in connection with this Agreement, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), or otherwise, will not exceed the greater of (a) the total fees paid by the Client in the 12 months preceding the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) £[1,000].

11.3 Subject to Section 11.1, Bertrand AI will not be liable for any indirect or consequential loss, loss of profit, loss of business, or loss of reputation, even if such loss was foreseeable.

11.4 Bertrand AI is not liable for any failure or delay caused by a Third-Party Provider's outage, error, policy change, or discontinuation, beyond the obligations in Section 3.3.

12. Indemnity

12.1 The Client will indemnify Bertrand AI against any claim, loss, or liability arising from: (a) inaccurate, misleading, or unlawful Client Content supplied to Bertrand AI; or (b) the Client's breach of Section 4 or Section 5.

12.2 Bertrand AI will indemnify the Client against any claim, loss, or liability arising from Bertrand AI's breach of its data processing obligations under Section 7.1–7.4 (Caller data processed as a data processor on the Client's behalf), to the extent such claim arises from Bertrand AI's own act or omission and not from the Client's own instructions, Client Content, or breach of this Agreement. This Section 12.2 is subject to the liability cap in Section 11.2.

13. Term and termination

13.1 This Agreement begins on the date the Service is activated and continues monthly until terminated.

13.2 Either Party may terminate on [30] days' written notice. The Client remains liable for fees covering that notice period in the ordinary course under Section 6.2, subject to Section 6.5 (no refund for any part-month already paid for).

13.3 Bertrand AI may suspend or terminate the Service immediately if fees are overdue by more than [14] days, or if the Client instructs Bertrand AI to remove the disclosure or emergency-escalation safeguards in Section 5.

14. Force majeure

14.1 Neither Party is liable for any failure or delay in performing its obligations under this Agreement (other than payment obligations) caused by events beyond that Party's reasonable control, including natural disaster, fire, flood, war, civil unrest, act of government, national or regional internet or power infrastructure failure, or industrial action — provided the affected Party notifies the other as soon as reasonably practicable and uses reasonable efforts to mitigate the impact.

14.2 This Section is separate from, and does not limit, Section 3.2's specific allocation of risk for Third-Party Provider outages, which applies regardless of whether such an outage also independently qualifies as a force majeure event.

15. Assignment

15.1 The Client may not assign, transfer, or sub-contract this Agreement or any of its rights or obligations under it without Bertrand AI's prior written consent.

15.2 Bertrand AI may assign or transfer this Agreement, in whole, to a successor entity carrying on the same business (for example, if Bertrand AI later incorporates as a limited company), provided the successor assumes all of Bertrand AI's obligations under this Agreement unchanged, and Bertrand AI gives the Client reasonable written notice of the change.

16. Notices

16.1 Any formal notice under this Agreement (including notice of termination, breach, or withdrawal of consent under Section 9.3) must be in writing and sent by email to: (a) if to Bertrand AI, [email protected]; (b) if to the Client, the contact email address given on the Client's Order Form / onboarding submission (or any updated address the Client has since notified in writing). A notice is treated as received on the next business day after it is sent.

16.2 Routine operational communication (support queries, Client Content updates, billing queries) does not need to follow this Section and may be sent through Bertrand AI's normal channels.

17. Dispute resolution

17.1 If a dispute arises under this Agreement, a senior representative of each Party (for a sole-trader Client, the owner; for Bertrand AI, the proprietor) will first attempt in good faith to resolve it informally within 14 days of either Party raising it in writing, before either Party commences formal legal proceedings.

17.2 This Section does not prevent either Party from seeking urgent injunctive relief, or from exercising Bertrand AI's suspension rights under Section 13.3, at any time without first following this process.

18. General

18.1 Governing law and jurisdiction: This Agreement is governed by the law of England and Wales, and the Parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

18.2 If any provision of this Agreement is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in full force.

18.3 This Agreement, together with the Order Form, is the entire agreement between the Parties regarding the Service.