Terms and Conditions Governing Domain Names
Last Updated: 10/10/21
1. General Information
Hipposerve Digital Services Limited supplies a wide range of Top Level Domain Names (TLDs). Each of these have their own rules regarding usage that change regularly, and due to the large number of these it is impossible for Hipposerve Digital Services limited to provide full details of all of them.
We strongly recommend that customers check before purchasing a domain name that it is being used for the purposes intended and in the location intended. Domain names being used incorrectly may be revoked at any time.
All Domain names have some fundamental rules which apply to all These are as follows:
Rules and Restrictions
- Domain names can only use letters, numbers, and hyphens. No other characters are allowed.
- Hyphens cannot be used at the beginning or end of the domain name.
- You can’t use a domain name that is already in use.
- Domain names are not case sensitive. e.g. www.mydomain.com is the same as www.MyDomain.com.
- You are strongly advised not to register a domain name that might be in breach of another company’s trademark, unless you can prove that you have the right to do so.
Length and format of domain names
- Minimum Length: Three characters plus the extension for all domain names.
- Maximum length: uk, com, org, net domains can be 64 Characters. All other domain extensions are limited to 63 characters (not including the extension).
Domain specific restrictions
Here we provide a list of restrictions for the most common domains registered with Hipposerve Digital Services Limited.
- Co.uk, me.uk, org.uk: These domains are perfect for all UK uses, from individuals to non-profit organisations. More information regarding the registration and use of these domains can be found on Nominet’s Website.
- Mobi: This domain extension was created for the mobile phone market. All websites using a .mobi domain name should be “mobile friendly” and confirm to the .mobi guidelines located at: https://dotmobi.mobi/. More information is also available in our article: What are the rules for registering .mobi domain names?
- Ltd.uk, plc.uk: ltd.uk and plc.uk domains are restricted to private and public limited companies, respectively. More information can be found in our article: How do I register ltd.uk and plc.uk domain names?
- Gov.uk, ac.uk: Government bodies can register gov.uk domains and further and higher education institutions can register ac.uk domain names through Janet, the UK’s education and research network. More information can be found in our article: How do I register .gov.uk and .ac.uk domain names?
- EU: Registrant must hold an EU citizenship or be a resident in an EU country – the European Union website has a list of EU member countries. More information can be found in our article: What are the .eu domain name specifications?
- .com/net: In the case of a “.com” or “.net” registration, the following terms and conditions will apply:
- Submission to UDRP. Registrant agrees to submit to proceedings under ICANN’s Uniform Domain Dispute Policy (“UDRP”) and comply with the requirements set forth by the Registry; these policies are subject to modification;
- For the adjudication of disputes concerning or arising from use of the domain name, the Registrant shall submit, without prejudice to other potentially applicable jurisdictions, to the jurisdiction of the courts (1) of the Registrant’s domicile, and (2) where Hipposerve Digital Services is Located.
- .org: In the case of a “.org” registration, the following terms and conditions will apply:
- Submission to UDRP. Registrant agrees to submit to proceedings under ICANN’s Uniform Domain Dispute Policy (“UDRP”) and comply with the requirements set forth by the Registry. These policies are subject to modification;
- For the adjudication of disputes concerning or arising from use of the domain name, the Registrant shall submit, without prejudice to other potentially applicable jurisdictions, to the jurisdiction of the courts (1) of the Registrant’s domicile, and (2) where Hipposerve Digital Services is located.
- .info: In the case of a “.info” registration, the following terms and conditions will apply:
- Registrant’s Personal Data. You consent to the use, copying, distribution, publication, modification, and other processing of Registrant’s personal data by Afilias, the .INFO registry, and its designees and agents, in a manner consistent with the purposes specified pursuant to its contract;
- Submission to UDRP. Registrant agrees to submit to proceedings under ICANN’s Uniform Domain Dispute Policy (“UDRP”) and comply with the requirements set forth by the Registry. These policies are subject to modification;
- For the adjudication of disputes concerning or arising from use of the domain name, the Registrant shall submit, without prejudice to other potentially applicable jurisdictions, to the jurisdiction of the courts (1) of the Registrant’s domicile, and (2) where Hipposerve is located, presently Coventry, England.
- Reservation of Rights. Hipposerve and Affiliates expressly reserve the right to deny, cancel, transfer, or modify any registration that either registrar or Affiliates deems necessary, at its discretion, to protect the integrity and stability of the registry, to comply with any applicable law, any government rule or requirement, any request of law enforcement, any dispute resolution process, or to avoid any liability, civil or criminal, on the part of the registrar and/or Afilias, as well as their affiliates, subsidiaries, executives, directors, officers, managers, employees, consultants, and agents. The registrar and Afilias also reserve the right to suspend a domain name or its registration data during resolution of a dispute.
- gTLD’s:The registration agreement for gTLD domains can be found on OpenSRS’ website.
- nTLD’s:The registration agreement for nTLD domains can be found on the ICANN website.
2. Additional Terms
Note. Domain names are not case sensitive. This means that an uppercase and a lowercase letter are considered to be the same (AAA.com. aaa.com, and AaA.com are all the same domain name).
This list is not exhaustive. We make every effort to ensure that our registration systems do not allow you to bypass these registration rules however there are some occasions where this may not be possible and our checking procedures may fail.
Clients are always advised to seek guidance if they are at all unsure about the domain name they have chosen and its validity.
Due to the variety of possible causes for the failure of the domain name validity checker, we cannot be held responsible if a customer attempts to register an invalid domain and that this request is subsequently accepted by our systems. Acceptance of the invalid order by our systems does not constitute acceptance of the domains registration by the relevant domain registry.
3. Generic Top Level Domain Registrations
Hipposerve Digital Services Ltd trading as Hipposerve (” Hipposerve”) will register domain names with various domain name registrars including but not limited to ResellerClub and OpenSRS, and you enter into a contract with them for that domain registration. Hipposerve also may, in its sole discretion, accept applications to register and renew certain gTLD’s names in non-roman alphabet languages (e.g., Japanese, Chinese, and Korean).
For ResellerClub terms and conditions visit:
https://uk.resellerclub.com/legal-agreements
Looking After Our Customers
Use our hassle free legal info dashboard below to browse through our various terms and conditions.
Terms & Conditions
General terms and conditions relating to the use of our services. You need to agree to these before we supply a service to you.
Acceptable Use Policy
Acceptable use when using our services, in terms of disk space and bandwidth and other conditions
Domain Names T&C's
Terms and conditions related to the purchase and use of domain names.
Cookie Policy
General terms and conditions relating to the use of our cookies on our website and sales interface.
Privacy Policy
How we ensure that customer and site visitor data is protected.
Charging Policy
Information relating to the charging of our services
Special Offer Policy
Information and terms relating to any special offers that are available with Hipposerve.
Usage Policy
Information and Terms relating to the usage of our services
Service Level Agreement (SLA)
Our SLA to our customers.
Address
Union House, 111 New Union Street
Coventry, West Midlands
CV1 2NT
Phone Number
+44 0330 043 1502
Anything Else?
Hipposerve - Hassle-Free FAQ's
Here are some answers to Frequently Asked Questions.
I already have a domain name, can I transfer this to you?
Yes, you can. There are different ways to do this depending on the type of domain name that you have, but our automated systems do most of the work for you. You will have to contact your existing domain registrar and tell them that you wish to move, and then our systems can do the rest. It takes a few days for the transfer to take place.
Can I upgrade a package, if I outgrow it?
Yes, you can automatically upgrade a package and you will be charged pro-rata from the time that you upgrade. If you are unsure what do do, just give us a call and we can go through the process with you.
Can I downgrade a package, if I am not using all the facilities?
Is is possible to downgrade all or hosting plans. However if you have purchased a 1 or 3 year discounted plans we will be unable to refund the difference and the price will be updated at the start of the next billing cycle. See our terms and conditions for further details.
What's the difference between shared hosting and other hosting plans
Shared hosting is a low-cost web hosting solution suitable for the vast majority of personal, community and small business websites. Whilst you have your own private space, resources are shared between other users on the server.
For customers with demanding or high traffic sites, or for those looking to host a web sites with faster speeds our Business Pro or VPS hosting is recommended. These are fully managed for you, and as always, hassle free.
What control panels does your hosting come with?
Our shared hosting plans all currently come with cPanel, which is perfect for managing all aspects of your website.
Our Business Pro plans come with a choice of Plesk or cPanel depending on your requirements.
Our VPS and Dedicated server solutions come with a range of control panels and software installation options suitable for individual needs. These can be customised for specific purposes by our Hippo Helper team.
How long does it take to set up an account?
It is worth remembering if you purchase a new domain name or transfer an existing name to us DNS propagation can take up to 72 hours. This is beyond our control.
What billing cycles do you offer?
On most of our products we offer monthly, annual or 3 year billing cycles.
In most cases, the longer the billing cycle, the more money you save.
Is my account backed up?
Whilst we backup our servers in the event of catastrophic failure, we do not provide these to customers to restore their services as a result of individual account failures.
We would always recommend that customers purchase one of our Hippo Care plans during the order process, which includes a full account nightly backup, with 30 day retention.
What payment methods do you accept?
We accept all major credit cards, direct debit and more than 50 different cryptocurrency coins.
We are also able to accept BACS payments by arrangement for annual or 3 yearly billing cycles only.
Can I resell my web space?
We offer specific hosting plans for web designers and developers who want to publish more than one website.
Significant savings can be had by signing up to one of these packages.
The more sites you add, the cheaper each site becomes!
We also take care of all the techie work, so you can get on with your design business
Can I have additional domains pointed at my account?
Yes, we actually recommend it. The more versions of your business name that you have parked or being used as an alias, the less chance there is of someone else using that name and passing themselves off as you.
All our packaged allow multiple domain name parking and our technical team will help you set it up.
Can I run an ecommerce site?
Of course, we support and are able to offer advice on a range of E-Commerce solutions.