What your website must show by law.
The price with VAT in it, who you are, and what happens to an enquiry.
Three rules cover almost every UK small business website. A price shown to the public must include VAT, next to your name, business address and email. A limited company must show its registered name, number and office. A site that takes enquiries must say how it will use them. Letting agents, solicitors, pet businesses and care services have one more rule of their own.
Chris Painter, founder of ThemeSmith · checked 23 October 2026 · every rule links to its source
- The total price, with VAT. Not “£90 + VAT” for a homeowner.
- Your name, and the name you trade under if it’s different.
- A business address, not just the areas you cover.
- Your business email, if you have one.
- Company details, if you’re a limited company or an LLP.
- How you’ll use an enquiry, beside the form.
Of the sites we read
Four in ten law firms miss a rule their regulator enforces.
On 19 October 2026 we read the websites of 400 letting and property management firms in England and 400 law firms in England and Wales: each home page and up to six linked pages, plus linked PDFs for the letting agents. We checked 20 sites by hand for the SRA number and badge, and 20 for the client money certificate: no false alarms, and 5 of the 40 we couldn’t confirm either way.
42.5%, 148 of 348. of SRA-regulated law firms were missing their SRA number, the SRA’s badge, or both.
The SRA's Transparency Rules require both (rule 4.1), and the badge has been mandatory since 25 November 2019. 27.6% of the 348 showed no digital badge, most often a firm that prints its number but has no badge. 19.5% showed no SRA number we could find. 4.6% showed neither. One in seven (14.4%) had no complaints information, no procedure and no mention of the Legal Ombudsman.
By September 2024 the SRA had issued 439 warnings and 36 fixed fines for transparency breaches since May 2023. The law firm research.
36.5%of letting agents naming a client money scheme showed no certificate.
101 of the 277 that name a client money protection scheme. The 2019 rules ask for a copy of the certificate on the website; the scheme’s logo isn’t the certificate. The letting agent research.
14.4%of law firms had no complaints information.
50 of 348. The SRA asks for the complaints procedure, and how and when to go to the Legal Ombudsman, on the website (rule 2.1).
The three rules
Write the price the way the customer will pay it.
These apply to almost every business with a website. The numbers match the example above.
- Prices · 1Inc VAT
The total, with VAT in it.
Since 6 April 2025, a web page that shows a consumer a service or product and its price is what the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 calls an invitation to purchase. That page must give the total price, including VAT and any other charge the customer can’t avoid. “Boiler service £90 + VAT” isn’t the total for a homeowner; “£108 including VAT” is. Prices for business customers can still be shown without VAT.
Adding unavoidable charges later is drip pricing. Leaving the total out of an invitation to purchase is an unfair commercial practice under section 225(4)(b), and section 225(1) prohibits unfair commercial practices. The enforcers include the Competition and Markets Authority and local Trading Standards.
- Next to the price · 2–4Address
Who you are, and where to find you.
The same section asks for your name, and the name you trade under if it’s different; your business address, which for a company is its registered or principal office; and your business email address, if you have one. “Covering West Sussex” is an area, not an address. If you show prices, this applies to sole traders as much as companies.
- Companies · 5Co. no.
Your registered details, on your website.
The 2015 trading disclosure rules require every limited company to show on its websites its registered name, and its company number, registered office address and the part of the UK it’s registered in. An LLP has the same rule, and must also say it’s an LLP. The footer is the usual place, so it’s on every page.
- Enquiries · 6At the form
Say how you’ll use their details, at the form.
If your site collects personal details, through a contact form, a booking form or a newsletter sign-up, UK GDPR Article 13 requires you to tell people how you’ll use them at the time you collect them. The ICO’s guidance is about timing: a short line beside the form, linking to your privacy notice, puts it in front of people as they type.
Cookies are a separate question. A cookie banner isn’t automatically required: it depends on the cookies your site sets, and the ICO lists exceptions.
Some trades
A rule of their own, on top of the three.
Letting agents, England.
Fees including tax, the redress scheme, and the client money protection scheme with a copy of its certificate, under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, s.83 and the 2019 client money rules. What 400 letting agents’ websites show.
Solicitors, England and Wales.
The SRA number and the SRA’s digital badge, working on the web address registered with the SRA, and the complaints procedure (SRA Transparency Rules). What 348 law firms’ websites show.
Dog boarding, day care, breeding and pet sales.
In England, a licensed business shows the licence holder’s name followed by the licence number on any website it uses for that activity (2018 regulations, Schedule 2). Walking and grooming aren’t licensable activities; a walker who also boards is. Websites for dog walkers.
Care homes, clinics and other CQC-rated services.
Once rated, show the latest rating and its date, the CQC’s web address and a link to your latest assessment, clear about which service each rating covers (regulation 20A). Primary dental services aren’t rated (CQC display guidance, read 19 October 2026), so most dental practices are outside it.
Plumbers, electricians and the trades.
The price rule bites hardest here: many trade sites show homeowners “+VAT” prices. A Gas Safe logo isn’t a website requirement, but your registration number lets customers check you, as the HSE tells them to. Plumbers, electricians, garages.
Charities, England and Wales.
With income over £10,000, say you’re a registered charity on fundraising material (Charities Act 2011, s.39), which the Charity Commission says includes websites and emails. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules.
Not on the list
What the law doesn’t ask for.
The sources we checked don’t make these a website requirement for most small businesses. Several are still worth having for customers. Local licensing, trade bodies and particular services can add more.
A Gas Safe logo or a trade badge.
Show the number customers can check instead. A badge on its own proves nothing to them.
Testimonials, reviews or a gallery.
Not required, and worth having: in a 2026 survey for CIPHE, 55% of homeowners said they rely on reviews.
Fixed prices.
You don’t have to publish prices. Any you do publish follow the price rule above.
Terms and conditions on every site.
We didn’t find a general rule. Selling or taking bookings online brings its own information rules.
An insurance certificate.
Not a website rule. Saying what you’re insured for, in plain words, helps a nervous customer.
A cookie banner on every site.
It depends on the cookies your site sets. The ICO lists exceptions.
Tonight
Eight things to check on your own site.
Every price
includes VAT, or says plainly that it does.
Your name
and the name you trade under, next to your prices and usually in the footer.
A business address
on the site, not just the areas you cover.
Your business email,
if you have one.
Company details,
if you’re a limited company: registered name, number, office and where you’re registered.
A line by the form
on how you’ll use the details, linking to your privacy notice.
Your trade’s own rule:
the licence, registration or rating, shown the way its rule describes.
After a redesign
or a new web address, all of the above still there.
ThemeSmith
On a ThemeSmith customer site, most of this is already done.
Every customer site we build shows your business name and contact details, your company details if you’re a limited company, and a privacy page linked from every page, and we check them before the site goes live.
We’re building in the rest: prices shown with VAT, and the details your trade’s regulator asks for, from SRA numbers to licence numbers. You won’t have to know the rules. The site will.
Questions
The ones owners ask.
Do prices on my website have to include VAT?
If you show prices to the public, yes. Since 6 April 2025, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 requires a price shown to a consumer to be the total price, including VAT and any other charge they can’t avoid (section 230). "£90 + VAT" on its own isn’t the total. If you only sell to businesses, prices without VAT are normal.
What is drip pricing?
Showing one price and adding charges the customer can’t avoid later, such as VAT, a booking fee or a call-out charge. Under the DMCC Act 2024, the price a consumer sees must include them, and leaving them out is an unfair commercial practice.
Do I have to put my company number on my website?
If you’re a limited company, yes. The Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015 require your registered name (regulation 24), and your company number, registered office address and the part of the UK you’re registered in (regulation 25), on your websites. An LLP has the same rule, and must also say it’s an LLP (Schedule 5). Sole traders don’t have a company number.
Does my website need a privacy policy?
If your website collects personal details, through a contact form, a booking form or a newsletter sign-up, UK GDPR (Article 13) requires you to tell people how you’ll use them at the time you collect them. A short line by the form linking to a privacy notice is the usual way.
Do I need terms and conditions on my website?
We didn’t find a rule that every business website must publish terms and conditions. Selling or taking bookings online brings its own information rules, so check those before you take orders through your site.
Do I have to show a Gas Safe logo or a trade badge on my website?
The sources we checked don’t make a Gas Safe logo, a trade association badge, testimonials or an insurance certificate a website requirement. Customers do check, though: the HSE tells people to check a gas engineer on the Gas Safe Register, so showing your registration number helps them.