It is a fair and sensible question, and one we are always happy to answer. Trusting a company with your website, email and domains means trusting that it will still be there tomorrow – and that you would never be left stranded if circumstances changed. We have planned for exactly this, and it is written into our legal terms.
The short answer
If PAC were ever unable to continue trading, your services would carry on without interruption. We have a business continuity arrangement with an established UK hosting company, who would take over your services from day one, on the same terms. Your domains are registered in your name, your website and email content belongs to you, and your data protection terms carry over too.
Our business continuity arrangement
We have a business continuity arrangement with an established UK hosting company we already work with. They share our values: going the extra mile for customers, and never selling you something you don’t need.
If PAC were ever unable to continue trading – for example because of the serious illness or death of a key person – they would:
- Take over your services from day one, so your website, email and domains carry on without interruption.
- Keep you on the same terms – your account, services and data would transfer to them as they are.
- Contact you with the details, so you know exactly who is looking after you.
This is set out in clause 17.3 of our Terms of Service. Clause 17.2 adds that if our rights and obligations are ever transferred to another organisation, your rights won’t be reduced.
So the question “what if something happened to a key person at PAC?” has a clear, written answer: your services would continue, with a trusted provider already lined up to take over.
Your data protection carries over too
If your services ever moved to our continuity partner, our Data Processing Agreement would move with them, and they would become your data processor on the same terms (clause 12.3). Our Privacy Policy also confirms that they would use your information in line with that policy (section 5). The protections you rely on today would still apply.
Your domains are registered in your name
Your domains are registered with you (or your organisation) as the registrant – not PAC. We act as your agent, and you remain the legal owner (Domain Registration Terms, clause 2.1).
Our Domain Registration Terms also say plainly that your domain is yours to move: we won’t charge a fee or hold it back without good reason (clause 4.1).
- .uk domains: ask your new provider for their IPS tag, then change it in the client area or ask us.
- Other extensions: request the authorisation (EPP) code from the client area or by ticket, and make sure the domain is unlocked.
Your website and email belong to you
You keep all rights in your content – your websites, files, databases and email. You give us permission to store and transmit it only as needed to provide your services (Terms of Service, clause 11.3). You can download your data at any time through your control panel, or ask us for a copy (Data Processing Agreement, clause 9.1).
You would always be given notice
Outside the circumstances set out in our terms (such as unpaid fees or a serious breach), if we ever needed to end one of your services we would give you written notice by email first: 30 days if you pay quarterly or longer, or 15 days if you pay monthly. We would also refund any fees you had paid for the period after it ends (Terms of Service, clause 13.2).
Even after a service ends, your content is kept for 30 days so you can ask us for a copy (clause 13.3).
An established, certified company
PAC Web Hosting Ltd has been providing UK hosting since 2007. We are a registered limited company in England and Wales (company number 06221654) and we are certified under Cyber Essentials, the UK government-backed scheme for protecting organisations against common cyber attacks.
Keeping your own backups – belt and braces
Where your hosting package includes backups, we keep regular off-server copies for 30 days, and you can restore files, databases, emails or your whole site yourself from your control panel at any time (Terms of Service, clause 8.5). Backups are a safeguard, not a guarantee, so it is always good practice to keep your own copies of anything important too. That protects you against everyday mishaps like an accidental deletion, and keeps you fully in control.
Read it for yourself
Everything above comes from our published legal documents:
- Terms of Service – clauses 17.3 (business continuity), 17.2 (transfer), 11.3 (ownership of your content), 13.2 and 13.3 (notice and your data after a service ends) and 8.5 (backups)
- Domain Registration Terms – clauses 2.1 (you are the registrant) and 4.1 (transferring away)
- Data Processing Agreement – clauses 12.3 (business continuity) and 9.1 (getting a copy of your data)
- Privacy Policy – section 5 (who we share information with)
Have a specific concern, or want to talk it through? Please contact our support team – we would far rather answer your questions than have you worry. We have been looking after customers since 2007, and we have made sure you will be looked after whatever happens.
