Terms and Conditions

Wine Investment Online

These terms and conditions apply to the supply of assets and services by Vin-X Limited to its clients. They may be amended from time to time and the current version is available below and was last updated in February 2023.

 

DEFINITIONS

Administration Fee – means the fee payable as detailed in clause 4.

Conditions or Terms - These terms and conditions and any additional material agreed between the client and Vin-X Limited.

Cooling-off period - A period ending fourteen days after the date on which the Contract is created within which the client has the right to cancel the contract. The cooling-off period will not apply if the client expressly instructs Vin-X Limited to begin the services immediately.

Client - A person or company with whom a Contract for the provision of assets and/or services is created with Vin-X Limited.

Assets – means wine or other goods purchased by you from us as set out in an Order, which may be delivered to you directly or placed into storage as part of our Services to you.

Order – means an order for Assets and/or Services as placed by you with us, as further described in clause 2.1.

Price – means the price payable for Assets and / or Services by you, as set out in an Order.

Services – Delivery and storage of your Assets and the Vin-X portfolio management service, as more accurately described in these Terms and as set out in an Order.

We, us, our, Vin-X -Vin-X Limited.

you - The Client.

 

ABOUT US

We are Vin-X Limited, a company registered in England and Wales with company no. 02402428 and having its registered address at Ridgeland House, 1st Floor, 15 Carfax, Horsham, West Sussex RH12 1DY.

You can contact us by telephone on 0203 384 2262, or by writing to us at enquiries@vin-x.com or at Barclays House, 51 Bishopric, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 1QJ.

 

1. ORDERS

1.1

By agreeing to a proposal that we provide to you in respect of our Services and, if required, making a payment to us, you agree for us to supply you with Services set out in such proposal and/or the Assets, ordered by you (the ‘Order’). A contract is created when we confirm our acceptance of your offer to provide you with Assets and/or Services as set out in a proposal and an Order, in writing.  If there is any difference between the details of a proposal or an Order, then the details in the Order shall take precedence to the extent there is any conflict between the two.

1.2

We may, at our sole discretion require the payment of a deposit, as communicated to you (Deposit).

1.3

If you cancel an Order during the Cooling-off period, we shall refund the Deposit paid.  If you cancel the Order after the Cooling-off period, we reserve the right to retain the Deposit.

1.4

If you cancel the Order after the Cooling-off period, you may also be liable for a restocking charge of up to 10% of the Order value. This restocking charge must be paid within seven days of cancellation.

1.5

In addition to the cost of the Assets, you will be also be charged an Administration Fee as detailed in clause 4 of these Terms.

1.6

If we are unable to accept or fulfil your Order, we will inform you of this and will not invoice or charge you for the Assets or the Administration Fee. In the event that you have paid all or part of the order value prior to that point, this payment will be returned to you.

 

2 PAYMENT

2.1

We will invoice you for the Price of the Assets and/or the Administration Fee payable in respect of the Services to be provided to you as set out in an Order, following written acceptance of your Order.

2.2

Payment for Assets purchased, the associated Administration Fee or any other sums due under this contract is due seven days from the date of the invoice and must be made in pounds sterling.

2.3

Payment may be made by bank transfer, UK cheque or UK issued Visa or Mastercard debit cards.

2.4

Should payment not be made within seven days of the date of the invoice, we have the right to cancel the Order and retain any Deposit paid and we will be under no obligation to supply you with the Assets and/or Services.

 

3. SERVICES AND ADMINISTRATION FEE

3.1

Our Administration Fee includes the provision of the Services for an initial five-year period (the ‘Initial Period’). The Services include the following:

  1. The sourcing of and information about Assets;
  2. The services of a portfolio manager to assist you in creating a collection of Assets to suit your investment goals;
  3. The provision of investor news and reports;
  4. Delivery and bonded storage of your Assets; and
  5. Provision of portfolio valuation reports, as agreed with you.

 

3.2

On the expiration of the Initial Period (but where we still provide you with our Services), we may charge you further Administration Fees for the on-going provision of the Services to you, for such period of on-going services.  Any such Administration Fee is due to be paid within seven days of the invoice date. If the Administration Fee is not paid within thirty days of the invoice date, we may sell the Assets that we hold on your behalf and remit the proceeds to you after deduction of all outstanding Administration Fees due to us from you.

3.3

The Administration Fee is not refundable if your Assets are sold or removed at your request from our bonded storage facility.

3.4

VAT will be charged on our Administration Fee in accordance with legislation current at the time of invoicing.

 

4. DELIVERY AND STORAGE

4.1

On receipt of payment, we will notify you of the expected arrival date of your Assets into our bonded warehouse facility.

4.2

Once your Assets have been received into our bonded warehouse facility, you will be sent a certificate of ownership detailing your name, warehouse address, account code and the rotation number of your Assets.

4.3

In the case of Assets which are en primeur wines, a certificate of allocation will be sent to you on receipt of payment and a certificate of ownership will be sent when your Assets have been received into our bonded warehouse facility.

4.4

If you would like to personally inspect your Assets which have been stored with us, you may do so at our storage facility at a mutually agreed time. Please contact us to discuss.

 

5. TITLE

5.1

Ownership of your Assets will pass to you on receipt of cleared funds in full payment of our invoice in respect of the Assets.

 

6. SALE OF ASSETS

6.1

You may sell your Assets at any time, though fine wine is generally a medium to long term investment and should usually be held for at least three years before sale.

6.2

On receipt of written instructions from you we will sell your Assets on your behalf. Prior to sale we will agree a minimum acceptable sale price. There is no fee for the sale of your Assets.

 

7. REMOVAL OF ASSETS

7.1

You may remove your Assets from our bonded storage facility at any time by requesting us to arrange this in writing.

7.2

You may choose to collect the Assets or have them delivered to you. We are usually able to make Assets available for collection within 14 working days of a written request.

7.3

You will be responsible for the costs of removal including any applicable duty, VAT or other fees resulting from the Assets being removed from bond.

7.4

Once your Assets have been removed from our bonded storage facility, you will be responsible for storage and insurance costs.

 

8. FAILURE TO CONTACT

8.1

If we have been unable to contact you for a period of three years, we may sell all your Assets held in our bonded warehouse facility and hold the proceeds for you without the accrual of interest for a minimum period of six years from our last contact.  After the period of six years, the property of the Assets and/or proceeds relating to the sale of such Assets become the property of Vin-X.

 

9. YOUR RIGHTS TO END THE CONTRACT

9.1

You can end this contract with us in certain circumstances. You can do this if:

  1. The Assets are misdescribed or faulty; or
  2. You have a legal right to end this contract because of something we have done wrong.

9.2

If you are ending this contract for a reason set out at 10.1.1 or 10.1.2, the contract will end immediately and we will refund you the Price paid for the Assets in full and the Administration Fee.

9.3

In respect of the Administration Fee, we may reduce any refund due to you to reflect time that we have spent on providing Services before you end this contract.

9.4

To end this contract please let us know by contacting us by telephone on 0203 384 2262, or by writing to us at enquiries@vin-x.com or at Barclays House, 51 Bishopric, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 1QJ. Please provide your name, home address, details of the Order and, where available, your phone number and email address.

9.5

Where you wish to remove any of the Assets from the bonded storage facility at any time (including where you wish to end the contract, other than in circumstances set out in clause 10.1), then you will need to pay the costs of removal of the Assets.

 

10. LIABILITY AND WARRANTY

10.1

We do not give any warranty or make any representation as to:

  1. The suitability of Assets for you as an investment product; or
  2. The condition of your Assets at any time, including (but not limited to) the quality, suitability for consumption or drinkability of the Assets, or any deterioration or defect in the Assets where this is not due to the default of Vin-X.

10.2

We warrant that:

  1. we will engage only suitably qualified and reputable third parties to provide our bonded warehouse facility;
  2. we will take out suitable insurance (for our benefit), to cover the loss or damage that may be caused to your Assets due to our, or our bonded warehouse facility provider’s, negligence, whilst the Assets are being stored in the chosen warehouse facility, to the levels set out in clause 11.3; and
  3. we will perform the Services described in these Terms with due care and diligence.

10.3

Subject to clause 11.6, if your Assets are lost or damaged whilst held at our bonded warehouse facility we will pay you the lower of the replacement value of the Assets or their purchase cost, for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breaking this contract or our failing to use reasonable care and skill, but we are not responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable. Loss or damage is foreseeable if either it is obvious that it will happen or if, at the time the contract was made, both we and you knew it might happen.

10.4

We do not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors; for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; for breach of your legal rights in relation to the Assets including the right to receive products which are: as described and match information we provided to you and any sample or model seen or examined by you; of satisfactory quality; fit for any particular purpose made known to us; supplied with reasonable skill and care; and for any defective products under the Consumer Protection Act 1987.

10.5

We are not liable for business losses. We will have no liability to you for any loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption, or loss of business opportunity.

10.6

In any other circumstances our total aggregate liability to you for a claim arising out of or in connection with a contract shall not exceed the price paid by you for the Assets which gives rise to the claim.

 

11. AGE RESTRICTION

11.1

We will not sell or deliver alcohol to anyone who is, or appears to be, under the age of 18. By placing an order with us you confirm that you are at least 18 years of age and we reserve the right to require proof of this.

 

12. CRIME PREVENTION

12.1

For the purposes of the prevention or detection of offences, and/or the apprehension or prosecution of offenders, we may share information with the Police, other public or private sector agencies or representative bodies in accordance with relevant legislation.

 

13. DATA PROTECTION

13.1

All data collected by us is collected and retained in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 as more accurately set out in our privacy policy which is available at www.vin-x.com/privacy-policy.

13.2

We will not pass your details to a third party without your permission except as required in the course of the provision of our services.

13.3

We may send you information including industry news and events and exclusive deals by email. You can register to receive this at www.vin-x.com or by providing your email address details to a Vin-X representative.

 

14. FORCE MAJEURE

14.1

If our ability to fulfil our obligations under this contract is delayed or prevented by an event outside of our (or our subcontractor’s) control then we will contact you as soon as possible to let you know and we will take steps to minimise the effect of the delay or inability to comply with the relevant obligation. Provided we do this we will not be liable for delays, losses, damage or liability caused by such an event, but if there is a risk of substantial delay or loss, damage or liability to you, you may contact us to end this contract.

 

15. GENERAL

15.1

We act in good faith when purchasing and storing Assets but cannot be responsible for the state and condition of Assets or their correspondence to the qualities which might be expected from their descriptions.

15.2

We may make amendments to these terms and conditions from time to time and will provide you with notice of such amendments once made, if appropriate, but will not use this right to vary the terms of any contract already agreed with you.

15.3

We may transfer this contract to someone else. We may transfer our rights and obligations under this contract to another organisation. We will always tell you in writing if this happens and we will ensure that the transfer will not affect your rights under this contract.

15.4

You need our consent to transfer your rights to someone else. You may only transfer your rights or your obligations under this contract to another person if we agree to this in writing.

15.5

This is a contract between you and us. No other person shall have any rights to enforce its terms.

15.6

These terms represent the entirety of the agreement between us, and supersede any prior agreements between us. This means that you will not be able to rely on anything we have said outside of these terms, unless the law indicates otherwise.

15.7

Each of the clauses of these terms operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful, the remaining clauses will remain in full force and effect.

15.8

If we do not insist immediately that you do anything you are required to do under these terms, or if we delay in taking steps against you in respect of you breaking this contract, that will not mean that you do not have to do those things and it will not prevent us taking steps against you at a later date.

 

16. COMPLAINTS

16.1

We hope that you do not have cause for a complaint but, if you do, we would like to hear from you so that we can try and resolve your complaint and ensure that it does not happen again. Please contact us at the details given in the paragraph named ‘About Us’.

 

17. GOVERNING LAW

17.1

These terms and conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and any disputes will be decided upon only by the English courts.

 

18. DISCLAIMER

18.1

Vin-X is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (‘FCA’) and as such is not permitted to offer financial advice about investment, regulated or unregulated. We strongly encourage you to consult an FCA-registered Independent Financial Advisor before committing to any investment.

18.2

The value of fine wine can go down as well as up, and no guarantee as to future performance or capital growth is given expressly or by implication. Investors should make themselves fully aware of the risks of market fluctuations and of their own personal tax circumstances.

18.3

No offers are in any way invitations to participate in a collective investment scheme as defined in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (section 235) and as such buyers have no access to statutory or regulatory protections including the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (‘FSCS’).

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