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Hosted.co.uk & the No Cooling-Off Period Trap for UK Businesses

Hosted.co.uk & the No Cooling-Off Period Trap for UK Businesses

You Signed. You Regretted It. Now What?

You took a call. The salesperson was persuasive. You were sent a DocuSign link. You signed. Within 24 hours you started reading the small print, spoke to your accountant, or saw a very different quote from another provider — and realised you had just signed up for something that does not match what you were told on the phone.

Surely you have 14 days to cancel? That is what you would get if you bought a consumer product online. It is what the adverts say. It must apply here too, right?

Unfortunately, it almost certainly does not. If you have signed a Hosted.co.uk VoIP contract as a business, you need to understand something quickly: business-to-business contracts in the UK do not have a statutory 14-day cooling-off period. And Trustpilot reviews suggest this is a gap that aggressive sales tactics can exploit.

We are Compare The Networks, an OFCOM-regulated business telecoms comparison service that has been helping UK businesses since 2008. This article explains the law, why it matters for Hosted.co.uk customers specifically, and what options you still have.

The Law: Why You Do Not Get 14 Days

The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 is the UK regulation that gives consumers 14 days to cancel most contracts signed at a distance — over the phone, online, or off-premises.

The key word there is consumer.

The regulations define a consumer as "an individual acting for purposes which are wholly or mainly outside that individual's trade, business, craft or profession." If you sign in the name of a company, or as a sole trader for business purposes, you are not a consumer. You are a business. And business contracts are exempt from the 14-day cancellation right.

This catches out thousands of small businesses every year. You might be a one-person limited company, a freelancer, or a two-person micro-business, but the law treats you the same as a FTSE 100 enterprise. No 14 days. No change of mind. Once you have signed, you are contractually bound — and with Hosted.co.uk, Trustpilot reviews suggest that contract is often far longer than 12 months despite what some customers say they were told verbally.

For a deeper look at contract length complaints, see our article on Hosted.co.uk 60-month contracts.

Why Aggressive Sellers Love This Gap

Consumer protection law exists because individuals are often in an unequal position when buying from a company. They may not have time to read the full terms on a cold call. They may feel pressured. They may misunderstand.

Those exact same dynamics apply to sole traders and small business owners. But because the law does not protect them, the only thing standing between a business and a bad contract is the salesperson's own conduct.

According to 1-star reviews on Trustpilot (uk.trustpilot.com/review/hosted.co.uk), customers report:

  • Being told the contract was 12 months when the signed term was much longer
  • Being rushed through DocuSign on the same call the offer was made
  • Not having the full terms explained before signing
  • Being told features were included that were later charged as extras
  • Promises to cover competitor exit fees that were not honoured after the ink dried

A common theme is customers saying they would have walked away if they had been given time to read the contract properly. But B2B law does not require a provider to give you that time.

For more on specific sales-call patterns, read our breakdown of Hosted.co.uk sales tactics.

"But I Was Told I Had 14 Days"

Some Hosted.co.uk customers on Trustpilot report being told verbally during the sales call that they would have a cooling-off period — only to discover after signing that no such right exists for their B2B contract.

If this happened to you, this is not a minor detail. A verbal promise that directly contradicts the written terms, made to induce you to sign, can itself form the basis of a misselling claim. It is one of the things CISAS (the telecoms ombudsman) looks at when adjudicating disputes.

However, proving it is the hard part — and this is where the site-wide rule we give every telecoms customer applies:

Keep Everything in Writing. Never Accept Verbal Resolutions.

If you are in this situation:

  • Do not accept a phone call as a resolution. If Hosted.co.uk agrees verbally to release you, insist it is confirmed in writing by email before you consider the matter closed.
  • Write down what you remember from the sales call — dates, times, the name of the salesperson, exact phrases used — as soon as possible.
  • Request a copy of the call recording. Telecoms providers routinely record sales calls. Under UK GDPR (Subject Access Request), you can ask for a copy of any recording where you are the subject.
  • Email any complaint, do not phone. That creates a timestamped paper trail that is admissible as evidence if the dispute escalates.

What You Can Still Do After Signing

Losing the 14-day cooling-off right does not mean you are out of options. Here are the realistic routes, in order of how often they work.

1. Complain Immediately in Writing — Cite Misrepresentation

Under the Misrepresentation Act 1967, a contract induced by a false statement of fact can be rescinded. That is not quite the same as a cooling-off period, but it is a legitimate legal route where the sales pitch misrepresented the product.

Examples that may qualify (based on Trustpilot themes):

  • You were told the contract was 12 months but signed for 36 or 60
  • You were told Openreach could deliver fibre to your site and it turned out they could not
  • You were told features were included that are now charged as extras
  • You were told exit fees on your current contract would be covered and they have not been

Your complaint email to Hosted.co.uk should quote the Misrepresentation Act 1967 by name, set out what you were told versus what is in the contract, and request cancellation without penalty. Keep it factual and calm.

2. Follow the Complaints Procedure to Deadlock

Every OFCOM-regulated provider must have a written complaints procedure and must give you a deadlock letter or an 8-week final response if the complaint is not resolved. At that point, you can escalate to an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme — for Hosted.co.uk that is CISAS.

CISAS is free to the customer. The adjudicator reviews written evidence. Multiple customers across the industry have had contracts cancelled at this stage on misselling grounds.

We have a full guide: How to escalate a Hosted.co.uk complaint to CISAS or an ombudsman.

3. Chargeback on Card Payment

If you paid a setup fee or first month by credit card, you may have rights under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act (credit card, consumer purchases) or chargeback (debit or credit). B2B purchases on a personal credit card sit in a grey area — but it is worth a call to your card issuer.

4. Negotiate an Early Exit

Even if you have no legal right to walk, Hosted.co.uk may agree to release you early, especially if the alternative is a CISAS complaint that goes against them. This is a commercial decision on their side. The key is to make clear, in writing, that you have grounds for a misselling claim and are prepared to pursue it.

The Trade Exemption Does Not Apply to Unfair Terms

One thing worth knowing: while the 14-day cooling-off period does not apply to businesses, other consumer-facing regulations partially do. The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 and common-law principles on unconscionable bargains can apply to small businesses. If a term is genuinely one-sided or hidden in a way that would surprise a reasonable reader, it may be unenforceable.

This is not something you can action yourself on the phone — it needs legal advice. But it is worth raising in a written complaint if a specific term (for example, an auto-renewal clause, or a large disconnection fee) was never flagged to you.

How to Avoid This Trap in Future

Whether with Hosted.co.uk or any other telecoms provider, protect your business by following these rules on every sales call:

  1. Never sign on the same call as the offer. Any legitimate provider will give you at least 24 hours to review a contract.
  2. Refuse DocuSign until you have the PDF. Ask for the full contract and pricing schedule to be emailed. Read it. Get someone else to read it. Then sign.
  3. Check the minimum term. If the contract is 24 months or longer and the salesperson said 12, that is a red flag.
  4. Check what happens if you want to leave. What is the early termination fee formula? Is it all remaining rentals, or a capped amount?
  5. Check annual price increases. Under OFCOM's 2025 rules, consumer CPI-linked increases are banned, but B2B contracts are technically exempt. Ask for the increase clause to be set out in pounds and pence.
  6. Get any "included" features listed in writing. If the call recording says Caller ID is included, make sure the contract does too.
  7. Compare against the market before you sign. Get at least two other quotes. It takes 10 minutes to get a free quote from us at Compare The Networks.

The Bigger Picture

The no-cooling-off rule is UK law and is not going to change soon. OFCOM has been consulting on better B2B protections, but there is no firm timetable. Until then, the only real protection for a small business buying telecoms over the phone is:

  • Independent comparison before signing
  • Written evidence of every promise made
  • Refusing to sign on the first call

We have been saying this for nearly two decades. The businesses that get burned are almost always the ones who signed the same day they were called. The ones who paused, compared and asked questions got a better deal — usually on a shorter, cleaner contract.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a business have any cooling-off period on a Hosted.co.uk contract?

Under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, no. B2B contracts are exempt from the 14-day cancellation right. Once you have signed, you are contractually bound unless you can show misrepresentation or another legal ground to rescind.

Can I cancel a Hosted.co.uk contract I just signed?

Not automatically. Your best routes are a misrepresentation claim (if the sales pitch contradicted the written terms), a formal complaint escalated to CISAS at 8 weeks, or a commercial negotiation. Always put your cancellation request in writing and do not accept a verbal resolution.

What if Hosted.co.uk told me I had 14 days to cancel?

If that was said on a recorded sales call and is not in the written contract, you may have grounds for a misselling claim. Request a copy of the call recording via a Subject Access Request, and put your complaint in writing citing the Misrepresentation Act 1967.

Is signing by DocuSign legally binding for business contracts?

Yes. Electronic signatures are legally binding in UK B2B contracts under the Electronic Communications Act 2000. Once you have clicked sign, the contract is live.

Who regulates Hosted.co.uk complaints?

OFCOM regulates telecoms providers in the UK, and CISAS is the ADR scheme for communications disputes. If Hosted.co.uk does not resolve your complaint within 8 weeks or issues a deadlock letter, you can take it free of charge to CISAS.

Looking for a VoIP Provider That Actually Gives You Time to Think?

We are Compare The Networks. We have been helping UK businesses compare VoIP and mobile deals since 2008. We do not cold call. We do not pressure-sell. We send you written quotes and give you time to read them.

If you are stuck with a Hosted.co.uk contract, or if you have just had a sales call and want to see what the wider market actually offers before you sign, get a free VoIP comparison.

Or read more:

Nearly 20 years helping UK businesses. Over 1,000 verified Trustpilot reviews. OFCOM-regulated. Free.

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About this article. Claims reported here are attributed to public reviews on Trustpilot and similar platforms. They represent the opinions of the reviewers cited, not statements of fact by Compare The Networks. Brands named may dispute these claims. If you are a brand representative who believes any content requires correction, please contact us.

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