Membership Terms & Conditions

These terms and conditions apply to your membership of the Big Issue Membership Scheme ("Membership") made available by The Big Issue Company Limited ("The Big Issue" or "we" or "us"), a company registered in England and Wales with company number 02612480 and its registered office at 113-115 Fonthill Road, London, England, N4 3HH. "Member" or "you" or "your" refers to any individual with Membership or any legal entity.

1.              Member Terms

1.1           You may register to become a Member by submitting your email address and payment details (if applicable) and other relevant details, as required by The Big Issue ("Registration Details"):

1.1.1          online via one of the registration portals available at the following link: https://www.bigissue.com/member/;

1.1.2          on the telephone 01604 267468

1.1.3          by post, using the registration form

1.2           When you submit your Registration Details, you are making an offer to become a member which, if accepted by us, will result in a binding contract being formed between you and us on the terms set out in these terms and conditions (“Membership T&Cs”). If you are acting on behalf of a legal entity (e.g. a company or a partnership), you confirm that you are authorised to purchase the Membership and bind that legal entity to these Membership T&Cs and, where required, references in these Membership T&Cs to "you" shall be construed accordingly.

1.3           We may vary these Membership T&Cs at any time and with immediate effect. If we make a material change that is detrimental to you, we will endeavour to notify you and provide you with an opportunity to cancel your Membership. By continuing with your Membership, you are deemed to accept the varied Membership T&Cs.

1.4           When you register online and pay by credit or debit card or direct debit, your credit or debit card or direct debit account will be debited when you have completed the registration of your Membership Details (on the relevant payment page for corporate and/or individual Members).

1.5           After you have registered, you will receive an email from us acknowledging that your registration has been successful and is being processed ("Registration Confirmation"). The contract with us is formed on the date of the Registration Confirmation or any later date specified in the Registration Confirmation ("Commencement Date"). We will not be responsible if you fail to receive the Registration Confirmation because you have supplied us with an incorrect email address. We reserve the right not to accept or process your Registration Details for any reason. All Registration Details are subject to validation checks and authorisation by your payment card issuer. If we do not accept your Registration Details and your credit or debit card or direct debit account has already been debited, we will notify you and provide you with a full refund.

2.              corporate memberships

2.1           If you register for a corporate Membership, you must provide a contact name, postal address and email address, together with credit or debit card details or direct debit details and authorisation to charge the payment to a card or to invoice you.

 

3.              Individual memberships

3.1           If you register for an individual Membership, you must provide your contact name and email address, together with credit or debit card or direct debit details and authorisation to charge payment to you.

3.2           If you register for membership by post (as set out in Clause 1.1.3), you may provide a cheque for the payment of the full annual membership fee for one year made out to The Big Issue Company Limited, as an alternative to Clause 3.1.

4.              MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS

4.1           Following the Commencement Date, we will send to the email you provided in accordance with Clause 1.1 (or as otherwise notified to us from time to time):

  • a digital welcome pack that introduces you to our work, impact and what it means to be a Member;
  • an exclusive digital newsletter at least four (4) times a year with updates on our progress and the positive change you are helping to create;
  • a digital guide to taking action in your community, including emailing your MP to urge them to become an End Poverty Champion in our Poverty Zero campaign;
  • digital access to our exclusive 2025 Poverty Zero Summit, where you will have the opportunity learn more about how to influence change and hear from experts and community leaders,

and any other membership materials that we may provide to you from time to time (together "Membership Materials").

4.2           We will send the Membership Materials to the email address you provide at the time of registration (or as otherwise notified to us from time to time). We will not be liable to you for any failure to receive the Membership Materials if you fail to notify us of a change of email address.

4.3           We will not be liable to you for any delay in delivery or non-delivery of any Membership Materials in the following circumstances;

  • where the issuer of your payment card refuses to authorise payment to us; or
  • where such delay or failure is due to circumstances beyond our reasonable control (or the reasonable control of our sub-contractors and agents).

4.4           All rights in any Membership Materials provided to you in connection with your Membership are owned by The Big Issue or our licensors. You are entitled to access, download and transmit (for the purposes expressly permitted in these Membership T&Cs) and store any Membership Materials for your own personal, non-commercial use (or internal business purposes if you are a corporate Member) provided that you do not:

4.4.1          remove any notices relating to the ownership of copyright or other intellectual property rights in the Membership Materials;

4.4.2          modify, translate, reverse engineer, reproduce, decompile, disassemble (except as expressly permitted by law) or create derivative works of any of the Membership Materials; or

4.4.3          rent, lease, sub-licence, loan, copy or give or transfer any rights in the Membership Material in any form, to any person or entity,

in each case without the prior written consent of The Big Issue.

4.5           The content in the Membership Materials is provided for general information purposes only.  It is not intended to amount to advice (of any nature) on which you should rely.  You must obtain professional or specialty advice before taking or refraining from any action on the basis of the content in the Membership Materials.

4.6           We use reasonable endeavours to ensure that all information contained in the Membership Materials is accurate and up-to-date at the time of sending but all representations, guarantees, warranties, conditions and terms implied under this contract or by statute or common law are excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.

5.              mEMBERSHIP FEES

5.1           Our suggested Membership fees are displayed for: (i) individual Members at the following link: https://shop.bigissue.dsb-fly.net/the-big-issue-contribution-memmesh924; and (ii) for corporate Members at the following link: https://shop.bigissue.dsb-fly.net/the-big-issue-contribution-memcrp1109, allowing for payment by way of a single annual payment or monthly instalments. We may (in our sole discretion) waive your Membership fee (in whole or in part).

5.2           We reserve the right not to fulfil and to cancel deliveries of Membership Materials if we are unable to obtain payment authorisation from the issuer of your payment card.

6.              Contract term, Renewal and cancellation

6.1           [Without prejudice to your rights to cancel under any other term of these Membership T&Cs, your contract is for a minimum term of 12 months ("Minimum Term"), commencing on the Commencement Date.]

6.2           [If you are paying your Membership Fees by way of monthly instalments on your credit or debit card or direct debit,] your Membership contract shall automatically renew for a 12 month period commencing on each anniversary of the Commencement Date (each such date being the "Renewal Date" and the renewed term being the "Renewal Period") unless we receive prior written notice of cancellation by email to service@subs.bigissue.com at least 14 days before the next Renewal Date. If you are an individual Member you can opt-out from a future automatic renewal when you register and at any time by email to service@subs.bigissue.com.

6.3           We will remind you that your Membership is due to be renewed not less than 14 days prior to the relevant Renewal Date.

6.4           [If you have paid your Membership Fees by way of a single annual payment, your Membership contract shall expire one year after the Commencement Date.]

7.              supply of membership benefits during Cooling-Off period

7.1           By agreeing to these Membership T&Cs, you:

7.1.1          consent to The Big Issue providing you with the Membership Benefits prior to the expiry of the 14 day period following the Commencement Date (or as applicable the 14 day period following the Renewal Date); and

7.1.2          acknowledge that, from the date on which you receive the Membership Benefits, you will no longer be able to exercise your right to cancel these Membership T&Cs under Regulation 29(1) of The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 and section 264 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024.

8.              Cancellation Policy

8.1           After the expiry of the Minimum Term, you may cancel your Membership at any time by giving us at least 14 days notice to cancel your Membership by email to service@subs.bigissue.com. Upon cancellation, the agreement under these Membership T&Cs will be terminated. Such termination will be processed in advance of the following monthly instalment payment date, and you will not be entitled to any further Membership Materials. If you are paying your Membership Fee through monthly instalments, all scheduled direct debit payments will be cancelled from the month following your cancellation.

8.2           We may terminate your Membership immediately without a refund if you breach any of the terms in these Membership T&Cs.

9.              MEMBERSHIP Management

9.1           These Membership T&Cs are between you and The Big Issue, however Memberships may be managed by a third party:

dsb.net Ltd

3 Queensbridge

The Lakes

Northampton

NN4 7BF

United Kingdom

("Membership Bureau").

9.2           Any Membership queries or complaints should be raised through the Membership Bureau's customer contact centre by telephone or email at the details set out below.

UK: 0344 243 9023 International: +44 1604 828 748

(Lines are open weekdays 8am – 9.30pm & Saturday 8am – 4pm GMT)

Email: service@subs.bigissue.com

9.3           The Big Issue will take reasonable precaution to secure all user data collected by its websites.

10.           USE of Personal Information

10.1        For the purposes of the Data Protection Act 2018 (the “DPA”) and the UK General Data Protection Regulation as defined by the DPA (as amended from time to time) (together, "UK Data Protection Laws"), you acknowledge that:

10.1.1        in the course of purchasing your Membership and registering on the community website(s), certain personal information or data about you will be captured electronically or otherwise and transmitted to The Big Issue and/or its third party suppliers; and

10.1.2        we may use the personal and transactional information (e.g. name, address, e-mail address, credit card or direct debit details) you supply to us in order to manage your Membership and provide you with the Membership Materials and any other Membership benefits;

10.2        The Big Issue shall process such personal information or data in accordance with The Big Issue's Privacy Policy, available at the following link: https://www.bigissue.com/privacy-policy/ (as amended from time to time).

10.3        If you are accepting these terms on behalf of a legal entity (e.g. a company or a partnership), you agree that the relevant legal entity has the lawful right to transfer personal data relating to the users to us and you agree to provide the relevant data subjects (as defined under UK Data Protection Laws) with The Big Issue's Privacy Policy.

11.           Liability

11.1        Whether you are an individual Member or a corporate Member/user nothing in these Membership T&Cs will be construed as excluding or limiting our liability for: (i) death or personal injury caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors; (ii) fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or (iii) any liability which cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

11.2        If you are a corporate Member/user:

11.2.1        we exclude all implied conditions, warranties, representations or other terms that may apply to our site or any content on it;

11.2.2        we will not be liable to you for any loss or damage, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, even if foreseeable, arising under or in connection with use of or reliance on any content included in the Membership Materials;

11.2.3        in particular, we will not be liable for:

(A)           loss of profits, sales, business, or revenue;

(B)           business interruption;

(C)           loss of anticipated savings;

(D)           loss of business opportunity, goodwill or reputation; or

(E)           any indirect or consequential loss or damage; and

11.2.4        to the extent permitted at law, you irrevocably and unconditionally waive any right or remedy you may have to claim damages and/or to rescind this contract by reason of any misrepresentation (other than a fraudulent misrepresentation) not contained in these Membership T&Cs.

11.3        If you are an individual Member, we only provide the Membership Materials for domestic and private use.  You agree not to use the Membership Materials for any commercial or business purposes, and we have no liability to you for any loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption or loss of business opportunity.

11.4        Subject to Clauses 12.1, 12.2 and 12.3, The Big Issue’s maximum liability arising under or in connection with these Membership T&Cs (whether arising in contract, tort (including negligence) statutory duty or otherwise) shall, in respect of each Membership and each Membership Year, be limited to the sums paid for the relevant Membership in respect of the relevant Membership Year. "Membership Year" means the Minimum Term or the relevant Renewal Period.

12.           General

12.1        Nothing in these Membership T&Cs or in any matter or any arrangement contemplated by it is intended to constitute a partnership, association, joint venture, fiduciary relationship or other co-operative entity between us for any purpose whatsoever.

12.2        No term of these Membership T&Cs is enforceable under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 by a person who is not a party to them.

12.3        You may not assign, transfer, mortgage, charge, subcontract, declare a trust over or deal in any other manner with any of your rights and obligations under these Membership T&Cs without our prior written consent.

12.4        The rest of these Membership T&Cs will continue to apply with the minimum changes required to remove any part of these Membership T&Cs held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable.

12.5        These Membership T&Cs override any contrary terms or conditions published by us in relation to any order placed by you with us. These Membership T&Cs also supersede any advice given by an employee of the Membership Bureau or The Big Issue.

12.6        These Membership T&Cs are governed by English law. You hereby irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts notwithstanding the jurisdiction where you are based.