My contract links to terms on a website. Which version am I agreeing to?

The signature page is two pages long. It says that your purchase is “subject to the terms available on our website.” The link leads to a page with another link, no version number and a footer saying the terms may change.

You do not have a complete reading task until you know which documents the agreement refers to. Before signing, paying or starting work, ask the other party to identify the applicable version and explain the update mechanism. This guide helps you collect and clarify the pack; it does not determine whether a linked term is legally incorporated or enforceable.

Make a linked-document register

Follow references in the main agreement and in the linked documents themselves. Look for terms of service, a service schedule, acceptable-use rules, cancellation policies and relevant annexes. Not every linked privacy notice or help page is automatically a contractual promise; record what the agreement says about each item.

On a narrow screen, scroll the table sideways to read all columns.

Save the complete readable text where possible, along with the URL and the date you accessed it. Include headings, appendices and material expanded behind buttons. A screenshot of the first screen is not a copy of all the terms. Keep the signed pack and relevant correspondence together; these records help establish what you saw, but do not by themselves settle a legal dispute.

If a link is broken, needs an account you do not have or opens the wrong document, request a copy. Do not guess the missing terms or tick a declaration that you read text you could not access.

Distinguish a fixed version from later updates

These fictional references create different reading questions:

• “Terms version 2.1, dated 3 October 2026, attached.” Check the attachment and whether another clause permits later changes.
• “Our website terms at the date of signing.” Ask how that date's version will be identified and retained.
• “Our terms as updated from time to time.” Ask what may change, how you are notified, when changes take effect and what choices you have.

Do not assume a new footer date means every existing customer's agreement changed. Equally, do not assume that saving today's copy prevents an agreed update process from operating. Read the version and variation clauses together.

For UK consumer agreements, the CMA's fair-contract guidance addresses hidden terms and warns against variation wording that permits unexpected, one-sided changes. It emphasises an opportunity to read the terms and clear limits on changes. That consumer guidance does not decide a business-to-business dispute or make every website reference invalid.

Ask for the complete pack

This is an original email template you can adapt:

Clause [number] refers to [URL/document]. Could you send the complete version that applies to our agreement, including its date and any referenced schedules? Please confirm whether later website updates apply to this order, how we would be notified and when they take effect. I'd also like to confirm which document takes priority if the order form and linked terms disagree. Please reflect any agreed clarification in the final contract pack.

Keep the questions tied to a practical concern: a price increase, cancellation method, usage restriction or service limit. If the pack contains conflicting answers, use the contract, quote and purchase-order comparison. If a sales promise disappears when you open the terms, use the missing sales-promise worksheet.

Give a reviewer what you actually want reviewed

An AI cannot assess missing terms just because their URL appears in a PDF. Contracts.money accepts one PDF or DOCX; it does not promise to fetch linked website documents or automatically assemble the agreement. Obtain the applicable copies and, where appropriate and permitted, prepare one readable file containing the relevant pack. Explain the versions and your concern in the notes.

Whether you read it yourself or use a review, check that the answer identifies which material was available and what remains missing. The five-question reading guide is a useful starting point once you have the documents.