Terms of Service

1. Service Definition

Proven Duty is a software-as-a-service tool that provides automated document analysis, compliance tracking, and reporting features. It is not a regulated activity. It is not compliance advice. It is not financial advice.

By accessing or using Proven Duty, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service. If you are using Proven Duty on behalf of a firm, you represent that you have authority to bind that firm to these terms.

2. AI Assessments Are Not Professional Opinions

File review scores, vulnerability signals, regulatory summaries, and suitability report drafts produced by Proven Duty are automated assessments generated by artificial intelligence. They are indicators, not compliance judgements. They do not constitute legal, regulatory, or professional advice.

AI-generated content may contain errors, omissions, or inaccurate assessments. No business decision should be made based solely on AI-generated output without appropriate human review.

3. Human Review and Acknowledgments

By using Proven Duty, the firm acknowledges and agrees to the following:

1. All AI outputs are advisory indicators, not professional judgements. File review scores, vulnerability signals, regulatory summaries, and suitability report drafts are machine-generated assessments. They may contain material errors, omissions, or inaccurate reasoning. They do not constitute legal, regulatory, or compliance advice.
2. Human review is mandatory before any reliance. The firm must not rely solely on Proven Duty's assessments. All AI-generated outputs must be reviewed by an appropriately qualified individual within the firm before any compliance or advisory decision is made.
3. Suitability report drafts require substantive review. Paraplanner Assist generates initial drafts that the responsible adviser must read, edit where necessary, and explicitly approve section by section. Approving sections without reading them constitutes a breach of these terms.
4. The audit trail is a shared record. Proven Duty logs all adviser edits, approvals, and sign-offs. This audit trail serves both the firm's regulatory compliance obligations and Proven Duty's legal interests. The firm acknowledges that Proven Duty may rely on audit trail records in its own defence if a dispute arises.
5. The firm owns the final output. Regardless of whether a suitability report, compliance assessment, or other document originated as an AI draft, the firm is solely responsible for the final content once approved by an adviser. Approval constitutes the firm's professional judgement that the content is suitable for its intended purpose.

4. Firm Responsibility

The firm is solely responsible for its own regulatory compliance. The firm is responsible for determining how Proven Duty's outputs are used and for ensuring that its use of Proven Duty meets its obligations under FCA rules, including but not limited to the Consumer Duty (PRIN 2A), the suitability requirements (COBS 9), and the vulnerable customers guidance (FG21/1).

Proven Duty does not assume any regulatory responsibility for the firm's compliance activities or outcomes.

5. Data Ownership

The firm owns all client data uploaded to Proven Duty. Proven Duty processes this data on the firm's behalf in accordance with the Data Processing Agreement. Proven Duty does not sell, share, or use client data for model training.

6. Subscription and Billing

Subscriptions are billed per adviser seat per month. Pricing is set out on our pricing page. Payment is processed by Stripe. The firm may cancel at any time. Upon cancellation, access continues until the end of the current billing period. Data is retained for 7 years following termination, after which it is securely deleted.

7. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

• Use Proven Duty to process data for any unlawful purpose.
• Upload documents containing data that the firm does not have lawful authority to process.
• Represent AI-generated outputs as the firm's own professional judgement without human review.
• Issue AI-generated suitability report content to a client, or use it in a client-facing communication, without substantive review and editing by a qualified adviser.
• Approve Paraplanner Assist sections without reading and understanding each section's content.
• Use Proven Duty's AI outputs as a substitute for the firm's own suitability assessment obligations under COBS 9 or any other regulatory requirement.
• Attempt to reverse-engineer, decompile, or extract the AI models, prompts, or scoring rubrics used by Proven Duty.
• Share account credentials or access with unauthorised individuals.

8. Indemnification

The firm agrees to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Proven Duty and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any and all claims, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from or related to:

• The firm's use of AI-generated content, including suitability report drafts, file review scores, and vulnerability signals, in providing financial advice to clients.
• Any claim by a client or third party that relies on advice or documentation that incorporated AI-generated content from Proven Duty.
• Any regulatory investigation, sanction, or enforcement action against the firm where the subject matter relates to content that was generated or assisted by Proven Duty's AI features.
• The firm's failure to perform adequate human review of AI-generated outputs before relying on them in client-facing communications or compliance decisions.

This indemnification obligation survives termination of the subscription.

9. AI Content Disclaimer

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Proven Duty provides AI-generated content on an "as is" basis without warranty of any kind, whether express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of:

• Accuracy or completeness of file review scores, vulnerability signals, or regulatory summaries.
• Compliance of suitability report drafts with COBS 9, PROD, PRIN 2A, or any other FCA rule or regulatory requirement.
• Suitability of AI-generated content for any particular client's circumstances.
• Consistency of AI outputs — the same document may produce different results on different analyses.
• Freedom from bias, error, or omission in AI assessments.

The AI model has a training data cutoff and may not reflect the most recent FCA guidance, rule changes, or regulatory expectations. The firm is responsible for verifying AI outputs against current regulatory requirements before relying on them.

10. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Proven Duty's total liability to the firm under these terms shall not exceed the total subscription fees paid by the firm in the 12 months preceding the claim.

Proven Duty shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including loss of profits, data, or business opportunities, arising from the use of or inability to use the service.

Nothing in these terms excludes liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or any other liability that cannot be excluded by law.

11. Data Retention

Data is retained for the duration of the subscription plus 7 years following termination, in accordance with FCA record-keeping requirements for advised business. The firm may request earlier deletion of client data, subject to its own regulatory obligations.

12. Sub-Processors

Proven Duty uses the following sub-processors to deliver the service:

• Supabase — database, authentication, file storage (EU region)
• Vercel — application hosting
• Google (Gemini API) — AI processing
• Stripe — payment processing
• Resend — transactional email delivery

We will notify all subscribed firms of any new sub-processors with 30 days' notice and an opportunity to object before the new sub-processor begins processing data.

13. Modifications

We may update these terms from time to time. We will notify subscribed firms by email at least 30 days before any material changes take effect. Continued use of the service after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.

14. Governing Law

These terms are governed by English law. Any disputes arising under these terms shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

15. Contact

For questions about these terms, contact: support@proven-duty.co.uk