1. Who this agreement is between
In plain terms: You and Polar Host. Signing up means you accept these terms.
These terms are an agreement between Polar Host Inc. (“Polar Host”, “we”, “us”), a company incorporated in Ontario, Canada, and the person or organisation that opens an account with us (“you”).
By creating an account, ordering a service, or using anything we host for you, you agree to these terms, to our Acceptable Use Policy, and to our Privacy Policy. Together those three documents are the whole agreement between us.
If you are agreeing on behalf of a company, you are confirming that you are allowed to bind that company.
2. The services we provide
In plain terms: Shared hosting, VPS servers, email, DNS, and the support that goes with them.
We provide shared web hosting, virtual private servers, email hosting, DNS, backups, and customer support, as described on this website and in your account. The exact resources included depend on the plan you choose.
We may change, add, or retire features. If a change materially reduces what your plan includes, we will give you at least 30 days notice by email and you may cancel for a pro-rated refund of any unused prepaid time.
All customer data for these services is stored in Canada, in Canadian data centres. We do not replicate your data outside Canada, and we will not begin doing so without notifying you in advance.
3. Your account
In plain terms: Keep your credentials safe, keep your contact details current, and you are responsible for what happens on your account.
You are responsible for everything that happens under your account, including anything done by users you give access to. Keep your password and API keys confidential, and turn on two-factor authentication.
Keep a working email address on file. It is how we send invoices, security notices, and outage information, and it is the address we use to verify who you are.
Tell us promptly at the contact page if you believe your account has been accessed without your permission.
4. Acceptable use
In plain terms: Do not use our servers for illegal or abusive things. The full list is in the AUP.
Your use of our services must follow our Acceptable Use Policy, which forms part of this agreement. In short, do not host illegal content, do not send spam, do not attack other networks, and do not knowingly run malware.
You are responsible for the content you host and for having the rights to use it.
If content or activity on your account breaks the AUP, we may suspend the affected service. Except where the law requires immediate action or where leaving it up would cause real harm to others, we will contact you first and give you a chance to fix it.
5. Fees, billing, and taxes
In plain terms: Prices are in Canadian dollars, taxes are extra, and we bill in advance for plans and hourly for VPS.
All prices on this site are in Canadian dollars and do not include tax. GST, HST, or QST is applied at checkout based on your province and appears as its own line on every invoice.
Hosting plans are billed in advance, monthly or yearly. VPS servers are billed hourly for as long as the server exists, and the charge for a single server never exceeds its monthly price.
We charge the payment method on file on the renewal date. If a payment fails, we will retry and email you. Services may be suspended 10 days after a failed payment and deleted 30 days after that. We will always tell you before anything is deleted.
Prices can change. Existing customers keep their current rate for at least 12 months from signup, and we give 60 days notice by email before any increase takes effect.
6. Refunds and cancellation
In plain terms: 30 days money-back on new plans. Cancel any time; VPS billing stops when the server is destroyed.
New hosting plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Ask for a refund within 30 days of your first payment and we will refund that payment in full.
Domain registrations, renewals, and transfers are not refundable, because the registry does not refund them to us.
You may cancel at any time from the control panel or by asking support. Cancelling a hosting plan stops the next renewal; you keep the service until the end of the period you have paid for. Destroying a VPS stops its hourly billing at that moment.
After cancellation we keep your data for 30 days so you can change your mind, then delete it permanently.
7. Uptime and service credits
In plain terms: We target 99.9%. If we miss it, you get credits under the SLA.
Our uptime commitment and the service credits that apply if we miss it are set out in the Uptime SLA, which forms part of this agreement.
Service credits are the only remedy we offer for downtime.
8. Backups
In plain terms: We back up daily, but keep your own copy of anything you cannot lose.
We take nightly backups of hosted sites and keep them for 7 to 90 days depending on your plan, stored encrypted and within Canada. VPS snapshots are taken only if you enable the snapshot add-on or create them yourself.
Backups are a convenience, not a guarantee. You are responsible for keeping your own copies of anything you cannot afford to lose. We do not accept liability for backups that are incomplete, corrupted, or unavailable.
9. Your content and our rights
In plain terms: Your content stays yours. We only touch it to run the service or when the law requires it.
You keep all ownership of the content you host with us. You grant us only the limited licence we need to store, transmit, back up, and display that content in order to operate the service.
We do not access the contents of your sites, databases, or mailboxes except when you ask us to (for support), when it is necessary to keep the platform running or secure, or when we are legally required to.
We will resist overbroad requests for your data, and unless a court order forbids it, we will tell you if a lawful demand for your data arrives.
10. Suspension and termination
In plain terms: We can suspend for non-payment or abuse; you can leave any time; either of us can end the agreement with 30 days notice.
We may suspend or terminate a service for non-payment, for a breach of these terms or the AUP, or where required by law.
Either party may terminate this agreement for convenience on 30 days written notice. If we terminate for convenience, we refund any prepaid, unused fees.
On termination you should download your data. We keep it for 30 days after termination, then delete it.
11. Warranties and liability
In plain terms: We work hard on this, but we cannot promise perfection, and our liability is capped at what you paid us over the last 12 months.
We provide the services with reasonable skill and care. Beyond what this agreement and the SLA say, and to the extent the law allows, the services are provided as-is and we disclaim other warranties, including implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.
Neither party is liable for indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages, or for lost profits, revenue, goodwill, or data.
Our total liability to you for all claims arising out of this agreement in any 12-month period is limited to the fees you paid us in the 12 months before the claim arose.
Nothing in this agreement limits liability that cannot be limited by law, including liability for fraud or for death or personal injury caused by negligence.
12. Changes to these terms
In plain terms: We will email you 30 days before any material change.
We may update these terms. For material changes we will email the address on your account at least 30 days before they take effect, and we will update the date at the top of this page.
If you do not accept a change, you may cancel before it takes effect and we will refund any prepaid, unused fees. Continuing to use the service after the effective date means you accept the new terms.
13. Governing law
In plain terms: Ontario law, Ontario courts.
This agreement is governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada that apply in it. The courts of Ontario have exclusive jurisdiction, and both parties submit to them.
If any part of this agreement is held unenforceable, the rest stays in force.
14. How to reach us
In plain terms: Email or the contact page. A real person reads it.
Polar Host Inc.
123 Placeholder Street
Toronto, ON M5V 0A0
Canada
General and legal: hello@polarhost.ca · Support: support@polarhost.ca · Or use the contact page.