Legal Disclaimers in New Zealand

If you run a small business, you’ve probably seen disclaimers everywhere - on websites, quotes, invoices, social media posts, email footers and even signage in-store.

And it makes sense: a well-written disclaimer can reduce misunderstandings, help manage risk, and set expectations before a customer (or another business) relies on something you’ve said.

But here’s the catch. In New Zealand, a disclaimer isn’t a magic shield. Some legal rights can’t be disclaimed away, and some disclaimer wording can actually create more risk (especially if it’s misleading, inconsistent with your contract terms, or not properly brought to someone’s attention).

In this guide, we’ll walk you through legal disclaimers in New Zealand businesses commonly use, what they’re good for, where they fall short, and how to put them in place as part of stronger legal foundations.

What Is A Legal Disclaimer (And Where Does It Usually Appear)?

A legal disclaimer is a short statement designed to limit how someone can rely on information you provide, or to clarify boundaries around liability, accuracy, responsibility, and use.

Most disclaimers fall into one of two buckets:

Information disclaimers (eg “general information only”, “not financial advice”, “accuracy not guaranteed”).
Liability disclaimers (eg “use at your own risk”, “to the maximum extent permitted by law we’re not liable for…”).

In practice, legal disclaimers are commonly found in places like:

Website footers and key pages (especially blogs, FAQs, calculators, templates or resources).
Online checkout flows (often combined with Terms & Conditions).
Quotes and proposals (where you need to qualify assumptions or scope).
Emails (confidentiality and “intended recipient” notices).
Social media captions (where you’re giving general tips, before/after examples, pricing statements, or health-related content).

A disclaimer can be useful on its own - but it works best as part of a broader set of documents, like your Website Terms and Conditions, product or service terms, and your internal policies.

Do I Actually Need Legal Disclaimers For My NZ Business?

Not every business needs the same set of disclaimers, but most businesses benefit from having at least one well-placed, well-written disclaimer.

You’re more likely to need disclaimers if you:

Publish educational content (blogs, guides, webinars, newsletters, downloadable resources).
Give quotes or estimates based on assumptions (construction, trades, professional services, consultants).
Sell products online (especially where customers might misunderstand compatibility, suitability, or “results”).
Operate a platform, community, or directory where third parties post content.
Make claims about outcomes (fitness, beauty, wellness, training, coaching, marketing results).
Collect personal information (pretty much any online business) - while that’s mainly a privacy issue, you’ll often want consistent messaging between your notices and your privacy documents.

That said, it’s important to be realistic about what a disclaimer can achieve. If you’re using disclaimers to “paper over” bigger gaps (like unclear terms, vague scope, or no contract at all), you’ll usually be better protected by putting proper agreements in place.

For example, if you’re providing services, a tailored Service Agreement will generally do more heavy lifting than a one-line disclaimer at the bottom of an invoice.

What Can A Disclaimer Do For Your Business In New Zealand?

When drafted properly and used in the right context, a disclaimer can be a genuinely practical risk-management tool.

1) Set Clear Expectations Before Someone Relies On Your Information

A lot of disputes start with a simple misunderstanding:

A customer thinks your blog post is personalised advice.
A client assumes your quote includes something you didn’t scope.
Someone reads a “price from $X” post and believes that’s the fixed total.

A disclaimer can help clarify things early, such as:

your content is general information only;
you haven’t considered the reader’s personal circumstances;
figures are estimates and may change after inspection;
results vary between individuals.

2) Reduce The Risk Of Misrepresentation Claims

In New Zealand, misrepresentation issues can arise where someone enters into a contract based on a statement that turns out to be wrong or misleading. A disclaimer won’t “cancel out” misleading conduct, but it can help by properly qualifying statements so they’re less likely to be taken as firm promises or guarantees.

This is especially relevant when you use phrases like:

“guaranteed results”
“no risks”
“best price”
“works for everyone”

If you’re making claims that could influence purchasing decisions, make sure you’re also complying with the Fair Trading Act 1986 (which prohibits misleading or deceptive conduct).

3) Support Your Contract Terms (Instead Of Replacing Them)

Disclaimers work best when they support clear contract terms - not when they try to replace them.

For example:

A website disclaimer can point users to your broader terms and explain that those terms apply to use of your website.
A proposal disclaimer can summarise key assumptions, which are then backed up by detailed scope and variation clauses in the signed agreement.

This is also why many businesses pair disclaimers with a full set of online terms, such as Website Terms of Use, so there’s a clear “rulebook” behind the short statement.

4) Help With Third-Party Content And External Links

If your website includes links to third-party websites, embedded tools, or guest content, a disclaimer can explain that:

you’re not responsible for third-party content;
you don’t endorse external websites;
information may change without notice.

This won’t automatically remove liability in every scenario, but it helps show you’re being transparent about the limits of what you control.

5) Add Practical Privacy Messaging (Alongside Proper Privacy Documents)

Some businesses use disclaimers to explain things like tracking technologies, cookies, or analytics in simple language. That can be useful - but it shouldn’t replace the legal documents you actually need.

If you collect personal information, you’ll usually also need a compliant Privacy Policy, and if you use cookies/tracking you may want a Cookie Policy to match how your site actually works.

What Can’t Disclaimers Do? Key Legal Limits In NZ

This is the part many business owners don’t find out until something goes wrong: there are real limits on disclaimers in New Zealand.

Here are the big ones.

1) You Can’t “Contract Out” Of The Fair Trading Act (And You Definitely Can’t Use A Disclaimer To Mislead People)

The Fair Trading Act 1986 is a core law for advertising and selling in New Zealand. It covers things like misleading or deceptive conduct, false representations, and misleading price claims.

If your marketing is misleading, a disclaimer at the bottom won’t save you.

For example, if your headline claim is “$0 Setup Fees” but the checkout adds a mandatory “activation fee”, a small disclaimer buried in a footer is unlikely to fix the overall impression you’ve created.

Practical tip: make sure your key claim is accurate on its face, then use disclaimers to clarify details - not to “undo” the main message.

2) You Can’t Contract Out Of The Consumer Guarantees Act For Consumer Customers (And B2B Contracting Out Has Rules)

The Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 (CGA) gives consumers automatic guarantees when they buy goods or services ordinarily for personal, domestic, or household use.

For consumer sales, it’s risky to include disclaimers like “no refunds”, “all sales final”, or “we are not responsible for faults” - because those statements can conflict with CGA rights.

There is a limited ability to contract out of the CGA in business-to-business transactions, but it needs to be done properly. In practice, that generally means the customer must be acquiring the goods or services for business purposes, the contracting-out needs to be clearly agreed (typically in writing), and it must be fair and reasonable in the circumstances. This isn’t something you want to DIY with a generic template.

3) A Disclaimer Won’t Fix Unfair Or Hidden Contract Terms

Even where you can limit liability, you’ll generally need to do it through clear and enforceable contract terms that are properly presented to the customer (eg before purchase, and in a way they can reasonably notice and accept).

If you sell online, your disclaimer should be consistent with your eCommerce terms - otherwise you can end up with conflicting obligations and confusion at the worst possible time (when a customer dispute arises).

For product-based businesses, properly drafted E-Commerce Terms and Conditions are usually the right place for things like limitation of liability, delivery risk, returns process, and warranty statements.

4) You Can’t Disclaim Away Liability For Everything

Some liabilities can’t be excluded, and some exclusions won’t be enforceable if they’re too broad, unclear, or inconsistent with New Zealand law.

It’s common to see phrases like “we are not liable for any loss whatsoever”. In reality, sweeping exclusions are often the first thing challenged.

Where you do limit liability, you generally want the limitation to be:

clear (plain English, not buried);
reasonable in context (especially in B2B relationships);
consistent with the rest of your agreement and how you do business;
properly brought to the other party’s attention (eg acceptance tick-box, signed agreement, or clear notice).

5) A Disclaimer Won’t Override Your Actual Conduct

Even a well-drafted disclaimer can be undermined by what you do in practice.

For example, if your disclaimer says “times are estimates only”, but your sales process repeatedly promises a fixed delivery date, you may have created an expectation that overrides (or at least conflicts with) the disclaimer.

This is why disclaimers should match your real-world operations, staff scripts, marketing, and customer journey.

How Do I Write A Disclaimer That Actually Helps? A Practical Checklist

If you’re putting together legal disclaimers for a New Zealand business, the goal is simple: make it clear, specific, and legally consistent.

Step 1: Be Specific About What You’re Disclaiming

A disclaimer is stronger when it targets a real risk.

Instead of:

“We are not responsible for anything.”

Try something closer to:

“This information is general only and doesn’t take your circumstances into account.”
“Prices are estimates based on the information provided and may change after site inspection.”
“Any timelines are indicative only and may be affected by supplier delays.”

The more your disclaimer matches the exact scenario, the more credible (and useful) it becomes.

Step 2: Keep It Consistent With Your Terms, Policies, And Marketing

One of the biggest issues we see is a disclaimer that conflicts with other documents.

For example:

Your website footer says “no responsibility for errors”, but your sales page says “100% accurate data”.
Your invoice says “no refunds”, but your returns policy offers refunds in certain scenarios.

As you grow, consistency becomes a legal asset. This is where having a proper document set helps, including things like a Business Terms document (or tailored terms of trade) that matches your quotes, invoices and customer onboarding.

Step 3: Make Sure People Actually See It (Timing And Placement Matters)

Even a perfectly written disclaimer won’t help much if no one sees it until after they’ve relied on the information.

Think about where reliance happens:

If it’s a quote, put assumptions and exclusions in the quote itself (not only in a later invoice).
If it’s a blog post, put the disclaimer near the top (or clearly visible at least once per page).
If it’s an online checkout, show key limitations before payment and link to the full terms.

The general principle is: the more important the disclaimer, the earlier and clearer it should be.

Step 4: Don’t Use Disclaimers To Make Illegal Statements Sound Acceptable

A disclaimer shouldn’t be used to justify:

“no refunds” (where CGA applies),
misleading pricing or “bait” offers,
claims you can’t substantiate (like guaranteed outcomes).

If a claim feels risky, it’s usually better to rewrite the claim so it’s accurate, then use a disclaimer to clarify the limits.

Step 5: Use Disclaimers As Part Of A Document “System”

Most small businesses need more than just disclaimers to be properly protected. Depending on your business model, you might also need:

customer-facing terms (website terms, service terms, terms of trade, eCommerce terms);
privacy documentation and collection notices for the Privacy Act 2020;
platform/community rules if users can post content (an Acceptable Use Policy can help set boundaries);
supplier agreements and clear scope documents;
internal processes so staff know what can (and can’t) be promised.

If you’re not sure what fits your situation, that’s normal - it depends on what you sell, how you sell it, and who your customers are.

Key Takeaways

Well-drafted legal disclaimers can help set expectations, reduce misunderstandings, and clarify how your information can be relied on.
Disclaimers work best when they support proper contracts and policies (rather than trying to replace them).
You generally can’t rely on a disclaimer to “fix” misleading advertising - the Fair Trading Act 1986 still applies to what you say and how customers interpret it.
For consumer customers, statements like “no refunds” can conflict with the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993, so disclaimers need to be handled carefully.
A disclaimer is more effective when it is specific, consistent with your terms and marketing, and shown before the customer relies on the information.
If you’re using disclaimers to manage liability, it’s usually a sign you should also review your core terms (like service terms or eCommerce terms) to make sure everything aligns.

If you’d like help putting the right disclaimers and terms in place for your business, you can reach us at 0800 002 184 or team@sprintlaw.co.nz for a free, no-obligations chat.

Legal Disclaimers In New Zealand: What They Can And Can’t Do