Online Course Terms For Coaching Businesses

Sara runs a leadership coaching business in Wellington. Her first online group programme sold out quickly, which was exciting, until one participant asked for a full refund halfway through, another shared the login with a friend, and someone in the private community started giving personal financial advice to other members.

None of those issues were impossible to fix, but they were stressful because Sara's checkout page only had a few lines saying, "no refunds" and "be kind". For an online course or coaching programme, that usually isn't enough.

If you're selling recorded lessons, live calls, templates, workbooks, community access or coaching support, your online course terms and conditions are the rules that hold the offer together. They help your customers understand what they're buying, and they help you manage refunds, IP, conduct and expectations without making things awkward later.

Do You Need Online Course Terms And Conditions In NZ?

Yes, if you're selling an online course or group coaching programme in New Zealand, you should have written terms in place. They create a contract between your business and your customer, usually when the customer accepts your online course agreement at checkout or enrols through your website.

Your terms don't need to be scary or full of legal jargon. They do need to clearly explain what you're selling and what the customer is agreeing to.

For a coaching business, online course terms usually sit alongside other documents, such as:

• Website terms of use for general visitors to your site
• Privacy policy for how you collect and use personal information
• Course or programme terms for paid customers
• Community rules for Facebook groups, Slack channels, Circle communities or other member spaces
• Contractor agreements if you use guest coaches, facilitators or virtual assistants

The terms should match how your offer actually works. A $49 self-paced mini course needs different terms from a $5,000 high-touch mastermind with live coaching, templates, recordings and community access.

Templates can be a helpful starting point, but they often miss the details that make your offer unique. For example, your terms may need to deal with cohort dates, payment plans, bonus calls, expiring access, private community rules and what happens if a customer stops attending live sessions.

What Should Your Online Course Terms Cover?

Your online course terms should cover the commercial basics, access rules, customer obligations and the limits of what your programme promises. Think of them as the operating manual for the customer relationship.

At a minimum, your terms should deal with:

• Who the contract is with, including your legal business name, trading name and NZBN if relevant
• What the customer is buying, such as modules, live calls, templates, community access or one-on-one support
• Prices and payment, including currency, GST wording if applicable, payment methods and when payments are due
• Payment plans, including missed payments, failed card payments and whether access can be paused or removed
• Access period, such as lifetime access, 12 months access, cohort-only access or access while subscription payments continue
• Delivery format, including live sessions, recordings, downloads, private platforms and email support
• Refunds, cancellations and transfers
• Intellectual property, including what customers can and can't do with your materials
• Community conduct, including removal rights for unsafe or disruptive behaviour
• Disclaimers about outcomes, earnings, health, wellbeing or professional results
• Privacy, especially if you record sessions, collect personal stories or use customer testimonials
• Liability limits, written in a way that doesn't try to avoid non-excludable consumer rights

Your checkout flow matters too. Ideally, customers should actively agree to your terms before paying, rather than just having a link hidden in the footer of your website. A simple checkbox that says they agree to the terms can help show they had notice of the contract.

Can You Say "No Refunds" For An Online Programme?

No, a blanket "no refunds" policy can be risky in New Zealand because it may not reflect your customers' rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 and the Fair Trading Act 1986. You can have a refund policy, but it needs to be accurate and fair.

There's no automatic legal right to a change-of-mind refund for every online course purchase. So, you can usually say you don't offer refunds just because someone changed their mind, didn't make time for the programme or decided it wasn't the right fit.

However, you may need to offer a remedy if something goes wrong in a way the law recognises. For example, the Consumer Guarantees Act gives consumers guarantees that services will be provided with reasonable care and skill, be fit for a known purpose, and be completed within a reasonable time where no time is agreed. The Fair Trading Act also means your sales page and course description must not mislead customers about what they will receive.

If your sales page says customers will receive 10 live coaching calls and they only receive 6, a "no refunds" clause won't fix that. The same issue can arise if you make strong earnings, health, career or transformation claims that you can't back up.

What A Better Refund Policy Can Say

A practical online programme refund policy can explain:

• whether you offer change-of-mind refunds
• any cooling-off period you choose to provide as a business decision
• whether deposits are refundable
• what happens if a customer can't attend live calls
• whether customers can transfer to a later cohort
• what happens if your business cancels or postpones the programme
• how customers should request a refund
• that nothing in the policy limits rights that can't be excluded under New Zealand law

For example, you might offer a 7-day change-of-mind refund for a self-paced course, but no change-of-mind refund once a cohort programme has started and live coaching has begun. That can be reasonable if your sales process is clear and the customer receives what you promised.

If you sell mainly to other businesses, you may be able to contract out of parts of the Consumer Guarantees Act for business-to-business transactions, but only where the Act allows it and it's fair and reasonable to do so. This needs careful wording, especially if you sell to a mix of consumers and businesses.

How Do You Protect Your Course Content And IP?

You protect your course content by clearly stating that your business owns or licenses the intellectual property in the materials, and that customers receive a limited personal licence to use them. Without this, you may struggle to stop people copying, sharing or reselling your work.

Your course IP might include:

• videos, audio lessons and live call recordings
• slides, workbooks, worksheets and templates
• frameworks, methods, prompts and checklists
• graphics, branding, logos and course names
• community posts, call transcripts and downloadable resources

Copyright protection in New Zealand generally arises automatically when original content is created, but that doesn't mean your customers understand the limits. Your terms should spell out what they can do.

For example, you might allow customers to download a workbook for their own learning, but not allow them to:

• share login details with another person
• copy your templates into their own paid programme
• record or redistribute live coaching calls
• upload your videos to another platform
• use your course name, logo or brand as if it's theirs
• train an AI tool on your materials without permission

If your course name or coaching brand is becoming valuable, you may also want to think about trade mark protection through IPONZ. A registered trade mark can make it easier to protect your brand name or logo if another provider uses something confusingly similar.

It's also worth checking your own content sources. If you use music, stock images, guest expert slides, client stories or third-party worksheets, make sure you have the right permission or licence. Your terms can protect your content, but they won't solve a problem if your business has used someone else's material without the right to do so.

What Disclaimers Should A Coaching Business Use?

Your disclaimers should be clear about what your programme can and can't promise, especially around results. Coaching can be powerful, but you usually can't guarantee that every customer will earn a certain amount, heal a condition, get promoted or transform their business.

A good disclaimer isn't about avoiding all responsibility. It's about setting honest expectations.

Depending on your niche, your terms and sales pages may need disclaimers for:

• Business results, such as revenue, leads, profitability or growth
• Career outcomes, such as job offers, promotions or salary increases
• Health and wellbeing, especially if you discuss nutrition, fitness, mental health, stress or medical topics
• Financial information, such as budgeting, investing, pricing or wealth building
• Educational content, making clear that materials are for learning and don't replace tailored professional advice

Say Mia runs an online business coaching programme for new consultants. Her sales page includes testimonials from clients who doubled their monthly revenue. She can use genuine testimonials if they're accurate and not misleading, but she should avoid suggesting that every participant will get the same result. Her terms can explain that results depend on each customer's skills, market, effort, implementation and circumstances.

The Fair Trading Act is especially relevant here. If you make a claim about your programme, you need a reasonable basis for it. This includes testimonials, income claims, "limited spots" statements, discount offers and claims about your qualifications or experience.

If you work in health, wellness or mindset coaching, take extra care. Customers may share sensitive personal information, and there may be other professional rules or advertising standards depending on what you offer. If your content could be confused with medical, psychological, financial or legal advice, your wording needs to be especially clear.

What Rules Should You Set For Your Course Community?

You should set community rules that explain how members must behave, what content isn't allowed and when you can remove someone. This is especially important for group coaching, where the customer experience depends on everyone feeling safe and respected.

Community rules aren't just about politeness. They help you manage real business risks, such as harassment, spam, confidentiality breaches, unsafe advice and people using your group to sell competing offers.

Your rules might cover:

• respectful communication and no harassment, bullying or discrimination
• no spam, pitching or unsolicited direct messages
• no sharing another member's personal story outside the group
• no screenshots, recordings or downloads without permission
• no giving professional advice unless qualified and authorised to do so
• how you moderate posts and remove content
• when you can suspend or cancel access
• whether refunds are available if someone is removed for breaching the rules

Confidentiality can matter a lot in coaching communities. Members may share revenue numbers, personal challenges, health information or workplace issues. Your terms can require members to keep group discussions confidential, but be careful not to overpromise. You can set rules and take action if someone breaches them, but you can't guarantee that every member will keep everything private.

If you record live group calls, get clear consent and explain how recordings will be used. For example, tell customers whether recordings will be uploaded to the course portal, whether names and faces may appear, and whether they can keep their camera off or ask questions privately.

What Else Should You Set Up Before You Launch?

You should set up the supporting legal documents and systems that make your online offer work smoothly, not just the course terms. A polished checkout page won't help much if your privacy, marketing or contractor arrangements are unclear.

Privacy And Data Protection

If you collect names, email addresses, payment information, survey answers, call recordings or community posts, the Privacy Act 2020 is relevant. Your business should have a privacy policy that explains what personal information you collect, why you collect it, who you share it with, where it may be stored and how people can access or correct it.

If you use overseas platforms for course delivery, email marketing, payments or analytics, say so in your privacy wording. Many coaching businesses use tools that store information outside New Zealand, and customers should understand that.

If you send promotional emails or texts, remember the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007. Commercial electronic messages generally need consent, accurate sender identification and a working unsubscribe option.

Sales Pages And Checkout Wording

Your online service terms should line up with your marketing. If your sales page promises weekly live calls, private feedback and lifetime access, your terms shouldn't quietly say calls are optional, feedback isn't included and access ends after 90 days.

Make sure your checkout page clearly shows:

• the total price and payment schedule
• whether prices include or exclude GST, if relevant to your business
• what the customer receives
• when access starts and ends
• your refund and cancellation position
• a checkbox or similar acceptance of your website terms and course terms

Team And Contractor Documents

If you bring in guest coaches, facilitators, community managers, copywriters or virtual assistants, use written agreements. These should cover payment, confidentiality, IP ownership, privacy, brand standards and what happens if the relationship ends.

From 2026, changes to the Employment Relations Act 2000, including the contractor gateway test, make it even more important that your written contractor arrangements match how the relationship works in practice. If someone is really operating like an employee, calling them a contractor in the agreement may not be enough.

Key Takeaways

• Online course terms and conditions help your coaching business manage payments, access, refunds, IP, community rules and expectations.
• A blanket "no refunds" policy can be risky under the Consumer Guarantees Act and Fair Trading Act, so your refund wording needs to be clear and lawful.
• Your course materials, templates, videos and frameworks should be protected with clear IP and licence terms.
• Disclaimers should set honest expectations about educational outcomes, business results, health topics and professional advice.
• Community rules matter for group programmes, especially where members share personal or commercially sensitive information.
• Your privacy policy, marketing consent, checkout flow and contractor agreements should all support the way your online programme actually runs.

If you'd like help with your online course terms, refund policy, privacy documents and contractor agreements, you can reach us at 0800 002 184 or team@sprintlaw.co.nz for a free, no-obligations chat.