Terms of Service

1. Agreement to Terms

By accessing or using Um's prepaid fibre broadband services, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service. If you do not agree to these terms, please do not use our services.

2. Service Description

Um provides prepaid fibre broadband internet services in New Zealand. Our services are contract-free and operate on a prepaid basis with no lock-in periods.

3. Eligibility

To use our services, you must be at least 18 years old and have a valid New Zealand address where fibre is available. You must provide accurate information when signing up for our services.

4. Payment Terms

Everything is paid in advance. Daily plans run on account credit, and you need a positive balance to stay connected. Monthly plans are paid a month at a time, before the month starts. Payments are non-refundable except where required by law.

Money you pay us becomes account credit, and account credit pays for internet. Except where the law requires otherwise, it is not exchangeable, redeemable, or refundable for cash, and it cannot be transferred to another person or account. That includes credit on an account that never gets connected, and credit left over when you stop.

Credit on an account with no live connection for three years expires.

What a day is

Daily plans are charged by the day. A day is a calendar day in New Zealand time, midnight to midnight, not 24 hours from when you connect. Any day your connection is live, even for part of it, counts as a day. A part day is charged as a full day.

A new connection goes live at the first time the network operator offers, which can be the same day you order or a later one. A disconnection is booked for the latest time the network operator offers on the day it is due, which can be well before midnight. A disconnection you ask for is due the day after you ask, so your balance needs to cover that day. The network operators' systems decide those times, not us. We tell you the time once it is booked. So the first and last days of a connection may not be a full 24 hours, and if you buy a single day you may get less than 24 hours of internet.

We can't guarantee the exact day a connection is disconnected. It depends on things outside our control, including which days the network operator disconnects on. We do everything we can to match the day it is due. If that day isn't available, we book the closest one we can, which can be before your credit runs out or after the day you asked for. We tell you the day as early as we can. Credit left when a connection is disconnected stays on your account, and you pay for every day a connection is live.

Northpower switches connections on and off by hand, so connections on its network work differently. A connection on Northpower stays on at least seven days each time it comes on, and needs at least seven days of credit to connect or reconnect. A disconnection is booked at least six days before its last day. The day it actually goes on or off can be a few days either side of the day booked. Daily plans are charged for every day the connection is live, including days after a booked disconnection. A top-up after a disconnection is booked might not cancel it in time.

Monthly plans

Each month's bill is due on the day that month starts. Card and direct debit pay it automatically. Bank transfer needs your payment to reach us by then.

If a month starts and nothing has been paid towards it, we order your disconnection for the earliest time the network operator offers. Pay before then and the disconnection is cancelled. If you paid part of it, we move you to a daily plan at the same speed instead of disconnecting you.

If you cancel a monthly plan, you stay connected until the end of the month you have paid for.

Card fees

Paying by card adds a processing fee. It covers what our card processor charges us, currently 2.65% plus 30 cents of the total, and you see it before you pay. Direct debit and bank transfer have no fee.

Deleting your account

You can delete your account on your account page or in the Um app. Every connection on it goes off, the same as a disconnection, and you can't sign in again. Credit left once the last connection is off is forfeited.

Price changes

We can change our prices. The usual reason is that the network operators and wholesalers we buy from put their prices up, but it is not the only one.

If a price goes up, daily plans pay the new daily rate from the day it starts. Monthly plans pay the new price from the first bill after that day.

If a price goes down, it can start straight away.

5. Acceptable Use

You agree to use our services lawfully and responsibly. You may not use our services for any illegal activities, to transmit harmful content, or in any way that interferes with others' use of the service.

If you do, we can suspend or disconnect your service.

6. Service Availability

While we strive to provide reliable service, we do not guarantee uninterrupted availability. Service may be affected by factors outside our control, including network maintenance and third-party infrastructure.

The speeds we publish are peak-time averages, not a floor. What arrives at your device also depends on your router, whether you are on WiFi or a cable, and where the router sits. There is more on that on our setup page.

If your connection stops working, tell us. We ask the network operator that owns the fibre at your address to test the line, because they are the ones who can see it and fix it.

7. What Um does not include

Um is broadband only. There is no home phone with it, and you cannot call 111 over your Um connection. If you use an internet phone service, it needs both power and internet to work, so it will not work in a power cut. Keep a mobile for emergencies.

The Commerce Commission's 111 Contact Code applies to providers who supply a phone service. We do not, so it does not apply to us.

8. Fibre Assist

Fibre Assist is a lower-priced plan for households who qualify. We offer it with Chorus. If you are on Fibre Assist, these terms apply on top of the rest.

Staying on it

We check once a year that you still qualify. If you no longer qualify, or you do not answer the check, your connection comes off Fibre Assist within three months.

Tell us if your housing, school, or benefit changes, and tell us before you move. Your new address has to qualify too.

Fibre Assist cannot be paused.

If you stop paying

If your balance runs out, your internet stops but your line stays on. Top up and it comes back. If your balance stays unpaid, we can disconnect your line.

After a disconnection

Once your line is disconnected, we cannot promise Fibre Assist will be available to you again. That is true whether we disconnect you, you ask us to, or you come off the offer for any other reason.

You can apply again, but you have to qualify and go through the checks again. An address has to be without active fibre for three months before Fibre Assist can be ordered there. By then the offer may have changed or ended.

Chorus can change or end the Fibre Assist offer. If that happens, your connection may have to come off it.

9. Complaints and disputes

Email help@um.nz and tell us what has gone wrong. If it is a fault on the line, we ask the network operator to test it.

If we cannot sort it out between us, you can take it to the Disputes Tribunal. We are not a member of Telecommunications Dispute Resolution.

10. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Um shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from your use of our services.

Nothing in these terms limits your rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993, the Fair Trading Act 1986, or any other law we cannot contract out of.

11. Governing Law

These Terms of Service are governed by the laws of New Zealand, and your order is processed in accordance with New Zealand law. Um is a trading name of Metaphor Limited, a company established in New Zealand. The New Zealand courts have jurisdiction over any dispute about these terms.

12. Changes to Terms

We may update these terms from time to time. Continued use of our services after changes constitutes acceptance of the new terms.

13. Privacy

Our Privacy Policy says what we collect, what we do with it, and who else receives it. That includes what we send Meta for advertising, which goes to the United States.

14. Contact Us

If you have any questions about these Terms of Service, please contact us at help@um.nz