Neighbourhood Alert Member Terms of Use

Version 10.3 | Effective 17 August 2026 | Supersedes version 10.2

Important: Neighbourhood Alert is a community messaging, survey and engagement service. It is not an emergency or crime reporting service. Call 999 in an emergency or use 101 for non emergency enquiries.

Key points

VISAV Ltd operates the national Neighbourhood Alert Service.
The general Member Service is for people aged 13 or over. Adult surveys and some features have a higher age limit.
You choose the providers, subjects, locations and communication methods that apply to your account and can change them or close the account.
Surveys are voluntary. A question will tell you before an answer updates a current group, profile field or broad segment.
Personal information is handled under the separate Privacy Notice. Agreeing to these Terms is not consent to every use of personal information.

1. The Service and your agreement

Neighbourhood Alert is a secure national community messaging, survey and engagement platform operated by VISAV Ltd ('VISAV', 'we', 'our' or 'us'). It may be shown under a local police or partner brand but remains part of the national Service.

By completing registration and accepting these Terms, you enter into a contract with VISAV for the Member Service. If you use a public form or survey without registering, the instructions, acceptable use rules and privacy information shown for that function apply. If you do not agree, do not register or use that function.

The Privacy Notice explains how personal information is used. A survey, public form or project may also provide focused privacy information where its controller, purpose, sharing or retention differs from the general Service.

2. Eligibility and registration

The general Member Service is available to people aged at least 13 who live in the United Kingdom or are otherwise eligible for a participating local service. Some surveys and functions, including adult research, have a higher age limit shown at the relevant point.

Please provide information that is accurate to the best of your knowledge and keep your contact details, locations and relevant settings up to date. Do not register in another person's name, impersonate anyone, create a fraudulent account or deliberately provide misleading information.

An authorised administrator may enter limited details to invite you to join. This creates an unverified invitation, not an active account. You must complete verification and positively confirm registration. If you do not, the unverified record is automatically deleted after 30 days.

3. Your providers, locations and messages

You choose provider categories, subjects and communication methods. Available Information Providers may include police forces, Report Fraud, fire and rescue services, Neighbourhood Watch, local authorities, police governance bodies, Trading Standards and other approved public service or community safety organisations.

Choosing 'The Police' links each saved location to the participating police force responsible for that area. You may therefore be linked to more than one force. Report Fraud is separate and is not selected through 'The Police'. Another provider outside the local force relationship is not added unless you make the applicable separate choice.

At least once in each three month period in which you receive an Alert email, its footer will summarise the Information Providers linked to your account and give you a quick route to review or change them. This is a transparency and preference control. It is not acceptance of revised Terms or consent to processing.

Messages may arrive by email, text, voice message, app notification or another method you select when available. An Information Provider is accountable for its own messages and must not routinely use its identity to relay another organisation's messages in a way that bypasses your choices.

VISAV may send proportionate Service communications about your account, security, privacy, Terms, preferences, approved national surveys, existing or new Member facilities, app availability, participating providers, legal requirements or protection of the Service. Unrelated commercial marketing is subject to separate legal rules and choices.

The Service does not charge for messages, but your telecommunications provider may charge for data, a reply or a call. We do not promise a particular frequency, coverage, delivery or reading time.

4. Surveys, research and engagement

Neighbourhood Alert may invite eligible people to take part in local surveys, VISAV national Member surveys, police service feedback and approved national research. Participation is voluntary. Declining does not affect ordinary membership or access to police services.

The invitation or opening page identifies the survey, responsible organisation, purpose and any important use of answers. Some clearly labelled Group or Group Demographic questions may update a current account value or a broad confidence, expectation, engagement or participation segment. The question explains this before submission.

A permitted Information Provider may see an approved current value but does not thereby receive a completed national survey or its underlying Standard answers. Survey responses are not sold, provided to advertisers or used for unrelated commercial marketing.

A public police digital contact form, PTDS or Single Online Home enquiry creates a separate force controlled record. It does not create an Alert account or authorise ordinary Alert messages. A 101, 999 or other service feedback invitation may use a sender name that cannot receive replies, so use the STOP link included in the invitation.

When an official Neighbourhood Alert app or another approved interface becomes available, it may provide another way to use the same national account. It will not silently add a provider or expand an organisation's access.

5. Account security and acceptable use

The Service may use magic links, one time links, verification PINs and additional authentication checks. Keep access to your registered email account, mobile device, links, PINs and authenticated sessions secure. Tell VISAV promptly if you believe they have been compromised.

You must use the Service lawfully and responsibly. You must not:

share an authenticated account, login link or PIN with another person;
gain or attempt to gain unauthorised access to an account, data, administration function, network or system;
scrape, harvest, bulk extract or use automated tools without written permission;
introduce malicious code, bypass security, overload or disrupt the Service;
use information from the Service for an unauthorised, discriminatory, commercial or unrelated purpose; or
impersonate, threaten, harass, deceive, defame or unlawfully monitor another person or organisation.

VISAV and the relevant Information Provider may investigate misuse, preserve necessary evidence, restrict access and cooperate with a lawful investigation.

6. Replies and material you provide

A reply to an Alert, survey or engagement request is not an emergency reporting channel unless the message expressly says otherwise. Do not include another person's personal information without a lawful reason.

Do not submit abusive, obscene, threatening, discriminatory, hateful, defamatory, unlawful, deliberately misleading or copyright infringing material. VISAV and the relevant Information Provider may moderate communications and suspend or remove access where reasonably necessary.

You retain ownership of material you submit. You grant VISAV and the relevant Information Provider a non exclusive licence to store, process, moderate, reproduce and communicate it only as reasonably necessary to provide the Service, handle the communication, comply with law and carry out the stated purpose.

VISAV or its licensors own the software, design, branding and other intellectual property in the Service. You may use it only as these Terms permit.

7. Privacy, preferences and account closure

VISAV and relevant Information Providers use personal information as explained in the Privacy Policy and any survey or project notice. Agreeing to these Terms is not privacy consent. Where consent is required, it is requested separately through a clear positive action.

Use the secure Member area or a link in an Alert to update contact details, locations, providers, subjects, message types, communication methods, groups and profile information. A one-time PIN may be required for a sensitive change.

If a STOP or UNSUBSCRIBE reply is unclear because several choices are involved, we may send one non promotional clarification. If no clarification is received within seven days, we treat the original instruction as a request to unsubscribe from the whole Service.

You may also contact VISAV to unsubscribe or close the account. Closure stops ordinary communications and removes the account from live membership immediately. Information is then deleted or anonymised under the Privacy Policy and Data Archival and Retention Policy, apart from limited suppression, legal, security and accountability records.

8. Availability, suspension and liability

We take reasonable steps to operate the Service securely and reliably, but it is provided on an 'as available' basis. We do not guarantee uninterrupted availability, error free operation, complete delivery or suitability as the sole basis for a decision.

VISAV may suspend, restrict or close an account where reasonably necessary because of misuse, a security risk, false eligibility information, prolonged inactivity, a legal requirement, a lawful controller instruction or withdrawal of a relevant service. Where appropriate and lawful, we will explain the action and provide a review route.

If an Information Provider leaves Alert, that provider's access and messaging authority ends. Your national account does not automatically close if another provider, saved location or lawful continuing purpose remains.

For consumer use, VISAV is responsible for foreseeable loss caused by our breach of these Terms or failure to use reasonable care and skill. We are not responsible for loss that was not reasonably foreseeable, circumstances outside reasonable control, your breach, or business loss arising from consumer use.

Nothing in these Terms excludes liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation, breach of statutory consumer rights or any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.

9. Changes, transfer and law

We may update these Terms for changes in law, technology, security, the Service or participating organisations. We record each version and date.

For a material contractual change, we give reasonable advance notice and may require fresh acceptance. For another properly notified contractual change, continued use after the effective date indicates acceptance and you may close the account before that date. Continued use is never treated as privacy consent.

VISAV may transfer its rights and obligations to a lawful successor if the Service or business is reorganised or transferred. We will notify Members of a material change. A transfer will not reduce statutory or contractual rights.

These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. A consumer in Scotland or Northern Ireland retains any mandatory protections and access to courts available under applicable consumer law. If part of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue.

Contact

VISAV Ltd, Sherwood Business Centre, 616A to 618A Mansfield Road, Sherwood, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire NG5 2GA

Email: support@neighbourhoodalert.co.uk | Telephone: 0115 924 5517

VISAV Ltd company number 04511143 | ICO registration Z8862537

Privacy information and help are available through the VISAV Help Centre and links in the Service.