NorthGene™ are able to consult and undertake contract research on a case by case basis. Our staff may be able to consult as expert witnesses when required.
V7 November 2022
These Terms and Conditions (‘Terms’) cover the basis on which we supply Sexually Transmitted Infection (‘STI’) testing services to you. Details of the testing services are available from our website: www.northgene.co.uk
1. Our STI testing services
1.1. Our testing services involve us sending you a testing kit which you will then return to us, with your Sample, for testing. So, it is this combination of the:
which all form part of the STI testing service. We refer to these combined elements as the ‘Service’ or ‘Services’ in these Terms. We are not selling testing kits as individual items or goods, the testing kit is used for us to deliver the Service.
1.2. Please read these Terms carefully before you submit your Order to us. These Terms tell you who we are, how we will provide the Service to you, how you and we may change or end our contract with you, what to do if there is a problem and other important information. If you think that there is a mistake in these Terms, or if you have any questions about them, please contact us to discuss this.
1.3. Our Services are provided to ‘You’. ‘You’ are a private individual requesting the Services for your own personal information and use. Services bought from the NorthGene™ website are for individuals only and not for business use nor for use in your profession.
1.4. ‘Sample’ means the sample collected by you using the testing kit and accepted by NorthGene™ for laboratory testing.
1.5. ‘NorthGene™ website’ means www.northgene.co.uk
2. Who we are and contacting us
2.1. NorthGene™ (‘we’, ‘us’) means Biofortuna Limited (trading as NorthGene™) of 2 Tenth Avenue, Deeside Industrial Park, Deeside CH5 2UA. Biofortuna Limited is registered in England and Wales with company registration number 06514391.
2.2. You can contact us by telephoning our Customer Services Team on 0191 233 1414 or by writing to us at northgene@biofortuna.com or by post to NorthGene™, 2 Tenth Avenue, Deeside Industrial Park, Deeside CH5 2UA
2.3. If we have to contact you we will do so by telephone or by writing to you at the email address or postal address you provided to us in your Order. When we use the words ‘writing’ or ‘written’ in these Terms, this includes emails.
3. About our Service
3.1. We do not provide medical advice or diagnoses. The Service we provide is a testing service for general guidance and for general information of an indicative nature only. It is not a medical service. Therefore, we are unable to provide any promises or guarantees about the accuracy of the results of your test and the results should not be treated as a replacement for seeking a medical diagnosis or treatment. If you have any concerns about your health or your results, you should seek appropriate medical advice and treatment.
3.2. Please make sure that you have read and understood the information we have provided on our website of other factors which you need to be aware of when using our Service, as this is very important. Please see www.northgene.co.uk for further guidance about the use of the Services and for Frequently Asked Questions.
3.3. If we cannot test your Sample after you use the testing kit, because:
3.3.1. you did not follow the instructions for providing the Sample, or we do not receive the Sample within 14 days, then you will need to pay for another Service if you wish to send us another Sample, or
3.3.2. the testing kit provided was faulty or due to our fault, we will provide you with another testing kit and test a further Sample which you provide without additional charge.
4. The contract and your right to make changes
4.1. Our acceptance of your Order will take place when we email you to accept it, at which point a contract will be formed between you and us.
4.2. If we are unable to accept your Order or if we have to cancel your Order, we will inform you of this and we will not charge you for the Service (or we will refund you the charges which you have paid us for the Service, where we have had to cancel the Service where this was not due to your fault). This might be for one of a number of reasons, such as:
4.2.1. the testing kits being out of stock
4.2.2. the Service which you have selected being temporarily or permanently stopped
4.2.3. unexpected limits on our resources which we could not reasonably plan for
4.2.4. we have identified an error in the Price or description of the Service
4.2.5. we have to deal with technical problems or make technical changes to the Service
4.2.6. we have to update the Service to reflect changes in relevant laws or regulatory requirements
4.2.7. our timeline for providing the Service will be much longer than what we had estimated and told you about
4.2.8. your payment cannot be authorised or has been declined
4.3. We will tell you what your Order Number is when we accept your Order. It will help us if you can tell us the Order Number whenever you contact us about your Order.
4.4. Our website is solely for providing Services in the UK. We do not accept orders from, nor send testing kits to, addresses outside the UK.
4.5. If you wish to make a change to your Order please contact us. We will let you know if the change is possible. If it is possible, we will let you know about any changes to the Price of the Service, the timing of supply or anything else which would be necessary as a result of your requested change. We will then ask you to let us know whether you wish to go ahead with the change. If we cannot make the change or the results of making the change are unacceptable to you, you may want to end the contract (see clause 6).
5. The testing kit
5.1. The costs of delivery of the testing kit will be as displayed to you on our website.
5.2. During the Order process we will let you know:
5.2.1. when we will provide the test kit to you and
5.2.2. the timeframe in which we expect to test your Sample once we receive the testing kit back from you
5.3. If our estimated supply of the Service is delayed by an event outside our control, then we will contact you as soon as possible to let you know. We will also take steps to minimise the effect of the delay where we reasonably can. All of our timings are estimates, so we do not accept liability for delays caused by the event, but if there is a substantial delay, you may contact us to end the contract and receive a refund for any Service you have paid for but not received.
5.4. If no one is available at your address to take delivery and the testing kit cannot be left at your address, the delivery agent will leave you a note informing you of how to rearrange delivery or collect the testing kit from a local depot.
6. Your right to end the contract
6.1. You can end your contract with us. Your rights when you end the contract will depend on what you have bought, whether there is anything wrong with it, how we are performing and when you decide to end the contract:
6.1.1. If there is a problem with the Service, or because of something which we have done or we have told you we are going to do, you may have a legal right to end the contract (or to get the testing kit replaced and the Service re-performed or to get some or all of your money back), see clause 6.2
6.1.2. If you have just changed your mind about the Service and wish to cancel the contract, you may be able to get a refund if you are within the 14 day period referred to in clause 6.3, but this may be subject to deductions and you will have to pay the costs of return of the testing kit and make sure that we receive it back in the condition in clause 7.1.2
6.2. If you are ending a contract for any of the reasons set out at below in this clause, then please contact us to let us know, and the contract will end immediately. We will refund you in full for the affected Service and you may also rely upon your legal rights. The reasons are:
6.2.1. we have told you about an upcoming change to the Service or these terms, which affects your current Order for the Service in more than a minor negative way, and you let us know before the change takes effect that you do not agree with it
6.2.2. we have told you about an error in the Price or description of the Service you have ordered and you do not wish to proceed
6.2.3. the supply of the Service is significantly delayed
6.2.4. you have a legal right to end the contract because of something we have done wrong
6.3. You have up to 14 days after the day that we email you to confirm that we accept your Order, to cancel that contract, if you simply change your mind and do not wish to go ahead with the Service. However, once we have completed the Service, you cannot change your mind and cancel the contract, even if the 14 day period is still running. If you cancel your Order within the 14 day period, but after we have started the Service, then you must pay us for that part of the Service provided up until the time you tell us that you have changed your mind and wish to cancel the Order.
6.4. Please note that where you do not intend to use the Service, then the testing kit which you have received must not be opened or be used after you receive it, as this is for health protection and hygiene reasons.
6.5. You do not have a right to change your mind to cancel your contract if:
6.5.1. more than 14 days after we have confirmed by email that we have accepted your Order
6.5.2. once the Service has been completed (namely the Sample returned by you, using the testing kit, has been tested by us), even if the cancellation period is still running
7. How to end the contract
7.1. To end the contract with us, including if you have changed your mind and wish to cancel your contract within 14 days of your contract commencing, then:
7.1.1. to end the contract with us in circumstances where the law allows you to do so (so this includes the circumstances mentioned in clauses 3.3.2 and 6.2, please let us know by doing one of the following:
In either case, we will promptly send you an acknowledgment of receipt of your request to end the contract, and we will get in touch with you if we need to further discuss the matter.
7.1.2. if you end the contract because you change your mind during the 14 day period mentioned in clause 6.3, after a testing kit has been sent to you, you must return the testing kit to us in a hygienic and re-saleable condition, being in a condition in which the value of the testing kit is unchanged from what we delivered to you, namely the outer plastic postal bag in which the testing kit was delivered remaining sealed and the contents unused and undamaged. You must post the test kit back to us at: NorthGene™, 2 Tenth Avenue, Deeside Industrial Park, Deeside CH5 2UA. Please note that you must return the testing kit at your own cost in such circumstances and you must not use the pre-paid postal label which is to be used for returning Samples only (as otherwise we will deduct the postage costs which we incur from your unauthorised use of the label, from your refund). Please email us at northgene@biofortuna.com for a return authorisation. If you are exercising your right to change your mind you must despatch the testing kit to us within 14 days of telling us you wish to end the contract. It is your responsibility to make sure that we receive it back in an unopened, unused and undamaged condition.
7.1.3. we will pay the costs of return of a testing kit to us: if we request you to return the testing kit in any of the circumstances mentioned in clause 6.2, as long as you return it to us in the reasonable manner in which we request at the time. In all other circumstances (including where you are exercising your right to change your mind to cancel the contract as mentioned in clause 6.3) you must pay the costs of return.
7.1.4. we will refund you the Price you paid for the Service, by the method you used for payment. However, we may make deductions from the Price, as described below.
7.1.5. if you are exercising your right to change your mind:
7.1.6. we will make any refunds due to you as soon as possible. If you are exercising your right to change your mind to cancel the contract, then your refund will be made within 14 days of the earlier of either:
In all other cases, your refund will be made within 14 days of you telling us that you have changed your mind and wish to cancel the contract, in the manner mentioned in clause 7.1.1
For information about how to return a testing kit to us, see clause 7.1.2
8. Our right to end the contract
8.1. we may end the contract at any time by writing to you if you do not perform your obligations under the contract.
8.2. in circumstances other than those mentioned in clauses 5.3 and 6.3, the contract will end automatically if within 120 days of us accepting your Order, you do not use the testing kit to provide us with your Sample that is necessary for us to provide the rest of the Service. In this case, we will not be providing any further part of the Service to you and you will not be entitled to receive a full refund for the Service.
9. If there is a problem with the Service
9.1. If you have any questions or complaints about the Service, please contact us. You can telephone our Customer Services Team on 0191 233 1414 or write to us at northgene@biofortuna.com or NorthGene™, 2 Tenth Avenue, Deeside Industrial Park, Deeside CH5 2UA
9.2. We are under a legal duty to supply a Service that is in conformity with this contract. Nothing in these Terms will affect your legal rights.
9.3. If you wish to exercise your legal rights to reject the Service you must send the testing kit back to us. We will pay the costs of postage if this is due to one of the circumstances mentioned in clause 6.2. Please call the Customer Services Team on 0191 233 1414 or email us at northgene@biofortuna.com for a return authorisation.
10. Price and payment
10.1. The Price for the Service (which includes VAT and the relevant delivery charge for the testing kit) will be the Price indicated on the Order pages when you placed your Order. We take reasonable care to ensure that the Price of the Service advised to you is correct. However please see clause 10.3 for what happens if we discover an error in the Price for the Service which you order.
10.2. If the rate of VAT changes between your Order date and the date we supply the Service, we will adjust the rate of VAT that you pay, unless you have already paid for the Service in full before the change in the rate of VAT takes effect.
10.3. It is always possible that, despite our best efforts, a Service we sell may be incorrectly priced. We will normally check prices before accepting your Order so that, where the Service’s correct Price at your Order date is less than our stated price at your Order date, we will charge the lower amount. If the Service’s correct Price at your Order date is higher than the Price stated to you, we will contact you for your instructions before we accept your Order. If we accept and process your Order where a pricing error is obvious and unmistakeable and could reasonably have been recognised by you as a mispricing, we may end the contract, refund you any sums you have paid and require the return of any testing kit provided to you.
10.4. We accept payment with Visa and Mastercard credit and debit cards and via PayPal. You must pay for the Service before we dispatch the testing kit to you.
11. Our responsibility for loss or damage suffered by you
11.1. If we fail to comply with these Terms, we are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breaking this contract or our failing to use reasonable care and skill, but we are not responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable. Loss or damage is foreseeable if either it is obvious that it will happen or if, at the time the contract was made, both we and you knew it might happen.
11.2. This does not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes, for example, liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors; for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; for breach of your legal rights in relation to the Service.
11.3. We only supply the Service for domestic and private, personal use. If you use the Service for any commercial, business or re-sale purpose we will have no liability to you for any loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption or loss of business opportunity.
11.4. Our liability is limited. Where the law allows us to do so, we limit our liability to you to a maximum amount of the Price you paid for the Service.
12. Personal Information
12.1. We will only use your personal information as set out in our Privacy Notice on the NorthGene™ website, including to test the Sample which you submit to us for testing purposes.
13. Rights and obligations
13.1. We may transfer our rights and obligations under these Terms to another organisation. We will contact you to let you know if we plan to do this. If you are unhappy with the transfer you may contact us to end the contract within 5 days of us telling you about it and we will refund you any payments you have made in advance for a Service which has not been provided.
13.2. You may only transfer your rights or your obligations under these Terms to another person if we agree to this in writing.
13.3. This contract is between you and us. No other person shall have any rights to enforce any of its terms.
14. Each of the paragraphs of these Terms operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful, the remaining paragraphs will remain in full force and effect.
15. If we do not insist immediately that you do anything you are required to do under these Terms, or if we delay in taking steps against you in respect of your breaking this contract, that will not mean that you do not have to do those things and it will not prevent us taking steps against you at a later date.
16. These Terms are governed by English law and you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the Service in the English courts. If you live in Scotland, you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the Service in either the Scottish or the English courts. If you live in Northern Ireland, you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the Service in either the Northern Irish or the English courts.
Terms and Conditions – STI Testing Services – V7 November 2022
At NorthGene™ we understand that protecting the privacy of visitors to our website is very important. NorthGene™ respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information.
This notice explains how and why we use personal information when you visit our website (regardless of where you visit it from), including any information you may provide when you use our ‘contact us’ form. It also provides details of how we use cookies and similar technologies to enable you to browse our website effectively.
Our website is not intended for children, and we do not knowingly collect information relating to children without parental or guardian express written consent.
It is important that you read this privacy notice together with any other privacy notice or fair processing notice we may provide on specific occasions when we are collecting or processing personal information about you, so that you are fully aware of how and why we are using your information. This privacy notice supplements the other notices and is not intended to override them.
If you would like further details about how we protect your personal information at NorthGene™, please email our Customer Services Team at northgene@biofortuna.com or on +44 (0) 191 233 1414 and we’ll contact you as soon as possible. Calls may be recorded for monitoring and training purposes.
We are NorthGene™ a trading name of Biofortuna Limited, registered in England and Wales 06514391.
NorthGene™ is the data controller and is responsible for your personal information. Our Compliance Officer is responsible for overseeing questions in relation to this privacy notice. If you have any questions about this privacy notice, including any requests to exercise your legal rights, please contact the Data protection Officer at northgene@biofortuna.com or on +44 (0) 191 233 1414.
You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk). We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please contact us in the first instance.
Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed (anonymous data).
We may collect, use, store and transfer personal information about you when you access our website and employ our services, as follows:
Where we need to collect personal information by law, or under the terms of a contract we have with you, and you fail to provide that information when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have or are trying to enter into with you (for example, to provide you with our genetic testing services). In this case, we may have to cancel a product or service, but we will notify you if this is the case at the time. Please refer to our Terms and Conditions for further information pertaining to the cancellation of tests.
We may also collect, use, and share Aggregated Data such as statistical or demographic data for any purpose. Aggregated Data may be derived from your personal information but is not considered personal information in law as it does not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. For example, we may aggregate your Usage Data to calculate the percentage of users accessing a specific website feature. However, if we combine or connect Aggregated Data with your personal information so that it can directly or indirectly identify you, we treat the combined data as personal information which will be used in accordance with this privacy notice.
We will only collect any Special Categories of Personal Data about you through our website with your express consent (this includes details about your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership, information about your health and genetic and biometric data). We do not collect any information about criminal convictions and offences.
Our website uses cookies and web beacons. A cookie is a small piece of data that is automatically sent to your browser from a web server and stored on your device’s hard drive. Web beacons are small pieces of code which are placed on websites and emails. We use this information to collect visitor access and data preferences and to understand email campaign effectiveness. This enables us to offer a better website experience and help improve our services to you.
You can block cookies by activating the setting on your browser. However, if you use your browser settings to block all cookies (including essential cookies) you may not be able to access all or parts of our website.
You can find more information about the individual cookies we use and the purposes for which we use them in the table below:
| Cookie | Purpose | More Information |
|---|---|---|
| Google Analytics | To measure user interactions on our website and to collect, configure and analyse the performance of our website. | Google Privacy Policy |
We may collect personal information from you using the following methods:
We only ever use your personal information when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal information in the following circumstances:
We have set out below, in a table format, a description of all the ways we plan to use your personal information, and which of the legal bases we rely on to do so. We have also identified what our legitimate interests are where appropriate.
Note that we may process your personal information for more than one lawful ground depending on the specific purpose for which we are using your information. Please contact us if you need details about the specific legal ground we are relying on to process your personal information where more than one ground has been set out in the table below.
| Purpose/Activity | Type of information | Lawful basis for processing |
|---|---|---|
| Provide and develop our products and services | (a) Identity (b) Contact (c) Financial Information (d) Biometric (e) Biological Sample (f) Genetic Information | (a) Consent and Performance of a contract with you (b) Necessary for our legitimate interests (to develop our business) |
| Send you news and updates about NorthGene™. | (a) Identity (b) Contact (c) Technical (d) Usage | Consent and necessary for our legitimate interests (to develop our products /services and grow our business) |
| Tailor our communications according to your preferences | (a) Identity (b) Contact (c) Usage (d) Marketing and Communications (e) Technical | Consent and necessary for our legitimate interests (to develop our products / services and grow our business) |
| Progress and process your job application | (a) Identity (b) Contact | (a) Consent (b) Necessary for our legitimate interests (to progress applications) |
| To monitor and analyse trends, including Customer perception | (a) Identity (b) Contact (c) Usage (d) Marketing and Communications (e) Technical | Necessary for our legitimate interests (to study how customers use our products/services, to develop them, to grow our business and to inform our marketing strategy) |
| To help improve our website (including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, system maintenance, support, reporting and hosting of data) | (a) Identity (b) Contact (c) Technical | (a) Necessary for our legitimate interests (for running our business, provision of administration and IT services, network security, to prevent fraud and in the context of a business reorganisation or group restructuring exercise) (b) Necessary to comply with a legal obligation |
We will only use your information for the purpose it was collected, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason, and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If you wish to get an explanation as to how the processing for the new purpose is compatible with the original purpose, please contact us.
If we need to use your personal information for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.
Please note that we may process your personal information without your knowledge or consent, in compliance with the above rules, where this is required or permitted by law.
We strive to provide you with choices regarding certain personal information uses, particularly around marketing and advertising.
We may use your Identity, Contact, Technical, and Usage Data to form a view on what we think you may want or need, or what may be of interest to you. This is how we decide which products, services and offers may be relevant for you (we call this marketing).
You will receive marketing communications from us if you have requested information from us or purchased goods or services from us and, in each case, you have not opted out of receiving that marketing.
We will get your express opt-in consent before we share your personal data with any company outside of NorthGene™ (and its group companies from time to time) for marketing purposes.
You can ask us or third parties to stop sending you marketing messages at any time by contacting us at any time. You can also click on the relevant link in any of our emails sent to you via Mailchimp. Where you opt out of receiving these marketing messages, this will not apply to personal information provided to us as a result of a product/service purchase, warranty registration, product/service experience or other transactions.
In addition, our service agreement with you permits NorthGene™ to use your data, results, and any surplus biological samples submitted in any studies relating to statistical and genetic parameters for DNA testing, but only in an anonymous manner to prevent the identity of any individual being traceable. Should you not wish NorthGene™ to use the anonymised information in this manner, or require additional clarification as to what this entails, please contact us.
We will never sell your personal information or share it with third parties who might use it for their own purposes without your express opt-in consent or as set out below.
Any third parties handling personally identifiable information, such as Trustpilot , will act as data processor, on behalf of NorthGene™. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal information for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal information for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.
We may have to share your personal information with the parties set out below:
We may share your personal information within NorthGene™ and its group companies from time to time. This may involve transferring your information outside the European Economic Area (EEA). We ensure your personal information is protected by requiring all our group companies to follow the same rules when processing your personal information. These rules are called “binding corporate rules”.
If you request a transfer of your personal information and this involves a transfer outside of the EEA the expectation is placed upon you as our customer to ensure that appropriate levels of data protection are in place by the data recipient.
We do not transfer your personal information outside the EEA for any other reason, but in the event that we do, we will ensure at least one of the following safeguards is implemented:
We employ reasonable technical and organisational measures to keep personal information safe and to prevent loss, misuse, and unauthorised access. These measures include encryption, firewalls, and password protection. It is, however, your responsibility to ensure that your device is adequately secured and protected.
We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.
We will retain your data for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.
Our retention period will usually be 2 years from when we have fulfilled the purposes we collected it for. However, this may be adjusted when we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal information, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal information, the purposes for which we process your personal information and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements. You may request that your information is destroyed prior to this date by contacting northgene@biofortuna.com or calling the Customer Services Team on +44 (0) 191 233 1414.
We want to ensure you remain in control of your personal information.
At any time you can contact us via northgene@biofortuna.com to:
We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal information (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal information is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response.
You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal information (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive, or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.
We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it may take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.
NorthGene.co.uk contains links to third party websites, plug-ins and applications. This privacy notice only applies to NorthGene.co.uk and does not cover any other websites or services that we link to. If you go to another website from this one, please read their privacy policy.
If you want to request any further details about this privacy notice or exercise your data subject rights, please contact us at: northgene@biofortuna.com
You can also contact us via telephone: +44 (0)191 233 1414 or you can write to us at: Data Protection Officer 2 Tenth Avenue Deeside Industrial Park Deeside CH5 2UA.
Our privacy notice may be updated from time to time and the latest version will always appear on the NorthGene™ website.
This privacy notice was last updated on 21st January 2025.