Terms & Conditions

Terms & Conditions

This Agreement contains the complete terms and conditions that apply to your participation as an Affiliate in the Affiliate Program of HometownQuotes.Com (“HTQ”) and the establishment of links from your affiliated web site to our website at HometownQuotes.com.

1. Enrolling in the Affiliate Program.

By completing and submitting this on-line enrollment form (“Enrollment Form”) for the Affiliate Program and by agreeing to be bound by the terms and conditions of this Agreement, Affiliate begins the application process for HTQ’s Affiliate Program. Your acceptance by HTQ into the Affiliate Program is not guaranteed and is subject to HTQ’s sole discretion. When HTQ decides whether to accept or reject your application for the Affiliate Program, HTQ will notify you of its decision.

2. Obligations of the Parties

2.1 Leads, Set-Up and Maintenance of Links. Affiliate agrees to generate information regarding consumers that may be interested in purchasing insurance as may be specified by HTQ from time to time (“Leads”).   Affiliate agrees to perform any services necessary to set-up and maintain on the Affiliate’s web site all appropriate links to the HometownQuotes.com site in order to generate Leads to HTQ.

2.2 Exclusivity. This agreement does not prevent an Affiliate from selling or fulfilling its own proprietary merchandise on its site or from accepting paid advertising from other companies in the same industry as HTQ. However, such actions are not to occur on any HTQ co-branded pages. Affiliate shall not provide any Lead provided to HTQ to another company.

2.3 Payments and Fees. During the term of this Agreement, HTQ shall credit Affiliate’s account all accrued transaction fees for Leads generated by Affiliate in accordance with HTQ’s current pricing schedule which may be modified from time to time by HTQ.  Provided Affiliate is not in breach of this Agreement, if Affiliate’s account accrues at least $25 in fees by the end of a given calendar month, then HTQ will pay Affiliate the accrued fees within 15 days of the end of the following calendar month.  If Affiliate’s account has a balance due of less than $25 at the end of a given calendar month, then the account balance will be rolled over to the following calendar month.  HTQ shall not pay Affiliate for Leads as follows:

• (a)  Invalid Leads. HTQ shall NOT pay Affiliate fees for “Invalid Leads”. For this Agreement “Invalid Leads” include, but are not limited to, as solely determined by HTQ: (i) old leads, (ii) leads with invalid contact information, omitted, incomplete, false, or inaccurate information in required fields, (iii) incentivized leads, meaning leads generated by co-registration, by offering incentives to receive benefits other than insurance quotes, using misleading or confusing language soliciting persons to complete form without clear understanding or intent, (iv) leads generated by offering payment, rebates, discounts or other benefits intended to artificially increase Fees, (v) duplicate leads, (previously submitted to HTQ), (vi) leads sold to other buyers, or vendors. (unless otherwise agreed to in writing), (vii) misclassified leads i.e. submitted under wrong class, i.e. with the undisclosed health conditions, maternity, those looking for Medicaid, discount plans, short term, miscellaneous health plans, claims, accidents, etc.  (vii) Leads generated from forms filled out by juvenile individuals or incomplete forms completed by the same party or a different party using the same information multiple times.
• (b)   Fraudulent Leads. HTQ shall NOT pay Affiliate fees for “Fraudulent Leads.” For this Agreement “Fraudulent Leads” include Leads generated from forms completed with fraudulent intent, including, but not limited to the types of Leads listed in the above in Section 2.3(a) which are generated in direct willful violation of this Section.   Such willful violation shall constitute a material breach of this Agreement. In the event of a material breach HTQ shall have the right to terminate this Agreement immediately. If Affiliate is found to have violated this Fraudulent Leads policy, Affiliate will be terminated from this program and will forfeit any accrued commissions.

Leads are paid at a price negotiated by the affiliate and the Affiliate Manager or other HTQ representative on a per line basis. Pricing may be changed from time to time.

Agent Applications are paid as follows:

• Agent Sign-Ups – $60.00
• Per Lead Purchased by Agent – 5%
• There is NO limit in the total payouts for each agent referred to HometownQuotes

2.4 Confidentiality. During the term of this agreement and any subsequent extensions, and after the expiration or termination hereof, neither party will disclose any Confidential Information as defined herein without the prior written consent of the other. As used in this Agreement, “Confidential Information” shall mean all data, technical information, commercial and research strategies, trade secrets, producer information, customer or prospective customer information and know-how disclosed, directly or indirectly, whether in writing or orally except for such information and know-how that: (i) can be shown by contemporaneous documentation to have been in a party’s possession prior to disclosure; (ii) at the time of disclosure hereunder is, or thereafter becomes, through no fault, part of the public domain; or (iii) is furnished by a third party after the time of disclosure hereunder without the breach of any duty.
(b) Neither party shall use any Confidential Information except for the purposes of this Agreement unless the other shall otherwise agree in writing. Both parties may disclose Confidential Information only to employees or agents who have a need to know the Confidential Information for the purposes of this Agreement and who are bound in writing to maintain the secrecy of the Confidential Information.
2.5 Marketing. Affiliate agrees to comply with the following terms regarding marketing:

• (a) Trademarks and Intellectual Property of Others. Affiliate shall not produce traffic to HTQ or its website in any way that uses the intellectual property of a third party, including, but not limited to, trademarks, service marks, trade names, or copyright protected materials, and which intellectual property is neither owned nor licensed by HTQ nor owned by you, the Affiliate. A list of banned keywords, including trademarked terms can be found here. Please be sure to read this carefully before agreeing to these terms. This list may be updated periodically. (The use of any insurance company name in marketing is forbidden without prior written approval by HTQ). Furthermore, Affiliates are strictly prohibited from soliciting traffic to HTQ or its website using email marketing or through classified ads such as Craigslist. If Affiliate is found to have violated this Trademark policy, Affiliate will be terminated from this program and will forfeit any accrued commissions.
• (b) No Incentive Promotion of HTQ. Affiliate shall not market or promote HTQ’s websites or services through the offer of incentives. This means that Affiliate may not, for example, promote HTQ’s service through offers to win prizes; such as iPods or gift cards. If Affiliate is found to have violated this No Incentive policy, Affiliate will be terminated from this program and will forfeit any accrued commissions.
• (c) Inappropriate Content. Affiliate shall not transmit or place any promotion of HTQ on a website that contains or links to a website or other destination that contains content that is sexual, offensive, deceptive or illegal in nature or that in any way promotes or encourages hatred, violence, discrimination or illegal activities.
• (d) Domain Name Updates. Affiliate shall notify HTQ of changes to any existing or new domain names from which a consumer or their personally identifiable information is being redirected to HTQ.  These updates shall be made within 48 hours of the changes being implemented and published online.  Updates should be sent to the Affiliate Manager via email.
• (e)  Misleading Consumers. Affiliate shall not use fraudulent, deceptive, or misleading means to generate visitors to HTQ’s website including any promotion of or link to HTQ, or enlist or encourage any third party to do so on Affiliate’s behalf, including the promotion of an instant quote. Affiliate agrees to handle consumer information consistent with your posted privacy policies as well as with any State or Federal regulations which may protect such consumer information.
• (f)  No Email Promotion of HTQ. Affiliate shall not market or promote HTQ’s websites or services through the initiation or transmission of bulk email, including paying others to transmit it on Affiliate’s behalf. This means that Affiliate may not, for example, rent or purchase “email lists” to promote HTQ’s websites or services or e-mail “newsletters” promoting HTQ’s website. If Affiliate is found to have violated this No E-Mail policy, Affiliate will be terminated from the program and will forfeit any accrued commissions. Affiliate may promote HTQ’s products in personal (i.e., non-bulk) e-mail messages.
• (g) No Social Networking Promotion of HTQ Without Permission.  Affiliate shall not market or promote HTQ’s websites or services through the use of social networking websites such as Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn or other similar social networking websites without written permission from the Affiliate Manager. If Affiliate is found to have violated this No Social Networking policy, Affiliate will be terminated from the program and will forfeit any accrued commissions.

2.6 Indemnification. Affiliate agrees to indemnify and hold harmless HTQ, its subsidiaries and affiliates, and their directors, officers, employees, agents, shareholders, partners, members and other owners, against any and all claims, actions, demands, liabilities, losses, damages, judgments, settlements, costs and expenses (including reasonable attorney’s fees) insofar as such Losses (or actions in respect thereof) arise out of or are based on (i) any claim that HTQ’s use of Affiliates trademarks infringes on any trademark, trade name, service mark, copyright, license intellectual property or other proprietary right of any third party, (ii) any misrepresentation of a representation or warranty or breach of a covenant and agreement made by Affiliate herein; (iii) any claim related to Affiliate’s site, including, without limitation, content therein not attributable to HTQ; (iv) any claim arising from Affiliates violation of Section 2.5; and (v) any other claim resulting from Affiliates performance under this Agreement.  .

2.7 Relationship of Parties. Affiliate and HTQ are independent contractors and nothing in this Agreement will create any partnership, joint venture, agency, franchise, sales representative or employment relationship between the parties. Affiliate will have no authority to make or accept any offers or representations on behalf of HTQ. Affiliate will not make any statement, whether on its site or otherwise, that might reasonably contradict anything in this Section.

2.8 Limitation of Liability. HTQ will not be liable for indirect, special or consequential damages, or any loss of revenue, profits or data, arising in connection with this agreement or the affiliate program even if HTQ has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Further, our aggregate liability arising with respect to this agreement and the affiliate program will not exceed the total commissions paid or payable to you under this agreement.

2.9 Modification of Agreement. HTQ may modify any of the terms and conditions contained in this Agreement at any time in its sole discretion. Affiliate will be notified by email and a change notice will be posted on our web site. Modifications may include, but are not limited to, changes in the scope of available fees, fee schedules or payment procedures, and Affiliate Program rules. If any modification is unacceptable to Affiliate, Affiliate’s only recourse is to terminate this Agreement. Affiliate’s continued participation in the Affiliate Program following the posting of a change notice or new agreement on HTQ web site will constitute binding acceptance of the change.

3. Terms of Agreement and Termination of Agreement.

3.1 Term of Agreement. The term of this Agreement shall be for a period of six months from the Effective Date.

3.2 Termination for Cause. Either party may terminate this Agreement at any time upon the giving of written notice: (i) in the event that the other party fails to discharge any obligation or remedy any default under this Agreement for a period continuing more than thirty (30) days after the aggrieved party shall have given the other party written notice specifying such failure or; (ii) in the event that the other party makes an assignment for the benefit of creditors, or commences or has commenced against it any proceeding in bankruptcy, insolvency, or reorganization pursuant to bankruptcy laws or laws of debtor’s moratorium.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, HTQ may terminate this Agreement immediately upon giving Affiliate written notice of termination in the event that Affiliate violates Sections 2.3(b), 2.5(a), 2.5(b), 2.5(f), and 2.5(g) or in the event Affiliate uses the HTQ Service in any libelous, defamatory or inappropriate manner.   Affiliate hereby waives and releases HTQ from all claims, liabilities and damages arising from HTQ’s termination of this Agreement and in the event of termination for Cause, Affiliate agrees to forfeit and waives any and all rights to accrued and/or future commissions.

3.3 Effect of Termination. Upon termination of this Agreement for any reason, all rights and licenses granted under this Agreement shall immediately terminate and Affiliate shall immediately cease use of the HTQ Service and any Licensed Marks and Affiliate shall immediately remove all links to HometownQuotets.Com. Payment will be made on commissions earned up through the date of termination.

4. Payment Terms – Fees will be paid to Licensee monthly on the last day of each month, no less than 15 days after the commencement of this Agreement.