The version of a document in force at the relevant time can be decisive; today’s policy or terms may not prove what applied when the event happened.
Contracts, policies, complaint procedures, regulator guidance and industry codes change. A dispute about a 2025 transaction should not automatically be decided by a 2026 website version.
Version control means identifying publication/effective dates, preserving the document relied upon and recording later amendments separately.
Key points
- Keep the exact terms/policy shown or supplied at the time.
- Record effective dates, not only download dates.
- Archived versions can be important evidence.
- A later correction may explain current practice but not necessarily what applied historically.
Contract terms
A business may update online terms after purchase. The relevant question is usually which version was incorporated into your agreement and whether later variation rights were validly exercised.
Regulatory guidance and codes
Guidance can be amended following legislation or court decisions. When analysing historic conduct, distinguish the standard in force then from later explanatory material, while recognising that later guidance may clarify rather than change the rule.
Create a version note
| Document | Name/title |
|---|---|
| Version/effective date | Date stated by source |
| Obtained | When/how you saved it |
| Relevant event | Which transaction/decision it applies to |
Create a provenance note for important documents
For any term, policy, code or guidance that could decide the case, record the title, version/date, where it came from, the date you downloaded it and why that version is relevant. Where a webpage has changed, preserve a PDF, screenshot or archived copy if lawful and practical. This is particularly useful when an organisation later links to a current policy that did not exist in that form at the time of the transaction.
Treat silent changes with caution
A changed web page does not by itself prove misconduct, but it can create an evidential question. Compare the versions rather than asserting that one side “rewrote history”. Identify the exact wording that changed, the relevant dates and whether the older version was incorporated into the contract or process.
In practice
- Never cite a live webpage as if it automatically proves historic wording.
- Save PDFs/screenshots with dates.
- Where versions differ, quote the relevant change and explain why it matters.
What to do
A practical next-step plan
- Identify the event date.
- Find the document version in force at the time.
- Record effective date.
- Compare later versions only if relevant to variation or clarification.
Common traps
Things that often confuse the issue
- Using undated screenshots.
- Assuming an archived page was contractually incorporated.
- Ignoring transition provisions in new rules.