A free support SLA policy template for UK SMEs
A complete, editable service-level agreement you can copy, fill in and adopt today. It is written in plain British English for a small UK team: clear scope, response and resolution targets by priority, support hours pinned to UK business hours and the 2026 bank holidays, the exclusions where the clock pauses, and a review date. Swap the placeholders in square brackets for your own details and you have a policy you can publish or hold your team to.
How to use this template
A one-page SLA beats a perfect one nobody keeps
A support SLA policy is a short written promise about how fast you reply and resolve, the hours it applies during, and where it does not. The best one for a small business is honest and brief: targets you can meet on a busy Monday, not aspirational figures you miss every week. This template gives you the whole structure so you are not writing it from a blank page.
Copy the sections below into a document, then work through them in order. Everywhere a detail changes from business to business you will see a placeholder in square brackets, such as [company name], [support hours], [response window] or [review date]. Those brackets are a writing convention that shows exactly where your own information goes. They are not a Solves feature and they will not fill themselves in, so replace every one before you publish the policy or circulate it to your team.
Before you set any number, decide three things, because every figure in the policy depends on them. First, your support hours: the days and times a real person is at the inbox. Second, your priority levels: how you tell an urgent, business-stopping issue apart from a routine question. Third, whether the clock pauses while you wait on the customer. Settle those and the rest of the template falls into place.
Two metrics sit at the heart of any support SLA, so it is worth being clear what each one measures before you commit to a target for it.
| First-response time | How long a customer waits for the first genuine human reply after getting in touch. An automated "we have got your message" acknowledgement does not count. |
|---|---|
| Resolution time | How long the whole enquiry takes to close, from first contact to genuinely sorted. Usually set in business days, because some fixes depend on others. |
| Business hours | The hours your clock actually runs. Outside them, and on the bank holidays you list, the timers pause and resume when you reopen. |
| Compliance | The share of tickets that met their target in a period, for example 95 per cent. A small allowance for genuine exceptions keeps the figure honest. |
| Breach | A ticket that missed its target, which counts against your compliance figure and is worth reviewing to learn what went wrong. |
How to read the template sections
Everything below the next heading is the policy itself, ready to copy. Square-bracket placeholders mark where your own details go, and the short notes in italics under each block explain the choice you are making, so you can keep them as guidance or delete them once the policy is final.
Section 1
Scope: who and what the policy covers
Open the policy by saying plainly what it applies to. A clear scope stops disputes later, because nobody can claim a target for an enquiry the policy never promised to cover.
Template: scope and purpose
Support service-level agreement for [company name]
This service-level agreement sets out the standard of support that [company name] aims to provide to its customers. It describes how quickly we will respond to and resolve enquiries received by email at [support email address or addresses], the hours these targets apply during, and the situations they do not cover. It applies to all support enquiries received through our published support channels, across every brand we operate.
These targets are a commitment we hold ourselves to and, where published, a promise to our customers. They are written for our normal level of business and may be adjusted temporarily during a major incident or an unusual surge in demand, as described in the exclusions below. This policy takes effect on [start date] and is reviewed on [review date].
Tone note (italics): keep the scope factual and specific. Name the support addresses the policy covers and, if you run more than one brand, say that it applies to all of them so no brand is left without a published standard. State plainly that it covers email support, so there is no implied promise of phone or live chat you do not offer.
Section 2
Support hours and when the clock runs
Two teams with the same "four-hour response" target can report wildly different figures, purely because of which hours their clock runs. State your hours precisely, because they change every number in the policy.
Template: support hours
Our support hours are [support hours, for example Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm UK time], excluding the public holidays listed in this policy. The response and resolution targets below are measured only during these hours.
This means the SLA clock pauses outside our support hours, at weekends and on the listed bank holidays, and resumes when we next reopen. For example, an enquiry that arrives at [late example, for example 4:45pm on a Friday] against a four-hour first-response target is not treated as overdue over the weekend: the clock pauses at close of business and the remaining time resumes from the start of the next working day.
Tone note (italics): set the hours to when a real person is genuinely at the inbox, not when you would like to be. Running the clock against business hours is the fair way to measure a team that is not staffed around the clock. Avoid promising round-the-clock targets you cannot staff, because that is the fastest way to breach your own SLA.
Template: 2026 bank holiday exclusions (England and Wales)
Our support hours exclude the following 2026 bank holidays, on which the SLA clock is paused: New Year's Day on Thursday 1 January, Good Friday on 3 April, Easter Monday on 6 April, the early May bank holiday on 4 May, the spring bank holiday on 25 May, the summer bank holiday on 31 August, Christmas Day on Friday 25 December, and the Boxing Day bank holiday on Monday 28 December.
Tone note (italics): the dates above are the England and Wales bank holidays for 2026. Scotland and Northern Ireland have a different set, so if your team works there, replace this list with the correct dates for that nation. Bank holiday dates change every year, so review and update this list at the start of each year.
Keep your dates current
Bank holiday dates change every year and differ across England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The list above is for England and Wales in 2026. Set the dates to wherever your team actually works and review them each January so an out-of-date closure never quietly drags your compliance figure down.
Section 3
Priority levels: telling urgent apart from routine
Priority bands let one policy promise fast targets for genuinely urgent issues and relaxed ones for routine questions. Define each band plainly, with an example, so a ticket can be assigned a priority without an argument.
Template: priority definitions
Every enquiry is assigned a priority that determines its targets. We use four levels:
- Urgent (P1): a business-stopping or widespread problem, for example our service is unavailable, customers cannot complete a purchase, or no one can access their account. These receive the tightest targets and are escalated immediately.
- High (P2): a serious problem that is not total, for example an important feature is not working, or a single customer is significantly affected. These are handled ahead of routine work.
- Normal (P3): the everyday enquiry, for example a question, a small change, an order update or a how-do-I. Most enquiries sit here, and these targets set the tone of our service.
- Low (P4): a non-urgent or informational request, for example a feature suggestion or a query the customer has said is not time-sensitive. These carry the most relaxed targets so they never crowd out work that matters more.
Tone note (italics): match these definitions to your actual business. An online shop, a software product and a professional service will each describe a P1 differently, so write the examples in your own terms. Keep the list to four bands at most: more levels look thorough but make day-to-day triage harder under pressure.
Section 4
Response and resolution targets
This is the heart of the policy: how fast you reply, and how fast you resolve, for each priority. The figures below are a realistic starting point for a small UK team working weekday hours. Treat them as a draft to tighten or relax to fit what you can genuinely keep.
Template: targets by priority
The following targets are measured during our support hours. First-response time is the time to the first genuine human reply. Resolution time is the time to close the enquiry, and may pause while we are waiting on information from the customer, as set out in the exclusions.
| Urgent (P1) | First response within [for example 1 business hour]. Resolution or a clear plan within [for example the same business day]. |
|---|---|
| High (P2) | First response within [for example 2 business hours]. Resolution within [for example 1 business day]. |
| Normal (P3) | First response within [for example 4 business hours]. Resolution within [for example 2 business days]. |
| Low (P4) | First response within [for example 1 business day]. Resolution within [for example 5 business days]. |
We aim to meet these targets for at least [compliance figure, for example 95 per cent] of enquiries in any given month. The small remaining allowance recognises genuine exceptions, such as an enquiry caught up in a wider incident or one that depends on a third party.
Tone note (italics): set the response figures to what you can hit on a busy day, not your quietest. Resolution targets are usually best expressed in business days rather than hours, because some fixes depend on a supplier, a refund clearing or a part arriving. Pick a compliance figure of around 90 to 95 per cent rather than 100 per cent: chasing a perfect score tends to push people to game the metric rather than help customers. Where you fall below it, review the enquiries that missed their target, for example a Monday morning pile-up or a gap in cover around a bank holiday, rather than just the headline number.
Section 5
Exclusions: when the targets do not apply
A fair SLA is honest about its limits. Spell out the situations where the clock pauses or the targets do not apply, so an exception is understood in advance rather than argued about after a breach.
Template: exclusions and clock pauses
The response and resolution targets in this policy do not apply, or the clock is paused, in the following circumstances:
- Outside our support hours, at weekends and on the public holidays listed in this policy. The clock pauses and resumes when we next reopen.
- While we are waiting on information, a response or an action from the customer. The resolution clock pauses from the moment we ask until the customer replies, because the delay is not within our control.
- During a major incident, outage or event outside our reasonable control, for example a failure at a third-party supplier, a courier disruption or severe weather. We will keep affected customers informed and return to normal targets as soon as we are able.
- During an exceptional surge in demand, for example a sustained spike in enquiries. We will publish or communicate any temporary change to response times and aim to restore normal service quickly.
- For enquiries that fall outside our published support scope, for example requests for services we do not offer, abusive or threatening messages, or spam.
Tone note (italics): the waiting-on-customer pause is the most important exclusion to state, because it changes your numbers a lot, and it is fair: a two-day wait for an order number the customer has not sent should not count against your resolution target. Keep the major-incident and surge clauses honest and rare, and always pair them with a commitment to keep customers informed rather than going silent.
Section 6
Review, ownership and changes
Close the policy by saying who owns it, how often it is reviewed, and how changes are made. A policy that is never revisited drifts out of date the moment your hours, team or volume change.
Template: review and ownership
This policy is owned by [name or role, for example the support lead] and reviewed at least [review frequency, for example every six months], and whenever our support hours, team size or enquiry volume change significantly. The next scheduled review is [review date].
At each review we check that the targets still reflect what we can genuinely deliver, update the bank holiday list for the year ahead, and revise any figures that no longer match reality. Where we change a published target, we will update this document and, where appropriate, let affected customers know. The version below was last updated on [last updated date].
Tone note (italics): name a real owner, even in a one-person business, so the policy does not become nobody's job. Diary the review date now: the single most common way an SLA policy fails is simply never being looked at again after it is written.
Putting it to work
From a written policy to targets you can actually keep
A policy document is only half the job. The other half is measuring against it day to day, so a slipping trend shows up before customers feel it. That means recording when each enquiry arrived, when it got its first reply, and when it was resolved, all against the same business hours and holiday exclusions written into the policy. Three habits keep a support SLA healthy once it is live:
- Measure against the exact hours and bank holidays in the policy, so the figures you report match the promise you made.
- Review the breaches, not just the compliance percentage. The handful of tickets that missed their target tell you far more than the headline number.
- Revisit the targets when your reality changes. New hires, a quieter season or a new brand can all justify tightening or relaxing a figure.
This is where Solves fits, lightly. Solves is an email-first support tool with SLA timers built in: you set first-response and resolution targets, every ticket shows the time it has left, and a breaching view sorts the most overdue work to the top so the jobs due soonest are easy to find. Tickets carry a priority you can use to apply the tighter or looser targets from your policy, and the reports show how you are tracking against your compliance goal. The policy stays your document; Solves is the place you make its numbers real.
Placeholders are a writing aid, not a feature
The square brackets such as [company name], [support hours] and [response window] simply mark where your real details go. They are not Solves merge tags. Replace every bracket before you publish or circulate the policy, and check the dates, hours and percentages match what your team can genuinely deliver.
FAQ
Common questions about SLA policies
What is an SLA policy?
An SLA policy is a short written document that sets out how quickly your support team will respond to and resolve customer enquiries, the hours those promises apply during, and the things that fall outside them. It turns a vague "we reply quickly" into clear targets by priority that both your team and your customers can check against. For a small UK business it works as both an internal standard your team holds itself to and, where you want, a published promise customers can read.
What should an SLA policy include?
A workable SLA policy covers six things: who and what it applies to (its scope), your support hours, your first-response and resolution targets by priority, what counts as each priority level, the exclusions where the clock does not run, and a review date. Keep it to a page or two in plain English. A policy nobody reads protects nobody, so favour clear, honest targets you can actually keep over impressive ones you cannot.
What are realistic SLA response times for a small UK business?
There is no single right number, but a common, achievable shape for a small team working Monday to Friday is a first response within four business hours for a normal request, with urgent issues answered much faster and low-priority ones given more room. Resolution targets are usually set in business days rather than hours, because some fixes depend on a supplier, a refund clearing or a part arriving. The golden rule is to promise a target you can meet on a busy day, not only a quiet one.
How do bank holidays affect an SLA?
If your SLA runs on business hours, the clock pauses overnight, at weekends and on the bank holidays where your team is off, then resumes when you reopen. That is the fair way to measure a team that is not staffed around the clock. England and Wales have eight bank holidays in 2026, and Scotland and Northern Ireland differ, so set the exclusion list to wherever your team actually works and review it at the start of each year so the dates stay current.
Are the square-bracket placeholders a Solves feature?
No. Placeholders such as [company name], [support hours] and [response window] mark where your own details go when you fill the template in. They are a writing convention, not merge tags or a Solves field, and they will not complete themselves. Replace every bracket before you publish or circulate the policy, and check the dates, hours and percentages match what your team can genuinely deliver.
Set these targets in Solves
Copy the policy free, then make its numbers real. Set your first-response and resolution targets in Solves, where SLA timers show the time left on every ticket and a breaching view sorts the most overdue work to the top, so the response time you promise is the one you measure. Start at £29.