Frequently asked questions

Search for a cleaner, or open one of your Favorite Cleaners, choose a date and time, then pay on the confirmation screen. You can book a one-time cleaning or a weekly or fortnightly subscription.

Only once payment succeeds. If payment is not completed within 15 minutes of creating the booking, it expires and the time slot is released. An expired booking stays in the app for 7 days so you can book again.

For these cleaners you pay the full price up front — the cleaning service, the Platform Booking Fee and the Service & Processing Fee ("Pay Now & Reserve"). Nothing more is charged when the cleaner accepts. If the cleaner declines, or has not answered 2 hours before the start, the request is declined and everything you paid is added to your Talova Account Credit straight away — use it to book another cleaner, or withdraw it to your card from Payments.

Your saved card is charged every Friday at 08:00 (UK time) for the following week's sessions. If that charge fails, it is retried on Saturday at 09:00 and Sunday at 12:00. A session still unpaid after the Sunday attempt is cancelled, together with the rest of the subscription.

Two fees on top of the cleaning service, each shown before you pay. The Platform Booking Fee is 12% of the cleaning service — the same for every cleaner. The Service & Processing Fee is 3% of the cleaning service plus the Booking Fee, plus 20p; it covers card processing. For example, a £100.00 cleaning has a £12.00 Booking Fee and a £3.56 Service & Processing Fee: £115.56 in total. The cleaner receives the whole cleaning service price. The total is charged in full — by card, with Account Credit, or both.

The Platform Booking Fee and the Service & Processing Fee are not refunded when you cancel, when a session cannot go ahead because of you (for example no access to the property), or when a session is finished early. In every other case where a session does not go ahead — for example your cleaner cancels — they come back with the rest of what you paid.

You get everything back, fees included, as Talova Account Credit — added automatically and straight away, with nothing for you to do. Use it to book another cleaner, or withdraw it to your card at any time from Payments → Withdraw to card (the first withdrawal in any 7 days is free, then 5% (minimum £1.50)).

We tell you, and you choose what happens to the affected cleanings: wait for your cleaner, book another cleaner for those dates, or — for a subscription — move to another cleaner for good or cancel. Whatever you choose, everything you paid for those cleanings, fees included, goes to your Account Credit, which you can withdraw. If you don't choose within 24 hours (or before the cleaning, if sooner), we skip those cleanings and your subscription carries on.

No. Every payment must be made in the Talova app. Paying a cleaner in cash or in any other way outside the platform is strictly prohibited, for customers and cleaners alike, and leads to immediate and permanent account termination. If a cleaner asks you to pay outside the app, please report it.

Card refunds normally appear within 5–10 business days, depending on your card issuer.

Yes — Withdrawable Credit can be returned to the card you paid with at any time from Payments → Withdraw to card. A withdrawal covers your whole Withdrawable Credit — the first withdrawal in any 7 days is free, then 5% (minimum £1.50). We send it straight away; most banks show it within 5–10 business days. Account Credit never expires and is otherwise used automatically on your next payment.

Account Credit can't be transferred to another account. If your account is closed, any Withdrawable Credit is refunded to your card automatically, with no fee; Non-withdrawable credit is lost. To close your account, delete it in the app (see Your account).

Yes — to protect your card and account, there is a weekly limit on what you pay for bookings in any 7 days: £250 for a new account, and £1,000 once you have completed 3 cleanings. If a payment would go over it, it is declined before anything is charged. Booking for several properties or very often? Contact support and we can increase your limit.

If a session is finished early — by agreement, or because the booked work is done — the unused paid time is added to your Account Credit instead of being refunded to your card. The Platform Booking Fee and the Service & Processing Fee are kept.

Nothing to do: Account Credit is applied automatically to your next payment with any cleaner, including weekly subscription charges. Only the part it does not cover is charged to your card.

Yes. It is Withdrawable Credit, so you can withdraw it to your card (Payments → Withdraw to card), — the first withdrawal in any 7 days is free, then 5% (minimum £1.50). It never expires if you keep it.

Yes, at any time. More than 24 hours before the start, the cleaning service is refunded in full. Less than 24 hours before, 15% of the session's labour charge is kept as a Late Cancellation Fee for the cleaner and the rest is refunded. Refunds go back the way you paid: the part paid by card to your card, the part paid with Account Credit to your Account Credit. The Platform Booking Fee and the Service & Processing Fee are not refunded.

From My Contracts. Cancelling before the Friday 08:00 (UK time) charge avoids the charge for the following week. Sessions already paid for are settled under the usual cancellation rules.

If the subscription continues, the refundable amount is added to your Account Credit and used towards your next charge, instead of being refunded to your card.

You must give the cleaner access at the booked time. If they cannot get in within 20 minutes of arriving, it is treated as a late cancellation.

Use Help & Support → Report an Issue with Booking, or "Report an issue" on the booking. For poor quality choose "Serious problem with the service"; for a late or unfinished cleaning choose "Cleaner did not complete the service"; for damage choose "Property damage".

You can report a problem up to 14 days after the session. To have the payment held while it is reviewed, report before the cleaner is paid. Cleaners are paid weekly and never sooner than 7 days after the session, so reporting within 7 days is always in time.

Cleaners are independent providers. Talova is not liable for loss, damage or theft; claims are made against the cleaner or their insurer. Report it in the app so Talova can review it and put you in touch.

Cleaners are paid weekly, on the Tuesday of the second week after the session (at least 7 days later), if no dispute is open. After that, the claim is between you and the cleaner directly; Talova will help by connecting you and sharing the details you need.

Open the menu, then Account & Privacy → Delete account, or go to talova.co.uk/delete-account. Before you confirm, we show you what happens to your Account Credit. Your account is deactivated straight away (hidden, with no new bookings): cleanings you've already booked go ahead as planned, but your contracts book no new ones. You have 30 days to change your mind: sign in and tap Restore Account. If you don't, any cleanings still to come are cancelled at the end of the 30 days, contracts end, and your account is deleted permanently. Payment records are kept for 7 years without your name or contact details, as the law requires.

Weekly, on Tuesdays at 12:00 UK time: everything you complete Monday to Sunday is paid on the Tuesday of the second week after — for example, jobs from 2–8 November are paid on 17 November — provided there is no open dispute or review and your Stripe account is verified with payouts enabled. The money is released to your Stripe Express account, and Stripe then pays it into the bank account you connected on its own payout schedule.

Your payout is the price of the cleaning service: your hourly rate for the booked hours, plus any supplies or equipment you bring. It is fixed when the booking is made and shown as "Your payout" on requests, jobs and Booking Details; for a contract you also see the payout per cleaning, what you have earned to date and an estimated contract total. The customer pays the Platform Booking Fee and the Service & Processing Fee on top — they never come out of your payout.

Standard automatic payouts have no transaction fees. (Withdrawal fees apply only to customers withdrawing unused Account Credit.)

If a customer cancels less than 24 hours before the start, 15% of the session's labour charge is paid to you as compensation for the reserved time. The same applies if you cannot get in within 20 minutes of arriving.

A payout waits while a dispute on that session is open, or while Talova reviews a job the customer did not approve. If your account is paused and locked after a 4th strike, payouts may be held for up to 30 days to cover disputes and customer refunds; remaining eligible balances are then paid out.

Cancelling a booking you accepted, not acknowledging a same-day booking within 15 minutes, or not arriving — a paid booking reaching its end without you starting it. Declining a request before accepting it, or booking time off, is not a strike. Cancelling a whole subscription at once counts as one.

Over a rolling 30-day window. 1st: a warning, with auto-accept paused for 24 hours. 2nd: no new bookings for 72 hours. 3rd: no new bookings for 7 days. 4th: your account is paused and locked until Talova reviews it: you can't use the app or get new bookings, your customers decide what happens to your bookings that have not started, and payouts may be held for up to 30 days. When Talova lifts it, you can sign in again and your calendar reopens.

You are hidden from search and get no new requests, but you must complete bookings you already accepted (except after a 4th strike, when your customers decide what happens to them). Auto-accept and same-day availability are switched off; you can switch them on again afterwards.

Tap "Appeal Suspension" on the banner on your dashboard, or Help & Support → Contact Support → Account status / appeal. Explain what happened and include anything that helps, such as the booking. Talova may lift a suspension early after reviewing it. After a 4th strike you can't sign in, so email support@talova.co.uk instead.

Message the customer in the booking chat and wait. If you still cannot get in within 20 minutes of arriving, it is treated as a late cancellation by the customer. While you are there, open the booking and tap "Contact Support" so Talova has a record — a booking you never start otherwise counts as not arriving.

Your safety comes first: do not start or continue the job, and leave. If anyone is in danger, call 999. Then open the booking, tap "Contact Support" and tick "I feel unsafe" — it is sent to Talova as urgent.

After the booking ends you can use "Report an issue" on it (for example "Customer did not provide access" or "Customer behaviour"), or Report a User for harassment, threats or fraud.

Call 999 for police, fire or ambulance when life or safety is at risk. Talova support cannot send emergency help.

Call 101 for non-emergency police, or NHS 111 for urgent medical advice.

Once you are safe, open the booking, tap "Contact Support" and tick "I feel unsafe". Urgent tickets are answered first.

Open the menu, then Account & Privacy → Delete account, or go to talova.co.uk/delete-account. Before you confirm, we show you what happens to payouts still to come — they're paid to your bank as usual. Your account is deactivated straight away (hidden from search, with no new bookings): your booked cleanings stay in place, and your customers are told you're unavailable and choose to wait, book another cleaner for those dates, or cancel. You have 30 days to change your mind: sign in and tap Restore Account. If you don't, any cleanings still to come are cancelled at the end of the 30 days, contracts end, and your account is deleted permanently. Payment records are kept for 7 years without your name or contact details, as the law requires.