Terms and Conditions & Cancellation Policy

1.1. Platform Operator: This application and platform (the "Platform") are operated by Talova OÜ, a limited liability company incorporated in Estonia (Registration code: 17584985, Registered address: Harju maakond, Loksa linn, Posti tn 19, 74805, Estonia) ("Company", "We", "Us").

1.2. Role of the Company: The Platform acts strictly as an intermediary technology provider and payment collection agent connecting independent cleaning service providers ("Cleaners") with clients seeking cleaning services ("Clients").

1.3. Data Attributions: The postcode locations we use to match Clients with Cleaners contain OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026, Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026, and National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Source: Office for National Statistics, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3).

1.4. Eligibility: You must be at least 18 years old to create an account or use the Platform. We ask for your date of birth when you sign up and may ask for proof of age. We may suspend or close an account under 9.3 if we reasonably believe its holder is under 18.

2.1. Bookings: Cleanings can be booked as a one-time session or as a recurring weekly or fortnightly subscription.

2.2. Price and Fees: The price of a booking has three parts, each shown separately before you pay: (a) the cleaning service — the Cleaner's price for the work (their hourly rate for the hours booked, plus any supplies and equipment they charge for), all of which is paid to the Cleaner; (b) the Platform Booking Fee ("Booking Fee"), 12% of the cleaning service price, the same for every Cleaner, rounded to the nearest penny, which covers the cost of operating the Platform; and (c) the Service & Processing Fee, 3% of the cleaning service plus the Booking Fee, plus £0.20, rounded to the nearest penny, which covers card payment processing by the Platform's payment provider, Stripe, and related operating costs. Example: for a cleaning service of £100.00, the Booking Fee is £12.00, the Service & Processing Fee is £3.56 (3% of £112.00, plus £0.20) and the total price is £115.56. The Booking Fee and the Service & Processing Fee are paid by the Client on top of the cleaning service price and are never deducted from the Cleaner's payout. The total price is charged in full, whether it is paid by card, with Account Credit (Section 5) or with both.

2.3. Non-Refundable Fees: The Booking Fee and the Service & Processing Fee become non-refundable once charged, as the Platform's digital matching and processing service is fully performed at the moment of transaction (pursuant to CCR 2013, Regulation 36), except where these Terms provide for their refund (3.5, 3.7 and 3.8).

3.1. Payment: Every booking is paid in full and in advance: the cleaning service, the Booking Fee and the Service & Processing Fee. A one-time booking — including a request to a Cleaner who accepts bookings manually — is paid in full when it is booked (3.6); no deposit is taken, and nothing more is charged when the Cleaner accepts. For a subscription, the first session is paid when it is booked, and the saved card is charged every Friday at 08:00 (UK time) for the following week's sessions.

3.2. Payment Retries: If a weekly charge fails, it is retried on Saturday at 09:00 and on Sunday at 12:00 (UK time). If a session of the following week is still unpaid after the Sunday attempt, that session and every later unpaid session of the subscription are cancelled and the subscription ends.

3.3. Subscription Cancellation: A Client may cancel a subscription at any time. Cancelling before the Friday 08:00 (UK time) charge avoids the charge for the following week; sessions already paid for are settled under 3.4.

3.4. Cancellation by the Client:

• More than 24 hours before the start, 100% of the cleaning service (labour, supplies and equipment) is refunded to the Client's payment card.
• Less than 24 hours before the start, 15% of the session's labour charge is retained as a Late Cancellation Fee and paid to the Cleaner; the rest is refunded to the card.
• When the Client cancels one session of a subscription that continues, the refundable amount is added to the Client's Account Credit and used towards the next charge instead of being refunded to the card.
• Refunds go back the way the booking was paid: the part paid by card is refunded to the card, and the part paid with Account Credit is returned to Account Credit, with the type it had (5.3).
• The Booking Fee and the Service & Processing Fee are not refunded (3.8). Card refunds normally appear within 5–10 business days.

3.5. Cancellation by a Cleaner: Where, before a session starts, a Cleaner cancels or declines a booking, does not acknowledge a same-day booking in time, or does not arrive for a paid session, everything the Client paid for that booking — the cleaning service, the Booking Fee and the Service & Processing Fee, in full — is added to the Client's Account Credit automatically and immediately. No action is needed from the Client, who is notified of the amount credited. However, where a paid session was not started but the location checks show that the Cleaner's device was at the booking address (7.3), Talova reviews the booking first: no Account Credit is added and no payout is made until Talova decides. If Talova decides the Cleaner did not arrive, the Client's Account Credit is added as above; if the Cleaner attended, the session is treated as completed.

• The Account Credit can be used straight away to book another Cleaner, and is applied automatically to the Client's next payment (5.2).
• The Client may withdraw it to the original payment card at any time from the Payments section of the Platform (Payments → Withdraw to card), as set out in 5.6–5.8.

If nothing has been charged for a session yet, there is nothing to credit and the booking is simply cancelled. Cleaners who cancel, fail to arrive or fail to acknowledge a same-day booking are subject to Section 12. Where a Cleaner is unavailable because of time off or a pause under 12.2, 3.10 applies instead of this clause.

3.6. Payment Window: A booking is confirmed only once payment succeeds. If payment is not completed within 15 minutes of creating the booking, the booking expires, the time slot is released and the payment can no longer be completed. If a payment is nevertheless received for an expired booking, it is refunded in full automatically. Expired unpaid bookings remain visible in the Platform for 7 days so the Client can book again, and are then deleted.

3.7. Unanswered Booking Requests: Where a Cleaner accepts bookings manually, a request that the Cleaner has not accepted or declined 2 hours before its scheduled start is declined automatically. Everything paid for it, including the Booking Fee and the Service & Processing Fee, is added to the Client's Account Credit automatically and immediately, in the same way as 3.5. For a subscription, the whole subscription request is declined when its first session reaches that point. The Client is notified and may book another Cleaner.

3.8. Non-Refundable Platform Fees: The Booking Fee and the Service & Processing Fee are non-refundable only where:

• (a) the Client cancels a booking (3.4 and Section 4);
• (b) the Cleaner arrives at the scheduled time and the session cannot go ahead because of the Client, for example no access to the property, the Client cancelling on site, or a dispute raised by the Client on arrival (7.2); or
• (c) a session that started is finished early, whether by mutual agreement or because the booked scope of work is fully satisfied: the fees are kept, and any unused paid duration is credited to the Client's Account Credit for future bookings rather than refunded to the card (5.3–5.7).

In every other case where a session does not go ahead, the fees are returned together with the rest of the payment, in the way the clause that applies sets out (as Account Credit under 3.5 and 3.7). Clause 2.3 applies subject to this clause.

3.9. Weekly Spending Limits (AML & Card Security Policy): To protect Clients and the Platform against card fraud and money laundering, each Client account has a weekly spending limit: the total paid for bookings in any rolling 7-day period, by card or with Account Credit, less any amounts returned. The limit is £250 for a new account and £1,000 once the Client has completed 3 cleanings. The Company may set a different limit for an account — for example a higher limit for a business or multi-property Client, on request through support. A payment that would take the Client over their limit is declined before anything is charged, and the attempt is recorded. Charges for an existing subscription (3.1) count towards the limit but are not declined because of it. The Company may review an account whose spending reaches £800 in any 7-day period and may ask the Client for further information.

3.10. Cleaner Unavailable (Time Off or Pause): Where a Cleaner takes time off, is paused under 12.2, or has asked to delete their account under 9.4, each Client with an affected booking is notified and chooses what happens to the affected sessions:

• (a) wait: the affected sessions are skipped and a subscription continues as before;
• (b) temporary replacement: the Client books another Cleaner for those dates, and a subscription continues with the Cleaner afterwards;
• (c) permanent replacement (subscriptions only): the subscription with the Cleaner ends, so the Client can book another Cleaner; or
• (d) cancel (subscriptions only): the subscription with the Cleaner ends.

Whichever the Client chooses, everything paid for the affected sessions — the cleaning service, the Booking Fee and the Service & Processing Fee — and, where the subscription ends, for its later sessions already paid, is added to the Client's Account Credit as Withdrawable Credit (5.3). If the Client does not choose within 24 hours of the notice (or before the session's start, if sooner), (a) applies. A booking not yet paid for is simply cancelled. If the time off or pause ends early, sessions the Client has not yet decided about go back to the Cleaner as booked.

4.1. Timely Cancellation (More than 24 hours): A Client may cancel a specific scheduled session without penalty if done more than 24 hours prior to the start time.

4.2. Late Cancellation (Less than 24 hours): If a Client cancels less than 24 hours before the start time (or fails to grant access), 15% of the session's labour charge will be transferred to the Cleaner as fixed compensation for reserved time.

4.3. Repeated Cancellations: A Client may always cancel a booking, subject to the fees in 4.1 and 4.2. If a Client cancels a second paid booking with the same Cleaner within 24 hours, the cancellation is processed as normal and the account is referred to the Company for review. Where the Company reasonably considers that a pattern of cancellations is abusive (for example, repeatedly reserving and releasing a Cleaner's time), it may restrict or suspend the account under 9.3. Cancelling a whole subscription, or several of its sessions at once, counts as one cancellation.

5.1. Account Credit: Amounts returned to a Client as credit under these Terms are held on the Client's internal platform balance ("Account Credit").

5.2. Automatic Offset: Account Credit is applied automatically, first, to the Client's next payment on the Platform with any Cleaner, including weekly subscription charges; only the part it does not cover is charged to the card.

5.3. Types of Account Credit: Account Credit is one of two types:

• Withdrawable Credit: credit arising from an amount the Client paid, for example unused time when a session finished early, a cancelled session of a continuing subscription, everything paid for a booking a Cleaner cancelled, declined or did not fulfil (3.5, 3.7).
• Non-withdrawable Credit: any Booking Fee and Service & Processing Fee credited after a Cleaner cancelled before 7 October 2026, and any amount a card issuer refused to refund (5.9). Non-withdrawable Credit can only be used towards bookings on the Platform and cannot be exchanged for cash.

Credit returned or re-credited to the Client — for example when a booking paid with Account Credit is cancelled — keeps the type it had when it was spent.

5.4. Expiry: Account Credit does not expire.

5.5. Refunds to the Card (No Fee): Where these Terms provide for a refund to the card — for example when the Client cancels a booking (3.4) or when a payment is received for an expired booking (3.6) — it is processed to the original payment method free of charge: no Withdrawal Fee or other charge is deducted. Where these Terms provide for Account Credit instead (3.5, 3.7 and 3.8(c)), the amount is credited in full, and the Client may later convert Withdrawable Credit into a refund to the card under 5.6, subject to the Withdrawal Fee in 5.7.

5.6. Withdrawal to Card (Cashing Out Credit Later): Converting Withdrawable Credit already held back into money on the card at a later time is a separate service. The Client may use it at any time in the Platform (Payments → Withdraw to card); the first withdrawal in any rolling 7-day period is free (5.7). A withdrawal always covers the entire Withdrawable Credit; partial withdrawals are not available. The money is returned as a refund to the card or cards used for the original payments, not to a bank account or another card. The Platform sends the refund straight away; it normally appears within 5–10 business days, depending on the card issuer.

5.7. Withdrawal Fee: The first withdrawal in any rolling 7-day period is free of charge. Each further withdrawal within that period is subject to a fee of 5% of the amount withdrawn, rounded to the nearest penny, with a minimum of £1.50 (the "Withdrawal Fee"). The Company retains the Withdrawal Fee to cover the administration of the withdrawal. For example, a second withdrawal of £87.72 within 7 days carries a fee of £4.39, and £83.33 is refunded to the card; a second withdrawal of £20.00 carries the £1.50 minimum. Before the Client confirms, the Platform shows whether the withdrawal is free and, if not, the fee. The Withdrawal Fee never applies to a refund under 5.5. If the Withdrawal Fee would equal or exceed the Withdrawable Credit, no withdrawal is possible and the credit remains available for bookings.

5.8. Confirmation: Before the Client confirms, the Platform shows the amount to be withdrawn, the Withdrawal Fee and the amount to be refunded, and the Client must expressly accept the Withdrawal Fee. If the Withdrawable Credit changes before the Client confirms, the withdrawal does not proceed and the updated amount is shown.

5.9. Refused Refunds: If a card issuer refuses a refund (for example because the card has expired or the account is closed), the refused amount is returned to the Client's Account Credit as Non-withdrawable Credit, no Withdrawal Fee is charged on it, and our support team will contact the Client to arrange an alternative.

5.10. Promotional Credit: The Platform does not currently issue promotional, bonus or referral credit. If it does, the terms of that promotion will state whether the credit can be withdrawn and whether it expires. Unless they state otherwise, promotional credit cannot be withdrawn, transferred or exchanged for cash.

5.11. Not Transferable: Account Credit belongs to the Client's account. It cannot be transferred to another account, sold or exchanged, and it can only leave the Platform as a refund to the Client's own card under 5.6 or 9.4.

6.1. 7-Day Dispute Window: The Client may report a problem with a session in the Platform for fast-track dispute review, and when reporting may ask for the session's funds to be held while it is reviewed — provided the funds have not yet been released to the Cleaner (6.2). Funds are never released sooner than seven (7) days after the session is actually completed, so a hold requested within seven days of the session's actual completion, including a session that finished early, is always in time. A report can still be made up to 14 days after the session ends, but once the funds have been released it is handled under 6.3 and 6.4.

6.2. Payout Schedule: Payouts are made weekly. The Cleaner's payouts for all sessions completed in a week (Monday to Sunday, UK time) are released together to the Cleaner's connected Stripe Express account on the Tuesday of the second week after it, at 12:00 UK time — for example, sessions completed from Monday 2 to Sunday 8 November are paid on Tuesday 17 November. A Late Cancellation Fee (4.2) is paid in the same way, counted from when the cancellation is settled. A payout is released only if there is no active dispute or review on the session and the Cleaner's Stripe account is verified with payouts enabled; a payout held back for any of these reasons is released once the reason ends, at the latest on the next weekly payout day. Stripe then pays the money into the Cleaner's bank account on Stripe's own payout schedule.

6.3. Transfer of Liability After Payout: Once funds are released to the Cleaner under 6.2, the Platform's payment intermediation duties for that session are fully discharged. The Platform will not issue automatic refunds after funds have been released to the Cleaner.

6.4. Direct Recourse: For any disputes raised after the payout has been released, liability rests solely with the Cleaner. The Platform will assist by connecting both parties and providing contact details for direct resolution or legal claims (e.g., Small Claims Court).

6.5. Cleaner Payout: For each session, the Cleaner's payout is the price of the cleaning service — the Cleaner's hourly rate for the booked hours, plus any supplies and equipment the Cleaner provides — as fixed when the booking for that session is created. The Platform shows it to the Cleaner as "Your payout" on booking requests, jobs and booking details, and for a subscription also the payout per session, the amount earned to date and an estimated subscription total (an estimate only, which changes if sessions are cancelled or skipped). The Booking Fee and the Service & Processing Fee are paid by the Client on top of the cleaning service price and are never deducted from the payout. The payout differs only where these Terms provide: the Late Cancellation Fee instead of the full payout (4.2), a session finished early (3.8(c)), or the outcome of a dispute review (6.1).

6.6. Refunds After Payout: Where Talova refunds a Client for a session after the Cleaner's payout for it has been released — for example, following a review of a report or a decision by Talova's support team — the amount refunded, up to the payout the Cleaner received for that session, becomes an amount the Cleaner owes Talova. It is deducted from the Cleaner's next payouts until it is fully recovered, and may take a whole weekly payout. The Cleaner is notified of each refund that creates such an amount and can see what remains to be recovered in the Platform. If it is not recovered from payouts, Talova may ask the Cleaner to pay it directly.

7.1. Client Obligations: The Client must grant the Cleaner access to the premises at the agreed scheduled time, as well as provide free access to working electricity and running water.

7.2. Inability to Access Premises: If the Cleaner is unable to gain access within 20 minutes of arrival, the event will be treated as a Late Cancellation under Clause 4.2.

7.3. Attendance Verification: To confirm that a session takes place at the booking address, the Cleaner's app checks the location of the Cleaner's device:

• (a) Start and finish: a session can be started and finished only from within the verification distance of the booking address set by the Company (currently 300 metres). A session cannot be started while the booking address cannot be located; the Cleaner should then contact support.
• (b) Background checks: from 5 minutes before a session's scheduled start, and at regular intervals while it runs, the app checks the device's location in the background, also when the app is closed; a notification shows on the device while it does.
• (c) Automatic start and finish: when two checks no more than 20 minutes apart find the device at the booking address, the session starts automatically, from the time of the first of them. A session still running 5 minutes after the end of its booked duration finishes automatically.
• (d) Genuine location only: using any app, tool or setting that falsifies the device's location is prohibited. A location the device reports as simulated is rejected, and its use is a breach of these Terms.
• (e) Evidence: authorised Talova staff use the location record, with the booking's other records, to review disputes (6.1) and sessions that were not started (3.5, 12.1).

8.1. Platform Interface: All cancellations, rescheduling, and support disputes must be conducted exclusively through the Platform's digital interface.

8.2. Non-Circumvention: Direct payments (cash or off-platform transfers) between Clients and Cleaners are strictly prohibited and will result in immediate and permanent account termination.

9.1. Independent Contractors: Cleaners are independent contractors and not employees or agents of the Company.

9.2. No Property Damage Coverage: The Company and the Platform bear no financial, legal, or material liability for any loss, damage, theft, or destruction of Client property (including keys, appliances, or interior finishes). All claims must be pursued directly against the Cleaner or their insurance provider.

9.3. Right to Terminate Without Explanation: The Company explicitly reserves the right to suspend, limit, or permanently terminate the account of any user (Client or Cleaner) at any time, for any reason or without disclosing any reason, with immediate effect.

9.4. Deleting or Closing an Account: You may delete your account at any time in the Platform (Menu → Account & Privacy → Delete account) or at talova.co.uk/delete-account. It is then deactivated at once for 30 days — hidden from search, with no new bookings — and you can restore it by signing in within those 30 days. You may restore your own account in this way up to three times in any rolling 12-month period; after that, a restoration needs review and approval by our support team. During the 30 days, a Cleaner's booked sessions are handled under 3.10, and a Client's booked sessions go ahead as planned while their cleaning contracts book no new sessions. If the account isn't restored, at the end of the 30 days any sessions still to come are cancelled and any cleaning contracts end — as the Cleaner's cancellation under 3.5 (no strike is recorded), or as the Client's under 3.4 — and the account is deleted permanently once any session in progress, any open report or review, and the reporting period in 6.1 are over. The Company may also close an account under 9.3. When an account is deleted or closed, any Withdrawable Credit is refunded automatically to the card or cards it came from, free of any Withdrawal Fee, and any Non-withdrawable or promotional credit is forfeited; if a card issuer refuses the refund, 5.9 applies. A Cleaner's payouts for completed sessions are paid as set out in 6.2. The personal data of a deleted account is erased, except the records described in the Privacy Policy, which are kept for the periods stated there. Once deleted, or closed by the Company, an account cannot be reopened. Restricting or suspending an account under 9.3 does not close it, and its Account Credit is kept.

10.1. Force Majeure: The Company shall not be liable for failure to perform its obligations if such failure results from events beyond its reasonable control (including banking system outages or network failures).

10.2. Governing Law: These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Estonia, without prejudice to mandatory consumer protection regulations applicable in the United Kingdom.

11.1. Verification: Cleaners must verify their identity before accepting bookings. Verification is carried out by our provider Stripe, using a live photo of the Cleaner's passport and a live selfie matched against it.

11.2. Cross-Check: The Company compares the first name, last name and date of birth confirmed by the verification with the name and date of birth the Cleaner has given in the Platform. Differences in capital letters, accents, hyphens, apostrophes and spacing are disregarded, and a first name given in the Platform matches if it is one of the given names on the passport. The comparison is repeated whenever the Cleaner changes their name or date of birth.

11.3. Identity Review Hold: If the details do not match, the Company may place the Cleaner's account on hold immediately and without prior notice. While on hold, the Cleaner is not shown in search results and cannot receive new bookings, but must complete bookings already accepted. The hold ends when the details match again (for example, after the Cleaner corrects their profile) or when the Company completes its review.

11.4. Further Review: The Company may also request further information, or restrict or suspend an account under 9.3, where it reasonably suspects that identity information is inaccurate or misleading, or where review is needed to meet a legal or compliance obligation.

12.1. Cleaner Failures: Each of the following is a "Cleaner Failure", whatever the reason:

• cancelling a booking the Cleaner has accepted; cancelling a whole subscription, or several of its sessions, at once counts as one;
• not acknowledging a same-day booking within 15 minutes; or
• not arriving: a paid booking reaches its scheduled end without the Cleaner starting it. Where the location checks show the Cleaner's device at the booking address (7.3), Talova reviews the booking first, and it is a Cleaner Failure only if Talova decides the Cleaner did not arrive.

Declining a request before accepting it, or booking time off, is not a Cleaner Failure.

12.2. Consequences: Cleaner Failures are counted over a rolling 30-day period:

• 1st Cleaner Failure in 30 days: a formal warning. Automatic acceptance is paused for 24 hours; the Cleaner can still accept requests manually. Existing bookings are not affected.
• 2nd Cleaner Failure in 30 days: suspended from new bookings for 72 hours — not shown in search results and no new booking requests.
• 3rd Cleaner Failure in 30 days: suspended from new bookings for 7 days, in the same way.
• 4th and any further Cleaner Failure in 30 days: the account is paused and locked until the Company reviews it: the Cleaner cannot sign in to the Platform or receive new bookings. Each affected Client chooses what happens to the Cleaner's bookings that have not started, as set out in 3.10. The Cleaner's subscriptions with Clients continue unless a Client ends them. When the Company lifts the pause, the Cleaner can sign in again, their calendar reopens, and bookings the Clients have not yet decided about return to the Cleaner. Payouts may be held for up to 30 days during an administrative account suspension/review to cover pending dispute resolution and customer refunds, after which remaining eligible balances will be disbursed.

12.3. During a Suspension: The Cleaner must complete bookings already accepted (except during a 4th-failure pause, when the affected Clients decide as set out in 12.2). Automatic acceptance and same-day availability are switched off and may be switched on again by the Cleaner after the suspension ends. The Company may lift a suspension early, or a pause, after reviewing it.

12.4. Records: The Company keeps a record of every Cleaner Failure (date, reason, booking and consequence) for reviewing suspensions, handling disputes and protecting Clients. The 30-day count uses only recent failures; the full record may be considered when the Company decides whether to lift a suspension or exercise its rights under 9.3.

13.1. Passwords: Passwords must be at least 8 characters long. You are responsible for keeping your password confidential and for activity on your account, and must tell us promptly if you suspect unauthorised use.

13.2. Protective Limits: To protect accounts from misuse, the Platform limits repeated sign-in attempts, password reset requests and account registrations. After repeated failed sign-in attempts, sign-in from that network is temporarily blocked. Only a limited number of password reset requests can be made within any 24-hour period. These limits may apply without notice and do not prevent sign-in from another network.

13.3. Password Reset: Password reset links are sent only to the email address registered on the account and can be used once.

14.1. Your Content: "Content" means anything you add to the Platform: your profile and photo, messages, reviews and ratings, reports, photos and documents. You are responsible for your Content and confirm you have the right to share it. You keep ownership of it and give the Company a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to store, display and use it to run the Platform (for example to show your profile and reviews to other users, deliver your messages and review reports) for as long as it is on the Platform and for the record-keeping periods in the Privacy Policy.

14.2. Not Allowed: You must not post Content that is unlawful, threatening, harassing, abusive, discriminatory, sexually explicit or misleading; that contains someone else's personal data without their permission; that contains contact or payment details to arrange bookings or payments outside the Platform (8.2); that infringes anyone's copyright or other rights; or reviews not based on a genuine booking.

14.3. Reporting Content: You can report Content or a user in the Platform (Report a User, or Report an Issue on a booking) or by email to support@talova.co.uk, saying what the Content is, where it appears and why it should be removed. This includes a complaint that Content infringes your copyright or other rights: tell us which work is affected and that you own it or are authorised to act for its owner.

14.4. What We Do: We review reports promptly and let the person who reported it know the outcome. Where Content breaks these Terms or the law, we may hide or remove it and may warn, restrict, suspend or close the account under 9.3. If you think we removed your Content, or acted on your account, by mistake, you can ask us to review the decision at support@talova.co.uk.

14.5. Reviews: Reviews must reflect a genuine experience of a booking. We do not edit reviews. We may hide or remove one that breaks 14.2, but we do not remove a review just because it is negative.