1. About these terms
These terms are between you and Check the Customer, run by Gary West and Simeon Paterson ("we", "us"). They work together with our no-slagging and moderation policy, privacy notice, cookie notice, complaints, disputes and appeals policy and, if you advertise or partner with us, our advertising and partner rules. If they conflict, the document written for your specific situation applies. Each document has a version number and date, and we keep old versions.
2. What the service is, and isn't
Check the Customer is a technology platform and information service for tradespeople. It provides job-protection tools, record keeping, evidence storage, messaging, dispute management, advertising, trade networking and partner offers.
It is not a court, debt collector, credit-reference agency, financial adviser, insurer, law firm, police or government body, and it doesn't guarantee payment. We don't make legal findings of fraud, theft or dishonesty, and we don't guarantee that a customer will pay or that a tradesperson will work to a particular standard. You remain responsible for your own business decisions.
Using our terms can't turn a regulated activity into an unregulated one, so we only offer features that have been through our legal review.
3. Accounts
- Membership is for businesses run by adults aged 18 or over.
- You must give accurate information and keep it up to date.
- We may verify your business. Verification labels say exactly what was checked, when, and from what source. A company-registration check confirms registration only, not that a business is financially sound, competent or insured.
- Keep your sign-in details secure and tell us straight away if you think someone else has used them.
- Paying for a plan never gives you moderation or administrative powers.
4. Your responsibilities
- Use the service lawfully and follow our no-slagging and moderation policy.
- Record facts, not opinions. Never use the platform to accuse anyone of a crime, insult them or publish their contact details.
- Only upload evidence you're entitled to keep and share, and only what's relevant to the job.
- Collect and use your customers' information fairly and in line with data protection law. Our solicitor is confirming exactly how responsibility is shared between you and us for job records, and these terms will say so before launch.
- Don't try to get round our controls, access other accounts, scrape data or interfere with the service.
5. The Job Protection Check
The Job Protection Check looks at your own preparation for a job: whether the quote, scope, payment terms, deposit and materials, variations, cancellation terms, access arrangements, evidence and customer confirmation are in place. It is not a score about your customer, and it doesn't measure anyone's honesty, credit or suitability for work. It's general guidance, not legal or financial advice, and you decide whether to take on a job.
6. Records and moderation
Nothing becomes visible to anyone else just because it was uploaded. Records that could affect someone's reputation are held for human review first. We may decline, edit (with a record of the change), restrict or remove content that breaks our policies or the law, or while we investigate a legal, safety or data protection concern. We'll give reasons, and you can appeal.
We keep records of who submitted what, the evidence supplied, the moderation that took place and the chance the other side had to respond.
7. Disputes on the platform
Our dispute process helps organise evidence and reach a fair, reasoned platform outcome. It doesn't decide legal liability between you and your customer, and it doesn't affect anyone's legal rights. Paying members don't automatically win. See the complaints, disputes and appeals policy.
8. Membership and billing
- Before you pay, we show the total price, VAT where it applies, how often you'll be billed, how renewal works and how to cancel.
- Plans renew automatically at the end of each monthly or yearly period until you cancel. We'll remind you before a yearly plan renews.
- If a payment fails we'll tell you and give you time to fix it before access changes.
- We'll give you at least 30 days' notice of any price change, and you can cancel before it applies.
- We only take payment for memberships, advertising and partner packages. We never hold or move money between you and your customers.
9. Cancelling and refunds
You can cancel from Membership in your account at any time. We'll confirm by email, show the date your access ends, and stop future renewals. You keep access until the end of the period you've paid for. Refund terms to be confirmed. Nothing in these terms affects your legal rights, including any right to cancel you have as a consumer.
10. Advertising and partners
Advertising buys defined exposure, and partnerships buy defined commercial benefits. Neither buys a Job Protection result, a moderation decision, the removal of legitimate information or access to private customer evidence. Separate advertising and partner rules and agreements apply.
11. Intellectual property
The Check the Customer name, logo, tagline, website, app, designs, software and written content belong to us or our licensors. You keep ownership of the evidence and records you upload and give us the permission we need to store and process them to run the service.
12. Liability
We provide information and business-management tools. We don't promise they'll prevent a loss. We'll use reasonable care and skill. To the extent the law allows, we're not liable for business losses such as lost profit, and our total liability is limited to amount to be confirmed. Nothing in these terms limits liability that can't legally be limited, such as for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.
13. Suspension and closure
We may suspend or close an account for serious or repeated breaches of these terms or our policies, for non-payment, or where the law requires it, and we'll explain why unless the law prevents us. You can close your account at any time. If we ever close or sell the service, we'll give clear notice and handle subscriptions, records, evidence under legal hold and data deletion under a written plan.
14. Changes and law
We may update these terms. Important changes will be reviewed legally first and notified to members in advance. These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction, although if you're a consumer living elsewhere in the UK you may also use your local courts.