Terms & Conditions
Mates of care Ltd
Definitions:
“Account holder” means individuals using the Mates of care Ltd platform to search or advertise for home care, engage with a carer/s and enter into a service agreement with carer/s.
“Care recipient” means an individual or incorporated body that is receiving care via the Mates of care Ltd Platform. The account holder and the care recipient can be the same person.
“Carer”, “care assistant”, “care worker” and “personal assistant” are all inter-changeable terms used to describe approved carers on the Mates of care Ltd platform.
“Client” is the term used to describe an account holder in the context of their contractual relationship with a carer.
“Mates of care Ltd” or the “Mates of care Ltd platform” is a cloud and app-based health tech introductory platform for health and social care provided via the Mates of care Ltd platform.
“Commercial/Institutional account holders” are non-individual account holders such as NHS Trusts, CCGs, Local Authorities, care homes, case management companies, domiciliary care agencies and other third parties who may transact on the platform under differing terms and conditions and in particular individual terms of credit.
“Placement fee” means the fee that Mates of care Ltd is entitled to charge any account holder that makes an offer to employ or hire a carer directly i.e., attempts to directly hire a carer off the Mates of care Ltd platform.
“Service agreement” is the initial agreement generated between the carer and the account holder on the platform – it is the basic contract between the care worker and the account holder.
“Shift invoice” is the regular (or one-off) invoice created by the care worker via the platform for the approval of and payment by the account holder.
“Vaccine” currently relates to any Covid-19 vaccine (either 1st or subsequent doses) administered to an approved carer on the platform.
1. Terms
- These terms and conditions are available on www.matesofcare.com . Our full company name is Mates of care Ltd; our registered company number is 13563710 and our registered address is at 128 City Road, London, United Kingdom, EC1V 2NX.
1.2 These terms, together with the other terms and policies referred to in section 1.5 below, govern the basis on which we provide the services available on this internet platform. Please read these terms before using the platform.
1.3 If you use our platform you agree to be bound by these terms. These terms form a legally binding contract between you and us and govern your use of the platform. If you do anything to breach these terms, we have the right to terminate your account and your right to use the platform with immediate effect.
1.4 We may change the features of our platform from time to time. Also, we may change these terms from time to time. If a revision is material, we may (but are not obliged to) notify you. If you continue to use our platform or receive services from our approved carers after any revisions take effect, then you will be taken to have agreed to the revised terms.
1.5 In addition to these terms, the following additional terms also apply to your use of our platform (and are, where relevant, incorporated by reference into these terms):
(a) Our privacy and cookies policy; and
(b) Any additional terms displayed on-screen or accessible via a link on the platform.
1.6 All rights granted to you under these terms will terminate immediately if you are in breach of any of them at any time.
2. About – the Mates of care Ltd platform
2.1 Mates of care Ltd provides an online platform for approved self-employed health care workers and account holder/care recipients to connect with one another and to communicate and arrange home care service agreements between one another:
2.2 Communications
You agree that our apps, email and SMS will be the official means of communication with the Mates of care Ltd platform. We may occasionally use other messaging services such as WhatsApp or internal messaging to account holders via the platform. As a business we take the welfare of all users of the platform as our number one priority. As such we reserve the right to monitor all communications transmitted via the Mates of care Ltd platform. In order to maintain high levels of carer response times Mates of care Ltd may from time to time make use of a ‘mystery shopper’ to gauge carer response times and general quality levels of client interaction. We also monitor all messaging on the site both manually and by using artificial intelligence.
3.1 Insurance cover
Carers working through the Mates of care Ltd platform are covered by self-employed carer’s insurance. Policy details of which are available from the Mates of care Ltd head office on info@matesofcare.com. We recommend that account holders/care recipients should check if their own insurance also covers carers working in their home.
For the avoidance of doubt any transaction between an account holder and a care worker that occurs off-platform is not covered by this self-employed carers’ insurance policy and is also likely to result in the removal of both the account holder and the carer.
3.3 Account holder/care recipient/ carer code of conduct
No user of the Mates of care Ltd platform may discriminate against a health care worker or a client or account holder based on colour, nationality, disability, sex or any other potential source of discrimination. In addition, you represent and warrant that you if you are a carer or you and every member of your household if you are a client have never been the subject of a complaint, restraining order or any other legal action involved with being arrested for, charged with, or convicted of any criminal offence that involves endangering the safety of others, through either dishonesty or negligence, and are not nor have ever been on the sex offenders register or other similar list.
4. Paying for care
4.1 When a client enters into a service agreement with a carer on the Mates of care Ltd platform they agree on the accompanying shift invoice to pay the hourly, daily, weekly or nightly rate stated in the contract for the service that they have agreed to receive. This rate is agreed between them and the care worker. If the care has been delivered, then it must be paid for. The stated rate on a carer’s profile includes all Mates of care Ltd’s fees and includes VAT on the Mates of care Ltd fees but not on the carer’s net rates as VAT is only applicable to Mates of care Ltd’s fees. Mates of care Ltd reserves the right to alter its fee structure at any time which includes charging both carers and client and charging differing fee rates and service charges as it sees fit.
5. Legal Contract
5.1 Once a client has accepted the service agreement set up by the carer, they are bound by the terms of that agreement. After the initial service agreement with the carer they will receive either a one-off or regular shift-invoices via the platform depending on what payment terms they have agreed with the care worker. The value of one shift-invoice will be deducted from their credit/debit card or bank account in advance for the agreement to be active.
For commercial/institutional clients and some local authority funded clients please contact the Mates of care Ltd head office on info@matesofcare.com for details on our commercial/ local authority client accounts.
For ongoing care, the value of each subsequent shift invoice will be deducted from a credit/debit card/bank account on the client’s authorisation. Clients must negotiate with their carer regarding any deviations from the service agreement terms for example time off for holiday, illness or personal circumstances.
Mates of care Ltd can offer no mediation or intervention regarding perceived non-compliance with the service agreement except return of funds for non-completed but paid for shift/invoices. If for any reason a shift invoice is only partially completed then it is the responsibility of the carer to cancel, reissue or edit a new shift invoice that reflects the hours or days worked.
6. User conduct and disputes
6.1 Any agreements are legally binding agreements between the account holder/care recipient and the carer. Mates of care Ltd are not party to any agreement and we cannot arbitrate or mediate if there is an alleged breach of contract. Any issues should be resolved directly between account holder/care recipient and the carer. Mates of care Ltd does not accept any liability for claims, demands or direct or indirect damages arising from disputes between account holder/care recipient and carers.
6.2 At Mates of care Ltd we rate the safety and well-being of our carer and their care recipients as our number one priority. Any formal complaint we receive directly to Mates of care Ltd, from either a carer, client or account holder of a serious nature will be immediately investigated.
Depending on the severity of the allegation and its nature Mates of care Ltd reserves the right to immediately inform the police or social services of any complaint or concern that we may become aware of.
We also reserve the right to immediately remove any carer, account holder, care recipient from the platform whilst we investigate any complaint or allegation. We also reserve the right to inform other account holders if an allegation, complaint or investigation pertaining to their care worker is occurring or on going.
6.3 You may only book care services for yourself or for someone for whom you have authority to do so. You will remain bound by these terms and are responsible for all acts and omissions of the person receiving the care (if it is not you).
7. Issues with care services
Clients may provide the platform with feedback on carers, and carers may provide feedback regarding clients or the care recipients changing care needs to ensure that you/ they are receiving appropriate care, in some cases including via any portal we provide through the platform such as a care plan on the Mates of care Ltd app for instance. Carers and account holders may also provide feedback via third parties such as Trustpilot.
If clients or carers have any complaints about any aspect of the platform, our services or staff or any other user of the platform please email info@matesofcare.com
8. Your account
8.1 To register an account and use the platform, if you are an individual, you must be at least 18 years old. We are not obliged to accept any registration request and absolutely reserve the right without any explanation to refuse any registration request and or cancel any authorised accounts without notice. You also agree not to register more than one account per person or corporate entity.
8.2 Upon registration we may ask for the following information:
(a) Your personal information name, age, home address, email address and phone number(s);
(b) The type of care required
(c) Details of who the care is for, and if this is not you then confirmation that you have their authority to arrange the care services
(d) Payment information and
(e) and in the case of carers copies of ID documents including passports, national insurance and UTR numbers, copies of DBS, PVG etc and evidence of qualifications and trade body memberships
(f) How you are funding your care
(g) Any other information we think we should know about you or which is reasonably requested by us.
8.3 You must ensure the information in your account is accurate, up to date, and kept always updated (which you may do through the platform).
9. Payments and Mates of care Ltd fees
9.1 The contracted charges for care-services provided via the platform to you (if you are a private user) are payable in advance against a shift/invoice created by a care worker on an agreed basis (and the platform will automatically charge your credit/debit card where you have provided one). You undertake not to pay the carer other than via the platform. Payment of cash or any other payment to a carer (except for valid expenses) is not allowed, it negates both the carer and the clients insurance and is likely to result in the removal of both the carer and the client.
9.2 Payment transactions are subject to validation checks by your card issuer and we are not responsible if your card issuer declines to authorise payment for any reason. Please note it is possible that your card issuer may charge you an online handling fee or processing fee. We are not responsible for this.
9.3 You, if you are a client or account holder:
(a) Undertake not to make payment to a carer directly or make any payment other than via our payment provider.
(b) Undertake not to enter into any direct agreement with any carers that seeks to avoid the payment of our fees (and its associated carer insurance) or to receive care services from care workers we have introduced to them other than via the platform (including after they have ceased using the platform) and
(c) Acknowledge that any breach of this section may result in the immediate termination of their account and right to use the platform.
(d) Furthermore, if an account holder does choose to directly engage a carer introduced to them by the Mates of care Ltd Platform (i.e. bypassing the Mates of care Ltd platform) on any basis either as a direct employee, self-employed contractor, through a limited company or LLP then the account holder shall be liable for the Mates of care Ltd placement fee of £2,000 + VAT per carer. This is payable within 5 working days of us discovering that a care worker has been procured off the site by the account holder plus the reasonable administration costs of the recouping of the placement fee plus interest of 10% on the debt.
Care rates are always set by the carer and contractually agreed by the account holder.
If a carer is subsequently discovered to have contracted with a client ‘off’ the platform, Mates of care Ltd reserves the right to both charge that carer for the full value of the fees unpaid and to remove that carer from the platform entirely at the company’s discretion.
Mates of care Ltd currently charges a 20% fee plus VAT (which includes any relevant insurance, credit/debit card charges, marketing and accountancy support for carers) included in the carer client rate. This commission is already included in the rate stated on each carer’s profile on the Mates of care Ltd Platform.
Mates of care Ltd reserves the right to alter the terms of its fee structure at any time. Any new fee rates will come into effect immediately or on the date specified by Mates of care Ltd. Any changes in the fee structure will be notified to both the carer client and care worker by email or SMS.
Mates of care Ltd reserves the right to invoice some account holders separately for its fees and or to charge different account holders different fee rates.
9.4 VAT
Under current VAT law neither Mates of care Ltd nor the carers charge VAT on the service provided by self-employed carers/carer companies to their clients. We are however obliged to charge VAT of 20% on our fees to the carers.
9.5 Local Authority/NHS Funding – Personal Budgets.
If you or your client are paying via local authority or NHS funds or have a personal budget funded by either your local authority or the NHS, you must inform Mates of care Ltd before creating or accepting any contracts, so that appropriate payment mechanisms can be put in place. Please email our head office on info@matesofcare.com for further details and instructions.
10. Cancellations and refunds
10.1 Cancellations
We ask and require all account holders to give at least 48-hours’ notice of any cancellation of a shift on the platform to their contracted care worker. It is standard for care workers on the platform to insist that all cancellations made within the 48-hour period will be subject to the full hourly rate for care contracted in that 48-hour period. This however is at the total discretion of the approved carer.
10.2 Refunds
In general, Mates of care Ltd does not provide credits or refunds on behalf of Mates of care Ltd approved carers for cancellations.
10.3 Refunds after 48-hour period from end of shift.
Any refunds agreed between a carer and a client, after the payment has been released to the carer, must be dealt with as a direct transaction between the client and carer. Our fee will not be returned (due to the administrative and transaction costs incurred by Mates of care Ltd) once a payment has been released to the carer.
11. Data protection and privacy
Mates of care Ltd processes personal data in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and GDPR 2018 and recognizes the importance of the correct and lawful treatment of personal data. This personal data, whether it is held on paper, on computer or other media, will be subject to the appropriate legal safeguards as specified in the Data Protection Act 1998.
We use and store personal information in several different ways for the purposes of satisfying operational and legal obligations. We have a set of internal policies and procedures and a range of guidance to make sure we comply with the law.
Carer clients, account holders/care recipients, employees and other subjects of personal data held by Mates of care Ltd have the right to request access to any of their personal data.
Mates of care Ltd fully endorses and adheres to the eight principles of the Data Protection Act.
When working with personal information Mates of care Ltd endeavours to only share it with platform members or authorised third parties. Mates of care Ltd does reserve the right to anonymise certain healthcare data generated by the platform or the Mates of care Ltd apps. Mates of care Ltd also reserve the right to share or sell this anonymised health data to responsible partners such as pharmaceutical or research and development partners.
12. Access to the Platform
12.1 You may only use the platform to contract with carers for care and only in accordance with these terms.
12.2 We cannot guarantee the continuous, uninterrupted or error-free operation of the platform. We may modify or suspend (including for maintenance) the platform at any time.
13. Platform rules
13.1 You may only use the platform to search for and engage care services for which you have a genuine need, and not for any other kinds of service. We reserve the right to report any illegal acts to the authorities.
13.2 You must not create links to the platform from any other website, without our prior written consent, ‘scrape’ content from the platform or create an electronic database by systematically downloading and storing any or all of the content of the platform, remove or change any content of the platform or attempt to circumvent security or interfere with the proper working of the platform.
13.3 You must only use the platform and anything available from the platform for lawful purposes (complying with all applicable laws and regulations), in a responsible manner, and not in a way that might damage our name or reputation or that of any of our associates or partners.
13.4 Any lewd or inappropriate messaging on the platform by either a carer or an account holder/ client will result in immediate removal from the platform.
14. Intellectual property rights and confidentiality
14.1 All intellectual property rights in the platform and in any content on the platform (including text, graphics, software, photographs and other images, videos, sound, trademarks and logos) are owned by Ecare Group Limited, the parent company of Mates of care Ltd and Mates of care Ltd.io Ltd. You acknowledge that you do not acquire any ownership rights in any of our intellectual property by accessing or downloading content from the platform.
14.2 We will keep all individual information about you confidential save for sharing it where appropriate with approved carers or as otherwise required by applicable law, and we will ensure (as best we can) that carers keep it confidential and only use it for the purposes of providing care services to you.
14.3 You must keep all information you receive about the platform, and us and about carers or their affairs confidential always (including any information you receive or access at bookings).
15. Platform content
15.1 In respect of content on the platform, whilst we try to make sure it is correct, we cannot guarantee it is accurate or up to date. We have no responsibility for content from any other user.
15.2 We give no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, completeness, currency, correctness, reliability, integrity, quality, fitness for purpose or originality of any content of the platform and, to the fullest extent permitted by law, all implied warranties, conditions or other terms of any kind are hereby excluded and we accept no liability for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of you or anyone else using the platform or its associated apps or relying on any of its contents or features.
15.3 We cannot and do not guarantee that any content of the platform will be free from viruses and/or other code that may have contaminating or destructive elements. It is your responsibility to implement appropriate anti-virus and other security checks.
16. Choosing a carer
16.1 By registering and using the Mates of care Ltd platform as a person seeking care you agree that is your responsibility to select an appropriate carer for yourself, your family member, any friend/associate or any other person you are acting for. The Mates of care Ltd platform can help you with the choice of a qualified and vetted carer, however Mates of care Ltd will not select a carer for you and the final choice always remains with you.
16.2 Regarding any feedback or reviews on the platform or approved carers (including but not only Trustpilot reviews), you must:
(a) Submit it in good faith and honest belief at all times.
(b) Not submit any feedback that is unlawful, threatening, abusive, libellous, pornographic, obscene, vulgar, indecent, offensive or which infringes on the intellectual property rights or other rights of any third party.
(c) Not submit any feedback that contains any viruses and/or other code that has contaminating or destructive elements; and/or
(d) Not impersonate, or misrepresent an affiliation with, any person or entity
16.3 You agree that, by submitting any feedback, you grant our affiliates and us a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free and fully sub-licensable right and license to use such feedback for the purposes of operating and promoting the platform or for reporting any criminal acts.
17. Platform Links
17.1 The platform may include links to external sites, which may include links to third party offers and promotions. We include these to provide you with access to information, products or services that you may find useful or interesting. We are not responsible for the content of these sites or for anything provided by them and do not guarantee that they will be continuously available.
18. Liability
Responsibility for contract acceptance
You acknowledge that the decision to enter a contract with an approved carer is your sole responsibility and that Mates of care Ltd gives no warranty as to the suitability, experience, history or character of any approved carer, nor does Mates of care Ltd give any warranty as to the completeness, truthfulness or accuracy of any information or documentation provided by the approved carer.
19. Platform risks
You agree that you understand the risks involved in participating in an introductory agency service and you hereby wave any rights to claims for damages from Mates of care Ltd in relation to the service.
20. Breaches of Mates of care Ltd terms and conditions
You agree to indemnify and hold Mates of care Ltd harmless from any claim or demand brought against Mates of care Ltd because of you breaching these terms and conditions.
21. Liability cap
21.1 You acknowledge that Mates of care Ltd’s total liability to you whether in respect of goods or services and whether based in negligence, breach of contract, misrepresentation or otherwise shall not exceed the value of the total commission income Mates of care Ltd derived from you via the Mates of care Ltd Platform service for a maximum period of 1 year.
For the avoidance of doubt any care worker hired through the Mates of care Ltd platform is liable themselves for all acts or omissions in the provision of home care services.
21.2 Nothing in these client and care assistant terms shall exclude or limit our liability to you:
(a) For death or personal injury caused by our negligence.
(b) For fraudulent misrepresentation or
(c) For any other liability that may not, under applicable law, be excluded or limited.
21.3 Subject to section 14.1, we shall not be liable to you (whether such liability arises because of a breach of contract, negligence, misrepresentation or for any other reason) for any loss or damage that arises because of:
(a) Any circumstance for which you are at fault or
(b) Any circumstance which we cannot reasonably be expected to control.
21.4 You agree to fully indemnify us on demand against all losses we incur or suffer arising because of or in connection with:
(a) Any breach of sections 6.2, 8.3, 9.1, 13 or 16.2; and/or
(b) Any claims brought against us by any carer that is based on any breach (or allegation of any breach) of these client terms by you or vice versa, or any criminal act or omission on your behalf.
21.5 We will treat all use of the platform under your login details as use by you. You are responsible for protecting your account login details and password and we will not be held liable for any loss or damage that may result from your failure to do so. If you forget or wish to change your password or email address, then email info@matesofcare.com for details of how to change these login details.
22. General
22.1 Subject to 21.2, these account holder/ client/ care worker terms and any other terms expressly referred to in them represent the entire agreement between you and us in relation to their subject matter.
22.2 We may sub-contract the performance of any of our obligations to you. We may assign any of our rights or obligations to you to someone else, if we notify you that we have done so. You may not sub-license or assign any of the rights or obligations under these account holder terms.
22.3 If we fail to enforce, or delay in enforcing, any of our rights under these account holder terms, that does not result in a waiver of the rights concerned.
22.4 If any provision of these account holder terms or any other terms incorporated by reference is found to be unenforceable, it shall not affect the enforceability of any other provisions they contain.
22.5 No terms are enforceable under the contracts (rights of third parties) Act 1999 by a person who is not a party to the agreement between us.
22.6 All notices given by you to us or vice-versa must be given by email or in writing to the address set out below. We may give notice to you at either the email or postal address you provide to us when registering.
22.7 These client terms are governed by English law.
23. Vaccinations
Specifically Covid 19 vaccinations. Mates of care Ltd’s policy with regard to Covid vaccinations is that it is entirely the choice of carers and their clients as to whether they feel it appropriate to have a Covid vaccination. That said it is our company policy to help all carers on the platform gain access to the vaccine and to enable clients to see whether a carer has had a Covid vaccination and for carers to demonstrate they have had it.
23.1 Mates of care Ltd checks all carers vaccination certificates and stores them on our private database. We then mark their profile as vaccinated with the date of vaccination.
23.2 On a carer being removed from the platform or requesting to leave the platform all vaccination details are immediately deleted.
24. Contacting us
Please submit any questions you have about these client terms or any issues concerning our platform and its use to us by emailing info@matesofcare.com
25. These terms and conditions (T&Cs) are specifically for account holders and approved care assistant/workers. For T&Cs for institutional/ commercial clients please contact the Mates of care Ltd office on info@matesofcare.com.
