This section sets out our fees and payment terms for the Rated People Service which should be read in conjunction with our User Agreement and Privacy Policy.
1. Definitions
Any capitalised terms used in these Payment Terms will have the same meaning as the Trade Business User Agreement, unless otherwise defined.
Membership Plan: the type of membership selected by you to access the Services;
Minimum Term: the minimum period of time which you commit to paying the Membership Fee;
Membership Fee: the periodic payment specified in the Membership Plan (which may be monthly, quarterly or annually as specified in the applicable Membership Plan);
Minimum Term Membership Plan: a Membership Plan which is subject to a Minimum Term
Tariff Period: the period of time covered by the Membership Fee (for example, if you sign up for an annual membership plan paid on a monthly basis, the Tariff Period is one month).
Renewal Date: the date immediately following the end of the Tariff Period, or if a Minimum Term Membership Plan is selected, the Minimum Term.
2. Our fees
Use of the Service is free for Homeowners. For Trade Businesses we charge a Membership Fee to access the Service, and we also charge a fee for each Project that a Trade Business wants to provide a quote for.
Membership Fees
When you sign up to use the Service you will be asked to select a Membership Plan. Some Membership Plans are subject to a Minimum Term, which means that you commit to paying the Membership Fee for the minimum period of time specified in the applicable Membership Plan.
Job Leads
As part of your Membership Plan, we may send you suggested Projects that match your specified work area and trade. Each suggested Project will include the Homeowner’s job description, estimated budget and postcode. It will also state how much we will charge you to provide you with the necessary information for you to contact the Homeowner so you can provide a quote (“Job Lead“).
The price of a Job Lead varies, the average is £15+VAT and is based on the job’s size, scope, location and demand for the skills required to carry it out. For the avoidance of doubt, Job Leads provide you with the necessary Homeowner information to enable you to contact the relevant Homeowner and tender for their job. However, Homeowners are free to select whom they like or even not to proceed with any particular job, so there is no guarantee that you will in fact be hired for that job or any other. You are only permitted to use the Homeowner information for the purpose of providing a quote for the applicable Project and your use of any Homeowner information we provide to you is subject to the Privacy Policy.
Certain Membership Plans entitle you to a certain amount of credit which you can spend on purchasing Job Leads (“Lead Credit“). We may also offer you Lead Credits on a discretionary basis or to purchase from time to time. All Lead Credits are made available subject to the following terms and conditions:
Lead Credits may be applied only against the cost of purchasing Job Leads on the Service.
- Lead Credits are personal and may not be transferred to any other person.
- Lead Credits are not exchangeable or redeemable for cash and you are not entitled to any refund for any unused Lead Credits except as specifically set out immediately below.
- We may decide to suspend or terminate the Lead Credit scheme at any time. However, if we terminate the Lead Credit scheme and you have unexpired Lead Credits at that time, we will at our discretion either allow you to use them until the end of the relevant Tariff Period or refund you the amount you paid for them. Please note that you are not entitled to any refund in respect of Lead Credits that are included as part of any Membership Plan or which we have given to you on a discretionary basis.
- Lead Credits included within a Membership Plan expire on the sooner of:
- the end of the relevant Tariff Period and may not be used after that (you cannot roll them over into your next Tariff Period); or
- the date of termination or expiry of this Agreement for any reason.
- All other Lead Credits expire on the date of termination or expiry of this Agreement for any reason.
3. Bills and payments
We accept payments by credit or debit card only. We reserve the right to obtain validation of your credit or debit card details before we allow you to use the Service. For your convenience (and to keep our costs to a minimum) we hold your payment details on a secure server and take payments automatically using continuous payment authorities. Statements are sent to you monthly in arrears, which set out the total amount you have paid to us for Membership Fees and to purchase Lead Credits in the previous month. Statements are sent to you by email and may be accessed at any time via your account.
If your payment details change, your card provider may provide us with updated card details. We may use these new details for your future Membership Fee payments in order to help prevent any interruption to the service.
All memberships will automatically renew on the Renewal Date unless you notify us at least 5 working days in advance of the Renewal Date that you do not want to renew your Membership Plan. (This timeframe is required to process any changes to your Rated People account). The 5-day notice period does not apply to contracts less than 12 months where a 7-day notice period is required. The Membership Fee will be taken on your Renewal Date.
We take your personal privacy and financial security extremely seriously – see our Privacy Policy for more information.
4. Payment terms
When paying bills, it’s important that your card details are valid and that you have sufficient funds available. You can update your payment details when making any purchase via our secure website. Your Membership Fee for the applicable Tariff Period will be taken automatically by us using continuous payment authorities on the first day of each Tariff Period. If you purchase Lead Credits, payment will be taken at the time of purchase.
In the event that a payment fails we’ll ask you to provide updated payment details or make arrangements to pay via an alternative method. We may temporarily suspend your account until payment is made. We reserve the right to cancel your membership and instruct a debt recovery agency or solicitor, should the outstanding amounts not be paid within 30 days of the payment due date. This may result in the addition of statutory late payment fees and interest at a rate of 8% per annum over the Bank of England Base Rate as provided pursuant to the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 on the outstanding balance.
5. Refunds and cancellations
Please get straight in touch with us if you are in any way unsure about an amount that has been charged to your card – contact us here. In the event we find a payment has been taken in error we’ll refund the amount promptly to your credit or debit card.
You can cancel your membership in accordance with these Payment Terms by contacting us here. If you are signed up to a 12-month contract, you may cancel your membership within the first 14 days (“Cooling-Off Period“). For contracts starting from 7th September 2022 until 30th November 2022, the cool-off period will NOT apply to contracts of less than 12 months or to contracts with a monthly cost of £500 (excluding VAT) or less.
If you want to cancel you membership after the Cooling-Off Period you must provide not less than 30 days notice to us. You acknowledge that we are only able to offer the Membership Fees and other benefits applicable to Minimum Term Membership Plans by making these Membership Plans available on a fixed term basis.
If you have selected a Minimum Term Membership Plan and you exercise your right to cancel your membership under this paragraph, we are entitled to invoice you for Membership Fees to cover the period from the date of cancellation until expiry of the Minimum Term and you agree to pay the invoiced amount within 14 days of the date of invoice.
We reserve the right to review our fees from time to time. Any changes to these Payment Terms will be posted on this Website. If we increase our Membership Fees we will give you 14 days notice before the increased Membership Fee takes effect. If we increase the Membership Fees, provided you write to us before the increase takes effect stating that you wish to cancel your membership:
- if you have pre-paid for a period of Service extending beyond the cancellation date, we shall refund you a pro-rata amount in respect of the pre-paid Membership Fee for that period (less any reasonable administration fee) save that we shall be entitled to deduct an amount equivalent to the value of any Lead Credits which have been included in your Membership Plan for such period which you have spent prior to the date of cancellation; and
- if you have selected a Minimum Term Membership Plan, you will not have to pay Membership Fees to cover the period from the date of cancellation until expiry of the Minimum Term.
Please see the ‘Our Rights’ section of the Trades Business User Agreement for details of our rights to terminate your access to the Services.