Service Agreement

This agreement is between the helper and the client. Witho introduces you to each other and handles the booking and the payment, but Witho is not a party to this agreement and does not provide the support itself.

It is agreed when a booking is confirmed, alongside the details of that booking — who, where, when, the helper’s rate, and what the client would like help with.

1. What this agreement covers

1.1This agreement, together with the booking details confirmed through Witho and anything else the helper and client agree in writing, forms the whole arrangement between them.

1.2Anything agreed verbally only becomes binding once one of you confirms it to the other in writing — an email or a text message is enough.

1.3Either party may end the arrangement after the introductory meeting without charge and without giving a reason. Nothing is owed unless support has actually been provided.

2. What the helper will do

2.1The helper will:

• Provide the agreed support with reasonable care and skill
• Arrive at the times agreed, and give as much notice as possible if they cannot — at least 48 hours where it is foreseeable, and as soon as they know if they are ill
• Keep to what has been agreed, and discuss anything beyond it with the client before doing it
• Give the client receipts for anything bought on their behalf
• Work safely, follow any reasonable safety arrangements at the property, and report anything unsafe they notice
• Treat the client, the person being supported, and their household with respect
• Keep everything they learn about the household confidential
• Report any concern about the welfare of the person being supported to the client and to Witho

2.2For arrangements continuing beyond six weeks, the helper will give at least two weeks’ notice of holidays or other periods when they will not be available.

2.3If the helper cannot attend at short notice and the client would like someone else, the helper will try to suggest a substitute. Any substitute must be engaged through Witho and will need their own agreement with the client — they are not covered by this one.

3. What the client will do

3.1The client will:

• Treat the helper with respect and dignity
• Make sure the place where the support happens is safe and fit for purpose
• Tell the helper, before the arrangement starts, about anything that might put them at risk — including behaviour arising from illness, a dog, or anything else in the household
• Make sure any equipment the helper is asked to use is in working order and that they know how to use it safely
• Make sure funding is in place before support begins
• Give at least 48 hours’ notice of a cancellation where possible
• Pay through Witho, and not directly to the helper

3.2If something material about the person being supported was not disclosed before the arrangement began, and it puts the helper at risk or means the support is not something they can safely provide, the helper may end the arrangement immediately.

3.3The client will not ask the helper to do anything in clause 5.

4. Respite and overnight placements

These apply in addition to clause 3 where the helper stays overnight or for a respite week.

4.1The client will provide the helper with a private bedroom with a door that closes, and access to a bathroom, free of charge for the whole placement.

4.2The client will provide enough food, or a food allowance agreed in advance, along with clean bedding and whatever is needed to keep the house in order.

4.3The helper will have an unbroken break of at least two hours in every twenty-four, at a time agreed between them. Where that break is not possible on a given day, it is taken in lieu at another time during the placement.

4.4The helper is not on duty through the night. They are present in the house and will respond if needed — settling someone who is unsettled, making a drink, or calling 999 in an emergency — but a night that is repeatedly broken is a sign that the arrangement is not right, and either party should raise it.

4.5Travel to and from a placement is agreed in advance and paid by the client, in addition to the rate.

4.6Respite placements are for a maximum of two weeks. Longer arrangements are not offered through Witho.

5. What this agreement does not cover

5.1The helper does not provide personal care, and the client will not ask them to. Specifically, the helper will not:

• Wash, bathe, dress, undress or help anyone with the toilet
• Give medication. They may remind and prompt only
• Lift, hoist, or help anyone to move from one place to another
• Carry out wound care, injections, or any clinical or nursing task
• Do anything a district nurse, registered carer or other regulated professional should be doing

5.2This is not a matter of the helper’s preference. Support of this kind is a regulated activity, and it sits outside what Witho introduces helpers for. Both parties agree to it as a condition of the arrangement.

5.3 If the person being supported comes to need any of the things in clause 5.1, the arrangement stops. Tell Witho and we will help the client find a registered provider. A helper who stops for this reason has done the right thing and is owed for the support already given.

5.4The helper will not handle the client’s money beyond agreed shopping, hold their bank card, PIN or online banking, accept gifts beyond a small token, lend or borrow money, or take any part in the client’s will, property or financial affairs.

6. Rate and payment

6.1The helper sets their own rate. It is recorded with the booking and can be changed by the helper on reasonable notice, applying to future bookings only.

6.2The client pays Witho at the point of booking. Witho adds a service fee of 10% to the client’s total. Nothing is deducted from the helper’s rate.

6.3Witho holds the payment and transfers the helper’s full amount approximately 48 hours after the visit, once the helper has confirmed it took place.

6.4Mileage, where the helper drives on the client’s behalf, is charged at the HMRC approved rate and agreed in advance.

6.5Shopping money, tickets and similar costs are the client’s and are settled directly, with receipts.

6.6Payment must go through Witho. Paying the helper directly for support arranged through Witho takes the arrangement outside Witho’s insurance and outside the protections in this agreement, and leaves both parties exposed.

7. Changes and cancellations

7.1Either party may change or cancel a visit by giving at least 48 hours’ notice through Witho. A client who cancels within that period is refunded in full.

7.2Where a client cancels with less than 48 hours’ notice and the helper has already set the time aside, the helper may charge for the visit. Neither party should treat this as automatic: illness and emergencies happen and a reasonable approach is expected on both sides. The client is told when a charge is made and has 48 hours to raise it with Witho.

7.3Where a helper cancels, the client is not charged.

7.4If the person being supported goes into hospital or away, tell the helper as soon as you can. Witho does not charge a retention fee, but a helper who loses regular work at no notice may not be able to hold the slot open.

8. If something goes wrong

8.1Raise it with each other first. Most problems are a misunderstanding and are settled in a conversation.

8.2If that does not resolve it, either party may tell Witho. Where a visit has been paid for and not yet released, Witho will hold the payment while it is looked into. Report it at witho.co.uk/booking/report.

8.3Witho will help both parties reach a fair outcome but does so as a mediator, not as a decision-maker, and is not a party to this agreement.

8.4If anyone is at immediate risk, call 999 first. Safeguarding concerns should go to safeguarding@witho.co.uk or 0345 351 0207 the same day. The helper will be paused from all bookings while a director reviews it.

9. Confidentiality

9.1Neither party will disclose anything confidential they learn about the other, during the arrangement or afterwards, except where the law requires it, where it is already public, or where it is necessary to protect someone from harm.

9.2At the end of the arrangement the helper will return anything belonging to the client that is in their possession, including any keys.

10. Information about each other

10.1Each party agrees to the other holding and using their information as far as is necessary for the arrangement, including information about health where the client chooses to share it.

10.2Information is kept securely, is not passed outside the UK, and is deleted when it is no longer needed.

10.3Witho processes information separately as the data controller for the platform, as described in its privacy policy.

11. Ending the arrangement

11.1Either party may end the arrangement by giving the other 14 days’ notice in writing. During the first two weeks, 48 hours’ notice is enough.

11.2Either party may end it immediately where the other has seriously or repeatedly breached this agreement, or where clause 3.2 or clause 5.3 applies.

11.3The client may end it immediately if the helper is convicted of a criminal offence, other than a minor motoring matter, or is unable to provide support for more than ten consecutive days.

11.4Ending the arrangement does not affect payment owed for support already given.

12. The helper’s status

12.1The helper is an independent self-employed contractor. They are not an employee, worker, agent or partner of the client, and will not hold themselves out as one.

12.2This is a contract for the provision of services and not a contract of employment. The helper is responsible for their own income tax and National Insurance, and will indemnify the client against any liability for those, and against any claim based on employment or worker status arising from this arrangement.

12.3The helper decides how the support is carried out. The client says what they would like help with; they do not direct the manner in which the helper works, supervise them, or provide training.

12.4Nothing prevents the helper working for anyone else at any time. This arrangement is not exclusive.

12.5The helper has no authority to spend money in the client’s name or to bind them to anything, unless the client has agreed it in writing.

12.6Both parties acknowledge that Witho is an introduction agency. Witho has no ongoing role in directing or controlling the support provided, and cannot advise or direct changes to how it is carried out — including how often visits happen, what is done during them, or the way the helper works.

12.7The support provided under this agreement is not a regulated activity and is not within the scope of registration with the Care Quality Commission.

13. General

13.1This agreement is personal to both parties. Neither may transfer it or send someone else in their place, except as set out in clause 2.3.

13.2Nothing in it creates a partnership or joint venture.

13.3If any part is found unenforceable, the rest continues to apply.

13.4Nobody other than the helper and the client has any right to enforce any part of this agreement.

13.5This agreement is governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction.

Related: Witho terms of use · Helper Platform Agreement · How we check helpers