The terms we work to

1. Who you are contracting with

Whitegreen Companions is a trading name of Whitegreen Care Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number to be confirmed. These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales.

Where the person receiving visits is not the person paying, both are covered by these terms: the payer is responsible for the invoice, and the person visited is the one whose wishes decide what happens during the visit.

2. What we provide

Companionship and practical, non-personal support: conversation, company, hobbies and games, meals made and eaten together, help getting out, shopping and errands, and light help around the home.

Whitegreen Companions provides non-regulated independent living support. We do not provide personal care, nursing care, clinical care or any other activity regulated by the Care Quality Commission. Our companions can remind you to take medication but never administer it. If your needs change, we will help you find a registered care provider.

Personal care is defined in regulation 2 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. If your needs change so that you require it, we will help you find a provider registered to give it, at no charge and with no commission to us. We will also keep visiting alongside them if you would like us to.

3. Prices

Our prices are published and are the prices you pay. There is no VAT to add, no assessment fee, no set-up fee and no deposit.

• Two-hour weekday visit, 8am to 6pm: £54 (£27 an hour).
• One-hour weekday visit: £30.
• Each additional half hour: £13.
• Evenings after 6pm and weekends: 25% more.
• Bank holidays: time and a half. Christmas Day and New Year's Day: double.
• Mileage on outings in the companion's own car: 45p a mile, the HMRC rate. Travel to your home is never charged.

If we change our prices we will give you a full calendar month's notice in writing, and the new price will not apply to visits already booked inside that month.

4. Booking, cancelling and notice

Before anything is booked you meet the companion at home, free, with no obligation to go ahead. If you do not want that companion, say so and we will offer another or step back entirely.

• No minimum term. You are not signing up for a period.
• One week's notice from either side to stop the visits. We will not ask why.
• Cancelling a single visit: free with more than 24 hours' notice. Inside 24 hours the visit is charged in full, because the companion is employed and is paid for that slot either way.
• Hospital admission, illness or a family emergency: nothing to pay, whenever you tell us.
• If we cancel — illness, weather, anything — you pay nothing, and we will offer the named backup companion or another time that week.

5. Money and keys

Shopping and errands mean handling money, so we are strict about it.

• Every receipt comes back with the shopping, and the change is counted in front of you.
• Companions never hold a bank card, never know a PIN, and never take cash out of an account.
• Companions do not accept gifts, tips or loans, and cannot be named in a will or act as an executor or attorney for a client.
• If keys or a key safe code are needed, that is agreed in writing first and the code is changed when visits end.

6. Our people

Companions are employed by us and paid through our payroll. They are not self-employed and they are not introduced to you as contractors, so the employer's duties — insurance, tax, supervision, cover when somebody is ill — sit with us and not with you.

Every companion has an enhanced DBS check against the adult barred list, two references taken up by telephone and a face-to-face interview before a first visit. Please do not offer a companion work directly: if you would like more hours, ask us and we will arrange them.

7. Insurance and liability

We hold employer's liability and public liability insurance. Details and policy numbers are to be confirmed before launch and we will show you the certificates on request.

Nothing in these terms limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be limited. Subject to that, we are not liable for losses that were not reasonably foreseeable when the visits were arranged.

We ask in return that the home is a reasonably safe place to work, that you tell us about anything that affects safety — an aggressive dog, a broken stair, a person who becomes distressed — and that you tell us if the person's needs change.

8. If something goes wrong

Tell us. Ring 07888 874689 or email hello@whitegreencompanions.co.uk and you will reach a person, not a queue.

We acknowledge a complaint within one working day, and give you a written answer within ten working days. If we got it wrong we will say so, put it right, and not charge you for the visit in question. If you are not satisfied with the answer, you can ask for it to be looked at again by the founder directly.