WEBSITE AND PLATFORM TERMS OF USE
Home Instead Limited (“us,” “we,” “our,” or “the Company”) is a company registered in England and Wales under company number 12580451, with its registered office at Unit 2 Walnut Tree Business Centre, Walnut Tree Farm, Northwich Road, Lower Stretton, Warrington, Cheshire, England, WA4 4PG and with VAT number 348398747.
We operate the website at, https://supercarers.com (“Website”) under our trading name SuperCarers (“SuperCarers”). We also provide an online platform for care professionals registered before June 2023 and franchisees accessible online via liveincareapp.homeinstead.co.uk (“Platform”).
These Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) govern your use of the Website and the Platform (“Services”). Please read these Terms carefully before using the Services.
Your access to and use of the Website and or Platform is conditional on your acceptance and compliance with these Terms. These Terms apply to all visitors, users, and others who access or use the Website and or the Platform. By accessing the Website and or the Platform, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you disagree with any part of these Terms, please do not use the Website and or the Platform.
THERE ARE OTHER TERMS THAT MAY APPLY TO YOU, SUCH AS:
Appendix 1 for Vitality Members
Appendix 2 for Care Professionals
Appendix 3 for Franchisees
When certain words and phrases are used in these Terms, they have specific meanings (these are known as “defined terms”). You can identify these defined terms because they start with capital letters (even if they are not at the start of a sentence). Where a defined term is used, it has the meaning given to it in the section of these Terms where it was defined (you can find these meanings by looking at the sentence where the defined term is included in brackets and speech marks).
Please note:
- if you are acting for purposes relating to your trade, business, craft or profession, then you are acting in the course of a business (“Business User”).
- If you are acting on behalf of your employer or another business when you access and use the Website and or the Platform, you represent and warrant that:
- you have full legal authority to bind your employer or that business; and
- you agree to these Terms and the attached Appendix (if applicable) on behalf of the business that you represent.
- Please note we only use your personal information in accordance with our privacy policy (available here).
- We amend these terms from time to time. Every time you wish to use our site, please check these terms to ensure you understand the terms that apply at that time.
- We recommend that you print a copy of these Terms for your future reference.
- We are a provider of technology platform services only. We do not provide care nor are we responsible for managing, directing or overseeing the provision of care provided by care professionals nor the conduct of the care professionals or the franchisees (including, but not limited to, pay disputes or care professional conduct).
- We provide this Service free of charge.
1. The Website
We do not guarantee that the Website, or any of its content, will always be available or there will be uninterrupted access. Access to the Website is permitted on a temporary basis. We may suspend, withdraw, discontinue or change all or any part of the Website without notice and without any liability to you. We will not be liable to you if for any reason the Website is unavailable at any time or for any period. We may update the Website and/or change the content on it at any time, without any notice.
You are responsible for making all arrangements necessary for you to have access to the Website. You are also responsible for ensuring that all persons who access the Website through your internet connection are aware of these Terms and that they comply with them.
We may periodically upload content onto the Website. This might include articles with advice, guidance and any information we believe will be of use or interest to you. The Website and the content on it are provided for general information purposes only and we are not responsible for its accuracy. It is meant as a guide only and not advice on which you should rely.
The Website and any promotional materials provided by us might include links to websites owned, operated, controlled and/or provided by third parties (“Third-Party Content”). Your use of any Third-Party Content may be subject to the relevant Third Party’s terms and conditions and it is your responsibility to make yourself aware of those terms and conditions. We will not necessarily see or be aware of enquiries that you submit to any third parties who provide Third Party Content.
We have no control over or proprietary interest in any Third-Party Content. We do not give any promises about the quality, security, accuracy or any other aspect of any Third-Party Content.
2. General
2.1. You agree not to:
2.1.1. use the Website and or the Platform in any way that breaches these Terms or any applicable local, national or international law or regulation;
2.1.2. copy, or otherwise reproduce or re-sell any part of the Website and or the Platform unless expressly permitted to do so in these Terms;
2.1.3. do any act or thing that might damage, disrupt or otherwise interfere with the operation of the Website and or the Platform or any equipment, network or software used in operating the Website and or the Platform;
2.1.4. damage or bring our reputation in dispute;
2.1.5. use the Website and or the Platform for the purposes of harming or attempting to harm minors in any way or to solicit personal information from anyone under 18 years of age or solicit passwords or personally identifying information for commercial or unlawful purposes;
2.1.6. use the Website and or the Platform for the purpose of harming or attempting to harm vulnerable adults or any other user in any way or to solicit personal information from them or solicit passwords or personally identifying information for commercial or unlawful purposes;
2.1.7. use the Website and or the Platform to harvest or collect email addresses or other contact information of other users by electronic means for the purposes of sending unsolicited or unauthorised advertising or promotional material or any other form of similar solicitation (“Spam”);
2.1.8. transmit, or procure the sending of Spam; or
2.1.9. use automated scripts or any other automated systems or software to extract or collect data from or otherwise interact with the Website and or the Platform. Doing so for commercial purposes, commonly known as ‘scraping’ or ‘screen scraping’ is strictly prohibited.
3. User Generated Content
3.1. If it is the case that you supply/upload any content to the Website and or the Platform, including but not limited to pictures, text, sound recordings or diagrams (“User Generated Content”) must comply with the following rules:
3.1.1. it must not be obscene, abusive, threatening, offensive or racist and it must not promote or propose hatred or physical harm against anyone;
3.1.2. it must not harass or bully another person;
3.1.3. It must not cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety, or be likely to harass, upset, embarrass, alarm or annoy any other person;
3.1.4. it must not advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse;
3.1.5. it must be true and honest so far as you know;
3.1.6. it must not be defamatory of anyone;
3.1.7. it must not promote sexually explicit material, or discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, age or other characteristic;
3.1.8. it must not use the material or content or infringe the rights or privacy of anyone else; for example you should not use images of well-known characters, footage or music (unless it is your own);
3.1.9. you will not impersonate any person, misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person, or give the impression that the User Generated Content emanates from us (if this is not the case);
3.1.10. it must not contain someone else’s personal details or confidential information relating to other people without their express consent; and
3.1.11. it must not promote or condone terrorism, violence or illegal behaviour.
3.2. We reserve the right to refuse to accept or refuse or cease to use any User Generated Content supplied by any person that we think contravenes these rules.
3.3. In addition, we may from time to time provide interactive services on the Website that shall enable you to upload User Generated Content, including, without limitation:
3.3.1. comment facilities;
3.3.2. chat rooms; and/or
3.3.3. bulletin boards,
3.3.4. (together “Interactive Services”).
3.4. Where we provide an Interactive Service, we will use reasonable endeavours to provide information to you about the kind of service offered and if it is moderated. However, we are under no obligation to oversee, monitor or moderate any Interactive Service we provide.
4. Viruses
4.1. We do not guarantee that the Website and or the Platform will be totally secure or free from bugs or viruses. You are responsible for configuring your information technology, computer programmes and platform to access the Website and we recommend that you use your own virus protection software.
4.2. You must not misuse the Website by knowingly introducing viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material which is malicious or technologically harmful. You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Website, the server on which the Website and or the Platform is stored or any server, computer or database connected to the Website and or the Platform. You must not attack the Website and or the Platform via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of service attack. By breaching this provision, you would commit a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. We will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities and we will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them. In the event of such a breach, your right to use the Website and or the Platform will cease immediately and you will be liable for all direct and indirect damages and costs which we will have incurred in restoring the Services.
5. Intellectual property
5.1. We are the owner or licensee of all intellectual property rights on the Website and the Platform and its content, the SuperCarers and Home Instead names and marks. Those works are protected by intellectual property laws and treaties around the world. All such rights are reserved.
5.2. You are not granted any right to use, and may not use, any of our intellectual property rights other than as set out in these Terms.
5.3. No part of the Website and the Platform, including, without limitation, the text, designs, graphics, photographs and images contained in it, may be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, re-posted, modified, transmitted or distributed or otherwise used in any way for any non-personal, public or commercial purpose without our prior written consent.
5.4. Any communications or materials you send to us through the Website and the Platform by electronic mail or other means will be treated as non-proprietary and non-confidential (other than communications in respect of your order if you use the Website to buy products from us). We are free to publish, display, post, distribute and otherwise use any ideas, suggestions, concepts, designs, know-how and other information contained in such communications or material for any purpose, including, but not limited to, developing, manufacturing, advertising and marketing us and our products.
6. Copyright
6.1. All material on the Website, the Platform and in paper form are protected by copyright. You may view pages of the Website and the Platform on a screen and may print or download extracts for your own personal use. You agree to destroy all information obtained from the Website or the Platform after your use, save where required to be retained by law.
6.2. You may supply a copy of any such extract to any third party provided that:
6.2.1. the extract is for their own personal use;
6.2.2. the extract is not supplied as part of or included in another work, website, platform or publication;
6.2.3. the extract is not supplied either directly or indirectly in return for commercial gain; and
6.2.4. the third party is made aware that the source of the copy is Our Service and that these terms and conditions apply equally to them.
6.3. Content on the Website, Platform, provided by letter, article, newsletter, pamphlet, leaflet, booklet, flier or other marketing or promotional content may not be reproduced, transmitted to, or stored on any other website or any other form of electronic medium or used by any other company, without our express written consent.
7. Cookies:
7.1. Certain parts of Our Service use “cookies” to keep track of your visit and to help you navigate between sections. A cookie is a small data file that certain websites store on your computer’s hard-drive when you visit such websites. More information is contained in our Privacy Policy.
8. Our liability
8.1. Whether you are a consumer or a Business User:
8.2. We do not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors and for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.
8.3. If you are a Business User:
8.3.1. We exclude all implied conditions, warranties, representations or other terms that may apply to our site or any content on it.
8.3.2 We will not be liable to you for any loss or damage, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, even if foreseeable, arising under or in connection with:
8.3.3. use of, or inability to use, our site; or
8.3.4. use of or reliance on any content displayed on our site.
8.4. In particular, we will not be liable for:
8.4.1. loss of profits, sales, business, or revenue;
8.4.2. business interruption;
8.4.3. loss of anticipated savings;
8.4.4. loss of business opportunity, goodwill or reputation; or
8.4.5. any indirect or consequential loss or damage.
8.5 If you are a consumer user:
8.5.1. note that we only provide our site for domestic and private use. You agree not to use our site for any commercial or business purposes, and we have no liability to you for any loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption, or loss of business opportunity.
8.5.2. Or in any other case, our liability to you will be limited to £100.
9. Suspension and termination
9.1. If you breach any of these Terms, we may immediately do any or all of the following (without limitation):
9.1.1. issue a warning to you;
9.1.2. temporarily or permanently remove any User Generated Content uploaded by you to the Website or Platform;
9.1.3. temporarily or permanently withdraw your right to use the Website or Platform;
9.1.4. issue legal proceedings against you for reimbursement of all costs resulting from the breach (including, but not limited to, reasonable administrative and legal costs);
9.1.5. take further legal action against you; and/or
9.1.6. disclose such information to law enforcement authorities as we reasonably feel is necessary to do so.
10. Use of your data
10.1. We will not, except as set out in these Terms, disclose confidential or sensitive information about you to third parties, except those outlined below, without your consent. Please note that your data will be shared with Home Instead Limited, any of the Home Instead franchised offices and selected third parties who operate the Website or the Platform for the purpose of providing the Services, monitoring use of the Services, improving the Services, creating new products and services and to use anonymised and aggregated versions of such data or information (which shall not contain any personal data, and, unless mutually agreed between the parties, shall not make any reference to any individuals) for research purposes and in marketing and/or advertising materials relating to the Services.
10.2. You shall own all rights in your data and shall have sole responsibility for the legality, reliability, integrity and accuracy of your data.
10.3. You are responsible for any use of your account using your username and/or password, for keeping your username and password confidential and for logging out of your account at the end of each session. You agree to notify us immediately if you become aware of or suspect any unauthorised use of your account, username and/or password. If you forget your username and/or password, you may email us at our email address set out above and we will email your username and password to the email address specified in your account. You are responsible for any actions taken by a person who uses our Service using your username and password.
10.4. You will provide accurate registration data and other information and keep the information you provide on the Platform up to date at all times including, in particular, your profile information and your availability to provide care.
11. Disputes and Complaints
11.1. Any complaints, queries and other feedback regarding the Services should be directed to us using the contact details below (see Contacting Us).
11.2. We are not obliged to have any involvement in any dispute between users of the Services, except as required by law.
11.3. Specifically, Franchisees have their own complaint procedure. We have no oversight of this, and we will not get involved in any disputes that may arise regarding (but not limited to) payment to the care professionals, payment from the clients, level of care provided by the Care Professionals or any other issue between the Care Professionals, franchisees and their clients.
11.4. If a concern or complaint relating to a care professional, franchisee or third party service provider is raised with us, it is at our absolute discretion what action, if any, we decide to take.
11.5. We reserve the right to notify an appropriate authority or regulator to protect the interests of clients and you accept that this overrides any confidentiality obligations, whether express or implied, we have to you.
12. Availability of Our Services
12.1. We make no warranty to you that our Service or any of the tools we offer will be available to you at all times, will continue uninterrupted, error-free or will remain unchanged and accept no liability for any loss or damages arising as a result.
13. Other important information
13.1. Each of the clauses of these Terms operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful or unenforceable, the remaining clauses will remain in full force and effect.
13.2. If we do not enforce our rights against you, or if we delay in doing so, that will not mean that we have waived our rights against you and will not mean that you do not have to comply with those obligations. If we do waive a default by you, we will only do so in writing, and that will not mean that we will automatically waive any later default by you.
14. Governing law and jurisdiction
14.1. These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. This means that your access to and use of the Services, and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection therewith (including non-contractual disputes or claims), will be governed by English law.
14.2. You can bring proceedings in respect of these Terms in the English courts. If you are a consumer and you live in Scotland you can bring legal proceedings in respect of these Terms in either the Scottish or the English courts. If you are a consumer and you live in Northern Ireland you can bring legal proceedings in respect of these Terms in either the Northern Irish or the English courts. We shall bring any dispute which may arise under these Terms to the competent court of your country of habitual residence if this is within the UK, or otherwise the competent court of England.
15. Entire Agreement
15.1 These Terms and any document expressly referred to in them constitute the whole agreement between us and supersede any previous arrangement, understanding or agreement between us.
16. Additional Terms
16.1 Additional Terms attached as Appendices will apply, in addition to the Terms, to the users of the Services, depending on your role:
16.1.1 Appendix 1 will be applicable to all Vitality Members.
16.1.2 Appendix 2 will be applicable to all Care Professionals.
16.1.3 Appendix 3 will be applicable to all Franchisee Offices.
17. Contacting us
Should you have any reasons for a complaint, we will endeavour to resolve the issue and avoid any re-occurrence in the future. You can always contact us by using the following details:
- Email: hello@liveincare.homeinstead.co.uk
- Address: Unit 2 Walnut Tree Farm, Northwich Road, Lower Stretton, Warrington, England, WA4 4PG.
- Phone: 01925 730 273
Appendix 1
Vitality Members:
1. Care support line
1.1 We operate a care support line (“Care Support Line”) which may be used for the following purposes: 1.1.1 to discuss your care needs and provide you with general advice and support; and/or 1.1.2 to complete a consultation with one of our representatives (a “Care Consultation”), which might help you think in more detail about what care services you may require.
2. Users of the Care Support Line understand that:
2.1 we provide general advice and support only. We do not provide care ourselves, nor do we provide specific instructions or directions over the management and/or facilitation of care by care professionals;
2.2 if we suggest a care professional to you, we cannot confirm their suitability, professional qualification or competence to provide the services and you engage them at your own risk;
2.3 a Care Consultation is intended only to gather information about the care you may require, but it is not intended to deliver, or in any way assist with the creation of, a care plan for you;
2.4 we do not provide medical or clinical advice, nor do we specify what care should be delivered as we do not have requisite detailed information to make such determinations; and
3. we do not provide legal or regulated financial advice, although we may suggest you engage with experts for such purposes.
4. We make no warranty to you that the Care Support Line or any of the tools we offer will be available to you at all times, will continue uninterrupted, error-free or will remain unchanged and accept no liability for any loss or damages arising as a result.
5. The Care Support Line can be withdrawn without any notice.
Appendix 2 – Care Professionals
1. These terms are specifically applicable to care professionals using the Platform.
2. The Platform is designed to allow you to view and apply for jobs posted by the franchisees.
3. The Platform seeks to do this by allowing you to view a job description and schedule provided by a Franchisee (please note we do not validate or warranty the accuracy of the information provided by the Franchisee). You then have the option to apply and complete the corresponding application, which will be considered by the relevant Franchisee.
4. If the Franchisee Office is interested in your application, they will make direct contact with you either via the Platform, your email or phone number. By being registered on the platform you accept that your contact details will be shared with the relevant Franchisee.
2. Your account and password
2.1 You will need to register an account with us on the Platform in order to access the Services (“Account”). In order to register for an Account, you must be aged 18 or over and resident in the UK. If you register an Account, you will be asked to provide certain information (such as your email address) and to create a password, as part of our security procedures. You must treat the password as confidential and you must not disclose it to any third party.
2.2. Once you register an Account, you will be a “Registered User”.
2.3. You agree that:
2.3.1 all the information that you provide to us in connection with your Account is complete and accurate;
2.3.2 you are the person whose details you have provided;
2.3.3 you will amend your profile immediately if there are any changes to the information you have provided to us;
2.3.4 we have the right to share the information with franchisees via the Platform to facilitate the introduction of job opportunities.
3. We have the right to disable any Accounts and/or passwords, at any time, if in our reasonable opinion you have failed to comply with any of the provisions of these Terms.
4. If you know or suspect that anyone other than you knows your Account login details, you must immediately notify us using the details in clause 17.
5. You are responsible for any unauthorised use of your Account login details.
6. You acknowledge that we do not check or verify any details submitted by Franchisees about jobs posted on the Platform for which you apply and that we cannot guarantee that the information provided, or description of care required are correct. It is your responsibility to verify this information with the relevant franchisee before commencing a care assignment.
7. Franchisees are all independently owned and operated and each franchisee is an independent employer in its own right. We are only providing a platform to connect you with franchisees. If you respond to a care job listing (sometimes known as an assignment) which you wish to take on, you may if successful in your application, enter into an employment contract directly with the relevant franchisee at your own risk.
8. Responding to a care job listing is not a guarantee of an offer of employment and you are not in receipt of an offer until you have received a contract from the relevant franchisee. As each franchisee is an independent employer in its own right, it will conduct its own compliance checks before or after making an offer of employment or the Franchisee may request other information from you as required by the relevant healthcare regulator operating in the region of the UK in which you will be working.
9. Training:
9.1 We do not provide any type of training. All training is optional and is your responsibility. Any training offered by the franchisees will need to be arranged with them directly, we will not reimburse you for any training you decide to undergo in agreement with a franchisee or of your own volition, whether via our “MyLearningCloud” system or otherwise.
10. Parties:
10.1 Nothing contained in these Terms shall render the relationship between you and us as that of an employee, worker, agent or partner and you shall not hold yourself out as such. You acknowledge that any work provided by you is provided on the basis of a direct engagement by the relevant franchisee, who is independent from us and independently operated. If, notwithstanding this provision, you become an employee, worker, agent or partner of ours by function of law or are otherwise deemed to be so by the relevant authorities then you shall pay or reimburse any tax or national insurance payments due from us to the relevant authorities and shall indemnify us for any loss suffered or cost incurred as a result.
10.2 We are not obliged to display any care job listings to you and you are not obliged to apply for any car assignment offered.
10.3 We provide no guarantee that any opportunities to be employed or provide care will be available to You through the Website or the Platform.
10.4 You acknowledge that the nature of temporary work means that there may be periods when no suitable work is available and we make no guarantees that the platform will provide you with work.
10.5 You will provide accurate registration data and other information and keep the information you provide on the platform up to date at all times including, in particular, your profile information and your availability to provide care. We accept no responsibility that the information held about you on the Platform is accurate or up to date.
10.6 You will complete any additional checks that a franchisee may require if you are offered a care assignment.
Appendix 3 – Franchisee
1. The terms apply specifically to franchisees (and their employees) who use the Platform to advertise jobs and source applicants for those jobs.
2. The Platform is designed to allow you to advertise jobs listings, which will be visible to all registered care professionals.
3. Process
3.1 In order to use the Platform;
3.1.1 You will create a new job need on the Platform which describes a relevant live-in care assignment for one of your clients.
3.1.2 Once the need is created, you can preview this and post it to the care professional registered users to view and respond to.
3.2 Jobs Listings / Assignments:
3.2.1 The job listing should include an accurate job description and which enables the Care Professional to make an informed choice if the job is appropriate for them to apply to.
3.2.2 It should also include accurate care times including schedule so the applicant is able to determine it meets their availability to fulfil.
3.2.3 Once a care professional has responded to a job, You are then responsible in managing the communication between yourself and the care professional, via the means they provide, which may be the email address or phone number.
3.2.4 It is your responsibility to negotiate the key employment terms which might include but not be limited to: rate of pay, any enhanced rates for Bank holidays etc. and food allowance and much more.
3.2.5 It is your responsibility to provide all necessary training to the care professionals.
3.2.6 You will employ the care professionals directly at your own risk and we will not be a party to any discussion or agreement you have with the care professionals.
4. Your Obligations
4.1 It is your responsibility to ensure all the correct pre-employment checks have been completed as required by law or by any regulatory body.
4.2 You accept that you will carry-out all background checks on the care professionals as required by law and your regulator, including but not limited to;
4.2.1 enhanced criminal record checks relevant for your country,
4.2.2 identity checks,
4.2.3 right to work
4.2.4 documents check (including but not limited to; passport, driving licence and visa)
4.2.5 adverse history check,
4.2.6 employment history checks and reference checks, both professional and personal.
4.3 You will pay the agreed sum to the Care Professionals for their service, deducting all relevant taxes as required by law. You will pay for any training as required by law.
4.4 You confirm and accept we will no longer be providing you with compliance checks for the Care Professionals. All checks carried out in the past, and any other information stored on the Platform including as part of a care professional’s “Home instead Passport”, is provided on an “as is”, “for information only” basis and we give no assurance that these checks and information will be accurate and up to date. The information on the Platform including the Care Professional profile is now the sole responsibility of the care professionals themselves to update, which is why it is important that you understand your own responsibility to verify any information provided and carry out all the required checks before making an offer of employment.
