Service agreement

1. Who we are

Primrose and Proper Ltd (“we”, “us”) provides domestic cleaning for private homes in London. We arrange a cleaner for your household and coordinate the service through our office and portal.

These terms form the agreement between you (the client) and us when you create a client account or otherwise confirm that you accept them. English law applies, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction.

2. The service

We mainly provide regular cleaning on a standing day and time, with the same cleaner where we can. We also provide one-off cleans when agreed.

We aim for continuity. If your usual cleaner cannot attend (for example through illness), we will try to arrange a suitable replacement as soon as we can, and within about a week.

If you are not happy with the cleaner introduced to you, tell us. With at least one week’s notice we will introduce a replacement once we have agreed what you need.

Time estimates are based on homes of a similar size. One-off cleans often take longer than regular maintenance cleans of the same house. A minimum visit length applies as quoted to you (our public rate card currently uses a three-hour minimum).

Unless we agree otherwise in writing, the price covers cleaning labour only. Extra work or materials need a fresh quote.

Unless we agree otherwise in writing, you supply ordinary cleaning tools and products suitable for the work.

3. Access, keys, and the house

You must give reliable access at the booked time. If we cannot get in for a reason that is not our fault (including a lock-out, a key that does not open every lock without special skill, or access refused), you pay the full price of that visit.

Fragile or highly breakable items should be secured or put away. Cleaners will not move heavy furniture or work above a domestic step-ladder of no more than three steps. They will not hand-wash clothing; a washing machine may be used if that is part of the agreed work. They will not empty bins or throw anything away unless you have asked them to.

If the property is in an unsafe or unsuitable condition for ordinary domestic cleaning (for example severe soiling, infestation, rotting food, or similar hazards), we may cancel the visit. For a regular visit you still pay the full session price. For a one-off visit we may charge a call-out fee of £50.

When the service ends, keys are returned on the last visit where possible, or by recorded delivery at no charge with your agreement, or by guaranteed delivery at your cost.

4. Payment

You pay the session price we quote you. For regular cleaning we usually collect by Direct Debit; another method only if we agree it with you. Payment is due after each visit is confirmed complete. A Working Day is any day other than Saturday, Sunday, or a public holiday in England.

A one-off visit you request with less than 48 hours’ notice may be charged at a higher hourly rate than your usual sessions, so we can ask a cleaner at short notice. The portal shows that rate before you confirm.

If payment is late, we may pause visits until the account is clear. If we have to use a debt collection firm, their extra costs may be added.

We may change prices with reasonable notice to reflect costs and the market.

5. Cancelling or moving a visit

Plans change. Tell us when you need to cancel or move a booked visit, or mark yourself away in the portal, and we rearrange. There is no routine short-notice cancellation charge.

You may also telephone the office to cancel, mark away, or update account and diary details; the same rules in this section apply.

A lock-out or refused access, as in section 3, still means you pay the full price of that visit.

If last-minute cancels become a pattern (for example several times with less than about two hours’ notice), we will telephone you. If it continues after that conversation, we may warn you and then either charge a fixed late fee or the full session price for further short-notice cancels, or ask you to telephone the office for same-day changes instead of using the portal.

To end regular service altogether, give us 24 hours’ notice. Charges for the notice period remain payable as agreed for your plan.

If you are away, tell us in good time. Holding your standing slot while you are away does not automatically create a refund; we can often keep the cleaner’s day for you or restart after you return by arrangement.

6. If we cannot provide the visit

If no cleaner can be allocated, or we cannot agree terms that make the service workable, we may end the arrangement. We will refund any prepaid visits that did not happen before that end date.

If your cleaner cannot attend for personal reasons and you decline a replacement we offered, we will refund that visit’s charge on your request. Ask within three months of the missed visit. Refunds are not made for visits in a notice period you are serving, and not for the first month of regular service where the miss was outside our control and a replacement was available.

For one-off cleans already paid: if the cleaner does not attend, we refund. If you are unhappy with quality, tell us within 72 hours and we will arrange a free re-clean of the areas that need attention, up to half the length of the original visit. We do not usually refund a completed one-off clean when a re-clean is the right remedy.

7. Quality and complaints

Contact the office if something is wrong. There is no limit on how often you may ask for help. We will liaise with you and the cleaner to put quality and timing right.

For damage you believe we caused, email hello@primroseandproper.co.uk or telephone 07909 693 529 within 72 hours of the visit ending. Follow up in writing with photos and the details we ask for within two Working Days of first contact so we can investigate.

We assess claims fairly, taking account of wear and tear and depreciation. Where we accept that we caused the damage, we may offer credit, repair, replacement, or a contribution toward replacement after investigation. We are not responsible for ordinary wear and tear, faulty goods, damage from your own equipment or materials, or stains that cannot reasonably be removed with normal domestic cleaning.

8. Photos

We do not photograph or film your home unless you have agreed that we may, for a clear purpose such as checking work or recording damage. No person should appear in any such images. You may withdraw permission in writing.

9. Conduct

Abusive, harassing, or offensive behaviour toward cleaners or our staff is not acceptable. If it occurs, we may end the agreement immediately without refund for unused future visits already cancelled under this clause.

10. Working only through us

Cleaners are introduced through Primrose & Proper and must not take the household private. If within 12 months of the end of your agreement with us (or while it is running) you engage, employ, or pay directly anyone who cleans or cleaned for us in connection with your home in the preceding 12 months, you owe us an introduction fee of either £900 or the equivalent of one year’s agency fee for that arrangement (including VAT), whichever is higher. You also cover reasonable collection costs if we have to pursue the fee. This survives the end of the agreement.

11. Liability

Nothing in these terms excludes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, fraud, or anything else the law does not allow us to exclude.

Subject to that, and as far as the law allows, our total liability arising from this agreement or the cleaning we arrange is limited to the charges you paid for the visit (or visits) giving rise to the claim. We are not liable for losses that are not a direct result of the cleaning service, or for other loss that is indirect or consequential. We are not liable for late arrival where transport or events outside our control delay or reschedule a visit; for incomplete work caused by lack of power, hot water, or working equipment you supply; for third parties present during a clean; or for existing damage or stains that cannot be fully removed.

We may decline further visits while invoices aged 30 days or more remain unpaid.

12. Changes

We may update these terms. We will take reasonable steps to tell you when we do. Material changes will be notified before they apply to you; continued use of the service after that notice means you accept the updated terms, unless you end the service under the cancellation rules above.

13. Privacy

How we use personal information is described in our privacy notice.