Terms of service

1. Who we are

HelpClean operates a platform that connects households in South Africa with domestic helpers who have been identity-checked and vetted by our team. We provide the matching, the booking system and the payment handling. The cleaning work itself is carried out by the helper.

2. Your account

You must be 18 or older to hold an account, and the details you give us must be accurate, particularly your mobile number and address, because a helper travels to it. Keep access to your phone and your account secure; anything done through your account is treated as done by you. Tell us straight away if you think somebody else has got in.

One person, one account. We may refuse, suspend or close an account where information is false, where verification fails, or where the platform is being misused.

3. Booking a visit

When you request a visit you choose the service, the date and the number of hours. The price is shown to you before you confirm, and that is the price that applies. We then offer the job to verified helpers who are available and within travelling distance. A booking is only confirmed once a helper accepts it.

We do our best to find somebody, but we cannot guarantee that a helper will be available for any particular time or place.

4. Payment

Payment is made in the app. Your money is held by HelpClean and is released to the helper after the visit is completed and confirmed. This protects both sides: you are not paying in advance for work that has not happened, and the helper is not travelling to a job that will not be paid.

Please do not pay a helper in cash, or arrange work with them privately outside the app. If you do, none of the protections in these terms apply, there is no escrow, no dispute process and no cover.

5. Cancellations and no-shows

You can cancel a booking in the app. Cancelling well in advance costs you nothing. Cancelling at short notice, once a helper has already arranged their day or begun travelling, may carry a charge, the app tells you before you confirm the cancellation.

If a helper does not arrive, you are not charged. Contact support and we will either find you somebody else or return your money.

6. Your responsibilities as a household

• Provide safe access to the property at the agreed time.
• Provide a working environment that is safe, and say up front if anything about the property needs care or presents a risk.
• Treat your helper with respect. Harassment, discrimination and abuse of any kind end the booking immediately and close the account.
• Do not ask a helper to do work that is unsafe, that was not part of the booking, or that they are not equipped for.

7. Verification, and what it does and does not mean

Every helper's identity document is checked, and a live selfie is matched against it, before they can take a job. Vetting reduces risk. It is not a guarantee of any individual's conduct, and it does not make HelpClean responsible for what happens during a visit. Use the same judgement you would with anyone entering your home.

8. Fair pay

Pricing on HelpClean follows the South African Sectoral Determination 7 minimum wage for domestic workers. Helpers are shown the hours and the amount before they accept a job, and nobody is asked to work for less than the legal minimum.

9. Disputes and refunds

If something goes wrong with a visit, raise it on the booking in the app or contact support. Because payment is held until a visit is confirmed complete, most problems can be resolved before money changes hands. Disputes are reviewed by a person on our team.

10. Reviews

You and your helper may review each other after a visit. Reviews must be honest and must relate to the work. We remove reviews that are abusive, discriminatory, or that contain somebody's personal information.

11. Suspension and closing your account

You may close your account at any time, see deleting your account. We may suspend or close an account that breaches these terms, that puts somebody's safety at risk, or where we are required to by law. Money owed to you is settled before an account is closed.

12. Our liability

HelpClean provides the platform. We are liable for our own failures in running it, for example, mishandling your payment. To the extent the law allows, we are not liable for the conduct of a household or a helper towards each other, or for loss or damage arising from a visit that we did not cause. Nothing in these terms limits any right you have under South African consumer law that cannot be limited.

13. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms as the service changes. If a change materially affects you, we will tell you in the app before it takes effect. Continuing to use HelpClean after that means the updated terms apply.

14. Governing law and contact

These terms are governed by the law of the Republic of South Africa.

• Phone: 069 375 3744 (Mon–Sat, 06:00–22:00)
• Email: support@helpclean.co.za
• Privacy: helpclean.co.za/privacy