Choosealocal — Terms and Conditions

Version 15.0 · effective 13/08/2026

Effective Date: 13 August 2026

ICO Registration: ICO:00014972833

1. About Us

Choosealocal is a hyperlocal marketplace — a local business directory and booking platform — registered in the UK and operated by Bogdan Tudorache as a sole trader.

Contact:
Email: [email protected]
Address: 9 garland gate, westhoughton,
bl5 3je

By using the platform you accept these Terms. Each version of these Terms is retained, and the version you accepted is recorded against your account.

2. What We Do

2.1 The service

Choosealocal is a hyperlocal marketplace — a directory and introduction platform. We:

List local businesses by postcode, trade, and service area
Let customers send booking requests to listed businesses
Pass those requests, with your contact details, to the business
Provide businesses with tools for availability, bookings, and client records

2.2 What we do not do

We do not take payment for work and we do not take commission — you pay the business directly
We do not employ, supervise, or direct any listed business
We do not guarantee a business will accept your request or be available
We do not carry out the work itself
We are not a party to your contract with the business

2.3 Independent businesses

Every business on the platform is an independent trader responsible for its own work, tax, insurance, and legal compliance. Nothing here creates employment, agency, or partnership between us and a listed business.

3. How Bookings Work

3.1 Customers

Search by postcode and service
Send a booking request with your contact details
We pass the request to the business
The business contacts you directly to confirm or decline
Price and payment are agreed between you and the business

We do not negotiate on your behalf and cannot guarantee a response.

3.2 Businesses

Claim or create your profile
Add at least one service and set your working hours — this makes you listed
You can receive booking requests as soon as you are listed — verification is optional and earns the verified badge

You must respond to requests promptly. Repeatedly ignoring requests may lead to suspension.

4. Unclaimed Listings

We create basic directory entries for local businesses from publicly available information — business name, trade, area, phone number, and public description.

Unclaimed entries:

Are clearly marked as unclaimed and unverified
Cannot receive booking requests through the platform
Show only the business name, town, area and a phone number where one is publicly listed. No email address, no messaging number and no street address are shown
May be incomplete, and do not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by the business

Where we have an email address we get in touch with the business, with the option to claim the listing, accept these Terms and set a password, or have the entry removed. Where we do not, every unclaimed listing carries a “This isn’t me — remove this listing” link and an explanation of where the details came from at /how-we-list-businesses. Unclaimed entries are deleted after 1 year if never claimed.

A business may at any time claim its entry, ask for corrections, or ask for removal by emailing [email protected]. Removal requests are actioned promptly.

5. Listing Status and Verification

5.1 Listing states

State	What it means
Unclaimed	Created from public data. No contact details shown. No bookings.
Listed	Claimed, with at least one service and working hours set. Visible in search and able to receive booking requests.
Verified	Verification documents approved. Displays the verified badge.

5.2 Verification (optional)

Verification is a trust signal, not a precondition of receiving booking requests. Businesses may submit the following documents to earn the verified badge:

ID
Public Liability Insurance

Further optional documents earn additional public badges:

Qualifications

We aim to review documents within 5–7 business days.

5.3 Ongoing compliance

Insurance must be kept current and updated certificates provided on renewal. We may re-request documents at any time. Failure to maintain them may result in loss of the verified badge, restricted visibility, or removal.

5.4 Rejection

We will tell you why an application was rejected — typically missing or expired insurance, unverifiable identity, or inaccurate information. You may reapply with correct documents.

6. Accounts

You are responsible for keeping your password confidential and for activity under your account. Tell us at [email protected] immediately if you think your account has been compromised.

You may close your account at any time by requesting it from your account page when signed in, or by emailing [email protected] — we action closure requests ourselves and confirm when done. See our Privacy Policy for what happens to your data.

Businesses and clients can optionally enable push notifications on their devices. You can switch them off at any time in your account or browser settings.

Marketing email (newsletters or digests) is sent only with your consent, and every message includes an unsubscribe link. See our Privacy Policy.

7. Business Obligations

Listed businesses agree to:

Provide accurate business, service, and pricing information
Hold and maintain the insurance and any licences their trade requires
Carry out work with reasonable care and skill, and comply with all applicable law
Honour the prices shown on their listing for bookings made against them
Respond to booking requests, and give reasonable notice if they cannot attend
Use customer contact details only to deliver the booked service
Not sell, share, or market to customer data obtained through the platform without that customer's consent
Report any suspected loss or exposure of customer data to [email protected] immediately

8. Customer Obligations

Customers agree to:

Provide accurate contact and address details
Have authority to arrange work at the address given
Satisfy themselves that a business is suitable before engaging it
Treat businesses professionally and honour agreed appointments

9. Acceptable Use

You must not:

Submit fake, abusive, or misleading requests or listings
Harass, threaten, or abuse other users
Scrape or bulk-extract directory data
Attempt to interfere with, probe, or reverse-engineer the platform
Use the platform for any unlawful purpose
Post false, defamatory, or abusive reviews

Breach may result in suspension or removal without notice.

10. Reviews and Content

Customers may review businesses they have booked. Reviews are public and businesses may respond.

Businesses can also publish content on the platform:

News posts about their business
Local events they are running or attending
Special offers and promotions

You are responsible for content you post. It must be accurate, lawful, and yours to publish.

We may remove any content that is spam, unlawful, abusive, or demonstrably false. Persistent poor feedback may lead to reduced visibility or review of a listing.

11. Fees

Listing on the directory is free — including your profile, gallery, calendar, client records, and exportable booking history.

Coverage area:

Listings start with a 1-mile service radius
The 3-mile radius costs nothing in money, but we ask you to complete your account details and post about Choosealocal on your social networks in return. Because we ask for something back, we do not describe it as free. If you post about us, that post promotes us as well as you, so please make clear it is an ad — for example with #ad — as the advertising codes require
A Paid tier extends your coverage further, up to 50 miles

Posting special offers:

A free listing can have one offer live at a time
A Paid tier allows up to 5 live offers at a time

Posting to the notice board (events, news, promotions):

A free listing's posts must be at least 7 days apart. Posts you have hidden still count towards this — the spacing applies to every post you have created, not only the visible ones
A Paid tier allows up to 3 posts per day instead of the 7-day spacing

We may also lift these limits for an individual business at our discretion, at no charge.

Where you take the Paid tier:

The price and period are agreed with us directly, in advance
Payment is arranged directly with us (for example by bank transfer or invoice) — the platform does not process card payments and holds no card details
Paid access runs for the agreed period and does not renew automatically
When it lapses, your account simply returns to the free tier, and any coverage or posting allowance above the free limits returns with it

TODO(legal): the clauses below are REQUIRED before paid mode is switched
on in production, and must be reviewed by a solicitor. They are absent
from the free-tier version of these Terms because nothing is charged.
Delete this note once they are written.

Cancellation — how either side ends a paid period, and the notice required
Right to cancel — the 14-day statutory cooling-off period under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013. This applies to sole traders acting outside their trade in some circumstances, so it cannot simply be excluded on the basis that the customer is a business
Refunds — what happens to a part-used period on cancellation or termination
Price changes — the notice given to an existing paying business before a price change takes effect
Non-payment — when access is suspended or downgraded, and what happens to listings and bookings in the meantime
VAT — whether prices are inclusive or exclusive, and the position on registration

We take no commission on work you secure through the platform.

11.1 How search results are ordered

The main things that decide the order businesses appear in:

how close the business is to the postcode searched, and whether it
covers that area
whether it offers the service searched for
the sort chosen — distance, rating, or our recommended order
for recommended order: a blend of distance, rating and review count
whether the listing is complete enough to be useful
whether the business is on the Paid tier. Paid listings are placed above free ones within the same result set. This is paid prominence and we state it here, on the results page, and to consumers, rather than leaving it to be inferred

12. Tools and Guidance

Your calendar and client records are provided for your own tracking. Your booking history — every booking completed through the platform — is available in your account and can be exported (CSV) at any time. Work arranged directly over the phone is not part of that history, but we do count how many visitors reveal your phone or WhatsApp details and show you that number.

The tools' output is guidance only. They are not financial, tax, or accounting advice, do not replace an accountant, and do not file anything with HMRC. You remain responsible for your own tax reporting.

13. Data Protection

We process personal data in accordance with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. Our Privacy Policy explains what we collect, why, how long we keep it, and how to exercise your rights.

In summary:

You can request a copy of your data or deletion of your account at any time
Requests are answered within one calendar month
Data protection contact: [email protected]
ICO registration: ICO:00014972833

Where a business stores its own client records in its portal, that business is the controller of those records and we act as its processor.

14. Availability

We aim for continuous availability but do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free service. We may suspend the platform for maintenance, security, or upgrades.

15. Liability

15.1 We are not responsible for

The quality, safety, timeliness, or legality of any business's work
Damage to property, injury, or loss arising from work arranged through the platform
Disputes about price, scope, or performance between a customer and a business
Non-attendance, cancellation, or non-payment
Decisions made using the calendar, booking history, or other tools in your account
Loss of profit, revenue, business opportunity, or indirect or consequential loss

15.2 We remain responsible for

Death or personal injury caused by our negligence
Fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation by us
Our own breaches of data protection law
Anything else that cannot lawfully be excluded

15.3 Cap

Except for the matters in 15.2, our total liability to you is limited to the greater of the fees you paid us in the previous 12 months or £100.

Liability arising under UK GDPR is not subject to this cap and is not excluded by these Terms.

16. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify Choosealocal against claims, losses, and reasonable costs arising from your breach of these Terms, false or misleading information you provide, your misuse of the platform, or your own business activities and content.

17. Suspension and Termination

We may suspend or terminate an account that breaches these Terms, provides false information, fails or lapses verification, misuses customer data, or is used unlawfully. We will normally give notice and a reason, except where the breach is serious or immediate action is needed for safety, security, or legal reasons.

On termination, access ends and the listing is removed. Data is handled as set out in the Privacy Policy.

18. Changes

We may change these Terms, our services, features, or pricing with reasonable notice. Changes apply from the effective date of the new version. Continued use after that date means you accept them.

19. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland you may also bring proceedings in your local courts.

20. Entire Agreement

These Terms and the Privacy Policy form the whole agreement between you and Choosealocal. If any provision is held unenforceable, the rest continues to apply.

21. Contact

Email: [email protected]
Address: 9 garland gate, westhoughton,
bl5 3je
Response time: one calendar month for formal data requests

Last updated: 13 August 2026

ICO Registration: ICO:00014972833

Choosealocal is a UK sole trader business. Registered proprietor: Bogdan Tudorache.