How we work together

1. How we charge

We charge for time at the rates on our pricing page, with a two-hour minimum per session. When two of us attend, the two-person rate on that page covers both of us, and the discount from the third hour onwards applies to Kari's time only. Short-notice sessions, and any package we offer, are charged as the pricing page describes, and what a package includes is written there. We are not VAT registered, so there is no VAT to add. Anything that costs money on top (a skip, a van, a registered waste carrier, specialist disposal) is yours to arrange. If we agree to arrange one for you, we agree the cost with you first and pass it on at cost. Anything we buy for you, like boxes or storage containers, is agreed first and charged at cost, with the receipt. Travel within 40 minutes of W13 each way by public transport is included in our rates. Further afield we come by minicab, door to door, and the fare is passed on at cost with no margin: a fixed amount for your postcode, worked out from typical fares and agreed when you book, paid with the booking and not metered on the day. If the session does not go ahead, the travel amount is refunded in full; the one exception is a same-day cancellation after the cab is already booked, where what it cost us is kept and the rest returned.

2. We charge for time

We charge for time, because we can't know exactly how long a home will take. What you can expect: before we start, we agree together what matters most and how much time to spend; we charge only for the hours worked; and we aim to check with you before running past the agreed time. A package is a block of time: if we finish early, you pay only for the hours worked. If we ever agree a fixed price for a particular piece of work, we set out in writing beforehand what it covers and what it costs, and the rest of these terms apply in the same way. We can't say how much will get done in a session, and if we give you a sense of how long something might take, treat it as a good-faith guess to help you plan, not a quote. Real homes hold surprises, and any guess assumes the home as we saw it on the first look. When life changes that (it happens!), the time changes with it, and we aim to tell you as we go, not as a surprise at the end. If we come across something that needs a specialist rather than us (pests, damp, anything unsafe), we pause that area and tell you, so you can bring in the right person. We aim to keep you informed about where the time goes.

3. What we are, and what we are not

We are organisers with real lived experience of mental health, and we work gently and without judgement alongside it. We are members of APDO, the Association of Professional Declutterers and Organisers, and follow its code of ethics. We are not therapists, clinicians or advisers, so we don't provide therapy, medical, legal or financial advice; when something needs one of those professionals, we'll say so. We don't help with washing, dressing or medicines. We try to be as clear about what we can't do as about what we can.

4. Working to your budget

If you would like certainty, tell us your budget ceiling. We plan the work with that in mind, focus on what matters most to you first, and do our very best to stay within it. We don't charge beyond it without your agreement, and we aim to ask before we get there, not at payment time. You stay in control.

5. Payment plans

Where paying in one go would be hard, we can agree a payment plan with you: how much you pay and when, set around what you can manage (monthly, for example, when your money comes in). There is no interest and no fee of any kind for this. A plan is agreed in writing before it starts and runs for six months at most. A plan is a way of paying for our time; it does not set prices for rooms or stages. If the work gets ahead of the payments, we may space sessions out so that nothing builds up, and we talk with you before we do.

6. Booking, payment and invoices

Booking is easy: message us on WhatsApp, call, or email, or use your own request link if we've sent you one. Asking for a time doesn't book it: Kari looks at the diary and confirms with you herself. We agree a window Kari aims to arrive in, for example between 1 and 2 pm, rather than an exact minute, because London travel and the session before can run on. If an exact start time matters to you, tell us when you book and we'll plan around it and do our best to be there on time. Your paid time starts when we arrive. Once we've agreed a date, we pencil it in for you for a few days. It is confirmed once your payment lands (a free first consultation just needs your yes). Single sessions are paid in full at booking. For half and full days, we take a deposit to confirm the date (the amount is on the pricing page) and the balance is settled on the day; the deposit is part of the price of that day, not an extra. Ongoing support is billed monthly in advance. If someone else pays for your sessions (family, a charity or a council), they agree a short funding note with us. It covers the paying only: the work, the decisions and your information stay yours. If a pencilled date is running out, we'll try to check with you before letting it go. Where a balance remains, we invoice at the end of the session (or weekly on larger projects), payable by bank transfer within 3 days. A delayed payment delays new sessions until everything outstanding is settled. We hope you understand that a small business runs on this.

7. If we give you time free or at a lower rate

If we ever give you time free or at a lower rate, it is a gift: there is nothing to pay for it later, and nothing becomes owed back.

8. Decisions about your things

The way we work is that nothing leaves your home without a yes from you or the person you nominate. Where more than one person lives in the home, decisions come from that one nominated person, and anything that belongs to someone else needs their OK too. We do our best to spot anything precious or valuable and set it aside. We are organisers, not valuers, and we can miss things, so please tell us about anything special before we start. Once something has left the home with your go-ahead, donated or disposed of, it can't be brought back, so we aim to double-check before anything leaves. We don't buy our clients' belongings, and we don't accept valuable gifts. Sorted items stay in your home unless we agree otherwise, and anything set aside for you to collect or decide on stays with you. We don't offer storage: the only things that come away with us are donations you have said goodbye to. What Kari can carry by hand on public transport is included, usually a couple of bags, and she takes it to a charity shop, the same day when she can and otherwise as soon as she can afterwards. Anything more than that needs a vehicle, and is yours to arrange: you can take it yourself or book a charity collection. If we agree to take it by taxi or van, the cost is agreed with you first: the fare passed on at cost, or a set fee where our pricing page shows one. Anything that is rubbish or recycling goes in your own bins, or with a registered waste carrier that you arrange. We can't carry paint, chemicals, batteries, medicines or sharps, and old sofas and armchairs need their own collection. If we help you sell things, we agree how in writing first. Please make sure someone who can make decisions is reachable (in person or on WhatsApp) during sessions; when decisions have to wait, the work takes longer, and that time is still working time. The one line our insurer asks you to sign. Every decision to let something go is yours, so when you sign these terms (clause 15) you also sign this statement: "Before any session starts, I confirm that I am responsible for everything I choose to let go of during the decluttering, whether it is donated, recycled, thrown away or, in a digital session, deleted." Our insurer asks for it before your first session, and it matches how we already work.

9. Changing or cancelling a session

Life happens! Rearranging is free with 24 hours' notice, and so is cancelling: anything you've paid for that session, deposit included, comes back to you or moves to the new date, whichever you'd rather. With less notice than that, we charge a late-change fee of 1 hour per booked person, because the time was set aside for you; the rest of what you've paid comes back or moves. The same one-hour-per-person charge applies if we arrive and cannot start (nobody home, or no access to the areas we agreed to work on). If we ever have to cancel, you pay nothing for that session and anything paid comes back or moves, your choice.

10. Your right to cancel (the legal bit, kept human)

Because we usually agree things by message rather than in a shop, you have a legal right to cancel our agreement within 14 days of confirming it, without giving a reason. That applies to each new booking. To cancel, message or email us saying you wish to cancel (the form below works too, and you don't have to use it). It is enough to send it before the 14 days are up. We then refund what you have paid for that booking within 14 days, the same way you paid. If a session falls within 14 days of booking it, we ask you to confirm you'd like us to start; a message saying yes is enough. If you then cancel, you pay only for the time already worked. Once a session you asked us to start has been completed, the right to cancel that session ends.

Cancellation form (only if you wish to cancel): To Healing Spaces with Kari (kari@healing-spaces-kari.co.uk; our postal address is on your welcome page): I hereby give notice that I cancel my contract for the supply of the following service: [service], ordered on [date], name [name], address [address], date [date].

11. If something is not right

Tell us straight away, and we'll do our very best to put it right. We aim to handle your things with care and to point out anything old or fragile before we touch it. If something does get damaged, tell us and we'll work with you to sort it out, through our insurance where needed. We don't move heavy furniture alone. If you're unhappy with anything, tell Kari; we aim to reply within 14 days. We're not part of a formal dispute scheme, and the small claims court remains open to you. We are insured for professional indemnity, public liability and medical malpractice, with one combined limit of £1 million, and documents are available on request. We are ICO registered (ZC180019); Kari is DBS checked and an APDO member. And the same care both ways: we aim to treat every home and every person with kindness, and we ask the same in return; we may pause a session if anyone on our team feels unsafe. Please tell us in advance about anything that could affect safety in the home (damp, pests, anything you're worried about); it helps us come prepared, and it doesn't change how kindly we treat you or your home.

12. Digital sessions and tech help

Some sessions are about phones, tablets, laptops, photos, email and online accounts. They work the same way as everything else: your device, your accounts, your decisions. Before we start, we agree with you how we'll work: who does the tapping and typing, whether we are beside you or connected from somewhere else, and whether anything needs installing. The way we work is that nothing is done on your device or accounts without your agreement: deleting, installing and connecting remotely each need your yes, each time, and we check there is a backup first wherever that's possible. You can watch what we do and ask us to stop at any point. Where you can, you type your own passwords; if we need to use one with you, we don't keep it afterwards. We don't make payments or move money for you, and we won't ask for your banking log-in. We only get in touch about your device in ways we've agreed, so if someone rings out of the blue asking to connect to it, it isn't us. We work on accounts that belong to the person in the session; someone else's accounts need that person's agreement or the legal authority to act for them, and for someone who has died we can only help through each provider's own process. What we see on your screen stays private, and we only copy, photograph or record a screen with your OK, to help with the job. Our insurance doesn't cover loss of digital files or data, which is one more reason the backup comes first and deleting needs your yes. Keeping your own backup is your responsibility: we take care, but we can't accept responsibility for files or data that weren't backed up, unless the loss was caused by our own carelessness. If something needs a specialist (a repair, or recovering lost data), we'll say so.

13. Who does the work

On a two-of-us session, the second person works under Kari's direction and the same terms, and anyone we bring into your home is asked to keep what they see private. Tech help (clause 12) is done by David, who trades as HelpMagic (also written helpmagic.ai), working alongside Kari. To keep it to one agreement, these terms cover that work too: when you sign them you agree them with Kari for the work in your home and with HelpMagic for tech help, so there is nothing more to sign. What tech help costs is agreed with you before it starts. If we mention another trade or service, like a repair shop, a removals firm or a cleaner, it is a suggestion: you choose and contract with them directly, and their work is theirs. If we would earn anything from a suggestion, we tell you first.

14. Photos, filming and your information

We may keep a simple, private photo record of the areas we work on and anything set aside or leaving your home (in a digital session, a screen is only photographed or recorded with your OK); it helps us keep track of things. Photos or film are only shared (our website, YouTube or social media) with your clear agreement, which we keep a note of; a message is enough. You can change your mind at any point. We keep our records of the work (bookings, what we agreed, the record of your signature, invoices, consents) for seven years, because our insurer asks us to; we don't keep copies of your own files. How we look after your information is in our privacy notice.

15. Agreeing to these terms, and when they change

You agree to these terms on your welcome page, by ticking the box and pressing the button. You can also agree by replying in writing, from your own number or email, "Yes, I agree to the updated terms" with your name. Either way, this counts as your signature. They cover every session you book with us. If we change them, we tell you what has changed and why before your next session. For small changes, carrying on with your sessions means you accept them; for a change that matters to what you pay or what you have agreed about your things, we ask for your yes again; a reply to our message saying yes is enough, no form to sign. Things you buy from our online shop have their own shop terms; if we run workshops or sell guides, what you're buying and how to cancel is set out when you book.

16. Your pace, and keeping everyone safe

If you'd like more time to decide, a break, or someone you trust with you, say so at any point. For bigger decisions or spends we may suggest someone you trust joins the conversation. If we're ever worried that someone is at risk, we'll try to talk with you first where it's safe to, and we may contact social care.

Questions?

Message us any time on WhatsApp, call 07752 212213, or email kari@healing-spaces-kari.co.uk. We would love to help. Healing Spaces with Kari, West Ealing, London W13. Our full postal address is on your own welcome page.