Last updated 6 July 2026 · v1.0

Terms of Service

Governing use of the helper-app.net platform by Clients and Workers

1. Who these Terms are between

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) are a contract between Helpers NZ (“Helpers”, “we”, “us”), operating helper-app.net, and any person who creates an account, browses listings, books a job, or performs a job through the platform (“you”). If you sign up as someone offering services (gardening, cleaning, errands) you are a “Worker”. If you sign up as someone booking services you are a “Client”. Some clauses apply to both; some apply only to one, as marked.

2. What Helpers is — and is not

2.1. Helpers is a marketplace and booking platform. We connect Clients who want household help with Workers who want flexible paid work. We are not an employer of Workers, and Workers are not employees, workers, or agents of Helpers within the meaning of the Employment Relations Act 2000.

2.2. Workers contract directly with Clients for the performance of each job. Helpers facilitates discovery, booking, communication, and payment, and provides the vetting, insurance, and dispute-resolution support described in these Terms, but Helpers is not a party to the underlying service contract between Worker and Client.

2.3.Nothing in these Terms, in the platform’s rating, guidance, or scheduling tools, or in Helpers’ conduct is intended to, and does not, create an employment relationship, partnership, or joint venture between Helpers and any Worker.

3. Accounts and eligibility

• You must be at least 18 years old, or 16–17 with a parent/guardian’s consent on file, to hold a Worker account.
• You must provide accurate identity information for ID verification. Helpers may decline, suspend, or remove any account at its discretion, including where verification fails or where conduct breaches these Terms.
• Workers are individually responsible for their own tax position (see clause 8) and for holding any qualifications or certifications a job genuinely requires.

4. Vetting, insurance, and what we promise

4.1.Workers accepted onto the platform are ID-checked and vetted according to Helpers’ onboarding process in place at the time. Helpers does not guarantee the future conduct of any Worker or Client and Client/Worker interactions remain subject to ordinary care and judgement on both sides.

4.2.Helpers holds public liability insurance covering the platform’s own operations. This policy does not extend to cover a Worker’s personal negligence or wrongdoing while performing a job. Marketing and platform copy will describe Workers as “ID-checked” and “vetted” and must not describe individual Workers or jobs as “insured” unless a specific policy is confirmed to apply — see clause 4.3.

4.3. Workers are strongly encouraged to hold their own liability cover where relevant to the work performed, and Helpers may make this a condition of listing certain job categories in future.

5. Booking, payment, and fees

• Clients pay the displayed rate at time of booking; Helpers pre-authorises the card and captures payment once the job is confirmed complete by both parties (or after a fixed confirmation window if the Client does not respond).
• Helpers’ service fee is built into the displayed rate; Workers see and are paid the post-fee amount, and this split is disclosed in the Worker’s account dashboard.
• Payouts to Workers are made via Stripe Connect on the schedule set out in the Worker Agreement, net of the platform fee and any adjustments for verified disputes.
• Cancellations: Clients and Workers are both asked to give at least 24 hours’ notice. At this early stage Helpers does not charge a cancellation fee to either side — repeated late cancellations may affect an account’s visibility/ranking, and in serious or repeated cases, standing on the platform.

6. Staying on-platform: incentives, not fines — for now

At this stage, Helpers is not charging Workers (students) any fee or fine for taking an introduced relationship off-platform. The priority right now is building a reliable Worker bench, and putting financial penalties on students this early would work against that. Retention is handled entirely through the incentives in clause 7 below.

6.1.Non-circumvention expectation. Where a Client and Worker are introduced through the platform, both are asked not to move the same or a substantially similar recurring arrangement off-platform purely to avoid Helpers’ fee. This is currently an expectation backed by the incentives in clause 7, not a financial penalty.

6.2. No Worker fee at this stage. Helpers will not seek payment from a Worker for taking a job off-platform while this clause remains in its current form. Any future change that introduces a fee on Workers will be communicated at least 30 days in advance and will not apply retroactively.

6.3.Reserved for future use. Helpers may, once booking volume is established, consider a modest liquidated-damages-style fee reflecting genuine lost commission (not a punitive fine), most likely applied to Clients rather than Workers, consistent with New Zealand’s penalty-clause doctrine (Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017, s 84). Any such clause would need its own legal review before going live and would be flagged clearly to users in advance.

7. Incentives for staying on-platform

• Payment protection: Clients only pay once a job is confirmed done; Workers are only paid through a platform that guarantees the charge goes through, unlike a private cash arrangement.
• Insurance and vetting umbrella applies only to platform-booked jobs — taking a relationship off-platform means losing that cover entirely, for both sides.
• Priority ranking / more bookings for Workers with strong on-platform tenure and completed-job history — reputation and ranking do not transfer off-platform.
• Loyalty pricing: a reduced platform fee percentage for Clients/Workers once a recurring relationship passes an activity threshold (e.g. 10 completed jobs), so the fee shrinks over time rather than becoming worth dodging.
• Dispute resolution and rating protection are only available for platform-booked jobs.
• Simple tax/income record-keeping for Workers (platform statements) that a private cash arrangement doesn’t provide.
• Referral bonuses for Workers who bring on new Clients or Workers, rewarding platform growth rather than platform exit.

8. Tax and legal status of Workers

8.1. Workers are independent contractors, not employees. Workers are responsible for declaring income to Inland Revenue, for GST registration if their turnover requires it, and for their own ACC levies as a self-employed person (noting ACC cover for injury applies automatically).

8.2. Helpers will provide Workers with monthly earnings statements to support tax filing but does not withhold PAYE and does not provide tax advice.

9. Liability and disclaimers

• To the maximum extent permitted by law, Helpers is not liable for the acts or omissions of Workers or Clients, for property damage or personal injury arising from a job, or for indirect or consequential loss.
• Nothing in these Terms excludes rights that cannot be excluded under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 or Fair Trading Act 1986, to the extent they apply to a Client’s use of the platform.

10. Disputes

A Client or Worker with a complaint about a specific job should raise it through the in-app dispute process within 48 hours of job completion. Helpers will review evidence from both sides and may withhold, adjust, or release payment accordingly. Unresolved disputes proceed to mediation before either party may pursue court proceedings, and the Disputes Tribunal (for claims under its jurisdictional limit) is available for straightforward money claims.

11. Suspension and termination

Helpers may suspend or terminate any account for breach of these Terms, including safety concerns, fraudulent activity, or repeated unresolved complaints. Either party may close their account at any time; obligations that arose before closure survive.

12. Governing law

These Terms are governed by New Zealand law and the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the New Zealand courts.

13. Changes to these Terms

Helpers may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be notified by email or in-app notice at least 14 days before they take effect.