Chef Terms and Conditions

1. The operator and your role

Hello Chef is a trading name of HELLO CHEF LTD, a private limited company registered in England and Wales with company number 17560331. Registered office: 59 Dominion Road, Bristol, England, BS16 3ES. Email: contact@hello-chef.co.uk.

Hello Chef is an intermediary marketplace. You offer and provide the cooking service directly to the customer identified in the booking, as an independent service provider. Hello Chef supplies platform facilities for discovery, communication, booking administration, payment arrangements and support.

You are responsible for the preparation, quality and safety of your cooking and compliance with the obligations that apply to your activities. Hello Chef is responsible for its own platform service and legal duties. Describing you as independent does not remove any employment or worker rights that apply to the actual arrangement.

2. Application and continuing eligibility

Provide truthful identity, contact, experience, service-area and profile information. Supply the requested identity and right-to-work evidence, including a valid share code and date of birth where that route applies. Keep relevant evidence current and respond to reasonable review queries.

A profile photograph, introduction, cuisines and work details are required by the application process. Food photos are optional during application and may be added later, up to 24. Public biography and photos are distinct from private verification documents and the experience statement used for review.

Optional upload categories for hygiene or allergen certificates do not make competence or food-safety obligations optional. Approval is a manual platform decision, separate from payment-provider checks; it does not guarantee bookings, earnings or insurance cover.

Before accepting work, complete the necessary payment setup, maintain eligibility and set your working days, hours and unavailable dates. Do not offer work you cannot lawfully or safely provide.

3. Your profile, rates and matching

Use accurate descriptions and photos you own or are authorised to use. Do not imply qualifications you do not hold. Choose the cuisines you can confidently prepare, your travel area, rate and availability. Keep them up to date.

Matching takes account of customer requirements, availability, service area and eligibility. Eligible results are ordered first by the number of matching cuisines, then by lower calculated visit price, with an internal identifier used to break remaining ties. Distance is an eligibility check. There are no paid placements in these matching results.

You can decline an unsuitable request before agreement. Once confirmed, fulfil the named booking or use the cancellation process promptly. Do not send a substitute chef without a properly agreed change; the current booking process books the named chef.

4. Preparing and delivering the service

Agree a clear menu and shopping list, including quantities, portions, equipment and relevant dietary requirements. The customer purchases ingredients separately; Hello Chef does not supply them. Clarify substitutions before cooking.

Perform the service with reasonable care and skill. Maintain appropriate competence, hygiene and any food-business registration or permissions required for your actual work. Hello Chef does not require insurance for account approval or bookings. You remain responsible for assessing your insurance needs and meeting any insurance obligations that apply to your work. Hello Chef does not provide insurance cover for chefs. Seek guidance from the relevant local authority where needed.

Assess allergy information, ingredient labels and cross-contact risks. Communicate limits honestly and decline work you cannot safely perform. A customer’s approval of a menu does not waive food-safety duties.

Be punctual and respectful of the customer and their home. If access, ingredients or kitchen conditions prevent safe work, explain the issue, record relevant facts and contact support. A disputed safety or absence claim is not proof that a fee is owed.

5. Commission and the cooking price

Hello Chef charges a platform commission of 20% of the cooking price for each completed booking. On a £100 completed cooking service, the commission is £20 and £80 remains before any separately disclosed payout costs, refunds or lawful adjustments. Ingredients bought separately by the customer are not part of the cooking price.

The tariff shown for your acceptance specifies the treatment of any applicable VAT and any payment or payout charges. No additional undisclosed charge is authorised by these terms.

You are responsible for your own tax position and for giving accurate tax information where lawfully requested. Confirmed booking rates cannot be changed retrospectively.

6. Payments, earnings and payouts

Customer payment is scheduled 24 hours before each confirmed visit. Completion, payment reconciliation and any relevant dispute determine available earnings. An amount shown as pending is not necessarily available to withdraw.

Stripe Connect setup and appropriate bank details are required for payout features. Review the amount, disclosed cost and estimated net payout before requesting a cash-out. Bank arrival depends on processing and is not guaranteed instantly.

Refunds, payment disputes, failed transfers or mistaken credits can require reconciliation. Any proposed deduction or recovery must have an identified basis, be explained, and have a route for you to challenge an error. These terms do not give Hello Chef an unrestricted right to confiscate unrelated earnings.

Any live payout arrangement must be disclosed and agreed before use.

7. Cancellations and recurring work

If you cancel, the customer does not owe a cancellation fee, whether you give more or less than 24 hours' notice. Any cooking payment for the cancelled visit is due for full refund. Notify the customer and support promptly. There is no automatic replacement chef or fixed chef fine under these terms.

Customer cancellation at least 24 hours before the confirmed start is free. The standard fee for a customer cancellation less than 24 hours before the start is 25% of that visit's cooking price. This is subject to the 14-day withdrawal protection for an unstarted service and the fair-loss review in the Cancellation and Refund Policy.

Provide reasonable evidence of the loss caused by a late cancellation, accounting for saved costs, replacement work and other steps to reduce the loss. The standard fee is calculated automatically; an administrator reviews requests or disputes about that fee and must reduce, waive or refund it where the justified recoverable loss is lower or the customer has an overriding right. You are not promised a 25% payment in every cancellation.

Hello Chef takes no commission from a valid cancellation fee. Actual payment-processing costs are deducted from the chef's cancellation proceeds, not added as an undisclosed charge to the customer. If Hello Chef authorises a full return of that fee, the customer receives the full fee back. Only your net cancellation earnings are recovered from your Stripe balance or offset against future earnings; Hello Chef bears any original processing cost that Stripe does not return.

For recurring work, honour confirmed dates and review pause, return and rescheduling proposals promptly. A proposed change is not effective until accepted through the platform.

8. Arrival, completion and evidence

Use arrival, start and completion controls honestly. Location-assisted arrival requests permission at the point of use; customer confirmation and administrator correction routes are also available. Do not falsify timing, location or completion.

Where completion evidence is required, show the prepared food and relevant kitchen condition without unnecessary images of people, possessions or private documents. Booking evidence is private and is not automatically public portfolio content.

Report a technical problem rather than submitting false evidence. A completed booking marker does not remove the customer’s right to raise a legitimate service complaint.

9. Customer information and your content

Use customer contact details, address, messages and dietary information only for the agreed service or another properly established lawful purpose. Do not use them for unrelated marketing. Protect information you keep and do not retain copies longer than necessary.

As an independent provider you may have your own data-protection duties. Cooperate with lawful requests to correct, restrict or delete information. Receiving data from Hello Chef does not supply a legal basis for every use you might make of it.

You retain ownership of your photos and text and permit Hello Chef to host, display and format them for the platform and your public profile. This does not authorise unrelated advertising use of private documents or booking evidence.

10. Complaints, restrictions and ending participation

Raise booking, payment, moderation or access concerns through Help or contact@hello-chef.co.uk. Include relevant references. You may ask for the reasons for a decision and reconsideration of an error.

Restrictions may be necessary for expired evidence, fraud, serious safety concerns or unlawful conduct. We will act proportionately, give reasons where lawful and provide any notice and complaint rights required by applicable law. Urgent action may be taken where a lawful exception permits it.

You may stop accepting work and request account closure. Confirmed bookings, legitimate complaints, refunds and earnings still need resolution. Material terms changes require the notice and options required by law and must not retrospectively alter accrued earnings.

11. Responsibility and law

You are responsible for your cooking service and your own breach of contract or negligence. Hello Chef remains responsible for its platform service and its own breach or negligence. Nothing excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded, including death or personal injury caused by negligence or fraud.

No blanket indemnity for every loss suffered by the platform is imposed. These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, subject to mandatory rights and applicable court jurisdiction.