VereLocal Conduct Rules

How we expect people to use VereLocal

VereLocal helps clients find local businesses, freelancers and independent service providers, compare their options and make a more informed choice.

That only works when the people using the platform are honest, respectful and fair with one another.

These Conduct Rules explain the standard we expect from businesses and clients using VereLocal. They apply across business profiles, quote requests, messages, reviews, Business Updates and any other content or activity on the platform.

They’re not a guide to how businesses must operate, and they don’t replace our Terms or any legal responsibilities someone may have.

VereLocal doesn’t:

- decide how much a business should charge;

- require businesses to use a particular payment method;

- tell businesses which jobs they have to accept;

- guarantee the quality or outcome of work;

- expect every client and business to agree with one another.

We do expect everyone to act honestly, communicate clearly and avoid deliberately misleading, exploiting or harming other people.

Rules for everyone

Be honest about who you are

Don’t impersonate another person or business, create misleading accounts or provide false information about your identity.

Information shared on VereLocal should be genuine and, as far as you know, accurate.

Treat people with respect

Racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, ableism, religious hatred and other discriminatory or degrading behaviour aren’t welcome on VereLocal.

Don’t use profiles, business names, service descriptions, messages, reviews or any other platform feature to:

- harass, threaten or intimidate someone;

- make hateful or derogatory comments;

- target someone because of who they are;

- share sexually explicit or seriously offensive content;

- encourage abuse or harm;

- repeatedly contact someone after they’ve asked you to stop.

Disagreement and criticism are allowed. Personal abuse isn’t.

VereLocal reviews, complaints, Q&A and other user-submitted experiences must be written by the person submitting them, in their own words. We do not accept AI-generated or AI-rewritten user content.

Keep claims factual

Don’t knowingly publish false, defamatory or seriously misleading claims about another person or business.

When describing a complaint or negative experience, focus on what happened, what service was agreed and why you were unhappy. Don’t exaggerate an incident or present assumptions as proven facts.

Respect people’s privacy

Don’t publish or share another person’s private information without a genuine reason or their permission.

This includes:

- home addresses;

- personal phone numbers or email addresses;

- payment details;

- identity documents;

- private messages;

- photographs taken in private settings;

- information about someone’s health or personal circumstances.

Information received through VereLocal should only be used for the enquiry, service or conversation it relates to.

Don’t spam or manipulate the platform

Don’t use VereLocal to send repeated unsolicited messages, promote unrelated products or services, create fake engagement or manipulate reviews and platform activity.

This includes using multiple accounts to avoid restrictions or make activity appear more genuine than it is.

Don’t use VereLocal for illegal or deliberately harmful activity

VereLocal shouldn’t be used to promote, arrange or support fraud, scams, illegal services or activity intended to cause harm.

Conduct expected from businesses

Run a genuine business

Businesses should only offer services they genuinely provide and are reasonably capable of completing.

Where a service requires particular qualifications, registrations, licences, permissions or insurance, businesses should meet those requirements before offering the service.

Businesses shouldn’t claim to hold a qualification, licence, membership, insurance policy or verification they don’t have.

Keep your profile accurate

Business profiles should give clients a fair and current picture of the business.

Businesses should make reasonable efforts to keep the following information accurate:

- services offered;

- service areas;

- prices or price indicators;

- availability;

- experience and qualifications;

- photographs and examples of work;

- business ownership and values-based profile tags;

- insurance or verification information;

- contact and trading details.

Don’t use work, reviews, qualifications or photographs belonging to another business unless you have permission to do so.

Businesses mustn’t describe themselves as approved, guaranteed or fully verified by VereLocal unless the platform specifically confirms that wording.

Be clear about prices

VereLocal doesn’t decide what businesses should charge. Different businesses may reasonably charge different prices for similar work.

We do expect businesses to explain their pricing honestly.

Where possible, clients should be told:

- whether a price is fixed or estimated;

- what the price includes;

- whether materials, travel or other costs are additional;

- when payment is expected;

- what could cause the price to change.

Don’t advertise one price to attract an enquiry and then deliberately replace it with a substantially different price without a reasonable explanation.

Don’t add hidden charges or knowingly charge for work, materials or time that weren’t provided.

When circumstances change, explain the difference and agree any significant additional costs before continuing wherever reasonably possible.

Deliver what was agreed

Businesses should provide the service that was described, quoted for and agreed with the client.

Work should be completed to a reasonable standard for the type of service being provided. Businesses shouldn’t deliberately underdeliver, leave out agreed parts of the service or use unsuitable materials to increase their profit.

Not every job will go perfectly. Delays, mistakes and unexpected problems can happen. When they do, businesses should explain the situation honestly and make a reasonable effort to put things right.

Communicate clearly

Businesses should provide enough information for clients to understand what happens next.

This includes communicating important changes to:

- price;

- timing;

- availability;

- the agreed work;

- who will complete the work;

- materials or methods being used;

- cancellations or delays.

Businesses aren’t expected to be available at all hours or reply immediately. They should, however, avoid repeatedly ignoring confirmed clients or leaving people without information about an agreed service.

Work safely and within your abilities

Businesses shouldn’t take on work they know they can’t complete safely or competently.

They should take reasonable care around clients, employees, animals, homes, belongings, workplaces and personal information.

Where a job carries particular risks, those risks should be explained rather than hidden from the client.

Use reviews honestly

Businesses are welcome to ask genuine clients to leave a review.

They shouldn’t:

- create reviews for themselves;

- arrange fake reviews;

- ask people who haven’t used the service to leave a review;

- offer a reward only in exchange for a positive review;

- pressure clients to change an honest review;

- threaten or punish someone for leaving reasonable criticism;

- use reviews belonging to another business.

Businesses can respond to reviews and explain their side of an experience, but responses should remain factual and respectful.

Handle complaints fairly

A complaint doesn’t automatically mean a business has acted improperly. Clients and businesses may remember events differently or disagree about the quality, price or scope of a service.

Businesses should still make a reasonable effort to understand genuine concerns and respond without threats, harassment or personal attacks.

Choose work fairly

Businesses are free to decide whether they’re available, suitable or able to accept a job. They may reasonably decline work because of location, timing, capacity, expertise, safety or the nature of the request.

They shouldn’t mistreat or reject someone for discriminatory reasons.

Conduct expected from clients

Make genuine enquiries

Quote requests and messages should relate to a genuine service need or a reasonable intention to explore the available options.

Clients shouldn’t:

- submit fake enquiries;

- deliberately waste a business’s time;

- repeatedly request quotes with no genuine interest;

- use quote requests to send spam;

- contact businesses to sell unrelated products or services;

- create multiple accounts to send the same request repeatedly.

It’s completely reasonable to compare businesses, ask questions and decide not to continue. Letting a business know when you’re no longer interested can help everyone manage their time.

Give businesses accurate information

Businesses can only provide useful advice or quotes when they understand the work involved.

Clients should explain the request honestly and mention any important information that could affect the service, such as:

- the size or condition of the job;

- access restrictions;

- pets or other animals;

- deadlines;

- safety concerns;

- specialist requirements;

- previous work or damage;

- relevant changes after a quote has been provided.

Clients shouldn’t deliberately hide important details to obtain a lower quote.

Communicate reasonably

Clients should treat businesses and their staff with respect.

Don’t harass someone for an immediate response, contact them excessively or use threatening language because they’re unavailable or choose not to accept a job.

Businesses are allowed to set working hours, response times and boundaries around how they communicate.

Honour reasonable agreements

Clients should pay the price they’ve agreed to where the agreed service has been provided.

If the work, price or outcome is disputed, clients should raise the issue clearly and give the business a reasonable opportunity to respond.

Don’t withhold payment, threaten a negative review or make damaging public claims simply to pressure a business into providing an unrelated discount, refund or additional work.

Provide a safe and suitable environment

Where a service takes place at a home, workplace or another location controlled by the client, clients should make reasonable efforts to provide safe access and disclose relevant risks.

Clients should treat workers, contractors and business owners respectfully while they’re carrying out the service.

Leave genuine reviews

Reviews should be based on a real, first-hand experience.

Clients shouldn’t:

- review a business they haven’t used or dealt with;

- leave a review on behalf of someone else without explaining the connection;

- review a competitor to damage their reputation;

- create multiple reviews about the same experience;

- include deliberately false information;

- use a review to harass or threaten someone;

- demand money, discounts or free work in exchange for removing a review;

- publish private information that isn’t needed to explain the experience.

Both positive and negative reviews are welcome when they’re honest, useful and relevant.

A negative review should explain what happened rather than attack the people involved.

Disagreements and complaints

Not every disagreement means someone has broken these rules.

A client may be unhappy with a service even when the business believes it completed the agreed work. A business may disagree with a review without the review being fake or abusive.

VereLocal may consider:

- what was originally requested or agreed;

- messages and quote information available through the platform;

- evidence provided by the people involved;

- whether information appears deliberately misleading;

- whether there’s a repeated pattern of behaviour;

- the seriousness and potential impact of the conduct.

VereLocal isn’t a court, regulator or professional trade body. We may not be able to decide every private disagreement or determine exactly who is responsible.

Our role is to keep the platform useful, reduce misleading or abusive behaviour and act where someone appears to be putting other users at risk.

When these rules aren’t followed

Depending on what has happened, VereLocal may:

- contact the person or business for more information;

- remove or restrict content;

- reject or remove a review;

- add context or a warning to a profile;

- limit access to particular platform features;

- temporarily suspend an account or profile;

- permanently remove an account or business profile;

- report serious illegal activity or immediate safety concerns to the appropriate organisation.

We’ll consider the context, available evidence, seriousness of the situation and whether the behaviour has happened before.

A report doesn’t automatically prove that someone has broken the rules. We’ll try to act fairly to everyone involved and give people a way to raise concerns about a decision.

The standard we’re trying to create

VereLocal isn’t here to control how independent businesses work or tell clients who they must choose.

We’re here to make local services easier to understand and compare.

That means businesses should represent themselves honestly, explain what they offer and treat clients fairly. Clients should make genuine enquiries, treat businesses with respect and share honest feedback.

Everyone should be able to use VereLocal without facing scams, manipulation, discrimination, harassment or deliberately misleading information.