Legal & policies

About us & how the marketplace works

Cozy Hive Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales (company number 14698447). Registered office: 167–169 Great Portland Street, 5th Floor, London, W1W 5PF. Email: maha@cozyhive.uk.

Cozy Hive is an online marketplace. Customers post the work they need, and independent, checked service providers send quotes. When a customer accepts a quote, the contract for the work is between the customer and the provider.

• Cozy Hive does not carry out the work and does not employ the providers. Each provider is an independent business.
• Cozy Hive acts as the provider's commercial agent: we arrange the booking on the provider's behalf and collect the payment for them. Paying Cozy Hive counts as paying the provider.
• Invoices are issued by Cozy Hive in the provider's name, on the provider's behalf. Cozy Hive's only income is a commission paid by the provider.
• All communication and payments for jobs found on Cozy Hive must stay on the platform.

Terms & Conditions (customers)

Version 2026-11 · Last updated 7 November 2026

These terms apply when you use Cozy Hive to find and book a service provider. Please read them with our Payments policy, Cancellation & Refund Policy, Dispute Resolution Policy and Privacy Policy, which form part of these terms.

1. Who we are and our role

Cozy Hive is run by Cozy Hive Ltd. We provide the platform, check providers before they can quote, and collect payments on the providers' behalf as their commercial agent. We do not act as your agent. The work is supplied to you by the provider you choose, who is an independent business and is responsible to you for the work.

2. Your account

You must be 18 or over and give accurate details. Keep your password safe — you're responsible for activity on your account. You need to confirm your email address before posting requests or booking, so we can send you quotes, confirmations and receipts.

3. Requests and quotes

• Describe the job accurately, including anything that could affect the price or safety. Photos help.
• Providers send either a fixed price or an hourly rate with a maximum charge. Prices include any VAT the provider must charge.
• You choose which quote (if any) to accept. Quotes for a request close when you book one, cancel the request, or the requested date passes.
• Phone numbers, email addresses and messaging links are removed from requests and quotes. Please don't arrange work or payment outside Cozy Hive — you would lose the payment protection described below.

4. Booking and payment

• A contract for the work is made between you and the provider when you accept a quote and complete checkout.
• At checkout the fixed price, or the maximum charge for hourly work, is held on your card — it is not taken. For jobs more than 5 days away, your card is saved and the hold is placed 2 days before the job.
• Your card is saved securely by our payment provider, Stripe, so the hold can be placed (or placed again) for this booking. We never see or store your full card number.
• If the hold can't be placed (for example the card is declined), we'll email you to update your payment. If you don't, the provider may not attend.

5. After the job

• When the provider marks the job as done, you'll get an email. For hourly work the provider enters the hours worked; the charge is the hours multiplied by the rate, and never more than the maximum unless you approve a higher amount on the platform.
• You then have 48 hours to confirm the job or report an issue. If you do neither, the payment is taken automatically.
• Only the final amount is taken; the rest of the hold is released. Stripe emails you a receipt and your invoice is available in your account.

6. Cancelling

See the Cancellation & Refund Policy. In short: cancelling a request before you book is free, and cancelling a booking before the work starts gets a full refund. Your legal right to cancel is explained there.

7. If something goes wrong

Report it from your dashboard within the 48 hours — the payment is paused and our team reviews it under the Dispute Resolution Policy. If you notice a problem after the payment has been taken, contact us and we'll help. Whatever we decide, your legal rights against the provider are not affected: services must be carried out with reasonable care and skill, and as described.

8. Reviews

You can rate a provider after a completed and paid job. Reviews must be honest and must not be abusive, defamatory or include personal details. We may remove reviews that break these rules.

9. Your responsibilities

Give the provider safe and reasonable access at the agreed time, tell them about any hazards, and treat them with respect. Don't use Cozy Hive for anything unlawful.

10. Our responsibility to you

We're responsible for running the platform with reasonable care and skill and for handling your payment as described in these terms. The provider, not Cozy Hive, is responsible for the work itself. We're not responsible for losses that weren't foreseeable or that are caused by events outside our control. Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or any other liability that the law doesn't allow us to limit, and nothing affects your statutory rights.

11. Suspending accounts

We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms, gives false information, misuses the issue-reporting process or tries to arrange payment outside the platform.

12. Changes

We may update these terms. The version that applies to a booking is the one in force when you made it. We'll tell you about important changes by email or on the website.

13. Complaints and law

If you're unhappy with Cozy Hive, contact us at maha@cozyhive.uk. We aim to reply within 5 working days. These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland you can also bring proceedings in your local courts.

Payments & card holds

• Currency: all prices are in pounds sterling (GBP) and include any VAT the provider charges.
• Card hold, not a charge: when you book, the amount is authorised on your card. Your bank may show it as "pending". Nothing is taken until the job is done.
• Jobs more than 5 days away: your card is saved at checkout and the hold is placed 2 days before the job (card holds only last about 7 days).
• Hourly jobs: the maximum charge is held. After the job, only the actual amount (hours × rate, up to the maximum) is taken and the rest is released.
• When the money is taken: when you confirm the job, or automatically 48 hours after the provider marks it as done if you haven't reported an issue.
• If a hold expires before the job is finished, it is placed again on the card you saved for this booking.
• Payment processor: payments are handled by Stripe. Card details go directly to Stripe and are never stored by Cozy Hive.
• Who you're paying: Cozy Hive collects the payment as the provider's commercial agent. Paying Cozy Hive counts as paying the provider. Cozy Hive's commission is paid by the provider, not by you.
• Receipts and invoices: Stripe emails a receipt when the payment is taken, and the provider's invoice (issued by Cozy Hive on their behalf) is in your dashboard.
• Refunds go back to the card you paid with and usually appear within 5–10 working days.

Cancellation & Refund Policy

Before you book

You can cancel a request at any time before you accept a quote, free of charge.

After you book, before the work starts

Use Request cancellation on the booking. Nothing is taken while we look at it, and you'll get a full refund (the hold on your card is released). Please give as much notice as you can — the provider has set time aside for you.

Your legal right to cancel

Under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 you can cancel a service booked online within 14 days of booking. When you book a job for a date within those 14 days, you are asking the provider to start during the cancellation period. If you cancel after the work has started, you pay for the work done up to then; once the work is fully completed, the right to cancel ends.

If the provider doesn't come

From the day after the booked date, if the provider hasn't marked the job as done, you can choose The provider didn't come. The booking is cancelled straight away and you aren't charged.

If the provider cancels

You aren't charged, and you can post the request again to get new quotes.

After the work has started or finished

If you're not happy with the work, report an issue within 48 hours of the provider marking the job done. Our team will decide whether a full refund, a partial refund or the full payment is fair — see the Dispute Resolution Policy.

Refunds after the payment has been taken

If we agree a refund after the payment was taken, it goes back to your card and we issue a credit note against the invoice. Refunds usually appear within 5–10 working days.

Cancellation fees for late cancellations may be introduced in future; if they are, they will be shown clearly before you book.

Dispute Resolution Policy

1. Report it: use Report an issue on the booking within 48 hours of the provider marking the job done (or any time before). Explain what's wrong and add photos if you can. The payment is paused immediately.
2. We hear both sides: we show your report to the provider and give them a reasonable chance to respond, with their own photos.
3. We decide: our team looks at the job description, the quote, both accounts, the photos and the provider's history. We aim to decide within 5 working days.
4. Possible outcomes:
   • Full refund — you aren't charged at all;
   • Partial refund — you're charged only for the part of the work that was done properly;
   • Payment released — the work was done as agreed and the payment is taken.
5. We tell you both by email, with the reasons.

Our decision is how Cozy Hive handles the payment. It doesn't take away any legal rights you have against the provider, or theirs against you. If you ask your bank to reverse a card payment (a chargeback), please tell us first — we can usually resolve things faster.

Terms for service providers

Providers use Cozy Hive under the Service Provider Agency & Payment Collection Agreement (version 1.0), which every provider accepts when registering. In summary:

• Providers are independent businesses. They set their own prices, decide which requests to quote for and are responsible for their work, licences, insurance and tax.
• Cozy Hive acts as the provider's commercial agent to conclude bookings and collect payments, and issues invoices in the provider's name.
• Cozy Hive's commission is 15% of the amount collected (promotional rates may apply). Providers are paid once a month, within 10 working days after the month ends, with a statement and a commission invoice.
• Refunds, agreed compensation and chargebacks may be deducted from a provider's balance. Providers can respond to any issue before a decision is made.
• Contact and payment outside the platform for customers found on Cozy Hive are not allowed for 12 months.
• Cozy Hive must report providers' earnings to HMRC under the digital platform reporting rules and collects the information needed to do so.

Privacy Policy

Last updated 7 November 2026

This policy explains how Cozy Hive Ltd ("we") uses personal data when you use cozyhive.uk. We are the data controller. Company number 14698447, registered office 167–169 Great Portland Street, 5th Floor, London, W1W 5PF. Contact: maha@cozyhive.uk.

What we collect

• Account details: name, email, phone number, address or postcode, password (stored only as a secure hash), profile photo.
• Requests and bookings: job descriptions, photos you upload, dates, addresses, quotes, messages to our team, reviews and issue reports with photos.
• Payments: amounts, dates and payment status. Card details are collected and stored by Stripe, not by us.
• Providers also: ID document, proof of address, certificates, business details, date of birth, National Insurance number or UTR, VAT number and bank details. Tax and bank details are encrypted.
• Technical data: IP address and basic request logs (security and preventing abuse), and the login information kept in your browser.
• Contact details removed from text: if you include a phone number or email in a request, quote or bio, we remove it and keep a record for our team (to prevent off-platform payment and fraud).

Why we use it and our legal basis

We don't send marketing emails without your consent and we don't sell your data.

Who we share it with

• The other party to a booking: providers see the postcode area of a request; once you book they see your first name, address and job details. Customers see a provider's trading or first name, photo, rating and bio. Phone numbers and emails are not shared.
• Stripe (payments and fraud prevention).
• Our hosting and email providers, who store the website, database and emails for us.
• Ideal Postcodes and postcodes.io, to look up addresses and postcodes.
• Cloudflare, only if visitor statistics are switched on.
• HMRC, for providers, as the law requires; and the police or other authorities when the law requires it.
• Our professional advisers (for example accountants and lawyers), under confidentiality.

Some of these companies may process data outside the UK (for example Stripe in the United States). When that happens, it is protected by UK adequacy regulations or the UK International Data Transfer Agreement / Addendum.

How long we keep it

• Account details: while your account is open. When you delete your account we remove your personal details straight away, except what the law requires us to keep.
• Bookings, payments, invoices and credit notes: 6 years after the end of the financial year they relate to (tax law).
• Providers' platform-reporting information: 6 years after the year it was reported for.
• Provider ID and address documents: while the account is open and up to 12 months afterwards.
• Contact messages: 2 years. Security logs: up to 12 months.

Your rights

You can ask to access, correct, delete, restrict or move your data, and object to how we use it. You can download your data and delete your account yourself on your profile page, or email maha@cozyhive.uk. We reply within one month. If you're unhappy, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk, 0303 123 1113).

Security

Connections are encrypted, passwords are hashed, tax and bank details are encrypted, documents are stored outside the public website and only our team can see them, and every admin action is logged.

Children

Cozy Hive is not for people under 18.

Changes

We'll update this page if anything changes and tell you about important changes.

Cookies & browser storage

We don't use advertising or tracking cookies, so we don't need to ask for consent. We only use what's strictly necessary to run the website:

If visitor statistics are switched on, we use Cloudflare Web Analytics, which does not use cookies or track you across websites.

You can clear cookies and browser storage in your browser settings at any time; you'll need to log in again.

Legal disclaimer

Cozy Hive is a marketplace and does not provide the services listed on it. Providers are independent businesses responsible for their own work. We check providers before they can quote, but we can't guarantee the quality of every job — that's why payments are only taken after the work is done and issues can be reported.

We try to keep the information on this website accurate and up to date, but it is general information, not professional advice. Links to other websites are for convenience; we're not responsible for their content.