Terms of Service

How (“How”, “we”, “us”) operates how-app.com, a platform where people who are navigating a life moment (“Seekers”) can hear from people who have been through it themselves (“Peers”). By creating an account or using How you agree to these terms. You must be at least 18 to use How.

[Legal entity details — company name, registered number and address — to be added on incorporation.]

Peers share their own lived experience. That is the whole product, and it is the limit of it. How is not therapy, counselling, coaching, or professional advice of any kind. Peers are not acting as medical, legal, or financial professionals on How, even if they hold such qualifications elsewhere, and nothing on How should be relied upon as professional advice. For decisions with medical, legal, or financial consequences, consult a qualified professional.

How is not a crisis service. If you are in crisis, call Samaritans on 116 123 (UK) or your local emergency services.

Keep your sign-in details secure and the information on your account accurate. You are responsible for activity on your account. We may suspend or close accounts that breach these terms, our safety rules, or the law.

Voice questionscost £1.40 (some Peers choose to answer questions free), paid when you send your question. The Peer has 24 hours to reply with a voice note. If they don’t reply in time, you are refunded automatically in full.

Live callsare billed per minute at the rate shown on the Peer’s profile. When you start a call we place a temporary authorisation hold on your card (the per-minute rate × 30 minutes); when the call ends you are charged only for the minutes you actually used, rounded up to the next minute, and the rest of the hold is released. If the Peer doesn’t answer, declines, or the call never starts, the hold is released and you are not charged. Extending a call requires both of you to accept and places a further hold on the same basis.

Payments are processed by Stripe. We do not see or store your card number.

Because bookings are delivered straight away, by sending a question or starting a call you ask us to begin immediately and acknowledge that once the service has been fully delivered the 14-day cancellation right under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 no longer applies. The refunds described in these terms, and your statutory rights, are unaffected.

Peers must be 18 or over, complete payout onboarding with our payment provider Stripe (which includes its own identity checks), and — before taking live calls — pass identity verification. Peers receive 80% of what the Seeker pays, transferred to their Stripe account after each completed booking.

You are responsible for your own tax on what you earn through How. Chapters and answers must describe your own genuine experience. Do not present experience you have not had, and do not give advice in regulated areas (medical, legal, financial) — share what happened to you and what you did.

If something goes wrong on a call or with a question, report it from the booking. We review reports within 24 hours. Where a report about a paid booking is upheld we may refund the Seeker; while a report is being reviewed, the related Peer payment may be held. Repeated upheld reports can lead to suspension.

Statutory rights you have as a UK consumer are not affected by anything in these terms. Refunds go back to your original payment method.

How does not record live calls. Recording a call without the other person’s consent is prohibited and can be reported. Voice questions and replies are stored so they can be listened to, and are automatically deleted 90 days after the booking completes.

You must not use How to:

• harass, threaten, or harm anyone, or share another person’s private information;
• misrepresent your identity or experience;
• give or solicit regulated professional advice;
• take payment for How bookings outside the platform;
• post unlawful content, or use the platform for any unlawful purpose.

We may remove content, hide profiles, withhold payments connected to a breach, and suspend or ban accounts to keep How safe.

You own what you create on How. By posting it you give us a licence to host and display it so the service works (for example, showing a Peer’s chapters to Seekers). You can delete your account whenever you like (once any active bookings have finished) from Settings, which removes your profile and content as described in our Privacy Policy.

Peers are independent individuals sharing personal experience; they are not our employees or agents, and we do not endorse or verify the substance of what they say. To the extent permitted by law, we are not liable for decisions you make in reliance on a conversation. Nothing in these terms excludes liability that cannot be excluded under the law of England and Wales, including for death or personal injury caused by negligence.

We may update these terms; if we make material changes we will tell you (for example by email) before they take effect. You can stop using How and delete your account at any time (once any active bookings have finished). These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction.

Questions? Email hello@how-app.com.