Terms of Service

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a legally binding agreement between you and Ciaran Fitzgerald, a sole trader carrying on business under the trading name "CaterKin" ("CaterKin", "we", "us", "our"). CaterKin is in the process of incorporating as an Irish limited company. When incorporation is complete, these Terms will be updated to name the new legal entity, its CRO number and its registered office. Your rights and obligations will transfer automatically and we will notify you in advance of the change.

The Terms govern your access to and use of caterkin.com, the CaterKin mobile apps for iOS and Android, and all related services (the "Platform"). By creating an account, placing a booking, listing a Service, or otherwise using the Platform, you confirm that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by these Terms, our Privacy Policy, and our Cancellation Policy.

Booking — a confirmed reservation by a Renter for a Service provided by a Host.

Host — a User who offers Services on the Platform (caterers, private chefs, cooking-class instructors, food-experience hosts, venue partners).

Renter — a User who books Services from a Host.

Service — a catering engagement, private-chef booking, cooking class, food experience or related offering listed on the Platform.

Listing — the description, price and availability a Host publishes for a given Service.

Service Fee / Commission — the fee we charge Hosts on completed Bookings, calculated as in §10.

Content — any text, images, audio, video, ratings, reviews or other material posted on the Platform by Users.

User / you — any natural person who registers for or uses the Platform.

CaterKin operates a two-sided online marketplace connecting Renters with independent Hosts. CaterKin does not itself provide catering, cooking, food preparation or food-service activities. Hosts are independent contractors who provide Services directly to Renters.

Any contract for the performance of a Service is concluded directly between the Renter and the Host. CaterKin is not a party to that contract, and is not your employer, partner, joint venturer, franchisor or agent (and vice versa).

We do not guarantee the quality, safety, legality, suitability or availability of any Service. You rely on the Platform at your own risk, subject to the protections we do offer under §14 (Cancellations and refunds) and §16 (Disputes).

To create an account or use the Platform you must:

• be at least 18 years old;
• have legal capacity to enter contracts under Irish law (or the laws that apply to you);
• provide accurate, complete and current information;
• keep your account credentials confidential and accept responsibility for all activity under your account;
• if acting as a Host, additionally meet §6.

Geographic scope during the pilot. Account creation is open worldwide. Every Listing and every Booking is subject to administrator approval and, during the pilot period, CaterKin will only approve Listings and Bookings for Services provided at a location in the Republic of Ireland. Expansion to other EU Member States, the United Kingdom and the United States is planned subject to pilot performance.

We may refuse, suspend or terminate any account if we believe the account holder does not meet these requirements, has breached these Terms, or poses a risk to other Users or the Platform.

You can create an account using email and password, "Sign in with Apple", or "Sign in with Google". Email addresses are verified with a one-time code (OTP) at sign-up.

You are responsible for all acts and omissions under your account. Notify us promptly at [email protected] if you suspect unauthorised use.

Users hold one or more Roles: Renter, Host, or Administrator. Every account starts as a Renter by default. Adding the Host Role requires completing the Host Application (§6) and receiving approval. Switching your active Role does not create a new agreement — these Terms apply to all Roles you hold.

To become a Host, you must complete the Host Application, which asks (amongst other things) for: your legal name, business name (if any), country of residence, email, phone; cuisine specialities, years of experience and a short biography; service types, service areas, minimum/maximum guest numbers; a portfolio of at least 3 photographs; government-issued ID; evidence of food-safety training (HACCP certificate or HSE acknowledgement letter); confirmation of business structure; and your Stripe Connect Express payout account details (collected by Stripe).

Food safety. As a Host you represent and warrant that you will at all times:

• comply with all applicable food-safety, public-health and hygiene laws, including the General Food Law (Regulation (EC) No 178/2002), the European Union (Hygiene of Foodstuffs) Regulations, and any registration or approval requirements of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland or local competent authority;
• maintain a documented HACCP-based food-safety management system once operating at the scale that requires it;
• disclose allergens accurately in line with the Food Information to the Consumer Regulation (EU No 1169/2011);
• store, transport and serve food at safe temperatures and maintain a cold chain where required;
• hold and honour all registrations, licences and insurances required to operate your Services lawfully;
• inform us and pause your Listings if your registration lapses, is withdrawn or suspended, or if you become subject to any food-safety enforcement action.

Identity verification. Before any payout is released you must complete identity verification through Stripe Connect. CaterKin does not store identity documents; they are collected and retained by Stripe under Stripe's identity verification policies.

Insurance. Public liability insurance is strongly recommended but not mandatory during the pilot period. We may make valid public-liability cover mandatory in a future version of these Terms (with reasonable notice) and we reserve the right to require proof of cover before approving specific higher-risk Listings. CaterKin does not carry any platform-level insurance cover for third-party claims arising out of Services delivered by Hosts. You are solely responsible for any claim brought against you in connection with your Service.

Listing approval. Each Listing is reviewed by a CaterKin administrator before it becomes bookable. We may approve, return for edits, or deny a Listing. We may unpublish or suspend any Listing at any time if we reasonably believe it breaches these Terms, misleads Renters, or creates safety, legal or reputational risk.

Independent contractor status. Hosts are independent contractors, solely responsible for their own taxes (including VAT if registered, income tax and social insurance contributions), pricing, staff, suppliers, tools and methods of performing the Service.

You may only publish a Listing for a Service you can deliver lawfully. Every Listing must:

• accurately describe the Service, including menu, portions, duration, dietary accommodations and allergen handling;
• use only imagery you own or have a licence to use;
• disclose any mandatory extras (travel fees, service charges, per-head minima) transparently;
• not discriminate on any characteristic protected by Irish or EU equality law; not contain unlawful, misleading, offensive or hateful content.

You grant CaterKin a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sub-licensable licence to host, store, reproduce, display, adapt and distribute Listing Content on the Platform and in marketing materials promoting the Platform and your Listing, for the duration your account is active and a reasonable archival period thereafter.

A Booking is created when a Renter submits a request and the Host confirms it. On confirmation, the Renter's payment method is authorised (card hold) for the full Booking amount; no funds are captured at this point.

Funds are captured when the Service begins (or as soon as practicable thereafter). At capture, Stripe routes the Host's share directly to the Host's connected Stripe Connect account (see §13).

A Booking is completed when the Service has been delivered and the Renter either confirms completion or the completion window elapses without a dispute. Completion starts the dispute window described in §16.

If the authorisation expires or cannot be captured (e.g. card declined), we may reasonably retry, contact the Renter for an alternative, or cancel and notify both sides. Hosts are not obliged to deliver a Service for which payment cannot be captured.

All prices are in euro (EUR, €). CaterKin does not support multi-currency settlement at this time.

Hosts set their own prices and pricing rules (per-person, per-event, per-hour, tiered by guest count, extras) and their per-Listing minimum order, within these Terms.

Platform minimum order: €50. A Host may set a higher per-Listing minimum but cannot set one lower. Any Booking quoted below the minimum will not be accepted by the payment flow.

CaterKin's VAT status. CaterKin is not VAT-registered. Its Commission (§10) is charged exclusive of VAT; no VAT is added.

Host income tax, PRSI/USC and VAT. Hosts are responsible for their own tax affairs, including income tax, PRSI/USC, and — once a Host exceeds the Irish VAT registration threshold for services (currently €42,500) or otherwise becomes obliged to register — their own VAT registration, collection, invoicing to Renters and remittance to Revenue. Prices Hosts list on the Platform are presumed to be VAT-inclusive where the Host is or becomes VAT-registered.

CaterKin does not collect, remit, invoice or declare VAT on behalf of Hosts. Earnings summaries we provide are informational only and are not VAT invoices or tax advice.

Stripe processing fees. Card processing is performed by Stripe. Stripe applies its standard processing fee (currently 1.5% + €0.25 per European card transaction) plus 23% Irish VAT on that fee. Processing fees are disclosed to Renters at checkout and are non-refundable in every scenario, including cancellations and refunds.

CaterKin charges Hosts a Service Fee ("Commission") on each completed Booking. The Commission is calculated on the Service amount before processing fees and deducted from the Host's payout. Rules apply in this strict order — the first that applies wins:

1. Founding Chef programme. The first 15 Hosts enrolled pay 0% Commission on their first 5 Bookings. The programme is closed to new enrolments once full and does not reopen. After the 5 Founding Chef Bookings are exhausted, rule 2 applies.
2. Referral tier. A Host who has referred other Hosts qualifies for a discounted Commission until a capped amount of discounted earnings is reached:

   Referred Hosts	Commission	Discounted-earnings cap
   1+	14%	€1,000
   10+	10%	€2,500
   50+	5%	€5,000
   100+	0%	€15,000

   Once a tier cap is reached, Commission returns to the base rate unless a higher tier is subsequently unlocked.

3. Base rate. All other Bookings are charged at 15% Commission.

CaterKin may from time to time run announced promotional overrides (e.g. a reduced-Commission window). Any such override will be disclosed on the Platform or by email in advance. Administrators may not unilaterally discount a Booking on a Renter's or Host's behalf.

All payments on the Platform are processed by Stripe Payments Europe, Ltd. ("Stripe"). By using the Platform to pay or receive money you agree to Stripe's terms — the Stripe Services Agreement (Renters) and the Stripe Connected Account Agreement (Hosts).

CaterKin does not store full card numbers, CVV codes or bank account numbers. Payment credentials are collected by Stripe and tokenised.

Where required (e.g. PSD2 Strong Customer Authentication for European cards), Stripe may require 3-D Secure authentication. Failure to complete authentication will cause the authorisation to fail and the Booking not to proceed.

Renters agree that CaterKin may, through Stripe, place an authorisation hold on the Renter's payment method for the full Booking amount at the time of Booking confirmation and capture that amount when the Service begins.

If a Renter raises a chargeback or payment dispute with their bank or card issuer outside the Platform, the disputed amount plus any chargeback fee Stripe levies may be clawed back from the Host's payout.

Nothing in these Terms limits a Renter's statutory chargeback rights. However, raising a chargeback instead of using the CaterKin dispute flow (§16) slows resolution and may forfeit any goodwill credits CaterKin could otherwise have applied.

Once a Booking is captured, Stripe routes the Host's share (Service amount minus Commission minus processing fee) directly to the Host's connected Stripe Connect Express account — a "destination charge". There is no CaterKin-controlled holding period between capture and transfer.

Stripe then settles funds from the Host's Stripe balance to the Host's linked bank account on Stripe's standard schedule for the relevant country (typically 2–3 business days for European banks, subject to Stripe's own terms and any Stripe-imposed holds).

Stripe (not CaterKin) is the authority for payout timing, fraud holds and capability requirements. If Stripe blocks a payout — for example, because identity verification is incomplete or suspicious activity is detected — the Host must resolve the issue with Stripe directly.

CaterKin may place a payout on hold where a dispute is filed under §16, pending resolution. Hosts cannot receive payouts until charges_enabled and payouts_enabled are true on their Stripe Connect account, which requires completing identity verification.

Refund timing. Approved refunds are initiated immediately through Stripe and typically appear on the Renter's statement within 5–10 business days.

Under the European Union (Consumer Information, Cancellation and Other Rights) Regulations 2013, consumers in Ireland ordinarily have a 14-day cooling-off right for distance contracts. However, services supplied with your express consent on a specific date or period of performance (such as an event-specific Booking) are exempt from the cooling-off right once performance has started with your consent. The Platform's cancellation tiers in §14 apply instead.

Nothing in these Terms is intended to override consumer statutory rights under Irish or EU law. Where a conflict exists, your statutory rights prevail.

If a Renter believes the Host materially failed to deliver the Service (e.g. did not show up, delivered a materially different Service, a serious food-safety incident occurred), the Renter may file a dispute within 48 hours of the Service completion timestamp recorded by the Platform.

On filing, the Host is notified and must submit a response within 48 hours. A CaterKin administrator reviews the case and issues a decision within 7 days of filing. Outcomes include full refund, partial refund, rejection of the dispute, or another bespoke resolution.

Host payouts on the disputed Booking are held from the time of filing until resolution. The dispute route is mandatory for issues that arise on the Platform — you agree to engage with it in good faith before seeking external remedies. Using this route does not limit any statutory right you may have, nor prevent a Renter raising a chargeback (§12) if they prefer, though doing so forfeits access to our goodwill resolutions.

Decisions under this section concern amounts payable under the Booking only and do not purport to resolve tort or criminal claims.

You must not, and must not permit any person acting on your behalf to:

• use the Platform unlawfully or in breach of any applicable law;
• impersonate any person or falsely represent your affiliation;
• circumvent, interfere with or attempt to defeat Platform security (scraping, harvesting, credential-stuffing, rate-limit evasion, RPC abuse);
• circumvent the payment flow (e.g. soliciting Renters off-Platform for a Booking discovered on the Platform to avoid Commission);
• post Content that is defamatory, harassing, discriminatory, sexually explicit, hateful or gratuitously violent;
• infringe any intellectual-property right or other right of any person;
• transmit viruses, worms, malware or disruptive code;
• send unsolicited bulk messages or recruit Users for other platforms;
• list Services involving the sale or supply of goods or activities unlawful in the country of delivery (including unregistered alcohol sales, controlled substances, or activities for which you lack required licensing);
• misrepresent allergen handling, dietary claims or food provenance.

Hosts and Renters must communicate through the Platform's messaging and masked-call features and must not pressure the other side to move communication off-platform until a Booking is confirmed and the event is underway.

We may remove offending Content and suspend or terminate accounts in addition to any other remedy available to us.

You retain ownership of Content you post. You grant CaterKin a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sub-licensable licence to use, reproduce, modify, display, distribute and communicate that Content for operating, promoting and improving the Platform, for as long as you hold an account and a reasonable archival period afterwards.

You warrant that you own the Content you post or have all rights necessary to grant this licence, and that your Content does not infringe any third party's rights.

Reviews. Renters may submit reviews of Services they have booked. Reviews must be fair, accurate and based on actual experience. We may remove reviews that are off-topic, abusive, fraudulent or clearly retaliatory, but will not ordinarily remove a review merely because the Host disagrees with it.

CaterKin's IP. The Platform, the CaterKin name and logo, and all software, interfaces, databases and documentation we provide are protected by intellectual-property rights and remain our property (or our licensors'). You are granted a limited, revocable, non-transferable licence to use the Platform as intended.

Notice-and-takedown. If you believe Content on the Platform infringes your rights, email [email protected] with your contact details, the affected Content (URL), the right allegedly infringed, and a signed statement that the information is accurate.

The Platform integrates services provided by third parties, including: Stripe (payments, Connect, identity verification); Supabase (hosting, database, authentication — EU-West-1, Ireland); Resend (transactional email); Twilio (number-masked voice calling); Firebase Cloud Messaging + Apple Push Notification service + Expo (push notifications); Google Maps, Places, OAuth, Calendar; Apple Sign-In; Sentry (mobile crash reporting, EU); and — subject to cookie consent — Google Analytics 4, Meta Pixel and Hotjar.

These services are operated under their own terms. We are not responsible for their availability or quality beyond our reasonable control. The Platform may link to third-party sites; we do not endorse them or assume responsibility for them.

Your use of the Platform is subject to our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms and describes what personal data we collect, why, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and your rights under GDPR and the Irish Data Protection Act 2018.

Cross-User privacy: when a Renter and a Host engage through a Booking, limited information is shared — full name and avatar cross-User, plus the event address to the Host who has a confirmed Booking. We do not share email addresses or phone numbers between Users. Communication is through in-Platform messaging and Twilio-masked calls.

We aim to keep the Platform available but do not guarantee uninterrupted availability. Maintenance, third-party outages or unforeseen faults may cause downtime; where practicable we notify Users in advance of planned downtime.

We may add, remove, modify, or discontinue features at any time. Material changes that adversely affect Users will be communicated in advance with a reasonable transition period.

Support: [email protected] during Irish business hours, with best-efforts response at other times.

CaterKin is not currently VAT-registered. Its Commission is charged exclusive of VAT. If CaterKin becomes VAT-registered in future (for example after exceeding the Irish VAT threshold or after incorporation as a limited company that elects to register voluntarily), this section will be updated and Hosts will be given at least 14 days' advance notice of any resulting change to their payout calculation.

The Platform includes a number-masked voice-calling feature powered by Twilio. Real phone numbers are not shared between Users — Twilio routes the call through proxy numbers. CaterKin stores call metadata (participants, proxy numbers, start/end times, duration, connection status) for abuse-prevention and support. Call audio is not recorded.

A rate limit of 5 connected calls per Booking per day applies. SMS is not currently used.

Operational notifications (booking, payment, dispute, account-security events) are mandatory while you hold an account.

Push notifications on mobile can be disabled in device OS settings. Email notifications for chat messages are throttled (no more than one email per sender/recipient pair per 60 minutes).

Marketing communications are sent only where you have granted consent or we have another lawful basis. You can unsubscribe at any time from the email footer or account settings.

You may close your account at any time from account settings, subject to completing or cancelling active Bookings. On deletion we anonymise or delete data as described in the Privacy Policy.

We may suspend or terminate your account immediately, with or without prior notice, where you have materially breached these Terms; where continuing the service to you would, in our reasonable judgement, expose us or other Users to legal, safety, reputational or financial risk; where Stripe terminates your connected account or a public authority instructs us to do so; or where the Platform is discontinued in your country.

On termination, accrued rights and liabilities are preserved; sections intended to survive (§§17, 18, 22, 26, 27, 28, 29) continue to apply; outstanding payouts will be processed so far as Stripe permits.

We provide the Platform on an "as is" and "as available" basis. To the fullest extent permitted by law we exclude all implied warranties, including merchantability, satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, and any warranty arising from course of dealing or usage of trade.

We do not warrant that the Platform will be error-free, uninterrupted or secure, nor do we warrant the accuracy of any Listing, review, message or other Content.

Nothing in this section or these Terms excludes or limits any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any statutory consumer rights.

To the extent permitted by law, you will indemnify, defend and hold harmless CaterKin, its officers, employees and contractors from and against any claim, loss, damage, liability or expense (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or connected with: your breach of these Terms; your Services or any Booking you deliver or receive; your Content; your breach of any applicable law (including food-safety, allergen-disclosure, tax, employment and consumer-protection laws); or any third-party claim arising out of your acts or omissions.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, CaterKin's total aggregate liability to you under or in connection with these Terms, any Booking, or your use of the Platform — whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty or otherwise — is limited to the greater of: (a) the total fees we received from you in the 12 months preceding the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) €500.

We are not liable for indirect or consequential loss; loss of profit, revenue, goodwill, anticipated savings or data; loss arising from the acts or omissions of Hosts, Renters or third parties; or loss arising from force majeure.

The limitation does not apply to liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.

These Terms and any non-contractual obligations arising out of or in connection with them are governed by the laws of Ireland.

Subject to the consumer-protection rules below, the courts of Ireland have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising under these Terms.

Consumer protection. If you are a consumer resident in the European Economic Area, the above does not deprive you of the protection of mandatory rules of the law of your country of residence, nor of your right to bring proceedings in the courts of your country of residence.

EU online dispute resolution. EU consumers can access the European Commission's ODR platform at ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr.

Small Claims (Ireland). Consumer disputes up to the prevailing monetary limit may be brought through the Irish Small Claims Procedure of the District Court.

We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be notified at least 14 days before they take effect, by email and by in-Platform notice. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance. Non-material changes (typos, clarifications, updated contacts, updated sub-processor lists where the processor performs the same function) may be made without advance notice.

If any provision is held invalid or unenforceable, the remainder continues in full force, and the invalid provision is deemed modified to the least extent necessary to be enforceable.

Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of any right. You may not assign or transfer your rights or obligations without our prior written consent. We may assign or transfer our rights and obligations to an affiliate or to a successor in a merger, acquisition or asset sale on the same terms.

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, Cancellation Policy, any Listing-level rules published on the Platform, and any agreements you enter via Stripe, constitute the entire agreement between you and CaterKin.

General enquiries: [email protected]

Support: [email protected]

Data protection: [email protected] / [email protected]

Legal notices and notice-and-takedown: [email protected]

Security reports: [email protected]

A postal address for service of legal notices will be published in this section once CaterKin completes its incorporation as an Irish limited company.