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Terms and Conditions

Last updated: 23 August 2026

These Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of the Instant Agony Aunts website, mobile applications, messaging facilities and any related products, features, content or services made available by us (collectively, the “Services”).

Please read these Terms carefully before using the Services.

By creating an account, purchasing or using a paid Service, accessing our website or mobile application, or otherwise using the Services, you agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy and any other policies expressly incorporated into these Terms.

If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not use the Services.

1. About Instant Agony Aunts

Instant Agony Aunts operates an online platform that enables users to communicate with independent agony aunts, advisors and other persons offering conversational support through the platform (collectively, “Advisors”).

We provide the technology and marketplace through which users and Advisors can connect. Unless expressly stated otherwise, we do not ourselves provide counselling, therapy, medical care, legal advice, financial advice, crisis intervention or other regulated professional services.

References in these Terms to “we”, “us” or “our” mean the operator of Instant Agony Aunts.

References to “you” or “User” mean any person accessing or using the Services.

Questions, complaints or other communications concerning the Services should be submitted through the Contact Us page available on our website or mobile application.

2. Eligibility and Age Requirement

You must be 18 years of age or older to create an account, communicate with an Advisor or otherwise use the Services.

By using the Services, you represent and warrant that:

We may request information or take reasonable steps to verify your age or eligibility.

If we reasonably believe that you are under 18, have misrepresented your age or are otherwise ineligible to use the Services, we may restrict, suspend or terminate your account.

3. Nature of the Service

The Services are intended to provide a platform for informal conversation, personal perspectives, emotional support and entertainment.

Users may communicate with Advisors about relationships, family, friendships, work, lifestyle, personal concerns and other everyday matters.

The Services are not professional counselling or therapy and must not be treated as a substitute for professional services where those services are appropriate.

We do not guarantee that:

4. Marketplace and Independent Advisors

Instant Agony Aunts provides a marketplace and communications platform connecting Users with Advisors.

Unless expressly stated otherwise, Advisors are independent platform participants and are not our employees, agents, partners, representatives or professional advisers.

An Advisor’s statements, opinions, recommendations, advice and other communications are their own.

We do not adopt, endorse or guarantee any statement or recommendation made by an Advisor merely because it is communicated through our platform.

We may undertake onboarding, identity, quality, conduct or other checks on Advisors where we consider appropriate, but the existence of any such check does not constitute an endorsement, certification or guarantee of an Advisor’s qualifications, character, suitability, expertise or advice.

You remain responsible for deciding whether and to what extent to rely upon anything communicated by an Advisor.

5. No Professional Advice

Information or advice communicated through the Services is provided for general conversational and informational purposes.

Nothing communicated through Instant Agony Aunts should be regarded as medical, psychiatric, psychological, therapeutic, legal, financial, investment, tax, immigration, employment, safeguarding or other regulated professional advice.

You should consult an appropriately qualified professional where your circumstances require professional advice.

You must not delay seeking professional assistance because of anything communicated through the Services.

Advisors must not represent themselves through our platform as providing regulated professional services unless expressly authorised by us and legally entitled to provide those services.

6. Emergencies and Crisis Situations

Instant Agony Aunts is not an emergency, crisis-response or safeguarding service.

The Services should not be relied upon where you or another person is in immediate danger or requires urgent medical, psychiatric, police or other emergency assistance.

If there is an immediate risk of serious harm, you should contact the appropriate emergency service or suitably qualified professional in your location.

An Advisor may discontinue a conversation and/or report concerns to us where they reasonably believe a serious safety issue exists.

Where permitted or required by law, we may preserve or disclose relevant information to emergency services, law-enforcement agencies, regulators or other appropriate authorities.

7. User Accounts

Certain Services require an account.

You are responsible for:

You must not sell, transfer, lend or otherwise permit another person to use your account.

We may require additional authentication or verification where we reasonably consider this necessary for security, fraud prevention, legal compliance or protection of Users or Advisors.

8. Paid Messaging and Charges

Certain Services are provided on a paid basis.

An Advisor’s current price will be displayed before or in connection with the relevant paid Service.

Depending upon the platform and payment method being used, payment may be processed through:

Third-party payment services may be subject to their own terms and conditions.

Prices may vary between Advisors and may also vary between the website and mobile applications due to platform charges, taxes, currency conversion, commercial arrangements or other factors.

The price displayed to you at the point of purchase or before initiating the relevant paid transaction will apply to that transaction.

9. Account Balance and Prepayments

Where we permit Users to add money to an account balance, the balance represents a prepayment for eligible Services available through Instant Agony Aunts.

Unless expressly stated otherwise:

Nothing in this section affects any refund or other right which cannot lawfully be excluded.

10. Authorisation of Charges

By initiating a paid message, conversation or other paid Service, you authorise us and/or the applicable payment provider to charge the displayed amount.

You are responsible for reviewing the applicable price before confirming a transaction.

Where messaging is charged per message, each eligible message sent or other clearly identified chargeable action may constitute a separate paid transaction.

You should not continue using a paid Service if you do not wish to incur further charges.

11. Refunds

Except where required by applicable law, charges for Services that have already been supplied or consumed are normally non-refundable.

For example, a charge for a message that has been successfully delivered and for which the relevant paid service has been provided will ordinarily not be refundable merely because:

This does not affect your statutory rights.

Where a Service has not been supplied, has been incorrectly charged, is materially defective, or applicable law otherwise entitles you to a refund, price reduction or other remedy, we will deal with the matter in accordance with applicable law.

Purchases made through Apple, Google or another third-party platform may also be subject to that platform’s applicable payment and refund procedures.

12. Chargebacks and Payment Disputes

If you believe a payment is incorrect or unauthorised, you should contact us promptly so that we can investigate it.

You must not knowingly make a fraudulent chargeback or falsely claim that an authorised transaction was unauthorised.

Where we reasonably believe that an account has been involved in payment fraud, fraudulent chargebacks or abuse of payment systems, we may suspend or restrict the account while the matter is investigated.

Nothing in this section prevents you from exercising legitimate rights available through your bank, card issuer, payment provider or applicable law.

13. User Conduct

You must use the Services lawfully and responsibly.

You must not use the Services to:

14. Communications with Advisors

Communications may involve sensitive or personal subjects.

You decide what information you disclose during a conversation and should exercise appropriate caution before providing information such as your address, financial information, passwords, identity documents or other highly sensitive information.

You must not ask an Advisor to participate in illegal activity.

Advisors may decline to answer a question or may end a conversation where they are uncomfortable continuing or reasonably believe that doing so would be inappropriate or unsafe.

We do not guarantee the confidentiality of information that you voluntarily disclose directly to an Advisor beyond the protections and obligations that apply under our Privacy Policy, these Terms and applicable law.

15. User Content

Messages, text, photographs, profile information, reports and other material submitted through the Services constitute “User Content”.

You retain ownership of intellectual property rights you hold in your User Content.

You grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, store, reproduce, process and otherwise use User Content to the extent reasonably necessary to:

This licence lasts only for as long as reasonably necessary for those purposes, subject to applicable legal retention requirements.

You warrant that you have the necessary rights and permissions to submit your User Content.

16. Monitoring, Moderation and Message Access

Communications made through the Services may be subject to automated or human review where reasonably necessary for safety, moderation, fraud prevention, complaint handling, quality assurance, enforcement of these Terms or compliance with legal obligations.

We do not guarantee that every message or conversation will be actively monitored.

The fact that we have the ability to investigate or moderate communications does not mean that we assume responsibility for every communication made through the platform.

Information about how personal information and communications are processed is provided in our Privacy Policy.

17. Reporting Users, Advisors and Content

If you believe an Advisor, User or particular content violates these Terms or presents a safety concern, you may report the matter using the reporting or contact facilities we provide.

We may investigate reports and take such proportionate action as we consider appropriate, including:

We are not obliged to disclose confidential information concerning an investigation or action taken against another User or Advisor.

18. Advisor Availability

Advisors control their own availability subject to our platform rules.

An Advisor may become unavailable, leave the platform or have their account restricted or terminated.

We do not guarantee continuous access to any particular Advisor or preservation of any particular Advisor/User relationship.

19. Decisions Made Using Advice

You are solely responsible for decisions and actions you take after communicating with an Advisor.

Advice and opinions necessarily depend upon the information provided by you and may be incomplete, subjective, inaccurate or unsuitable for your circumstances.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not responsible for losses arising solely from your decision to rely upon an independent Advisor’s opinion or recommendation where the loss was not caused by our breach of a legal duty owed to you.

Nothing in these Terms removes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.

20. Third-Party Services

The Services may contain links to, integrate with or rely upon third-party websites, software, app stores, payment processors, analytics services, authentication providers or other services.

Third-party services are controlled by their respective providers and may be subject to separate terms and privacy policies.

We are not responsible for the independent operation or content of third-party services, except to the extent responsibility cannot lawfully be excluded.

21. Mobile Applications

Where you download our mobile application through Apple App Store, Google Play or another application marketplace, your use of that marketplace is also governed by its applicable terms.

Apple, Google and other marketplace operators are not responsible for providing our Services merely because the application is distributed through their platform.

Features, prices and payment mechanisms may differ between our website and mobile applications.

22. Intellectual Property

Except for User Content and third-party material, all intellectual property rights in the Services, including our software, design, branding, trademarks, logos, graphics, text, databases and other material, belong to us or our licensors.

We grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and use the Services for your personal and lawful use.

You must not, without our prior written permission:

23. Service Availability

We aim to provide reliable Services but cannot guarantee uninterrupted or error-free availability.

The Services may be temporarily unavailable because of:

We may change, suspend or discontinue functionality where reasonably necessary.

Where a change materially affects a paid Service already purchased by a consumer, applicable consumer rights will continue to apply.

24. Account Suspension and Termination

We may restrict, suspend or terminate an account where we reasonably believe this is necessary because of:

Where appropriate in the circumstances, we may provide notice or an opportunity to remedy a breach before termination.

Serious safety, fraud, security or legal concerns may require immediate action.

Termination does not affect rights and obligations that arose before termination.

25. Closing Your Account

You may request closure of your account using the account deletion facility made available through the Services or by contacting us.

Closing an account does not necessarily require immediate deletion of every record associated with it.

We may retain information where reasonably necessary or legally required for matters including:

Personal information will be handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy and applicable data-protection law.

26. Privacy and Data Protection

Our collection and processing of personal information is governed by our Privacy Policy, which should be read together with these Terms.

Our use of cookies and similar technologies is described in our Cookie Policy.

Where there is a conflict concerning the processing of personal information, applicable data-protection law will prevail.

27. Disclaimer of Warranties

Nothing in these Terms excludes rights or guarantees which cannot legally be excluded.

Subject to those rights, we do not guarantee:

Opinions communicated by Advisors are inherently subjective.

28. Limitation of Liability

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability where it would be unlawful to do so, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any other liability that cannot legally be excluded or limited.

If you are a consumer, we are responsible for losses that are a foreseeable result of our breach of these Terms or failure to use reasonable care and skill, subject to applicable law.

We are not responsible for losses that are not reasonably foreseeable or that result from circumstances for which we are not legally responsible.

The Services are supplied for personal and non-commercial use. If you use the Services for commercial or business purposes contrary to these Terms, we will not be responsible for business losses including loss of profits, revenue, business opportunity, anticipated savings, goodwill or business interruption, except where liability cannot lawfully be excluded.

Nothing in these Terms is intended to deprive a consumer of remedies provided by applicable consumer law.

29. Advisor Conduct and Third-Party Acts

Advisors are responsible for their own communications and conduct.

To the extent permitted by law, we are not liable merely because:

This does not exclude responsibility arising from our own breach of law or legal duty.

30. Indemnity

If you use the Services in the course of a business, trade or profession, you agree to indemnify us against reasonable losses, liabilities, damages, costs and expenses arising from your unlawful use of the Services, infringement of third-party rights or material breach of these Terms.

If you are using the Services as a consumer, nothing in this section makes you responsible for losses caused by us or imposes obligations upon you that would be unfair or unenforceable under applicable consumer law.

31. Taxes and Currency

Prices will be displayed in the currency applicable to the relevant transaction where reasonably practicable.

Your bank, card provider or payment provider may apply currency-conversion fees or other charges which are outside our control.

Prices may include or be subject to applicable taxes depending upon your location, the payment channel and applicable law.

32. Promotions

From time to time we may offer promotional balances, discounts, introductory offers or other promotions.

Promotions may be subject to additional clearly disclosed conditions including eligibility, availability, expiry dates and usage restrictions.

Promotional value provided free of charge may be treated differently from money paid by a User, subject always to applicable law.

We may withdraw or correct a promotion where there has been an obvious error, fraud or abuse, provided that doing so does not unlawfully remove rights already acquired by a consumer.

33. Security

You must not attempt to compromise the security or integrity of the Services.

We may introduce security controls, transaction limits, verification requirements or anti-fraud measures where reasonably necessary.

We may temporarily restrict transactions or account access where unusual activity reasonably indicates fraud, unauthorised access or another security risk.

34. Complaints

If you have a complaint concerning:

please contact us through the Contact Us facility.

Please provide sufficient information for us to identify and investigate the matter.

We may request additional information where reasonably necessary.

35. Changes to Prices and Services

We may change prices, features and availability from time to time.

A price change will not retrospectively alter a transaction already completed at an agreed price.

The applicable price for a new transaction will be the price displayed before you confirm that transaction.

36. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms where reasonably necessary, including because of:

The latest version will be published through our website and/or mobile application with an updated revision date.

Where a change materially affects an existing contractual relationship and applicable law requires notice, we will provide appropriate notice.

Your continued use of the Services after an updated version becomes effective will constitute acceptance of the revised Terms to the extent permitted by law.

37. Transfer of Our Rights

We may transfer our rights or obligations under these Terms to another organisation, for example as part of a corporate restructuring, sale or transfer of the business.

Where applicable law requires us to notify you or obtain consent, we will do so.

You may not transfer your account or contractual rights to another person without our written agreement, except where applicable law provides otherwise.

38. No Waiver

If we do not immediately enforce a provision of these Terms, this does not mean that we have waived our right to enforce it later.

39. Severability

Each provision of these Terms operates separately.

If a court or competent authority determines that any provision is unlawful, invalid or unenforceable, that provision will be treated as modified or removed to the minimum extent necessary and the remaining provisions will continue in effect.

40. Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy and any additional terms expressly applicable to a particular Service or promotion, constitute the agreement governing your use of the Services.

Nothing in this section excludes liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation or overrides rights which cannot legally be excluded.

41. No Third-Party Rights

Except where applicable law or an applicable app-store agreement provides otherwise, a person who is not a party to these Terms has no right to enforce them.

42. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales.

If you are a consumer resident elsewhere in the United Kingdom or another jurisdiction, you may also benefit from mandatory consumer protections applicable in your place of residence which these Terms do not remove.

43. Jurisdiction

If you are a consumer, disputes may be brought before the courts having jurisdiction under applicable consumer law.

Subject to any mandatory consumer rights concerning jurisdiction, the courts of England and Wales will have jurisdiction over disputes arising from these Terms or the Services.

44. Statutory Rights

Nothing in these Terms affects your statutory rights as a consumer.

Where any provision of these Terms conflicts with a right that applicable law does not permit us to exclude or restrict, that legal right will prevail.

45. Contact Us

Questions, complaints, legal notices or other enquiries concerning these Terms or the Services should be submitted through the Contact Us page on the Instant Agony Aunts website or mobile application.

Please include sufficient information for us to identify your account and understand your enquiry.

By creating an account, purchasing a Service or continuing to use Instant Agony Aunts, you confirm that you have read and agree to these Terms and Conditions.