Payment Protection Terms

Payment Protection is a contractual workflow provided by Propvora on top of payment services supplied by Stripe. When an eligible order is paid, the payment is a Protected Payment. It is released to the Provider only when the release rules in these terms and in the order are met, or as decided under the Marketplace Dispute Resolution Policy.

Payment processing, the payment accounts used to receive money, transfers and payouts are provided by Stripe under Stripe's own terms. Propvora is not a bank, does not provide an account or wallet to anyone, and does not hold money as a deposit-taker. Where this document says that a payment is funded, awaiting release or released, it describes the status of a payment made through Stripe and the contractual release rules that apply to it.

Payment Protection is a contractual workflow that controls when a Protected Payment is released. It is not insurance, it is not a bank guarantee, and it does not guarantee the quality, safety or outcome of any work beyond the terms of the order and the rights you have by law.

It does not mean that Propvora acts as a bank or deposit-taker for your payment, that Propvora vouches for the Provider, or that a particular result is guaranteed.

• fixed-price supplier jobs and accepted quotes;
• awarded bids;
• milestone-based projects, funded one milestone at a time;
• marketplace services and bookings that are shown as eligible at checkout;
• hourly or periodic work only for the billing structure agreed in the order. Hours that have not been funded are not Protected Payments.

Rent, tenancy deposits and holding deposits are never handled through the Marketplace or covered by Payment Protection. Propvora does not receive, hold or route them. Subscription, advertising and listing charges paid to Propvora for platform services are separate charges and are not Protected Payments.

You will see these statuses:

• Payment funded: Stripe has confirmed the payment for this order or milestone;
• Payment awaiting release: the work has been submitted and the review window is running;
• Release authorised: a release rule has been met and the release has been approved;
• Payment released: the Provider's entitlement has been released to their payment account;
• Payment refunded or partially refunded: money has been returned to the buyer;
• Payment under review: an issue is open and release is paused.

A status changes only when Stripe has confirmed the underlying event, never because a page was visited.

A fixed order is funded in full before work starts. A milestone project is funded milestone by milestone so that long projects are not paid for up front. For short-timing cases only, a payment may be authorised and captured later if the order says so. We do not use long-held authorisations as a substitute for Payment Protection.

A Protected Payment is released to the Provider only when all of the following are true at the time of release:

1. Stripe has confirmed the payment succeeded and the funds are available on the Provider's connected account.
2. There is no open issue, dispute, defect report, incident or chargeback on the order.
3. For supplier work, the Provider has submitted completion evidence (for example before and after photos, notes and any certificate the work legally requires). For a short stay, the stay has ended and the incident window shown at booking has passed.
4. The buyer has approved completion, or the review window shown in the order has ended without an issue being raised (auto-acceptance), after the buyer was reminded before it ended.
5. No change order is waiting for the buyer's approval, and the amount released is no more than the amount still protected after any earlier release or refund.
6. Any credential the work legally requires (for example Gas Safe registration or electrical certification) is still valid on the day of release.
7. The Provider's payout account is set up and enabled with Stripe, and its payout details have not changed within the cooling-off period shown in the order.
8. No hold is in place under section 10A (Holds).

Additional checks. A Provider's first completed orders, and orders above the value shown in the order, may wait a short additional period or need review by our team before release, as shown in the order. These checks protect buyers and Providers against fraud and are applied the same way to everyone.

Who can release. A Provider can never release their own Protected Payment. A buyer can approve completion, but not after opening an issue or dispute on that order. Our team can release only on one of the grounds in this section or under a decision made under the Marketplace Dispute Resolution Policy, must record the reason, and larger releases need approval from a second authorised team member.

Partial and milestone releases. Part of a payment, such as a milestone or a materials deposit, is released only if the order provides for it and the buyer approves that part.

The rules that apply are fixed and recorded when the payment is made; later changes to these terms do not change them for that order. Each release decision is recorded, with which conditions were met, and both parties are told when a payment is released or why it has not been released yet.

Our Marketplace Fee on an order is earned only when the Protected Payment is released to the Provider. Until then it is recorded as pending. If the order is cancelled or refunded in full before release, the whole Marketplace Fee is returned as part of the refund. After release, any refund is handled as set out in the Refund and Cancellation Policy.

If an order is cancelled or the work is not delivered as agreed, a Protected Payment is refunded in full or in part as set out in the order and the Refund and Cancellation Policy. Refunds are returned through Stripe to the original payment method where possible.

Raise an issue before release if the work is incomplete, not as described, or not delivered. Release is paused while the issue is considered under the Marketplace Dispute Resolution Policy. Outcomes can include release, partial release, refund, partial refund, redoing the work or cancellation.

Payment Protection does not apply to: payments made outside the Marketplace; work or services that were not agreed in the order; losses beyond the price paid; amounts that were never funded; orders involving prohibited services; or fraud by a buyer, including an attempt to obtain work and then reverse the payment.

A buyer's right to dispute a card payment with their card issuer is not removed. If a chargeback is raised, release is paused and the matter is handled as explained in Chargebacks explained. We may take steps to prevent and investigate fraud, including pausing payments.

We may place a Protected Payment or a payout on hold where we reasonably suspect fraud, money laundering, a sanctions breach or other unlawful activity; where an issue, dispute, chargeback or regulatory request is open; where a Provider's payout details have recently changed; or where an order is unusually high in value for the account. A hold lasts no longer than is reasonably necessary, is recorded with its reason, and is lifted by an authorised member of our team when the reason no longer applies. We will tell you about a hold and its reason unless the law prevents us.

Buyers must review work promptly and raise issues in good time. Providers must deliver as agreed, submit completion honestly, and respond to issues. Both must provide evidence on request.

We will give notice of material changes. Nothing in this document limits or excludes any right you have under mandatory law that cannot lawfully be limited or excluded, including the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 where they apply to you.

This document is governed by the law of England and Wales and the courts of England and Wales have non-exclusive jurisdiction, but if you are a consumer living in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland you may also bring proceedings in the courts of that nation, and the mandatory consumer law of the place where you live continues to apply.