Terms of Service

The Natter Network is a UK-wide membership service that introduces senior adults to one another for friendly telephone conversations.

Creating a profile, completing verification and receiving potential matches are free.

To make and receive calls with a matched member, you need an active membership.

Our standard membership is £14.99 per month. Your first month is free, after which your membership automatically renews at £14.99 per month unless you cancel.

We ask for a payment card when you begin your free month, but no membership payment is taken during that free month.

If you do not cancel before the free period ends, your first £14.99 payment will be taken automatically and your membership will continue on a rolling monthly basis.

Each person may use the free month once only. We may use telephone and identity-verification information to prevent repeated use of the introductory offer.

A Natter Support membership of £7.99 per month may be available to members who receive Pension Credit and provide appropriate evidence of eligibility.

Membership covers the matching service, telephone calls, reminder calls, verification, call recording and the costs of operating the service.

The Natter Network is a friendship service only. It is not a dating or romantic introduction service, care service, personal-support service, medical service, counselling service, therapy service or crisis helpline.

Our staff and volunteers are not clinicians or emergency responders.

Members must be 65 or over and resident in the United Kingdom or the Channel Islands. A family member, friend, carer or care organisation may set up and manage a profile on behalf of an eligible person.

Telephone verification and one of our two verification routes (described below) must be completed before a member can be matched with another member.

We may hold a registration for manual review where information supplied during registration or verification is inconsistent, incomplete or raises a legitimate safety, fraud or eligibility concern.

You must provide accurate information when creating an account and cooperate with our verification process.

Every member completes telephone verification, and then one of the following two routes. Which route a member used is shown on their profile as a badge, so other members can see the difference:

• Photo ID verified — a British passport or driving licence from the UK, Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man checked through our identity-verification provider, including a liveness check and a face match against the document.
• Address & age verified — for members who have neither a passport nor a driving licence. A proof-of-address document together with a separate document showing the member's date of birth, which we read and check. This confirms an address and an age. It is not a photo-ID check: there is no liveness check and no face match, so it does not confirm that the person is who they say they are to the same standard.

We also carry out checks designed to confirm UK or Channel Islands eligibility. Verification may be carried out using third-party providers.

Passing either route does not mean that we guarantee a person’s identity, honesty, character, safety or suitability as a conversation partner. Verification is one of several measures we use to help keep members safe.

We may refuse, pause or restrict an account where verification cannot be completed, information appears inaccurate or there is a legitimate safety, fraud or eligibility concern.

A relative, friend, carer or organisation may set up and manage a profile on behalf of a senior adult where they have that person’s agreement and appropriate authority to do so.

Organisations must provide their genuine organisation name.

The senior adult must confirm by telephone that they are happy to participate before any matching begins.

A person managing a profile must:

• keep the information accurate;
• respect the wishes of the person the profile describes;
• not impersonate that person;
• not misrepresent their relationship or authority; and
• tell us if the person’s circumstances or wishes change.

A profile manager must not use the account to impersonate or replace the senior adult during a conversation with another member.

The senior adult can ask us to remove a manager’s access at any time.

We may restrict or pause a managed profile where there is a genuine dispute about consent, authority or the senior adult’s wishes.

You must provide truthful and reasonably up-to-date information about yourself or, where you manage a profile, the person you are registering.

You must not deliberately mislead us or another member about:

• your identity;
• your age;
• your location or broad area;
• your relationship to a person whose profile you manage; or
• any other material part of your profile.

Deliberately misleading information may result in suspension or permanent removal of the account.

Free month

The first month of membership is free.

A valid payment method is required to start the free month.

No membership fee is charged during the free month provided you cancel before it ends.

Monthly membership

Unless you cancel before the free trial ends, your membership will automatically continue at £14.99 per month.

The membership then renews monthly until you cancel it or your membership ends under these Terms.

The applicable price will be shown clearly before you sign up.

Natter Support

Eligible members receiving Pension Credit may qualify for Natter Support at £7.99 per month when they provide suitable evidence of eligibility.

We may ask for updated evidence from time to time.

Automatic payments

You authorise our payment provider, Stripe, to charge your selected payment method for membership payments when they become due.

We do not store your full card details ourselves.

Failed payments

If a membership payment fails, we may temporarily suspend paid membership features until the payment is successfully completed.

We may contact you about a failed payment and use the payment provider’s normal processes to retry a failed payment where permitted.

You can cancel your membership at any time through Settings or by contacting hello@thenatternetwork.co.uk.

You do not need to give a reason and there is no cancellation fee or notice period.

Cancelling during the free month

If you cancel before the end of your free month, your membership will not continue into the paid subscription and you will not be charged the monthly membership fee.

Cancelling after a payment

If you cancel after a monthly payment has been taken, you will not be charged for subsequent months.

Your membership will normally remain active until the end of the period you have already paid for.

We do not normally refund a completed monthly payment simply because you decide that you no longer wish to use the service during that paid period.

Nothing in these Terms removes or limits any cancellation, refund or other rights you may have under applicable consumer law.

Where you are legally entitled to a refund, we will provide it in accordance with the law.

Payments taken in error

If we take a payment in error, for example after you have successfully cancelled before the payment was due, please contact hello@thenatternetwork.co.uk.

We will investigate and refund any amount that was wrongly charged.

We may change the price of membership in the future.

If we increase the price, we will give reasonable advance notice and tell you when the new price will apply.

Where required by law, you will have the opportunity to cancel before the new price is first charged.

Contributions to The Natter Network are voluntary and help keep membership affordable.

The Natter Network is not a registered charity. Donations therefore do not qualify for Gift Aid and are not charitable donations for tax purposes.

Payments are processed by Stripe and we do not receive or store your full card details.

One-off donations are generally not refundable once made, except where a refund is required by law or where we agree otherwise.

Monthly donations can be cancelled at any time by contacting hello@thenatternetwork.co.uk.

We use information in your profile to identify people who may be compatible and suggest potential introductions.

A suggested match does not guarantee that the other person will accept the introduction, that you will speak to them, or that you will become friends.

Both people must accept an introduction before a telephone connection is made.

You are never required to accept a suggested introduction or continue a connection.

There is no messaging or chat inside The Natter Network.

Contact between connected members takes place by telephone through a private platform number.

Neither participant is given the other person’s real telephone number.

Members must not attempt to bypass the private-number system.

Calls between members are recorded for safety, quality and service purposes.

Both participants hear a spoken notice at the start of a recorded call.

Further information about call recording, access and retention is contained in our Privacy Policy.

We do not listen to calls live as part of ordinary service operation.

Everyone using The Natter Network agrees to treat other members with respect.

You must:

• be honest about who you are;
• respect another person’s privacy;
• respect another person’s decision to end a conversation or connection;
• avoid harassment, threats, bullying or abuse; and
• use the service only for its intended purpose.

You must not:

• ask another member for money, gifts, loans or investments;
• ask for bank details, card details, PINs, passwords, one-time security codes or similar security information;
• attempt to sell products or services to another member;
• use the service for marketing or unsolicited commercial activity;
• use it for religious recruitment;
• make romantic or sexual approaches;
• impersonate another person;
• create a profile for a person who does not exist;
• share another member’s personal information without permission or a lawful reason;
• deliberately attempt to identify, locate or contact another member outside the service without their agreement;
• record, photograph, screenshot or otherwise capture another member or their communications without their knowledge and consent, except where reasonably necessary to report a safety concern or where required by law; or
• attempt to work around a block, suspension or private-number system.

Anyone may end a connection at any time without giving a reason.

The following are strictly prohibited and are treated as serious breaches of these Terms:

• fraud or attempted fraud;
• scams;
• financial exploitation;
• asking a member for money, gifts, loans, investments or financial assistance;
• requesting bank or card details;
• requesting PINs, passwords or one-time security codes;
• impersonation;
• deliberate deception about identity;
• coercion, intimidation or abusive behaviour; and
• attempting to move a conversation off the service in order to deceive, pressure or exploit a member.

Where we reasonably suspect this behaviour, we may:

• suspend the account immediately;
• investigate using information available to us, including verification records and call recordings where appropriate;
• preserve relevant information for as long as reasonably necessary for the investigation;
• permanently remove the account; and
• where appropriate and lawful, refer relevant information to law enforcement, safeguarding authorities, regulators or other appropriate organisations.

Whether an authority takes further action is a matter for that authority.

Members can block another member or report a concern through the service without giving a reason.

Where a member is blocked, the connection ends and the private telephone connection is disabled.

The person being reported or blocked will not normally be told who made a report or block.

Reports are reviewed by our safety team.

Reports involving money, threats, suspected exploitation or other higher-risk behaviour may result in an account being suspended while the matter is investigated.

Please report anything that makes you uncomfortable or concerned, even if you are unsure whether it is serious.

We may suspend or permanently close an account where we reasonably believe:

• these Terms have been breached;
• a member’s behaviour places another person at risk;
• identity or telephone verification cannot be completed;
• information provided is materially misleading;
• fraud or misuse is suspected;
• the service is being used for a prohibited purpose; or
• we are required to do so by law.

Where appropriate and safe, we will explain the reason for suspension or closure.

In serious safety cases, we may suspend an account immediately before completing our investigation.

If we permanently close your account because you have seriously breached these Terms, this does not create an entitlement to a refund of membership fees already paid, except where a refund is required by law.

If we end your membership for reasons unrelated to your breach, we will provide any refund required by law and, where appropriate, may provide a proportionate refund for unused paid service.

You can close your account at any time through Settings.

Closing your account ends active connections and causes your personal information to be handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy and its retention periods.

You are responsible for keeping your account credentials reasonably secure.

You must tell us promptly if you believe someone else has obtained access to your account.

You must not allow another person to use your account except where that person is an authorised profile manager.

The Natter Network introduces people and provides a telephone connection.

We cannot guarantee:

• that you will be matched;
• how quickly you will receive a match;
• that a suggested match will accept the introduction;
• that a conversation will take place;
• that a connection will continue; or
• that a connection will result in a lasting friendship.

Identity and telephone verification are designed to reduce risk but cannot guarantee that another member will always be honest, safe, reliable or suitable.

We do not provide medical, professional, counselling, therapy, care or emergency services.

The service depends on third-party technology and telecommunications providers and may occasionally be unavailable.

We may change, pause or withdraw features where reasonably necessary to operate, maintain or improve the service. Where a change materially affects a paid service, we will provide reasonable notice where practicable.

The Natter Network is not an emergency or crisis service.

If you believe that you or another person is in immediate danger, contact 999.

For urgent health concerns that are not an emergency, contact NHS 111.

You should not rely on The Natter Network, its staff or another member as an emergency response service.

A photograph is optional.

If you upload a photograph, it must:

• be a recent photograph of the member;
• not include another identifiable person without their permission;
• not contain unlawful, indecent or seriously offensive material; and
• be something you have the right to use.

You retain ownership of anything you write or upload.

By uploading content, you give The Natter Network the limited permission necessary to store, process and display that content as part of the service and in accordance with your privacy settings.

Where you separately opt in to having your first name, photograph or testimonial featured publicly, you give us permission to use that material for that specific purpose.

You can withdraw an optional public-feature or testimonial permission at any time.

The Natter Network name, website, design, software, branding and other materials created by or for us belong to us or our licensors.

You may use the service for its intended personal purpose.

You must not copy, reproduce, scrape, resell, commercially exploit or reverse-engineer any part of the service except where applicable law expressly permits you to do so.

Our processing of personal information is described in our Privacy Policy.

The Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, why we use it, who processes it, how long we keep it and your rights.

The Privacy Policy forms part of these Terms for the purposes of explaining our processing of personal information.

If you have a complaint about The Natter Network, please contact:

hello@thenatternetwork.co.uk

Please tell us what has happened and, where possible, the account or email address involved.

We will investigate complaints and aim to respond within a reasonable period.

For privacy complaints, please also see our Privacy Policy.

We may update these Terms from time to time.

When we make a significant change, we will update the version date and, where appropriate, notify members by email or through the service.

Where a change materially affects a paid membership, we will provide reasonable notice before the change takes effect where practicable.

Changes will not remove rights you have already acquired under the law.

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

If you live elsewhere in the United Kingdom, you will continue to have any mandatory consumer rights available to you under the law that applies to you.

Subject to those rights, the courts of England and Wales will have jurisdiction over disputes relating to these Terms.

Email: hello@thenatternetwork.co.uk