Who we are

Minteller is a platform for finding and working with independent engineering contractors. In these terms, "Minteller", "we" and "us" mean the company operating the platform at minteller.com; "you" means the person or organisation using it.

Contact us at support@minteller.com about anything in this document.

What Minteller does, and what it does not

Minteller is an introduction and collaboration platform. Contractors publish profiles and availability; client organisations search, shortlist, message, and work with them in shared workspaces.

We are not a party to the working relationship between a client and a contractor. We do not employ contractors, we do not supply them as an agency, and we do not guarantee the quality, legality, timeliness or outcome of any work. The contract for the work itself is between the client and the contractor, on whatever terms they agree.

We never take a commission, finder's fee, or percentage of a day rate. Money for the work itself does not pass through Minteller at all — clients pay contractors directly, off the platform.

Accounts

You must be at least 18 and able to enter into a contract. You must give accurate registration details and keep them up to date.

An account belongs to one person. Do not share credentials or let anyone else use your account. You are responsible for everything done through it. Tell us promptly if you think it has been compromised.

An account is either a contractor account or a client account, not both. This is a deliberate product constraint, not merely a rule.

Contractor accounts are free

Contractors join and use Minteller free of charge. There is no subscription, no listing fee, no charge to appear in search, and no commission on anything a contractor earns. We may change this in future, but we will give reasonable notice before charging contractors for anything they use free today.

Client subscriptions and payment

Client organisations pay per seat. A seat is one active member of your organisation. The tier you choose sets the maximum number of seats and the price per seat, shown on our pricing page at the time you subscribe.

Invitations that have not yet been accepted reserve a place within your tier but are not charged. You are billed for active members only.

Subscriptions renew automatically for the same period until cancelled. Adding or removing seats adjusts your subscription immediately and is prorated by our payment provider. Changing tier is likewise prorated.

Payments are processed by Stripe. We do not receive or store your card details. By subscribing you also accept Stripe's terms as they apply to you.

Prices are shown exclusive of VAT unless stated. VAT is applied at checkout where it is due, based on the billing address and any tax registration number you provide.

Failed payments

If a renewal payment fails, we keep your access active while our payment provider retries, so a card expiring does not lock your team out mid-project. We will tell you and ask you to update your payment method.

If the retries are exhausted without payment, access is suspended. Settling the outstanding invoice restores it.

Cancellation and refunds

You may cancel at any time through the billing portal in your organisation settings. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the period you have already paid for; you keep access until then.

We do not give partial refunds for unused time in a period that has already started, except where the law requires it or where we have got something wrong. If you think we have got something wrong, contact us — we would rather sort it out than stand on this clause.

You have the right to cancel a subscription within 14 days of first purchase where the Consumer Contracts Regulations apply to you. Those regulations generally do not apply to purchases made by a business.

Your content

You keep ownership of everything you upload: profiles, messages, drawings, models, scans and any other files. Nothing here transfers ownership of your material to us.

You grant us the limited licence we need to actually run the service: to store your content, transmit it, back it up, and display it to the people you have shared it with. That licence exists only to operate Minteller for you and ends when your content is deleted.

You are responsible for having the right to upload what you upload, and for making sure you are permitted to share it with the people you share it with. That responsibility matters especially where material is export-controlled, security-classified, or covered by a confidentiality obligation to a third party.

Confidentiality between users

Workspaces are private to their members. Do not share what you see in someone else's workspace outside it without their agreement.

Minteller is not a substitute for a non-disclosure agreement. If you need one, put one in place directly with the other party.

Security-sensitive and export-controlled material

Minteller may be used for engineering work that is subject to security or export control obligations. We build accordingly, but the platform is not a cleared environment and we do not hold any accreditation on your behalf.

Before uploading material subject to a security classification, export control, or a customer's flow-down obligations, you must satisfy yourself that doing so is permitted. If you need particular controls, contractual assurances or a specific hosting arrangement, contact us before uploading anything rather than after.

Acceptable use

You must follow our Acceptable Use Policy. It forms part of these terms.

Availability

We work to keep Minteller available and quick, but we do not promise uninterrupted service. We may need to interrupt it for maintenance, and we will avoid doing that at short notice where we can.

We do not currently offer a contractual uptime commitment. If you need one, contact us.

Suspension and termination

You may stop using Minteller and close your account at any time.

We may suspend or close an account that breaches these terms or the Acceptable Use Policy, that puts other users or the platform at risk, or where we are required to by law. Except where the breach is serious or we are legally prevented, we will tell you why and give you a chance to put it right.

If we close your account without good reason, we will refund the unused part of any subscription you have paid for.

What we are responsible for

We are responsible for loss you suffer that is a foreseeable result of us breaking these terms or failing to use reasonable care and skill.

We are not responsible for: the work a contractor does or does not do; a client's failure to pay a contractor; loss of profit, business, contracts or anticipated savings; or loss caused by an event outside our reasonable control.

Where we are liable, our total liability to you in any twelve-month period is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us in that period, or £100. Contractors pay us nothing, so for a contractor account this limit is £100.

Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot be limited by law.

Changes to these terms

We may change these terms. When we do, we publish a new version with a new effective date and record it against your account when you agree to it.

For changes that materially affect your rights or what you pay, we will give reasonable notice and ask you to agree to the new version before you carry on using the service. For minor corrections we will publish the new version without asking again.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction. If you are a consumer resident elsewhere in the UK, you may bring proceedings in your own jurisdiction.