Practitioner Terms of Service

About these terms

These terms govern your relationship with ViaCara Ltd as a practitioner listed on the platform. They form a binding agreement between you and ViaCara Ltd when you complete the onboarding process and activate your profile.

Company details

• Registered name: ViaCara Ltd
• Company number: 17138185
• Registered in: England and Wales
• Registered office: 66 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NA, United Kingdom
• Data protection: dataprotection@viacara.com

What ViaCara does

ViaCara is a referral platform. We listen to what clients are looking for through a guided triage conversation, then use algorithmic matching to connect them with independent practitioners whose approach fits.

We are not a healthcare provider. We do not employ you, supervise your clinical work, set your fees, dictate your methods or control how you deliver your services. We introduce clients to you. Everything after that introduction is between you and the client.

Your independence

You are an independent, self-employed practitioner. Nothing in these terms creates an employment relationship, a worker relationship, an agency arrangement or a partnership between you and ViaCara.

In particular:

You set your own fees, session lengths and working methods. You choose which clients to accept and which to decline, without penalty. You are free to work on other platforms, maintain your own website and accept clients from any source. You are responsible for your own tax obligations, National Insurance contributions, professional development and clinical supervision. You are under no obligation to accept any referral from ViaCara, and we are under no obligation to send you any minimum number of referrals.

You warrant that you are subscribing to ViaCara in the course of your professional practice and that these terms constitute a business-to-business contract.

Eligibility

To list on ViaCara, you must:

Hold current membership of a recognised professional register. For UK-based practitioners, this means a register accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA), such as the BACP Register, UKCP Register, BABCP Register, BPC Register or NCS Register. For practitioners in other jurisdictions, equivalent national registration recognised by ViaCara will be accepted. We verify your registration at onboarding and periodically thereafter.

Hold current professional indemnity insurance with a minimum cover of £1.5 million per claim, including cover for online and remote practice where applicable. We may ask for evidence of current cover at any time.

Be at least 18 years old.

Practitioner trainees enrolled on an accredited training programme and working under clinical supervision may apply for a Training Placement listing. Training Placement eligibility is verified separately and subject to the conditions in the Training Placement Programme section below.

You must notify us promptly if your registration status changes, if a complaint or investigation is brought against you by your professional body, or if your professional indemnity insurance lapses.

Waitlist vetting. When you join the waitlist you may optionally provide your business website URL. By providing it you consent to a manual review of your public site for context before we extend an invitation. We do not share the URL with third parties or feed it to automated tooling. See the privacy policy for the full data-handling position.

How matching works

Clients complete a guided triage conversation that produces a structured matching profile. Our algorithm scores your profile against theirs across multiple dimensions including therapeutic approach, specialisms, language, availability and relational style. Clients who pay a commitment fee receive your profile and contact details.

Match scores are internal. You will never see a numerical score. Clients see a curated shortlist, not a ranked league table.

Availability pinging. When a client's match includes you, we will notify you with the client's preferred time blocks. You choose whether to confirm availability. A credit is held when you actively confirm, never passively. You may decline any referral without consequence.

Matching eligibility. Your profile is included in the matching pool when you have at least 1 available credit (plan, purchased or earned) and your profile is set to active. When your available credits reach zero, your profile is automatically removed from matching until you top up or your next billing cycle allocates new plan credits. This is not the same as pausing your account. No quality signals are lost and your profile remains intact. You simply will not appear in client results until credits are available.

Pricing and payment

Subscription tiers

Your subscription determines how many referral credits are included each month and your effective top-up rate for additional credits.

All prices exclude VAT where applicable. If you are VAT-registered, VAT will be added at the prevailing rate.

How credits work

A credit is held when you confirm your availability for a matched client. You are never charged for receiving a match notification or for declining a referral. The held credit is confirmed when the client books with you. If the client does not book within a reasonable time, or books with a different practitioner, your credit is released back to your account.

Plan credits are allocated at the start of each billing cycle. Unused plan credits do not roll over to the next month. They reset at each billing date.

Purchased credits (top-ups and PAYG credits) do not expire. You may purchase additional credits at any time at your tier's top-up rate.

Earned credits are awarded through client check-ins (1 credit for every 3 check-ins completed within 8 weeks of the referral) and through the practitioner referral programme. Earned credits do not expire.

Consumption order: Plan credits are used first (since they expire), then purchased credits, then earned credits.

New practitioner onboarding

When you first join ViaCara, you receive 2 free introductory credits. You pay nothing -- and we charge nothing -- until your first confirmed introduction. Until then you remain free until first introduction with credits remaining: you can sit on the platform, decline every match, and leave at any time without owing us a penny.

Once those introductory credits are used, a subscription or PAYG credits are required to remain active in the matching pool. ViaCara may, at its discretion, offer additional introductory credits to practitioners joining during early access or founding periods. The number of introductory credits may vary and will be communicated at the time of onboarding.

Discretionary credits

ViaCara reserves the right to grant additional credits at its discretion, including for practitioner referrals, platform feedback, retention, or acknowledgment of contribution to the platform community. Discretionary credits are treated as earned credits (they do not expire and are consumed last).

Billing and renewal

Subscriptions are billed monthly in advance and renew automatically. We will send a reminder before each renewal. You may cancel your subscription at any time through your dashboard. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period. No refunds are issued for partial months.

We may change subscription prices with at least 30 days' written notice. If you do not agree with a price change, you may cancel before the new price takes effect.

Payment terms for any outstanding invoices are 30 days from the invoice date. Late payments may incur statutory interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 at the Bank of England base rate plus 8%.

Pausing and cancelling

Pausing your account removes you from the matching pool. You are not charged credits while paused. Your subscription tier and quality signals are retained. You may resume at any time.

Cancelling your subscription removes you from the matching pool and resets your tier. Accumulated quality signals from check-ins and engagement history are not retained after cancellation. Purchased and earned credits that have not expired remain available if you resubscribe within 12 months. After 12 months, unused purchased and earned credits are forfeited.

Training Placement Programme

The Training Placement Programme is free and provides 2 plan credits per month. Practitioners on the Training Placement Programme may also purchase additional credits at the PAYG rate of £15 per credit. The programme is open to practitioners enrolled on a training programme accredited by BACP, UKCP, NCPS or BABCP who are working under clinical supervision.

Training Placement eligibility is verified at application and annually thereafter. If your training programme enrolment ends (whether through qualification, withdrawal or expiry), your Training Placement listing will transition to PAYG status. We will give you reasonable notice before this happens.

The Training Placement Programme is limited to 24 months from the date of activation. After 24 months, you may continue on the platform by subscribing to a paid tier or using PAYG credits.

Important note on placement hours. Whether client hours gained through ViaCara count towards your training programme's placement requirements is determined by your course provider and professional body, not by ViaCara. Some professional bodies (notably BACP) advise that inexperienced trainees should not gain placement hours through private or independent practice, and may require placements to be within an agency or counselling service setting. You are responsible for confirming with your course provider and supervisor that receiving referrals through ViaCara is compatible with your training requirements before using the platform for this purpose. ViaCara does not guarantee that hours gained through our platform will be accepted by any training programme or professional body.

Your profile

During onboarding, we run a short guided conversation (by voice, or by typing if you prefer) to understand your approach and working style. This produces a structured profile used for matching, including a summary written in your own voice that stands in for a free-form bio. You can review and update your profile information at any time through your dashboard.

If you choose to share personal experience you have lived through, or you record a disability or neurodivergence, that is special-category data which we process only with your explicit consent, captured once when you activate your profile, and which you can withdraw at any time. We use it solely to connect you with clients you can relate to, and we never reveal the details to clients. Full details are in our privacy notice.

You are responsible for ensuring that your profile accurately represents your qualifications, experience, approach and availability. Misrepresentation of qualifications or registration status is grounds for immediate removal from the platform.

We may display your first name, photograph, broad availability, areas of specialism and a summary of your approach to clients before they pay the commitment fee. Your surname and direct contact details are only revealed after the client commits.

Platform-introduced clients

When a client is introduced to you through ViaCara, that introduction is the result of our matching process and your credit expenditure.

During the 12 months following your most recent introduction of a specific client, you agree not to actively solicit that client to circumvent the platform for any future ViaCara-related services. This does not prevent you from continuing to see the client, accepting direct re-bookings, or maintaining the therapeutic relationship in any way. It applies only to the narrow situation where a client would otherwise return to ViaCara for a new referral and you redirect them to avoid a new credit charge.

This restriction does not apply to clients who find you independently, clients introduced through other platforms, or any client after the 12-month period has elapsed. You are free to list on any other platform, maintain your own website and accept clients from any source at any time.

Your obligations

You will maintain current professional registration and indemnity insurance throughout your time on the platform.

You will respond to availability pings within the digest window shown in your dashboard (typically 3 to 48 hours, adjusted by urgency and demand).

You will treat client information received through the platform with the same confidentiality you apply to all clinical work, in accordance with your professional body's ethical framework and UK GDPR.

You will not use client data obtained through ViaCara for marketing, solicitation or any purpose other than the delivery of your professional services to that client.

You will notify us if you become aware of a safeguarding concern relating to a client introduced through the platform, to the extent permitted by your professional obligations.

Outreach communications and opt-out

If we contacted you before you joined -- through a referral chain, a professional register or a Companies House lookup -- these guarantees apply from the first email.

You may opt out of any further outreach at any time. Every outreach email carries a one-click unsubscribe link. Clicking it stops contact permanently, and a future re-import from another register will respect that decision. You can also write to the data protection contact in the Company details section above and we will action your request manually.

You are under no obligation to accept any introduction we send you. Receiving a match notification does not commit you to anything. Declining a referral never affects your standing on the platform.

You set your own fees and your own working methods. Our subscription tiers are what we charge for our service; what you charge your clients is yours to decide. We never set, suggest or steer the price of your sessions.

You retain every other channel. Listing on ViaCara does not require exclusivity. You can keep your own website, accept clients from other platforms, stay listed on professional directories, and continue every other channel you already use.

No data we hold about you is sold or shared for marketing. See the practitioner privacy notice for the full data-handling position.

Cross-border practice

ViaCara may introduce you to clients located in countries other than your own. When you confirm availability for a client in a different jurisdiction, you accept responsibility for ensuring that you are legally permitted to provide your services to that client under the laws of both your country and theirs.

In particular, you must not use a professional title that is protected in the client's country unless you hold the relevant licence or registration in that country. Some countries (including Germany, France, the Netherlands and Sweden) restrict the use of the title "psychotherapist" to practitioners with specific state authorisation. ViaCara may adjust the title displayed on your profile based on the client's location, and you consent to this.

You are responsible for ensuring that your professional indemnity insurance covers remote work with clients in other jurisdictions. ViaCara does not verify cross-border insurance coverage and accepts no liability for gaps in your cover.

ViaCara is an introductory service. Once an introduction is made, the professional relationship is between you and the client. ViaCara is not a party to your therapeutic or coaching agreement, does not supervise your clinical decisions, and accepts no responsibility for your compliance with local laws in the client's jurisdiction.

Data and privacy

Who controls what

ViaCara is the data controller for your profile information, matching data, platform analytics, billing records and any data generated through the platform's matching and referral process.

You are the independent data controller for all data relating to your therapeutic or professional relationship with clients, including session notes, clinical records and any information collected during the course of your work. ViaCara does not access, store or process therapy session content.

For the matching process itself, ViaCara and you may be joint controllers under UK GDPR Article 26 in respect of client preference data shared during the referral. ViaCara is the designated contact point for data subject requests relating to matching data.

Your obligations as a data controller

You are independently responsible for compliance with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 in your practice. If you serve clients located in the EU or EEA, you are also responsible for compliance with EU GDPR as it applies to your own processing activities. This includes maintaining your own privacy notice, your own lawful basis for processing, your own data retention policies and your own data breach procedures.

You must not store client data obtained through the ViaCara platform in a less secure manner than your professional body requires.

Data we share with you

When a client chooses to connect with you, we share their first name, contact details, preferred session format, broad availability preferences and a brief AI-generated summary of their matching profile. We do not share raw conversation transcripts. You must treat this information as confidential.

Conduct

We expect you to act in accordance with your professional body's ethical framework at all times.

We may suspend or remove your profile if you breach these terms, if your professional registration or insurance lapses, if we receive a substantiated complaint about your conduct, or if you engage in behaviour that brings the platform into disrepute. We will give you reasonable notice and an opportunity to respond before removing your profile, except in cases involving immediate risk to client safety.

Liability

ViaCara's liability to you in connection with these terms is limited to the total subscription fees and credit charges you have paid in the 12 months preceding the claim, except that we do not exclude or limit liability for death or personal injury from negligence, fraud or any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.

We are not liable for losses arising from the actions or decisions of clients, the outcome of any therapeutic or professional relationship, or your reliance on information provided by clients through the platform.

Your liability to ViaCara. You agree to indemnify ViaCara against claims, losses and expenses arising from your breach of these terms, your professional negligence, or your failure to maintain current registration or insurance.

Intellectual property

The matching algorithms, platform technology, brand and content belong to ViaCara Ltd. Your profile content (biographical text, photographs, qualifications) remains yours. You grant ViaCara a non-exclusive licence to display your profile content on the platform for the duration of your listing.

You may not scrape, copy or reverse-engineer any part of the platform or its matching algorithms.

Termination

Either party may terminate this agreement by giving 30 days' written notice by email.

ViaCara may terminate immediately if you breach a material term, if your professional registration is revoked, or if there is an immediate risk to client safety.

On termination, your profile is removed from the matching pool. You remain responsible for any ongoing client relationships established through the platform. Outstanding fees remain payable. Unused purchased and earned credits are available for 12 months from termination (see Pausing and cancelling above).

Profile import on your behalf

ViaCara can import your profile from URLs you supply during onboarding (your own website, your existing directory listings, or your professional register entry). Submission authorises us to act as your agent in retrieving those pages via our EU-based language understanding sub-processor. If a host blocks the fetch, we ask you to paste the rendered text instead.

You confirm the listings you supply are yours. You can correct or delete any imported field on the profile review screen.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. We will give you at least 30 days' notice of material changes by email. If you do not agree with the changes, you may terminate your agreement before the changes take effect. Continued use of the platform after the effective date constitutes acceptance.

Disputes

If you have a concern about these terms or our service, please get in touch using the contact details below. We aim to resolve practitioner complaints within 14 days.

General

If any provision of these terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in full force.

These terms represent the entire agreement between you and ViaCara regarding your use of the platform as a practitioner.

No one other than you and ViaCara has the right to enforce these terms under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any disputes will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

Contact

• Support: support@viacara.com
• Data protection: dataprotection@viacara.com

If anything here is unclear before you join, head back to the practitioner page or email us above.

Last updated: April 2026

These terms are written in plain language and are periodically reviewed for accuracy.

These legal disclosures reflect the UK data protection framework, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.