Terms of service
Last updated: July 2025. Please read these terms carefully before using GodlyNow. By creating an account or using our services, you agree to these terms.
The short version
You must be 13+ to use GodlyNow. Ages 13–17 need parental consent.
We match you with qualified, verified Christian counsellors. You choose who you work with.
Sessions are confidential. Your organisation (if they pay) sees only anonymous totals — never your content.
We are not a crisis service. If you're in immediate danger, call 999.
You can cancel any paid plan anytime. No lock-in contracts.
Counsellors are independent professionals, not our employees. We verify their credentials.
Your health and faith data gets special protection (UK GDPR Article 9).
Disputes: UK law, English courts. We encourage mediation first.
1. Definitions
- "GodlyNow", "we", "us", "our"
- GodlyNow Health Ltd, a company registered in England & Wales.
- "Platform"
- The GodlyNow website, mobile apps, and all related services.
- "Client", "you", "your"
- Any individual or organisation using the Platform to receive or arrange counselling.
- "Counsellor", "therapist"
- A qualified professional listed on the Platform who provides counselling services to Clients. Counsellors are independent contractors, not employees.
- "Organisation", "Church", "Employer"
- An entity that purchases or sponsors plans for its members/employees.
- "Session"
- A scheduled live video, audio, or chat counselling appointment, or a messaging exchange within a plan.
- "Plan"
- A subscription or credit package (Free, Standard, Premium, Organisation) that defines session allowances and features.
2. Who can use GodlyNow
Age requirements
- • 18+: Full access to all services.
- • 13–17: Access with verified parental/guardian consent. Parent must complete digital consent form and identity verification.
- • Under 13: Not permitted to create accounts or use the Platform.
Capacity
You must have legal capacity to enter into these terms. If you're signing up an organisation, you warrant you have authority to bind that organisation.
Geography
GodlyNow is available worldwide, but counsellors are licensed for specific jurisdictions. You'll only be matched with counsellors authorised to practise in your location. Some features may be restricted by local law.
⚠️3. GodlyNow is not an emergency or crisis service
If you are in immediate danger, call 999 (UK) or your local emergency number.
- • We do not provide 24/7 crisis monitoring.
- • Counsellors respond during their stated working hours — not instantly.
- • Messaging is not a substitute for emergency care.
- • If you or someone else is at risk of serious harm, use the crisis resources below.
4. The counselling relationship
Independent professionals
Counsellors on GodlyNow are independent practitioners. They are not our employees, agents, or partners. We provide the platform, matching, scheduling, billing, and quality assurance — but the clinical relationship is directly between you and your counsellor.
Choice & switching
You choose your counsellor from matched suggestions. You can switch counsellors at any time, free of charge, no questions asked. The therapeutic relationship is the most important factor in outcomes — if it's not working, we want you to find a better fit.
Scope of service
GodlyNow provides talk therapy (counselling, psychotherapy, pastoral counselling). We do not provide:
- • Psychiatric diagnosis or medication management
- • Court-ordered assessments or expert witness reports
- • Emergency psychiatric intervention
- • Services requiring in-person physical examination
Faith integration — your choice
Every counsellor on GodlyNow shares Christian values. How faith appears in your sessions is entirely up to you:
- • Scripture-led: Prayer, Bible study, spiritual disciplines integrated
- • Faith-informed: Clinical therapy from a Christian worldview, no explicit spiritual practices unless you request
- • Values-aligned: Professional therapy from someone who understands your faith, no faith content unless you want it
You set this preference during onboarding and can change it anytime in your profile.
5. Plans, billing & cancellation
Plan tiers
- • Free: Browse counsellors, read resources, join community. No sessions.
- • Standard (£49/mo): 4 sessions/month + unlimited messaging.
- • Premium (£179/mo): 8 sessions/month + unlimited messaging + priority booking.
- • One-off session (£65): Pay per session without subscription.
- • Organisation: Custom pricing — contact sales.
Billing cycle
Plans renew monthly or annually (annual saves 20%). Payment is processed by Stripe. We never see your full card details — only a tokenised reference.
Invoices/receipts available in your account settings. VAT added where applicable.
Cancellation
- • Cancel anytime in Account Settings → Billing.
- • Access continues until the end of the current billing period.
- • No prorated refunds for partial months (except as required by law).
- • Unused sessions do not roll over.
- • Organisation plans: admin can cancel from Organisation Dashboard.
Organisation-covered members
If your plan is paid by a church, employer, or charity: you can still upgrade personally (you pay the difference), downgrade to Free, or leave the organisation plan. Your clinical data remains private — the organisation never sees it.
6. Acceptable use
You agree not to use the Platform to:
- ✗Harass, threaten, or abuse counsellors, staff, or other users
- ✗Share session content, recordings, or counsellor details without explicit consent
- ✗Impersonate another person or create fake accounts
- ✗Use automated tools to scrape, crawl, or extract data from the Platform
- ✗Attempt to circumvent payment, matching, or access controls
- ✗Use the Platform for illegal activities or to facilitate harm
- ✗Solicit counsellors for off-platform work (bypasses our safety & quality framework)
- ✗Share login credentials or allow unauthorised access to your account
Breach may result in account suspension or termination. We'll notify you and give a chance to appeal (except for immediate safety risks).
7. Intellectual property
Our rights
The Platform (code, design, content, algorithms, matching logic, trademarks "GodlyNow", logos) is our property or licensed to us. You get a limited, revocable, non-exclusive licence to use the Platform for its intended purpose.
Your content
You retain ownership of your journal entries, mood data, and messages. By using the Platform, you grant us a licence to store, encrypt, transmit, and display your content solely to provide the service (including to your counsellor). We do not claim ownership of your personal reflections.
Counsellor content
Session notes and clinical records belong to the counsellor (as their professional records). You have a right to access your data under UK GDPR — we facilitate this.
8. Privacy & data protection
Our Privacy Policyexplains what data we collect, why, how we protect it, and your rights. Key points:
- • Health & faith data = special category (Article 9 UK GDPR) — explicit consent required
- • Encrypted at rest (AES-256) and in transit (TLS 1.3)
- • Organisations see only anonymous aggregate data
- • You can export or delete your data from Account Settings
- • Data retention: clinical notes 7 years post-last-session (professional standards); account data 30 days post-deletion
9. Liability & disclaimers
Platform liability
We provide the Platform "as is" and "as available". To the fullest extent permitted by law, we exclude liability for:
- • Service interruptions, bugs, or downtime
- • Counsellor clinical decisions, advice, or outcomes
- • Third-party actions (Stripe, Cloudflare, email providers)
- • Indirect, consequential, or punitive damages
What we DO accept liability for
- • Death or personal injury caused by our negligence
- • Fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation
- • Breach of UK GDPR / Data Protection Act 2018
- • Any liability that cannot be excluded by law
Counsellor liability
Counsellors carry their own professional indemnity insurance (minimum £1M). Claims for clinical negligence are against the counsellor directly, not GodlyNow. We facilitate the complaints process but are not a party to the clinical relationship.
10. Termination
By you
Close your account anytime in Account Settings → Danger Zone. Your data is deleted within 30 days (except where legal retention applies).
By us
We may suspend or terminate your account for: material breach of these terms, repeated unacceptable use, non-payment, or legal/regulatory requirement. We'll give notice you in writing with 14 days' notice (except safety/legal emergencies).
Effect of termination
- • Your licence to use the Platform ends immediately
- • Upcoming sessions are cancelled (refunded if prepaid)
- • Data retention per Privacy Policy
- • Provisions that should survive (IP, liability, confidentiality, governing law) survive
11. Governing law & disputes
Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. The courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction.
Dispute resolution
We want to resolve disputes fairly and quickly. Before formal proceedings:
- 1. Contact us at complaints@godlynow.com — we'll acknowledge within 24 hours.
- 2. If unresolved, we'll offer mediation via CEDR or similar.
- 3. If mediation fails, either party may commence court proceedings.
Consumer rights
If you're a consumer, nothing in these terms affects your statutory rights under UK consumer law (Consumer Rights Act 2015, Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013).
12. Changes to these terms
We may update these terms from time to time. Material changes will be notified by email and/or in-app banner at least 30 days before taking effect. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance. If you disagree, you may cancel your account before the changes apply.
13. General
- • Entire agreement: These terms + Privacy Policy + any plan-specific terms = the whole agreement.
- • Severability: If any provision is unenforceable, the rest remain in effect.
- • No waiver: Failure to enforce a right doesn't waive it.
- • Assignment: You can't assign these terms. We can assign to any successor or affiliate.
- • Force majeure: We're not liable for delays due to events beyond our control.
- • Language: English is the governing language. Translations are for convenience only.
Questions about these terms?
Email us at legal@godlynow.comor write to our registered address.
Contact legal