Terms and conditions

Friendly, patient help with phones, computers and staying safe online. Version 1.0, October 2026.

1. About us

Idie Digital Guide is a trading name of Idie & Co Tech Advisory Limited, a company registered in England and Wales, company number 17184058, registered office 2a Milton Road, Cambridge, CB4 1JY.

Phone: 07803 160504 Email: contact@idieco.com

In these terms, “we”, “us” and “our” mean Idie & Co Tech Advisory Limited. “You” means the person we are helping (our client). If someone else pays for our services, for example a son or daughter, we call them “the Payer”.

2. What we do, and what we don’t

We help you use phones, tablets, computers and the internet with confidence and safety. This includes:

• setting up new devices, apps and accounts;
• teaching you, at your own pace, how to use them;
• protecting you from scams and checking messages you are unsure about;
• helping you use online services such as the NHS App, online banking apps, shopping, energy and council websites.

We are not a care provider and do not give personal or medical care. We do not give financial, legal or medical advice. We do not repair broken hardware, but we can suggest someone who does. Our scam-check service is not an emergency service (see section 12).

3. How we work: our safety rules

These rules protect you and us. If you ask us to break them, we will kindly say no.

1. We never ask for, write down or keep your passwords, PINs or security codes. You type them in yourself.
2. We never make payments, move money or buy anything on your behalf.
3. We never accept gifts, loans, tips or cash, and we will not be named in a will or act as your attorney.
4. We keep a written record of every visit, including the times we arrive and leave.
5. We only use remote access (helping you through the internet) when you agree, while you watch, and we end the session in front of you.

Our full safety rules are in the separate sheet Our Promises to You.

4. Our services and prices

• Weekday phone help (Guardian Plus): ring or WhatsApp us Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 5pm (not bank holidays), for a quick question or to be talked through a problem, up to 20 minutes a call. Messages left outside those hours are answered the next working day. Anything that needs longer becomes a visit, which we will book with you.
• Device health check (Guardian Plus): once a month, during one of your visits, we check up to 3 of your devices (phone, tablet or computer) and put right anything small. We check that:
  • updates to the device and its apps are installed;
  • there is enough free storage space, and help you tidy it if not;
  • your photos and contacts are being backed up;
  • the battery, charger and cables are working properly;
  • the screen lock, two-step verification and “Find my device” are switched on;
  • scam and spam blocking is on, and there are no unknown apps or sign-ins you don’t recognise;
  • there are no subscriptions or charges on the device you don’t recognise (you cancel anything unwanted yourself, with our help).

You get a short written summary of what we checked and anything that needs attention. If we find a bigger problem, we explain your options; fixing it may need an extra visit.

• Travel: free within 10 miles of Cambridge. Beyond that, we charge £10 for every 30 miles, or part of 30 miles, over the first 10 miles. This is charged for the journey there and again for the journey back. For example, a client 40 miles away pays £10 each way (£20 in total), and a client 70 miles away pays £20 each way (£40 in total). We confirm the charge before we book.
• Extra time: if a visit needs longer than an hour, we will ask you first. Extra time is £19 per half hour. We never add time without asking.
• Price changes: for monthly plans we give at least 30 days’ written notice. You can cancel before the new price starts without any charge.

5. How our agreement is made

When you book a visit or service with us, by phone, email, through our website or in person, our agreement for that booking is made. We confirm it by letter, sent by post.

Before your first visit begins, we go through our Service Agreement with you and we both sign it. It records your details, the services you have chosen and what you agree to, for example reports to your family. If you prefer, we can post it to you to sign beforehand. A monthly plan starts only once the Service Agreement is signed.

All our paperwork is sent to you by post: these terms, the Cancellation Notice and Form, the Privacy Notice and Our Promises to You. You keep one signed copy of the Service Agreement and we keep the other.

6. Your right to cancel in the first 14 days

If you agree to our services in your home, or by phone, email or online, you have a legal right to cancel within 14 days, starting the day after our agreement is made. You do not have to give a reason. How to cancel, and a form you can use, are in our Cancellation Notice and Form.

We will not start work during those 14 days unless you ask us to in writing: by signing the slip with your booking letter, by ticking and initialling that section of the Service Agreement, or by letter. If you ask us to start early and then cancel, you only pay for what we have already done. Once a service has been fully provided at your request, for example a single visit that has taken place, you cannot cancel that service.

7. Guardian plans

• Plans run month to month. You pay each month in advance.
• If a visit in your plan is not used, it carries over to the next month only.
• Extra visits: if you want more visits than your plan includes, just ask. Plan holders pay £32 for each extra home visit (up to 1 hour) instead of the usual £38.
• After the first 14 days, you can end your plan at any time by giving us 30 days’ notice. There is no cancellation fee.
• You can pause your plan for up to 2 months at no charge, for example during a hospital stay or holiday. Just tell us.
• We may end a plan with 30 days’ notice. We may end it straight away if anyone behaves in a threatening or abusive way towards us, or asks us to do something unsafe or unlawful. We will refund any payment for services we have not provided.

8. Paying us

• Single visits and scam checks: pay by card at the end of the visit, or by bank transfer within 7 days of our invoice.
• Monthly plans: pay by standing order, Direct Debit or card each month.
• We do not accept cash. This protects you and us.
• If a payment is late, we will remind you. If it is still unpaid after 30 days, we may pause our services until it is paid. We do not charge interest.

9. Changing or cancelling a visit

• You can change or cancel a visit for free if you tell us at least 24 hours before.
• With less than 24 hours’ notice, we may charge half the visit fee (£19). We will not charge this if the reason is illness, a hospital stay, a bereavement or an emergency.
• If we have to cancel, we will tell you as soon as we can and rearrange at no cost to you.

10. Your devices and information

• Before we make changes, we will check that your important things (such as photos and contacts) are backed up, or offer to help back them up first.
• We only work on devices and accounts that belong to you, or that you are allowed to use.
• We explain what we are installing or changing, and only go ahead with your agreement.
• We do not look at personal content (messages, photos, emails) unless we need to for the task and you agree.
• Software updates and services run by other companies (for example Apple, Google or your bank) are outside our control.

11. If something goes wrong

We will provide our services with reasonable care and skill. If something is not right, please tell us. We will put it right at no cost to you, or, if we cannot, give you a refund for the part that was not right.

We are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of us breaking this agreement or not using reasonable care and skill. We are not responsible for loss or damage that could not have been foreseen. If we damage your property during a visit, we will pay to repair or replace it.

We do not exclude or limit our responsibility for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else the law does not allow us to exclude. Nothing in these terms affects your legal rights. For advice about your rights, contact Citizens Advice.

12. Scam checks and emergencies

When you send us something to check, we give you our honest and careful view based on what you show us. Scammers change their tricks all the time, so no check can ever be guaranteed. Always follow your bank’s advice.

13. Keeping you safe

If we believe you are at risk of harm, abuse or financial exploitation, we may share information with your council’s adult safeguarding team, the police, or your bank’s fraud team, even without your consent where the law allows. Wherever it is safe to do so, we will talk to you first.

14. Family members and Payers

Our client is always the person we are helping. A Payer pays for our services but does not control your accounts or devices, and does not receive information about you without your consent. Family reports are only sent with your agreement, and you can change your mind at any time.

If you become unable to make decisions for yourself, we will work with your registered attorney under a Lasting Power of Attorney. We will not sign you up to anything new while we are unsure.

15. Complaints

If you are unhappy with anything we have done, please tell us by phone, email or letter. We will acknowledge your complaint within 2 working days and give you a full reply within 14 days.

If you are still not happy, you can contact the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133, who can pass your complaint to Trading Standards.

16. Your personal information

How we collect, use and protect your information is explained in our Privacy Notice.

17. Other important terms

• We may update these terms. If a change affects a monthly plan, we will tell you at least 30 days before it starts, and you can end your plan without charge.
• These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. You can bring legal proceedings in the courts of England and Wales, or in the courts of the part of the UK where you live.
• If a court finds part of these terms invalid, the rest still applies.

18. Gift vouchers

A gift voucher lets you buy our help for someone else. The person who buys it is “the Buyer”; the person it is for is “the Recipient”.

For the Buyer

• A voucher costs £105 and covers 3 home visits of up to 1 hour each. If the Recipient lives more than 10 miles from Cambridge, we add the travel charge (section 4) when you buy, so the Recipient never pays extra.
• We post the voucher to you or straight to the Recipient, as you choose, with a letter confirming your purchase.
• You can cancel within 14 days of buying for a full refund, as long as the voucher has not been used.
• The Recipient is our client. Buying a voucher does not entitle you to reports about their visits. We only send updates to people the Recipient agrees to.

For the Recipient

• Call us to book whenever you are ready. At your first visit we will ask you to sign our Service Agreement, so we know how you would like to be helped.
• Each visit uses one of your 3 visits. Unused time within a visit cannot be carried over.
• Your voucher is valid for 12 months from the date it was bought. If illness or a hospital stay gets in the way, ask us and we will extend it.
• You can pass unused visits on to someone else. Just tell us who.

For both

• Every voucher has its own code, which we check when you book. If it is lost, we will replace it free of charge.
• Vouchers cannot be exchanged for cash, and no change is given.
• After the 14-day cancellation period, or once any visit has been used, a voucher cannot be refunded, in full or in part. If illness, a move into care or a bereavement means the Recipient cannot use their visits, we will extend the voucher, or the remaining visits can be passed on to someone else.